by Brenda Drake
I chuckled and picked up my water glass.
“Good evening,” Bastien said, standing beside Nana at the head of the table.
Water spurted out of my mouth. Where did he come from? I quickly wiped my mouth with my napkin.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “Did I startle you?”
“Um…” Awkward. My cheeks heated. Not to mention I totally lost verbal capabilities at the sight of him.
Lei came to the rescue. “You made it! Have a seat by Jaran.”
“Thank you.” He folded himself into the chair, which happened to be diagonally across from me. “You look lovely, Gia.”
All eyes were on us. I shrunk into my chair.
“Thanks. You look good, too.”
How awkward.
He did rock his dark suit. It fit snugly around his toned body. His blue shirt enhanced the color of his eyes. He unbuttoned his jacket and draped his napkin across his lap.
Stop staring at him. I didn’t want another guy messing with my emotions. What I needed was to get over Arik. It was like half my soul was ripped away from me. And I wasn’t sure if I’d ever get it back.
“How did you get here?” Kale reached for the bread again. “I thought the council restricted travel through the gateways.”
“I’ve come on council business,” he said. “Carrig invited me to dinner.”
Lei moved the breadbasket out of Kale’s reach, and he frowned at her. “What business?” she said.
“I’m here to escort Gia and Nick to Toad’s trial.”
“Really?” I couldn’t tell if the excitement I felt was for Toad or how Bastien’s eyes on me glinted like sapphires against the candlelight. “He’s actually going to get a chance to tell his side?”
“That he is.” His full lips quirking into a smile creased the corner of his eyes. “Because of you, an innocent man may get another chance.”
I grabbed a cherry pepper from the antipasti platter.
“When are we going?” Nick asked.
“Early morning,” Bastien said. “Before the libraries open.”
A foot brushed across my ankle right when I bit into the cherry pepper. Bastien smiled at me. I coughed on the spicy juice hitting the back of my throat and dropped the pepper onto my dress. It left a trail of oil behind. Was that an accident or did he touch me on purpose?
“That’s unfortunate,” Lei said.
“Excuse me.” I stood and hurried to the restroom.
I leaned over the sink, scrubbing at the stain with a drenched, stiff paper towel. The more water I dabbed on the oil stain the more the wet spot spread. I eyed the wreckage in the mirror.
Great. It looks like I lactated.
I gave up on the stain and stepped out of the restroom. I was too busy shaking the neckline of my dress, trying to get it dry, that I bumped into someone.
“Excuse me,” Emily said.
I didn’t say anything, just stared, her presence not registering right away. It felt like someone had sucker punched me in the stomach. I looked past her and then sharply at Arik.
“What are you doing here?”
Emily forced a smile. “We’re having dinner, of course. Why else does someone come to a restaurant?”
“Tonight? You knew we were coming here,” I said to Arik, ignoring Emily completely.
“I wasn’t aware you’d be here,” he said. “You were absent from practice today.”
Their hands were interlocked, causing bile to rise in the back of my throat. When would the agony of seeing them together end? Every time, it was a cut to the heart. I couldn’t believe Arik and I had ended. Our relationship obviously didn’t matter to him. And there I was standing there, not moving, making the situation even more uncomfortable.
Why can’t I move?
“There you are,” Bastien said, weaving around Arik and Emily to get to me. He slipped his arm over my shoulders. “The waiter would like to take our order. Are you finished here?”
“Yes, sorry. Arik, you know Bastien, right?”
“Of course,” he said. His eyes seemed vacant. Not at all himself. Like he was an unemotional drone. What was going on with him? Had someone gotten into his head? Hypnotized him? The jealous fire he used to get in his eyes over Bastien was gone. Was he sick? Was he hit hard on the head during practice? I wanted any of my irrational reasons to be true.
When I noticed them all staring at me, I said, “Bastien, this is Emily.”
“Hello,” she said, leaning closer to Arik.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Bastien said, and then turned to me. “Shall we?”
I nodded, and he took my hand in his and led me away.
“Thank you for rescuing me,” I said when we were out of ear shot.
“I’m always happy to lead you away from Arik.”
I glanced back. Emily watched our retreat, a smug expression on her face.
Chapter Twelve
The Wizard Council met in the Italian haven, Mantello. The hidden access into Mantello was behind a bookcase in the Riccardiana Library in Florence, Italy. The tunnel leading from the library to the outbuilding in the haven was tight, with a series of stone steps going up and down and twisting left to right. The skirt and heels I wore, along with my overstuffed messenger bag, made the trek somewhat difficult. Nick sweated in his suit in front of me, his dress shoes scuffling across the rocky floor. In the lead, Bastien took quick, regal steps downward.
The haven reminded me of pictures I’d seen of Tuscany. The gardens, stone pathways, and stucco cottages surrounded a palace that resembled a massive villa. We walked the pathway until we came to a town that looked frozen in an ancient time. Old cottages and buildings, vibrantly colored valances shading windows, and planters with colorful flowers lined the streets. Bastien brought us to an amphitheater-type room. We sat closest to the bottom on the stone benches. Just below us, a round antique table dominated the stage.
The men and women trickling in and taking their seats at the table seemingly came from all parts of the world, dressed in heavy red robes with shiny buttons and thick golden ropes tied around their waists. I counted twenty wizards on the council.
“Man, these benches are uncomfortable.” Nick shifted. “Hey, that looks like King Arthur’s round table. They totally stole the idea, didn’t they?”
Bastien sat close to me. His arm brushed against mine, heightening my awareness of him being so near. “I’m not certain where the idea came from, but this table was made for the first Wizard Council meeting many centuries ago. The attending wizards were the original seven.”
We waited several addled minutes after the last wizard took his seat before two beefy men brought Toad out. He’d had a bath, a shave, and his hair cut. I almost didn’t recognize him dressed up in a tweed jacket and dark pants. The two men led Toad to a box seat just below the stone benches and to our right.
An older woman, with white hair swirling away from her pale skin and falling short under her ears, stood from one of the chairs around the table. “Your Highnesses,” she said, nodding at them. “I shall start the proceedings. For the record, my name is Ellen Arkwright of Asile, and I will be overseeing the inquiry today. We gather this fine fall morning to hear the statements from Toad of the Laniar clan Darkdale, as pertaining to the murder of Gian Bianchi on the twentieth day of July in the year nineteen hundred and thirty-eight. Have the barristers advised the malefactor of his rights?”
A small man, barely five feet tall, with a balding head and thick glasses stood. “We have, Your Highness.”
“Splendid. Toad, you may tell us your story, and afterward we will take statements from witnesses. You may proceed.” She sat down.
The barrister waved for Toad to stand. Toad glanced around nervously until one of his handlers nodded to him. Balancing on shaky legs, Toad held his hands behind his back and cleared his throat.
“I’m not certain where to start, ma’am… I mean, Your Highness,” he said.
“Just start from your encounter
with Professor Bianchi before the murder,” she responded. “You were in the Abbey Library in Saint Gall, Switzerland. What brought you to that library?”
“The compelling did,” he said. “Actually, I stalk Gian days in a row. No matter how hard I try, I could no release myself from the spell. Gian jumps to many libraries—searching for something. For traps, I am thinking, ’cause he does that thing with his hands, like he feels the air. I fight against the urge to attack him. Like a dog wanting a bone, I can no longer resist. I corner him in the Abbey. It’s dark. I hardly sees him, but for that red umbrella he always carry.”
He paused to wipe his eyes. It was strange how he spoke as if Gian was still alive and the events he spoke about were happening right then.
“I love Gian like a brother. He always takes care of unfortunates like me. I struggle and struggle to not overtake him, but I can no do it. I stab him. His face twists and he makes me bury the knife deeper until he falls. But he’s not dead. There’s a push from within me to finish him off. I fight it. I refuse. Miraculously, the power releases. I’m free, but Gian agonizes on the floor.”
Toad lowered his head and brought his hands to his front, folding them as though he were praying. He looked up. “He gives me the scroll and I hide it in my waistband. Then I help him put the other Chiave…the cross, in the handle of that umbrella. We hear someone jump into the library. I try to move him and he shoves me away. I ran out to stop whoever comes for him. That is the last I see him alive.”
Arkwright glanced up from the notebook she’d been jotting notes in. “Who did you encounter when you ran out from that room?”
“Conemar and a few Sentinels is there.”
“And what happened next?” she pressed.
He gave a quick glance over his shoulder at me. “They drag me back to Gian. I won’t finish him off, so one Sentinel stabs him several times. Then Conemar hits me over the head and all goes black. The sound of boots on the floor wakes me. Many guards wearing uniforms from Asile charge into the room.”
The only noise in the amphitheater came from the ticking of an extremely large clock attached to the far brick wall as everyone waited for Arkwright’s next question. “Was a copy of the jump records for that day retrieved?”
The other barrister stood. I assumed he was like a prosecuting attorney. “No, Your Highness.”
“And what was the verdict?”
“Toad was found criminally insane.”
“You don’t say?” She scribbled something onto her notepad. “You may sit. Gianna Kearns, is she here?”
I looked sidelong at Bastien.
“It’s all right,” he whispered. “Stand and say who you are.”
I eased up from the bench. “Yes, Your Highness.”
“What is your relationship to the malefactor?” she asked.
“You mean Toad?”
She dropped her pen. “That is what I said.”
Bastien popped up. “Excuse me, Your Highness.”
“I wasn’t aware you were here, Your Royal Highness. Do you have something to add?”
“I do,” he said, giving my hand a quick squeeze before continuing. “Gia is unfamiliar with the dealings of the court. I am certain she hadn’t understood the meaning of malefactor.” He looked at me. “She means the defendant, Toad.”
“Oh, okay,” I said, feeling embarrassed.
Bastien returned to his seat.
“And why doesn’t the girl know these things?”
“I’m new to the Mystik world, Your Highness. I am the great-granddaughter of Gian Bianchi. My mother was Marietta Bianchi. I was raised in the human world.”
“Ah, I see, you are our missing Sentinel, Gianna Bianchi.” All the wizards’ eyes went to me.
“I am.”
“What is this alias you go by?”
“It’s the name I was given when I was born in the human world. I use my stepfather’s last name.”
“While in our world you must use your bequeathed name.” Her stern look made me want to hide behind Bastien. “Now, I understand you helped Toad escape from the gallows. You do realize we could charge you and everyone else involved with this crime?”
“No. No one said I was in trouble.” I looked nervously at Bastien.
She ignored my response. “Care to tell us why you went to see your great-grandfather’s murderer.”
I swallowed the lump forming in the back of my throat. “I went to ask him about a missing Chiave.”
“A missing Chiave?”
“Yes. The one Toad mentioned in his statement. The scroll. You see, Nick and I are descendants of the Seventh Wizard. We’re the protectors that the prophecy mentions—”
“We on the council are well aware of the prophecy,” she interrupted. “The fact that you are a descendent of Gian is the only reason I don’t have you thrown in the gallows. Now, explain the missing Chiave.”
“We were informed that Toad had a Chiave and that he was in the gallows. So we went to retrieve it. Soon after we arrived, The Red and his men attacked the gallows. So we fled, and we took Toad with us to protect him.”
Bastien stood again. “There is a correction to Gianna’s response, which is in the statements from the Asile Sentinels. It was assumed to be The Red’s men, but he was not with them during the attack.”
Ellen Arkwright cleared her throat. “With all due respect, Your Highness. Only barristers may interrupt these proceedings.”
“Perhaps if they would do their job, I wouldn’t have to.” Bastien sat.
The four barristers adjusted uncomfortably on their seats and gave one another looks.
“Noted.” Her lips went into a straight line as she studied me. “Very well, you may be seated, Gianna.” She read some papers on the table in front of her. “Nicklaus Roux Agard, please stand.”
Bastien elbowed Nick. “She means you.”
He hesitated before getting to his feet. “Yes, ma’am, I mean, Your Highness. But that is not my name.”
She eyed him. “Your father is Conemar Agard and your mother was Jacalyn Roux, is it not?”
Nick swallowed hard. “Yes, but I was adopted by humans. My legal name is Nicklaus D’Marco.”
“That may be your legal name in the human world, but it is not here in ours. You will have to file forms with the Mystik Registrar to change your name.” She scribbled something on her paper again. “Tell me, how do you feel about your father?”
Bastien shot to his feet, again. “How does that have anything to do with this proceeding?”
She flashed a look at him. “You may be a royal, but you have no say in this arena. Sit down, Bastien Renard of Couve. I asked this boy about his father for good reason. There is a charm over the arena that compels everyone under this roof to tell the truth. I need to know where his alliance lies.”
“I hate him,” Nick blurted. “I want to kill him for murdering my mother. I will kill him. It’s all I think about, and I definitely don’t want to carry his name.”
I reached for his hand but it was just out of my reach. My heart ached for him. It was hard to imagine what he must be going through.
Ellen Arkwright’s eyes flicked across his face. “Indeed.” She wrote something in her notebook. “Now, did you go to the gallows knowing you would free Toad?”
“No. We went to recover the Chiave. Then all the shit…oh sorry…stuff went down, and we ran. Gia was worried The Red and his men would kill Toad.”
Arkwright’s gaze traveled over Nick, and the smile on her face was haunting. She made some more notes and then glanced back at him. “Thank you, Nicklaus.” Her eyes shifted toward the wizards surrounding the table. “I move to release Gianna Bianchi and Nikolaus Roux D’Marco from all charges.”
“How come he gets to keep his name?” I muttered.
Bastien gave me a stern look. “They’re showing mercy to Nick. Your name is well respected in the Mystik world. His is feared.”
“Wait a minute.” It registered just then that Arkwright mentio
ned charges against Nick and me. “Excuse me,” I said. “Were we on trial?”
She expelled a long breath. “Miss McCabe we do not interrupt the head council without permission to speak. You are not on trial, but charges were filed as to yours and Mr. D’Marco’s part in Toad’s escape. Now, may I continue?”
“Um, yes, sorry.” I eased back onto the bench.
Arkwright cleared her throat. “The council will go into deliberation about this confession. We would like to have the jump records for the twentieth of July nineteen hundred and thirty-eight delivered to our chamber. We will meet again tomorrow at the same time to hand over our verdict. After our Highnesses depart the arena, all others are excused.” She picked up her notebook, hugged it to her chest, and mingled with the other wizards as they shuffled out a side door.
“That was wacky,” Nick said.
I raised a brow at him. “Agard?”
“And that’s completely jacked. If they had kept calling me by that name, you might as well have painted a target on my back.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “So now what? We go home?”
“I’m afraid not,” Bastien said, scooting by Nick. “You’ll remain here tonight in case the council has more questions to ask you at tomorrow’s proceedings.”
“What are we going to do all day, stuck here?” I climbed up the steps after him.
“How about I show you around Mantello?” He glanced down at me, with a devilish grin playing on his lips. The twinkle in his light eyes stopped me, my breath swooshing from my lungs. Everything about Bastien was perfect, from his rock-star good looks to his easy, laid-back attitude. I could really see myself with him, but fear stopped me. How could I trust anyone after what happened with Arik?
“Sounds boring.” Nick pushed on my back. “Why are you stopping?”
I twisted, causing his hand to drop away. “Don’t shove me.”
“It’s anything but boring,” Bastien said. “It’s festival week. There will be dancing, food, drink, and magical games.”
“Still sounds boring,” Nick said.
“The dancers wear little clothing,” Bastien added.
