“And you never suspected it was Lilith?”
He shook his head. “Never. As I said, we thought she was elsewhere and . . . and it is not, after all, unusual for people to show up at the Clandest Inn for, shall we say, their own private affairs.”
“The Clandest Inn?” Harper said. If anything, she sat up even straighter.
Ezra grinned. “That’s right.”
“And you are an Oathtaker yourself, are you not?” Mildred inquired. There was a note of severe disapproval in her voice.
“That’s right.”
“Rather unusual occupation for an Oathtaker, wouldn’t you say?” Harper asked.
Ezra coughed to suppress a smile. “You might say. But when it comes to gathering necessary information, it can’t be beat.”
“Have you a charge?” Piers asked.
“Nope. Did have. Died of old age.”
“Very well then,” Mara said. “When Dixon called you by magic to assist with Samuel—”
“Called by magic?” Eben interrupted.
Mara grinned. “Yes. Again, that’s another topic for another time. I’ll happily fill you in.” She turned back to her witness. “So you helped to heal Samuel and Erin, is that right?”
“That’s right.”
“Have you anything further to add?”
“Only that they both identified Lilith as the person responsible for their injuries when they still thought they might die.”
“Death bed statements,” Harper muttered, her legal mind never resting.
“Any further questions for Ezra?” Mara asked.
“None,” several of the Council members responded together.
“Thank you, Ezra.” She turned to the Council. “We have one final witness—a hostile witness.”
“Edmond?” Lucy asked.
“That’s right.”
Dixon put Edmond in the witness room. The man sat haughtily, though his hands were tied behind his back. In addition to his standard solid black attire, he wore a sneer.
“May I?” Dixon asked Mara.
“Please, do,” she said, with an uplifted hand.
“Edmond,” he said, “you traveled with Lilith. Is that right?”
The witness made a face. “Yes.”
“And you told her of the whereabouts of Mara and the twins?”
“If you say so.”
“Velia testified that you intended to get even with me, that you wanted revenge. Please tell the Council why you sought revenge.”
Edmond’s lip curled. “What’s the point, Dixon? They’ll believe anything you say, just as the Council believed everything your father said about mine. Your father’s lies were the reason mine was sentenced to death.”
Dixon looked to the Council. “Have you any further questions for this witness?”
“Yes,” Lucy said quietly, then raised her voice so Edmond could hear her. “Ahhh, Edmond,” she began slowly, “you were with Dixon when Judith died. What do you know of her death?”
Dixon’s eyes opened wide.
“Judith? Dixon’s first charge? The first one he allowed to die?” Edmond responded mockingly.
“The very one.”
He shrugged. His sneer became more intense.
“Did you have anything to do with her death?”
He smiled. “Of course not.”
“He’s lying,” Mara said. She’d been unable to read through Edmond before. Gratified she could now, she picked up the questioning. “Edmond, did Lilith use some magic on you to disguise your true intentions from us?”
He said nothing. He closed his eyes and sighed deeply as though bored with the goings on.
All went silent.
“Any other questions for Edmond?” Dixon finally asked.
“None,” the members responded collectively.
Dixon escorted Edmond out from the witness room, then returned.
Mara faced the Council. “That was our last witness.”
Not surprisingly, Piers spoke first. He took in a deep breath and leaned forward. “Are you so sure Lilith did not serve the Good One? That you did not misunderstand something?”
“There was no misunderstanding,” Dixon stated emphatically.
Piers stared at him. “You’re so certain? Sometimes things are not what they seem.”
Dixon drummed a rhythm on his thigh. “Have you ever seen a grut when it’s killed?”
Piers pulled back. “I don’t see what that has to do with anything.”
“It has everything to do with it,” Mara said. “If you ever saw a grut die, then you know it goes up in a burst of flame as it’s returned to Sinespe.”
“That’s right.”
“And that’s exactly what happened when Lilith died,” she said.
He pursed his lips. “She went up in a burst of fire?”
“She did.”
“Very well,” he said, smiling weakly. He paused, tapping on the table. “So you say Lilith went up in flames because she tried to usurp the girls’ position?”
“No,” Mara responded without hesitation, “she went up in flames because she swore to serve Daeva.”
“That is as would be expected under such circumstances,” Skylar, always the scholar, offered.
“Well,” Eben finally spoke, “I am convinced. Does anyone have any remaining questions?”
No one said anything.
“Very well then,” he said, “let’s see a show of hands of those who agree Mara is who she claims to be, and that her part in Lilith’s death was justified.”
One by one, the Council members raised their hands, Piers the last of them.
Mara bowed slightly to the group, then tapped on the edge of the table. “If there’s nothing more, I’m prepared to introduce Rowena’s girls to you.”
“Yes, I believe you were going to tell us their names,” Mildred said as her eyes shot toward Piers.
Mara grinned. “Reigna is the firstborn. Eden is her twin.”
“And you can prove their identities?” Harper inquired.
“I can. They still bear the signs of their birth.”
“Well, I’d like to see them,” Lucy said. “Would you bring them in?” she asked Dixon.
He walked out. Moments later he returned, carrying the girls in his arms. He approached Mara.
She took Reigna from him, then smiled as the infant placed her little hands upon her caregiver’s cheeks.
“Here, baby,” she said, “let’s show them your sign.” She moved Reigna’s hair to reveal her birthmark.
“Oh!” Mildred exclaimed.
“Ah!” “Skylar added.
Dixon showed them Eden’s sign. Once again, exclamations came from around the table. After everyone took a good look, Skylar asked to hold Eden. Dixon passed her to him.
“Well, I have never seen the like!” the scholar exclaimed, unable to take his eyes from the child’s most unusual birth sign.
“And your plans at this stage are?” Mildred asked.
Mara glanced at Lucy. “I’m concerned about raising the girls in the city. I feel led to remove them.”
“But what of your Council duties?” Harper asked as she reached for Reigna who went to her without complaint.
“I’ll travel as need be.”
“May we inquire where you’ll take the girls?” Piers asked.
“You may,” she said, looking him in the eyes, “but I will not say.”
One by one the Council members nodded their understanding and consent.
“Have you any further questions then? Mara asked.
No one spoke.
“There being no further business then, we will—
“Wait!”
Mara looked up. It was Lucy who’d spoken.
“There is one more item of business.”
“Very well.”
Lucy leaned forward. She hesitated for a long moment. “I have had the . . . opportunity . . . to spend some time with some people who traveled with you during these past months.”
“Yes, Rowena’s sister, Therese, and her Oathtaker, Basha, among others.”
“Therese!” exclaimed Harper.
“That’s right, she lives,” Mara said.
“Why, that’s amazing!”
“It is so,” Lucy said, smiling. Then her expression turned serious. “They tell me that . . . Well, I understand this may seem a private matter to you, but it is an appropriate one for this Council.”
Mara gulped. She feared she knew what was coming. “Yes?”
Lucy’s eyes darted to Dixon, then back to Mara. “I understand that you and Dixon—”
“Say no more,” Mara interrupted, lifting her hand to stop Lucy mid-sentence. She looked at Dixon. Her eyes filled with tears. Turning her attention back to the Council, she swallowed hard, trying to hold her tears at bay. “Dixon will be moving on after this meeting,” she finally said, her voice barely above a whisper.
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
Dixon sat up straight. “What? No! No, Mara!”
She refused to meet his eyes. She looked around the table. “Rest assured, we did not intend it, but . . . but Dixon and I—” She choked back a sob. “The truth is that . . .” Finally, she looked again at him. A tear spilled. She wiped it away roughly.
“You love him,” Lucy said.
Mara looked down. “Yes,” she finally acknowledged, turning her gaze back up.
“And you, Dixon?”
His eyes hadn’t moved from Mara. He looked as though he wanted to reach out, to hold her, to wipe her tears away. “Yes, I love her. But we . . . understand. It is not possible for us to . . . That is, an Oathtaker may not be committed—does not marry.”
Mara fought to hold back her tears. He’d never said the word marry before. Somehow it made the whole thing even more painful.
“And why is that?” Lucy asked.
Mara lifted her head high. “An Oathtaker may not marry so long as his or her charge lives.”
“Yes, but why?”
“Because an Oathtaker may not be unequally yoked.”
“Do you know what that means?”
“Yes. That’s why I’m asking Dixon to . . . leave me.” Mara glanced his way, but he looked only at the floor.
The room went quiet. Moments later, someone chuckled. Mara looked around. It was Lucy. How could she take something so serious, so painful, as a joke? How cruel!
Lucy stifled her smile. “I am sorry. I just—” She put on a serious expression. “Mara, Dixon,” she said as her gaze shifted from one to the other, “do you know what it means to be unequally yoked? Why it’s not allowed?”
Dixon beat a rhythm on his knee. “Yes, we do,” he said as he went still. Clearly, he was angry at the woman for her apparent lack of feeling.
“I don’t think so.”
He looked up and glared at her. “What do you mean?”
“An Oathtaker takes an oath unto death to protect his or her charge. Correct?”
“Correct,” Mara and Dixon responded together.
“If an Oathtaker has a charge, that Oathtaker cannot also swear his life to another in marriage because that other person would not be subject to the same oath. It would be like yoking a—an oxen and a horse together. They don’t proceed at the same pace, move with the same gait, or seek the same destination.
“Even the Oathtaker’s own charge couldn’t take the same oath in an effort to try to be equally yoked with his Oathtaker because it would mean taking an oath to himself. And even if that was possible—and it is not, it would cause an . . . imbalance between them. The relationship would be entirely one-sided, lopsided. They would be unequally yoked. Correct?”
“Correct,” Mara and Dixon again replied in unison.
“But you two have both taken the same oath.”
Mara’s eyes opened wide. “Wh—what?”
“Unless I got the news wrong, both you and Dixon swore to protect those girls with your life and Ehyeh confirmed both of your oaths.” Lucy looked from one to the other. “Do I understand this correctly or did I get this all wrong?”
“No! I mean yes. I mean, no you didn’t get it wrong!” Mara exclaimed.
“So then, you are equally yoked.” Lucy leaned back and shook her head. “I can’t believe you didn’t know this.” She paused. “Did you even bother to read this—this—” She patted at her pockets, then pulled out a book. “Here it is. The Significance of the Oath: Rules and Exclusions,” she read from the cover. “You sent it with Basha and Therese. Did you read it?”
“I—ahhh,” Mara stuttered. She recognized the book as the one from which she learned that an Oathtaker could swear to protect more than one of the Select.
“Well, I did,” Lucy said, “and I’ve discussed what it says with Skylar. There is no mistake. It clearly provides that if two people swear a life oath for the benefit of the same of the Select and if both of those Oathtakers receive a confirmation of that oath, then—”
“Do you mean to say—” Dixon interrupted.
“I do.”
“But what if—” Mara began.
“It’s true,” Skylar cut her off. “Really, you young people should read more,” he said, shaking his head.
Mara’s mouth dropped open and her eyes widened as she stared at the scholar. If he knew how much they’d read and studied over the past months, he would never have said such a thing.
Dixon jumped to his feet. He paced. Then he turned back to Mara, dropped to his knees and took her hand.
She put her finger on his lips, then smiled and shook her head. “You don’t even have to ask!”
The room erupted in laughter and applause.
He rose, pulled her up, and wrapped his arms around her. He leaned in and lingered, his lips almost touching hers. Finally, he kissed her softly, sweetly.
“Well,” she said as she looked out at the others, “as I was saying earlier, if there’s no further business . . .” Tears glistened in her eyes.
“None!” the Council members exclaimed in unison.
“Then we are adjourned!” she said over her shoulder before kissing Dixon again.
The Counsel members all offered Mara and Dixon their congratulations. Skylar bounced Eden on his knee. Harper and Mildred took turns holding Reigna.
“I’m happy the days of Lilith are over,” Eben said to Mara as he stood at her side.
She laughed. “So am I, Mr. Taft.”
“Eben.”
“Eben,” she repeated. She looked back at Dixon who stood behind her with his arms around her. He and Piers talked.
Piers looked at Reigna with a broad smile. He stepped toward the infant, whom Mildred held, and reached for her. Reigna went to him without hesitation. Then she leaned forward, her mouth full open, to kiss him in the manner that infants do.
He wiped the slobber off his cheek. Mara, expecting him to scowl, was surprised when instead, he laughed. He turned to her. “They are beautiful, healthy girls.”
She was taken aback. She expected him to be distant and argumentative. “Thank you.”
“Listen.” He leaned in. “The truth is, I’m a softie. Especially for children . . . and beautiful young women.”
Her brow shot up.
“Hey, hey, hey!” Dixon said.
“Not to worry. I’ve no unseemly intentions. Just know that I’m on your side—though I do have a reputation to protect,” Piers added, his voice lowered. “And remember this: someone has to ask the hard questions. Someone has to resist what’s easy.” He grinned and raised a brow.
Mara smiled back. “You’re right. Thank you, Mr. Hamilton.”
“Piers. It’s Piers to you.”
“Piers,” she repeated. “Thank you.”
Some minutes later, the Council members all made their way out through the secret passages and tunnels connected to their offices. Mara marveled at the planning that had gone into the building to accommodate for such a group. She had so much to learn. Now holding Reigna on one hip, she turned to Dixon who held Eden i
n a similar manner.
“Oh, how I love you!” he exclaimed. He looked down and shuffled his feet. “I told you before that I thought I loved you from the moment you tried to send me away, but . . .” He looked back up. “But I wonder. Maybe I really loved you from the moment I first set eyes on you.”
He put his hand under her chin and kissed her. Then he leaned back and studied her closely. “And you? When did my charm get the better of you?” he asked, smiling.
She took in a deep breath. “I never thought it was possible . . . But from the moment you tried to kill me—”
“What? I never!”
“You most certainly did!” she exclaimed. “When you burst into that hut, I thought I’d never laid eyes on anyone so—so fearsome! And then you tried to kill me. I guess I just couldn’t help myself. I mean, really, how could I not love that?”
They laughed together. Then Dixon put his arm around her and kissed her again. His gaze softened.
“Well, my future Mrs. Townsend,” he said, smiling. “You will be my Mrs. Townsend, won’t you?” He tilted his head in question.
“I will,” she said, “provided—”
“Provided!” His brow furrowed.
“Provided you don’t try to kill me again.”
“I never!”
“You did!” she exclaimed, laughing all the while.
Dixon winked at her. “Are you ready to go then?”
“So long as you go with me.”
Keep reading for a sneak peek at Select: The Oathtaker Series, Volume Two
Excerpt
Select: The Oathtaker Series, Volume Two
Chapter One
Hurry. Hurry!
Stop. Come this way.
Do you see him there? There, to your left. See? Right there!
I’ve got him. I’ve got him!
Stop. No, don’t go. This way. This way! Come with me.
Watch out! There’s one behind you.
The shouts and exclamations the Oathtakers communicated to one another magically, and therefore silently, continued as the group that had left their home base earlier to search for a missing compound member, sought to respond to an invasion of their place of refuge. After moving to the camp nearly two decades earlier, the Oathtakers had used magic crystals to fortify most of its perimeter against incursions from the curious and the threatening. But a recent vicious storm knocked down portions of those protections in the surrounding hills and across the wide river that separated one side of their retreat from the outside world. Consequently, encroachments across its borders had increased over the past months, and in recent weeks, had become incrementally more frequent and dangerous.
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