by Petra Landon
“The First Wizard” he muttered, half under his breath. Her name kept coming up in conjunction with the Oracle. This astonished Raoul — the sister expected to be relevant to the events was her twin.
Faoladh read the questions on his face. “He was close to Esmeralda and considered her his protégé. Scot introduced her to me years ago, when she was still at the Guardian Academy.”
Raoul’s eyebrows shot up.
“I was never clear on their exact relationship” Faoladh declared with the frankness of a Chosen with several lifetimes, for whom relationships were fleeting. “She was certainly dear to Scot and remained a friend till the end. They believed in the same causes, whereas his wife was all about Wizard glory and Guardians conquering the world. If I remember correctly, Scot knew her first. It was Esmeralda who introduced him to her twin.”
Astonished by this insight into the complicated ties that bound the Wizard twins, who continued to wield enormous influence over the future of the Chosen in differing ways, Raoul had to revise his perceptions about them. Sienna’s recollection of the past had persuaded him that Lady Bethesda’s fury at her husband had been driven, in part, by his vote to Lady Esmeralda for First Wizard. But now, he wondered if her issues with her sister, and her husband, went deeper. More than ever, he was convinced that the past held the keys to what was unfolding in the present. Unless they were able to untangle old history and sort out prior animosities, it would cast a long shadow on their future.
He probed some more. “What role did the First Wizard play in the Oracle’s visions?”
Faoladh met his gaze squarely. “When his wife and sister-in-law were going head to head as candidates for First Wizard, Scot told me that Esmeralda would need my support on the Council.”
Raoul drew a quick breath, reminded of the First Wizard’s disclosure that it was the Oracle who’d encouraged her to stand for the position of First Wizard. “He knew that his wife would lose.”
“More than that, Raoul” his companion interjected. “He knew that Esmeralda’s relationship with the Guardians would sour after she became First Wizard. She didn’t need an ally on the Council, she required one outside it.”
Raoul studied his companion as Faoladh shared more. “At the height of the election, I teased Scot that he was heading for a fall, having to choose between his friend and his wife. He said something extraordinary I have never forgotten. Scot remarked that it was beyond his ken to change Bethesda’s destiny, while it was yet in his power to ensure that his other loved ones were protected from the vagaries of fate.”
As the Alpha chewed on the Seer’s eye-opening admission to his friend, it struck Raoul that, as with Faoladh’s quest for the Council, the Oracle had gently steered the First Wizard towards her destiny, even making sure that his protégé’s burden was mitigated by the presence of a powerful ally by her side.
“There is another bit you deserve to know, Raoul” Faoladh confessed bluntly “I can’t be sure that The Prophecy is Scot’s unfinished prediction from before, though my gut says so. However, I am sure of this. Scot knew he was on borrowed time when he wrote the Seer’s documentation for his last prophecy. It is also probable that the realization is what pushed him to make The Prophecy in the first place, at the height of the fraught election for First Wizard. That would explain the brevity of the depiction — the man I knew would never place any names on official record if there was even an iota of ambiguity about the future in his mind.”
Raoul contemplated his companion. The adumbrations seemed to come fast and furious today. “What makes you sure the Oracle knew that he was on borrowed time?”
“A month before Chicago, I received a package from him — a sealed envelope addressed to Sienna. In his note, he asked me to hold on to it. I was to give Sienna the letter when the time was right. I didn’t think much about it then. But looking back ... Scot knew the end was nigh.”
Here was the first definitive evidence that the Oracle had known of his impending death. Until now, it had been pure conjecture.
“You’ve kept tabs on Sienna?” Raoul asked.
“Didn’t need to. Esmeralda would never allow any harm to befall her” Faoladh said simply.
Faoladh, witness and privy to much of the ancient history at the heart of this puzzle, was slowly stripping away the veil to reveal the past to him. But for the first time, it hit Raoul that the Alpha Wyr was not an unbiased bystander to the events they probed. Lady Esmeralda’s difficulties with the Guardians was not the only reason she had turned to Faoladh for assistance with her newly resurrected twin’s mischief. Faoladh’s extraordinary bond with the Oracle had played a significant part in his enduring alliance with the First Wizard.
“Why now, Faoladh?” Raoul asked baldly, wondering why his Alpha had waited so long to reveal past history pertinent to their investigation.
The Wyr sighed. “All I had before were my suspicions, based on a few unlikely coincidences and the confidences of a friend. Scot was an intensely private man, Raoul. He would never want intimate details about his family to be splashed before all Chosen. And I could not start an investigation, with such far-reaching consequences, based off a hunch. But when Esmeralda came to me with the extraordinary news, that Bethesda might be alive, I had the excuse I needed to start digging into the past and the present.”
Raoul reflected back on the meeting in British Columbia, when Faoladh had first tasked him with looking into the break-in at The Vault. It was Faoladh who’d informed him about the Seer’s last prophecy, in conjunction with the story of Lady Bethesda.
“This is why you told me about The Prophecy” he murmured as comprehension seeped in. He’d always wondered about it. Then, he’d been totally green about Wizard affairs and history, by choice for the most part. Now, he understood the context better. Raoul had speculated about Faoladh’s linking of The Prophecy to Lady Bethesda, when even few Wizards made the connection. As an example — even after they’d tied Lady Bethesda’s ambitions to her husband’s last prophecy, the First Wizard remained skeptical about the significance of the omen to her twin’s aspirations. Yet, months ago, before they’d connected the dots, Faoladh had suspected the significance.
His companion hesitated infinitesimally, almost as if choosing his words with care. Raoul frowned at it. The Alpha Wyr was not the man to hesitate. Faoladh had known, before he hopped onto a plane for Corfu, exactly how much of the past he would disclose, down to the most insignificant detail. Raoul waited, wondering what new bombshell was about to drop.
“There’s a reason I chose you to dig into Bethesda, Raoul” Faoladh admitted quietly. “When the time is right, I will tell you about it.”
Raoul, considerably shocked by the confession, nevertheless kept his own counsel. He’d always surmised that the task was Faoladh’s way of pushing him to engage with the wider Chosen, especially the Wizards. Faoladh was one of only two people in the world aware of the grisly details that prompted his animus towards the Spell Casters.
He probed delicately. “You suspected that Lady Bethesda was alive?”
“No, not that. But when I heard that she might be, I thought it was a sign. Everything links back to the Council of Chosen — the unfinished prophecy, my involvement with Scot, Esmeralda’s rise to be a force in our world and even Bethesda’s bitterness and the destructive path she’s on.”
Raoul understood now. “You made sure I knew about The Prophecy, just in case there was a connection to Lady Bethesda.”
“And you found the connection” Faoladh ratified. “Your investigation, for the first time, tied her to Scot’s last prophecy. Here was the first hint that my hunch might be true. If The Prophecy is a continuation of the one that predicted the Council of Chosen, there’s only one way to confirm it. But I also knew that, given their deteriorating relations with Esmeralda, the Guardians would play hardball with the official records.”
His gaze sought Raoul. “If anyone could wrest the records from the GCW, it was you.”
The
two Shifters contemplated each other: one, immensely relieved that his gambit had paid off and the other, beginning to comprehend that the past was even more intricately involved than he’d guessed.
“Now what?” Raoul asked eventually.
“You continue what you’re doing. I will back you in whatever course you choose to pursue. You have more than proven yourself.”
Raoul was blunt. “How much should I share with the team, Faoladh?”
“As much as you think they must know to make headway in the investigation” the Alpha Wyr said promptly. “The only matter you must keep to yourself is Scot’s letter. I don’t want Sienna to know about that until it is time. Everything else, I leave to you to decide.”
While Raoul came to grips with Faoladh’s extraordinary unveiling of the past, back in the village, Nandini and Sienna walked down to their local bakery to order fresh pastries for everyone. As the baker packed their order, the sisters strolled outside to feast their eyes on the vista of shimmering water and the towering mountain guarding it, as the village awoke to a new day.
Nandini stole a glance at her sister. “Tasia worries you.”
Sienna gave a start, not expecting the observation. “I’m fond of her” she said.
“She can take care of herself, Sienna.” Nandini chose her words with care. She’d been witness to Tasia’s powers up close but had been sworn to secrecy about it.
“And the Pack will never allow anything to harm her” she adjured, reminded of who had asked her to keep Tasia’s magic under wraps.
To her surprise, Sienna’s expression altered subtly, giving Nandini her first clue.
The Indian Ancient was astounded by what she read on her sibling’s face. “It’s the Shifters that worry you” she muttered, not sure why they made Sienna uneasy. From what she’d observed, the Pack watched over their charge assiduously.
Sienna grimaced. “Two months ago, the Pack was rampant with rumors about the Alpha and Tasia.”
Nandini’s brows drew together in confusion, wondering why the prospect of a romantic entanglement, between the enigmatic Shifter and his Wizard charge, alarmed Sienna. The Pack gossip did not surprise her. Such a coupling would be extraordinary in their world and was bound to make waves among Chosen of all stripes.
“You don’t approve of the Alpha?” she inquired hesitantly.
The question seemed to startle Sienna. She blinked, as if the answer astonished her. “I like him very much, Nandini, more than I’d expected to. More significantly, I trust him. He’s the only reason I’m a part of this investigation. If not for him, I’d be locked up tight in a Wizard safehouse somewhere.”
Nandini, who suspected much the same, was nevertheless taken aback by the passion in Sienna’s admission. She was in agreement with her sister. Nandini had reason to be grateful to the Alpha too. Without him, she might have succeeded in extricating herself from her mother’s clutches but would never have been on the team digging into Lady Bethesda. And, Nandini very much wanted answers about the past.
Sienna gave voice to her concern. “But who watches over her, when Tasia is not Pack anymore?”
Baffled, the Ancient stared at her sister.
“The rumors were strong, Nandini” the Wizard explained. “That is why Jason talked to Duncan about it.”
Nandini shook her head. “Duncan agreed to discuss the Alpha’s love life?” she said incredulously.
Sienna’s eyes widened. “Love life?” she repeated, stunned by the suggestion.
The remark had her sister quizzing her. “We’re talking about Tasia and the Alpha, right?”
A speechless Sienna nodded mutely.
Nandini studied her sister. “Have you not observed the undercurrents between them?” she attested softly. “He watches her when he thinks no one’s looking and she pretends to not see it.”
Sienna goggled at her half-sister, flabbergasted by the hypothesis.
“What?” Nandini asked.
“The rumors whispered of trouble between them, Nandini. They hinted that her position in the Pack was under threat. That’s why we went to Duncan.”
Nandini frowned, recalled to a clearing in the forest where she slumped on the ground, exhausted from giving her mother’s Vampire guards the slip. Tasia had teamed up with both Duncan and the Alpha to assist her, in the process revealing powers more powerful than the low Magicked Wizard she was purported to be. But what Nandini remembered vividly from the interlude was how in sync the Shifters and the Wizard had been. Since then, her suspicions had only been sharpened by her daily observations at the Lair. But Nandini said no more on the topic, careful to tread lightly on unfamiliar ground.
“I must have read it wrong” she submitted to her sibling.
For a moment, Sienna was silent. Such a union would set her mind at ease about the Wizard from her vision. Yet, Sienna knew that an entanglement between those two would be akin to a miracle.
“I wish you were right, Nandini” she confided. “Nothing would please me more. But Raoul Merceau’s heart will never beat for a Wizard.”
“Why such bad blood?” Nandini was puzzled. Any union between a Wizard and a Wyr would be news in their world, but Sienna seemed to be suggesting that it was something personal that held the Alpha back from such a coupling.
“He was mistreated by one.”
“Mistreated?” the First One repeated.
“Tortured, more like” Sienna explained soberly. “To do with his mixed heritage.”
Nandini caught her breath. Stunned by the disclosure, she was nevertheless still convinced of her own reading of affairs between the Alpha and the Wizard. But she sensed that Sienna was perturbed by the perceived conflict between the two. Nandini pondered how to put her sister’s mind at ease, without any reference to romantic feelings.
“Whatever his personal opinions, he’s a man very conscientious with his responsibilities” she asserted.
“Yes” Sienna concurred without hesitation.
“Then, he will not turn his back on Tasia, Sienna. Don’t worry so about her, hmm? We have far graver challenges before us.”
Her sibling reached forward to envelop Nandini in a hug. “Whatever happens, I’m glad to have you by my side” she said softly, the words coming from the heart.
Away from the bakery, down by the water, the subject of their discussion was engaged on a different quest — attempting to wring information from Hawk. For once, he was proving to be singularly recalcitrant.
“Why is Evgeny getting into so many fights?” she asked baldly, giving up on the subtle approach. It was not going to work. Hawk, generally indulgent with her, was being intractable and evasive on the topic.
“Young Evgeny’s always been a brawler” he announced cheerfully.
Tasia came to a stop, to pin him with a glare.
“He’s a Shifter, Tas” Hawk remarked limpidly, with all the innocence he could muster. “We love to brawl. You should know that by now. You live at our Lair.”
“Hawk” she warned him. “What is going on?”
He gave up on the attempt to divert her. Hawk had not expected Tasia to pick up on this, but now he tried a different tactic. One guaranteed to work with her.
Hawk winked at her, a mischievous smile flashing across his face. “Someone’s heading for a fall. Rest easy, it’s not anyone who needs your sympathy. He’s begging to be taught a lesson and he will get what he deserves soon.”
Tasia frowned, confused by the cryptic statement.
Hawk sobered up to deliver a warning. “Don’t worry about Evgeny and stay out of it. It’s Pack business and likely to get very messy before we sort it out.”
Tasia was somewhat mollified by his words. If it was Pack business, she wanted no part of it. Yet, Evgeny’s injuries troubled her. Somehow, she couldn’t shake the feeling that it had something to do with her.
“Now, Tas.” Hawk interrupted her thoughts, shrewdly recapturing her attention. “About what Luis Beltran told Sara …”
�
�There have been whispers for a decade about a non-Clan girl in the Venice Nest. Sándor and I can attest to it” declared Antonio Mosconi.
Faoladh’s investigators had surprised Tasia. Her magic sense recognized that only one of the investigators was Wyr. In addition, the two men were a study in contrasts. The younger and cockier Italian Shifter was tempered by a burly older First One. Where one seemed to enjoy the sound of his own voice, the other was a man of few words. One spoke with extravagant gestures and the other was content to let his silences communicate more than any words. Yet, they seemed completely in tune, their differing personalities serving as foils for each other. Since they worked for Faoladh, she was confident that they were the best in the business. The Alpha Wyr had a reputation for keeping himself apprised of every major whisper and rumor among the Chosen. That pointed to Faoladh having a network of the very best keeping their ears to the ground.
“How did she come to live with the Nest?” Faoladh was intrigued. The Vampires, as a group, were as clannish as they came. They were not known to let in outsiders into their Nests, let alone the inner sanctorum. Venice was the Lombardi Master’s seat of power and a hotbed of political intrigue and insider rivalry, like most Blutsauger courts.
“Some connection of an ally to the Master” Mosconi responded.
“What kind of Chosen is she?” Jason LaRue asked.
This time, it was the second investigator, Sándor Kovács, who responded.
“My sources say she has either First Ones or Wizard blood.”
Sienna sat up straighter, her eyes going to her half-sister.
“Any idea who this ally of Monseigneur might be?” Roman interjected.
Again, it was the older Chosen who answered him.
“Investigating the Blutsaugers is always a challenge. As you know, they do not open up to outsiders, Eitirok’TorElnor. Neither Antonio’s nor my contacts in the Nest were willing to discuss the ally, except to hint that the relationship is an old and valued one. My guess is Monseigneur put the word out that this association of his is off limits.”
