Deception of the Magician (Waldgrave Book 2) (9 page)

By doing this my family will no longer have to be—       

This isn’t the first time such a proposal has come before the Council. How is yours any different?

Lena looked up towards the back of the hall, where the comment had come from. She tried not to look nervous, but was kicking herself for not researching better. The idea was too good for it to not have occurred to someone before, and now she had no idea what had actually been proposed in the past. Still, she was betting she could offer more than anyone had previously. Trying not to stutter, she skipped ahead a few note cards and answered the question.

Now is the perfect time to launch a search for several reasons. First and foremost, because you have me, and I have a vested interested in finding it to gain my own freedom. Legend says that only a male of my family can open it, and I’ve done a lot of research and most historians seem to believe this to be fact. While only a male can open it, however, the markings on the portal can be seen by anyone in my family. The encounter my mother had with the portal proves it as fact. I can aid in finding it, but I pose no threat to opening it.

She let her words sink in; many of the Council members were looking at each other and seemed to be involved in quiet conversations. Lena waited politely. Master Daray was starting to go red in the face; Griffin was frowning slightly and seemed to be in a sort of angry disbelief. Lena was going to be sleeping with the door locked that night; she might move her cot to Howard’s room just to be sure. A tall, broad man a few rows back jumped in with a question.

And how do you propose to find it?

Lena searched through her cards. 
Over the past week I’ve been reading over a few things. First, the correspondence that took place between Benjamin Collins and the Council upon his confirmation that he believed the portal had been found by my mother.

Lena pulled out the map that had been folded up in her pocket and displayed it before the Council. She had carefully traced the path Ben Collins had taken when he had tried to bring the portal back in red marker, using the postage marks as clues; it started in Ecuador and snaked up to Kansas, where the path dead-ended.

The second thing I’ve been researching, which I haven’t yet fully understood, is something I found written in one of the older Silenti texts possessed by my grandfather about something, a descrying process, called Reperio, where one Silenti can trace the path of another by living through his footsteps. It’s supposed to be especially strong between family members, and Ben Collins was my grandfather. Of course, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to do it or not, but I’m willing to try. According to the text, if I can establish a strong enough connection with the way he was living, I might even be able to know where he was and what he saw when he died.

The room plunged into silence again, and everyone was engaged in quiet conversations about the implications of what she had just said—she might be able to identify the killer, and that alone could be a very strong lead about where to look for the portal. Lena allowed herself a small smile and looked over at Howard for the first time since she had started speaking. He wasn’t smiling; in fact, he was looking very concerned. After another minute had passed with no more questions, Lena decided it was time to wrap up before anyone started chewing her for details.

I haven’t worked out a lot of how this could happen, but I’m hoping to give a more detailed proposal nearing the end of this year’s Council. I was hoping to include a team of around fifteen or twenty individuals and start the search as soon as possible…maybe even immediately following this Council session. Until then, I leave it to your consideration.

She took her seat next to Howard, and the moderator called for further new interests. When there were none, the Council was dismissed until Monday morning.

Instead of sitting behind his desk, Howard was standing in front of it. Lena was sitting in her usual chair. She had never seen Howard look so severe. “This is not a game.”

“I know.”

Howard frowned deeper, shaking his head. “I don’t think you do, Lena. This is not the rosy, happy-ending situation you’re acting like it is, and you need to stop acting like the world will suddenly right itself for your behalf.”

Lena twisted uncomfortably in her chair. “I’m not. I understand it might not fix all the problems, but—“

In a hurried tone, Howard cut her off. “You’re not going. I prohibit you.”

“Why?” Lena raised her voice. He was being unreasonable. “And why are you being such a jerk about it?!”

“Because you don’t seem to realize that you’re taking your life in your hands every time you go outside! And because too many people have already died in the name of this religion, Lena! Do you ever stop to think about the fact that every living person who is related to you is in this house, and there are only three of them? Do you ever think about the fact that almost the entirety of the rest of your family 
within memory
 has died over this portal and the conflict that surrounds it?” Howard had started out yelling, but now he was almost whispering. There was a pained look in his eyes. “If you go, you won’t come back. You’re not going.”

Lena was caught between the sadness in Howard’s eyes and the anger that she felt in her own heart; he couldn’t stop her from doing this. She wasn’t going to spend her life trapped at Waldgrave because Howard thought she would end up like his father. She stood up and stalked out of the room.

It’s not worth it, Lena…I can’t let you go. You’re all I have left.

She kept walking. She was doing it for both of them—when she brought it back they wouldn’t have to live at Waldgrave anymore; when she brought it back, they would be able to move wherever they wanted, and live with whoever they wanted. Howard was going to ruin it because he couldn’t let go of the past. He was the one who put the idea in her head to begin with—to find a way to make them trust her.

Lena wandered the house for a while unsure of where to go now that she didn’t have a room to herself anymore. She finally settled in the kitchen, where the staff were just starting to prepare dinner. She stomped up to Tab, who was cutting up a side of beef for stew.

“Give me the damn knife, Tab, I need to stab something.”

He handed it over without questioning her, and she started to hack away at the beef. Tab took a few steps back.

“Rough meeting?” He asked, jabbing his thumbs through his belt loops and hitching up his pants.

She glared at him. Someone grabbed her from behind and covered her eyes. “Let go, Dev, because so help me I will chop your fingers off if you get between me and that slab of meat.”

She went back to stabbing the meat into small pieces.

Devin took a step back, but kept one hand on her shoulder. “Your proposal didn’t go well? I’m sorry.”

Her stabbing took on the rhythm of her speech, accentuating every word. “The proposal went great. It’s just…complicated. It’s horrifically complicated, and even though I know how to fix it, I can’t fix it because he won’t let me fix it my way, and I don’t want to fix it his way.”

At that point Mrs. Ralston walked into the room, looked over at Lena, and then decided she was going to overlook what was happening. Lena wasn’t sure if she had spoken to Howard yet or not, but she was happy she wasn’t going to have to deal with one more rule-making adult at that point in the day.

Devin gave an encouraging smile. “Come on. Tell me what this is about.”

Lena took one more dig into the meat, burying the cleaver more than halfway deep, and sighed. She put the knife down and let Devin lead her over to the kitchen table, where he pushed her into a chair. Tab went back to cutting up the beef, but Lena had expedited most of the real work for him.

Lena sighed, examining Devin’s overly concerned expression. “Well, it’s about the portal. I’m trying to bring it back to simplify politics.”

“…Oh.” Devin looked disappointed. He sighed and looked back towards the characteristic commotion in the kitchen. “That’s your big project?”

Mrs. Ralston was still ignoring the fact that Devin wasn’t doing the work he was supposed to be doing, and several other people in the kitchen were giving them curious glances. Tab, still cutting at the meat, glanced over as frequently as he could without injuring himself.

“Yeah. You don’t think it’s big? It would change everything. The Old Faith and New Faith believers would both benefit. It might even stop a lot of the fighting that’s—“

“Sure. So that’s what you’re upset about?” His tone was off somehow, but Lena couldn’t put a finger on the emotion he might have been masking.

“Well, no…my uncle says he’s not going to let me go. He says it’s too dangerous.” Lena looked Devin over. He was hunched over a little, and even though they were sitting next to each other, he wasn’t touching her on the shoulder or hand like he usually did. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m sure it’ll work out for you.” He got up. Lena caught his hand before he could walk away.

“Really, Devin, what’s wrong?”

“Not now. Maybe later.” He pulled away and went back to his kitchen duties. Lena stood up and took a few steps after him, but he was clearly done talking to her. She looked over at Tab, who quickly averted his gaze.

“What’s up with him?” She asked.

Tab sighed and briefly looked around the kitchen before turning back to Lena. “You got him all worked up because he thought you were doing something to help us. You’re one of us, remember? You got a lot of people’s hopes up, and now we find out that your big project is all about some cock-and-bull religion that we don’t even get to participate in. Bringing that thing here won’t do us any good—in fact, if you prove it’s real, it’ll probably make the rest of them even higher and mightier than before because they’ll have something to rally around. So thanks a lot for serving our interests.”

Tab went back to his duties, and Lena was left standing in a room full of people all by herself. She wasn’t sure where to go, but she knew she needed to leave. She thought about finding Griffin, but then remembered that he probably wasn’t too fond of her at the moment for having used him. She turned and walked out of the house via the side entrance and then went around to the greenhouse. Inside, Marie was watering the flowers.

“Hey.”

Marie looked over at her with her somber, unsmiling eyes. 
Hey.

Lena sat down next to the pond.

Hard day?
 Marie asked.

Lena smiled a little. Hard didn’t even begin to cover it. 
Just something else to overcome. I think my grandfather might actually kill me this time, but that’s a whole other story. I hear you’re shipping out with the Colburns this year; I wish you luck. Mind if I ask why?

Lena was staring into the water, but when Marie didn’t answer she looked up. Marie was looking even more terrified than usual.

Marie? Are you okay?

No reason. I’m not really leaving for any real reason.

She went back to watering the flowers, but she was shaking. She was shaking so badly that she actually dropped the watering can, and when she turned around to pick it up Lena saw that she was crying. She rushed over and pulled Marie into a hug.

Sweetie, what’s wrong? It’s okay. You can tell me, whatever it is. You don’t want to go?

But Marie just continued to shake. A moment later, without looking up, she started talking. 
I’m okay. I’ll be okay. I want to go…

But Lena knew something was wrong. A ten-year-old shouldn’t have been crying the way Marie was crying. The look in her eyes…

Lena pushed Marie away from her and held her by the shoulders at arms’ length. 
Marie, what’s wrong? You need to tell me.

Marie looked away, trembling. 
I don’t want you to die.

Lena was confused. 
I’m not going to…

But then she realized the girl was staring in the direction of the covered parking, where Master Corbett’s body had been found swinging from the rafters. Marie had found the body swinging from the rafters. The look in her eyes was one of fear and horror so deep it would swallow a person whole and she would never see the light of day again. She had seen something a child should never have seen, and Lena suddenly knew it was much worse than the last ruby rays of dusk light on a man’s strangled, desperate, final expression. 
Marie, what did you see that night?

Marie lunged back into Lena’s arms. 
He killed him, and he told me not to tell. Don’t tell anyone, or he’ll kill me, too.

*****

CHAPTER 5

Lena found herself in Howard’s office for the second time that day; again, she wished the conversation that was happening wasn’t. Marie was in the chair next to hers, her eyes were red, she hadn’t stopped shaking, and Howard was kneeling before her. Lena couldn’t hear what they were saying to each other, but Marie had already told her most of the details. She had seen Master Daray knock Master Corbett unconscious and string him up. He hadn’t realized she was hiding in the shadows to avoid the commotion in the kitchen and get some fresh air, and then he had promised to kill her if she ever said it was anything but a suicide.

Howard finally stood up and looked over at Lena. He was troubled, even beyond the level of troubled he had reached earlier that day when they had fought. He sat down on the edge of his desk. “I’m not sure I know what to do with this…”

“We have to tell somebody. He has to face punishment.” Lena looked from the alarmed eyes of Marie to Howard, who was scratching behind his ear and shaking his head slightly. He sighed.

“Even if they believe her, nothing would happen to him. And that’s a big if; there wasn’t a mark on that body. Well, not that anyone checked. He’d been acting depressed and paranoid the whole Council, and his whole life was going to hell in a hand basket. It was pretty easy to believe he’d finally just ended it.” Howard rested his head in his hand.

“But you believe her, right?” Lena sat forward.

He looked up. “Oh yes. I believe her. I’ve known something was wrong for a long time, but I never thought…” Howard trailed off. There was silence for what felt like an eternity, and then Howard looked up again. “Lena, I want you to take Marie down to the servant’s quarters. Get her things and then take her to the Mason’s room. Tell them I need them to let her stay there for the time being, and tell them not to ask her any questions.”

Lena did as she was asked. When they got to the Mason’s door and knocked, it was Serena who answered.      

“Oh, Lena! Come in and stay for a while, it’s been so long since we’ve…” She looked down at Marie, who was still showing obvious signs of having cried. “Are you okay? Come here, come and sit and let’s talk about it.”

Serena ushered Marie into the room. Lena started to explain. “She doesn’t speak English, so you’ll have to use thought-speak. Howard needs for her to stay here with you for a while. She’s been through quite an ordeal, so it’s probably best if you don’t ask her any questions or leave her alone. She really won’t want to be alone.”

Serena nodded. Across the room, Greg, Hesper, and Eric were looking over with stunned expressions on their faces. Greg caught Lena’s eye. 
Does Howard need me…?

Lena shook her head slightly and then turned to Marie. 
These are my friends. They’re going to take care of you, so if you need anything just ask them, okay?

Do they know about what I said?

No. You don’t have to talk about it again. They understand.

Marie looked timidly around the room. 
Good.

Lena left and went back to Howard’s office. When she stepped inside, however, she had an urge to run and hide back in the Mason’s room with Marie. Howard had called Master Daray down, and his eyes had landed on her immediately when she walked in. His cold, dead, revenge seeking eyes were watching her.

“I take it that you’re part of this conspiracy, Eden?” He said icily.

She was. In fact, she was on quite a roll as far as bad days went, and she didn’t see her day getting better any time in the near future. She closed the door and stood rather than take the seat next to Daray’s.

Howard was grave. “Pyrallis, this is a serious offense.”

“And I’ve told you, Howard, I did it because I was afraid for Eden’s life.” Daray answered quickly, examining the nails on his left hand.

“Lena.” Howard and Lena simultaneously corrected him.

Daray looked annoyed and then continued. “I found out that he was involved in the plot to kill 
Eden
 with that Astley character, and he was threatening to do it again if I didn’t agree to combine my household as part of his own after my death by allowing Griffin back to serve as his heir. It was in defense of future generations, and surely 
enough
 of the Council will side with me to warrant this not taking up Council meeting time.”

Lena stared at her grandfather in disbelief. It couldn’t be true; there was no reason for Master Corbett to have wanted her dead to begin with. He was an Old Faith believer, and it would have been killing his own religion.

Howard gave Daray a piercing look. “We both know Corbett and Astley have never gotten along. They were practically at each other’s throats the night you announced you’d been keeping Griffin here without anyone’s knowledge, and now you expect me to believe they would have teamed up to try and murder Lena? Tell me the real reason you killed him, Daray. I’m still going to take you to trial on this one, but I’d rather do it knowing what this was all about.”

Daray cocked an eyebrow and smiled. “You’d make that pitiful little human-born testify before the Council? She’d never sleep again, Howard. She knows I have friends too numerous to count, or even keep track of. And even if you did, do you really think enough of them would believe her word against my own? Let me tell you something else we both know—this is never going to leave this room. It’s not worth it.”

Lena looked at Howard, who still had his eyes fixed on Daray. There wasn’t any way to do it without making Marie testify, and he was right: she would probably be terrified. She would live in fear the rest of her life, and Daray was almost certain to walk free regardless. She was probably already going to live in fear the rest of her life. And Master Daray was going to get away with murder.

“Does Griffin know?” Howard asked.

“Oh, I believe he has his suspicions, but like a good heir he knows to keep to his own business. They were never that close to begin with, and his loyalties were always with me.” Daray cast an obvious look at Lena as he said this. “And speaking of loyalties and keeping to one’s own business, your lack of fidelity to this family has reached a truly disturbing level, Eden. The portal belongs to me, and you have no right helping non-believers to find it. I consider your actions nothing less than theft and total betrayal.”

Lena stared at him for a moment. “I’m glad we’re on the same page.”

His face contorted in rage and he got out of his chair. Howard shot up. “That’s enough!”

Daray turned on him. “Go ahead and take it to trial, Collins! We both know what’s going to happen! I can find a hundred people willing to provide alibis about where I was that night, and I don’t care about that little atrocity—excepting the fact that she disobeyed my direct order! Take it to trial, and I guarantee you the fear will kill her for me!” He charged out of the room, slamming the door as he went.

Howard collapsed into his chair; Lena went to sit down. Even though Daray was gone, the room was still tense.

“What do we do now?” Lena’s voice sounded much smaller than she remembered it being.

Howard sighed deeply. He was getting too old for this; he looked over at Lena. “Well, what do you think?”

Lena paused. “You’re asking me?”

Howard looked around the room again; of course he wasn’t asking her, she was still just a child…but she wasn’t going to be for much longer. “Maybe. What would you do?”

Lena thought for a moment. “Is he really going to win if we take it to trial?”

“Yes.” Howard spoke without thinking, and gave a quick nod. “I’d be amazed if he didn’t.”

Lena thought about it. If they took it to trial, then, the only thing that was likely to happen was that Marie would be further scared out of her wits, and there was a good chance that the trial would further polarize the politics concerning the Daray family. If they didn’t take it to trial, Daray was getting away with murder, putting a child through a horrendous ordeal, and they were sending him the message that they were going to let him bully his way out of the situation. Lena was stuck—it was a lose-lose situation, because there was nothing that could be done that was ultimately right; the right thing was taking Daray to trial, but the right thing was also making it so that Marie would never have to see him again. She looked back at Howard; he was half-smiling.

“Not easy, is it?” He shook his head.

Lena pursed her lips, taking one last moment to think about her response before she spoke. “I think we should ask Marie what she wants to do.”

Howard nodded. He was slightly impressed. “That’s a start. Do you really think it’s a good idea to let a ten-year-old decide whether or not we should be pursuing a criminal case?”

“No, but apparently you’re okay letting a seventeen-year-old decide.” Lena smiled, and Howard gave her a sarcastic look that said he was serious. “These are special circumstances. If we decide we want to and she won’t do it, we don’t have a case, and if we decide we don’t want to do it she could go around telling people—we need her cooperation, regardless.”

Howard nodded again. It wasn’t what he would have done, but then, he didn’t want Lena to do exactly what he did. He made mistakes, just like anyone else. His father had had an adage concerning parenthood—“If you never argue with your kids, you’re not doing your job.” Raising children was about teaching them to think for themselves, not to blindly believe everything they were told. Lena could certainly think for herself.

Howard’s expression was suddenly troubled again. “What about Mrs. Corbett and her new son? They’ve certainly suffered the results of Darius Corbett’s death. So has the entire Corbett household. You wouldn’t feel bad denying them a fair trial?”

Lena thought for a moment. She hadn’t thought about them—she had been too focused on Marie. Mrs. Corbett had been so certain her husband wouldn’t have killed himself, the poor woman. But still, she thought her way was best. “The trial wouldn’t be fair anyways, and it wouldn’t change anything. Mrs. Corbett would still be crazy, the baby would still be fatherless, and their servants would still be jobless…And Daray would still win. He’s going to get away with it, no matter what.”

Her mind went back to the night where Rollin had looked at her with such disgust for what she was—a human-born living the life of a full Silenti, and acting like one too. She did act like a full Silenti, even as much as she differed from her grandfather. Even though there would always be Serafina Perrys in her life, the majority of her peers accepted her as a full Silenti even though she would never gain all of the abilities. For a human-born, she had more than she ever could have hoped for; but unlike what Rollin had said of her, Lena was advocating for Marie’s rights. She looked over and saw Howard watching her.

“Should I go get Marie?” Lena stood up.

“No, I already asked her.” Howard said, shrugging sadly.