“My third point is that two or three witnesses must be called to reinforce any statement. Up to this point, I have not heard from any who brought this information. That is all I have to say.” He sat down.
Chancellor Abtalion joined his hands near his mouth. He looked at Laisha, gave her a curt nod, and leaned forward. “We have the danger of the Bandit Rebellion from the chancellor of Dos-Aralon. We have the information by Thealos Quickfellow. The records of Avisahn confirm the story. The Law has been met.”
“That barely satisfies me,” a council member objected. “When are a Human, a Kilshae, and a book considered competent witnesses?”
Heat surged up Thealos’ neck into his cheeks.
“You are partly correct,” Laisha said. “The witness of a human is rarely sufficient to lift our arm in war. But Thealos Quickfellow is not attainted, and therefore neither is his testimony.”
“Let him speak then!” several shouted.
Laisha held up her hand. “It is my desire that we act quickly. The Forbidden magic that is being used down in the Shoreland is the same magic that destroyed the Empire of Sol-don-Orai. Even you, Noblerin Nortinyoung, would remember that. I know the threats and I know the risks. I am asking that…”
Bells began chiming through the city of Avisahn. The brash echoes jarred the stillness of the midafternoon sky. The bells in the city never rang save under the direst circumstances.
Thealos watched in shock as Crimson Wolfsmen and Warders stormed into the hall of the Sunedrion and formed a ring around Laisha. She looked bewildered as they escorted her through the nearest doorway. He saw her mouth moving but could not hear her over the cries of panic erupting in the room.
Not even Abtalion could calm them.
“Come!” A hand clamped over Thealos’ arm. It was one of his Wolfsman custodians. He seemed to be hearing something in the air that Thealos couldn’t. A rush of sweet-smelling magic filled the air.
“Quickly!”
Several other Wolfsmen appeared, forming a protecting ring around Thealos and hurrying him forward to run.
“What is happening?”
“Just run, lad!”
*
The palace brimmed with soldiers from the Silvan army. Warders stood at each entrance, nodding to every person who tried to pass them.
“He’s safe? Good, her Highness was anxious.”
Thealos tried to see who had said that, but his escorts shoved him ahead and through a set of iron-shod doors leading into a stairwell down. Blue stones in the wall inlets offered pallid light. Thealos’ heart hammered in his chest. The steps leveled off down a narrow corridor. He felt the whispering of strong Silvan magic churning through the stone before him. As they turned a corner, they were met by searing blue light that reminded him of the tunnels beneath Landmoor. The light was blinding in its intensity.
“Go through.”
Thealos stepped through the warding and the light muted.
Laisha was pale, her eyes shadowed. Lucyanna was at her sister’s side, her little hands gripping the folds of her sister’s skirts fiercely. Warders stood throughout the comfortable chamber, some conferring in sharp whispers. He felt them brimming full of earth magic.
A Crimson Wolfsman spoke to Laisha and turned when Thealos entered. It was Xenon, the man who had dragged Thealos across the Shoreland at the behest of Elder Nordain. A pit of fury and resentment welled up in his stomach.
“What is he doing here?” Thealos said. “What is going on?”
Laisha closed her eyes, shaking her head as if she were in a dream.
Xenon turned and faced Thealos. His face was livid, dripping with sweat as if he had run a great distance. He wiped his mouth on a gloved hand and it trembled. “Her Highness is here for protection.”
A chill formed inside Thealos’ stomach.
“A thing of Forbidden magic entered the forest south of Avisahn before dawn. We began hunting it at once, but it was swift. Too swift for us. It came straight to the city, to the heart before we could get near enough to ring the bells. It…it stopped…at a home. They’re dead. All of them. They’re dead.”
Laisha opened her eyes and stared at Thealos in horror. “I’m so sorry, Thealos.”
Chapter XI
"It was my home?” Thealos was amazed he could shove the words past the thickening in his throat.
Xenon nodded once.
It did not feel real. It was some hoax—a trick. Thinking of it was worse than a boot in the ribs. He heard his heart pounding like drums in his ears. His family was gone? Even little Arielle? No, that could not be right. Something would have stopped it. Something should have stopped it.
Thealos turned away from them as the tears stung his eyes. He blinked them away, trying to wrestle free beneath the weight of his feelings. Correl and Sorrel….his brothers…sweet Arielle.