Elder Nelson glared toward Ezra. “That’s unfortunate.” But he nodded toward me. “And I would appreciate the additional time for you—”
“What’s unfortunate, Elder Nelson?” Ezra interrupted him, sitting next to his dad. I kept a perfectly emotionless face even when I saw him keeping the paper hidden as he scribbled out what I had written, his cheeks flushed, apparently embarrassed by his previous behavior with Elder Venclaire but not missing the look Elder Nelson had swung in his direction.
Elder Nelson’s jaw clenched at being cut off, but he stated calmly, “Elder Fergus and I have found a few of the Mages and Elementals you have as Commanders to be lacking in leadership skills, and we were informed Queen Ruckler had a few potential candidates to take their—”
“Ah, yes,” Ezra interrupted him again, and I peered at my boots to keep from laughing when Elder Nelson’s veneer cracked and his bronzed face flushed in anger, his mouth beginning to open, surely to bawl him out for being so ill-mannered to an Elder, but Ezra continued speaking, ignoring him. “Queen Ruckler did bring to my attention four possible candidates.” He bent and picked up a black duffle from the ground next to his chair, setting it on the marble table in front of him and unzipping it. “Their folders are in here somewhere.” He lifted a knife from the bag, setting it on the table, pointy end aimed at Elder Nelson. “I reviewed them yesterday, and I’ve found,” a gun was set on the table, also aimed directly at Elder Nelson, “that her…” He paused, lifting another gun, a shiny silver one not unlike my own, and waggling it at Elder Nelson, again aimed directly at him. “Damn, I’ve been looking all over for this.” That gun disappeared somewhere on his body in a blur. “Anyway, I’ve found that her assessment was correct,” he lifted out the folders, which were blatantly on top of the piled confines of his bag, “and we should transfer out the four here for these four new individuals.” He tossed the files on the table toward Elder Nelson, the Elder Mage’s face now carefully blank. “So it’s not so unfortunate, Elder Nelson, and I’m sure you won’t have any problems handling their transfers since Queen Ruckler’s already taken care of most of it, and with both of our signatures, the King’s and Queen’s, already on them, no one should hassle you.”
Oh, God. It took every ounce of willpower I had learned over the past year not to crack a smile in the silence that had trickled into our group. I mean, damn, he was good. Not only had he inadvertently threatened Elder Nelson with multiple weapons, but he had also put the Elder in his metaphorical place in the hierarchy. Although Elders had just as much clout in our society as Kings and Queens — most of the time more so — the Kings and Queens were the individuals to take the brunt of any current blowouts, and as such they were the true heads of our people…not to mention this camp.
“Are there any other immediate issues you wanted to discuss?” Ezra asked in his deep rumble, his tone pleasant as he held Elder Nelson’s gaze.
A golden eyebrow rose slowly. “No, I don’t believe so.” He glanced at Elder Zeller, then Elder Venclaire, murmuring, “It appears you two trained him well. My congratulations to you both.”
“I assure you, Elder Nelson, I’m well past my training-wheel days.” Ezra placed his weapons back into his duffle, zipping it up. “And, although they did teach me plenty, I think you’ll find I have a unique style all my own they had nothing to do with.”
Golden eyes watched him, intelligent gaze evaluating. “You’ll have to excuse me while I reserve my judgment on whether your unique style is to be taken seriously or not.” After that cool putdown, he lifted the files Ezra had tossed on the table before him. “And if Elder Fergus and I agree with what you and Queen Ruckler have decided is best for King Shadow, then I’ll handle the details of having them transferred.”
I bristled at that, my attention honing in completely on him. “Put the files down.” I had two guns aimed at him instantly. “Now, Elder Nelson.” When he only froze, again raising that eyebrow at me, my grin was pure icy bitch as I stared at him. “The gun in my right hand has silver bullets.”