Page 215 of A Winding Wave of Magic
My spirits sank. For six weeks, Caitlin had been trying and failing to help me seek the future, which had a stubborn habit of only appearing in convoluted dreams that generally only featured one person.
I twisted in my seat toward Jonathan, who was watching anxiously, half-bound to his chair.
You can do it, he mouthed, for want of our regular bond. A bond I suddenly missed, like it was a part of myself.
I turned. “You’ll have to wait until I sleep,” I told the seer. “I mostly divine in dreams. Perhaps that will change once I’m manifested, but that’s the primary place I’ve Seen the future. And those visions usually have to do with my mate.”
Senni’s upper lip curled. “That can be arranged.” He opened his mouth, but he was interrupted by another counsel member—the Australian siren.
“Dreaming under duress won’t produce anything of value,” he said. “The sirens know this, perhaps even better than seers. I will not accept any sleep that comes of a spell.”
Senni turned to Tashi. “Very well, then we will have her watched this night. But an oracle should be able to call the future. It should come to her, and not just when she cannot understand it.”
The chancellor nodded and turned to me. “Ms. Whelan, you will remain overnight for observation. I trust this will not be a problem.”
I wanted to say that yes, it damn well would be, but caught the sympathetic nod from Mbotu, the one Council member who seemed to be on my side.
I swallowed. “Um, sure. I can do that.”
He nodded and reached for a gavel. “Very well. Then we will conclude for the day. You may leave?—”
“Wait,” interrupted Senni. “There is the matter of the girl’s history and her involvement with Mage O’Brien’sdisappearance, and possibly Mage Lynch’s as well, since he left to find her.” He glared at me. “She must be examined more thoroughly. I strongly recommend the Council take a full history from this seer. Adolescent and delinquent though she may be, she is still the closest link to these events. If she does not wish to sharethis history, then I will take it from her with the Council’s permission.”
“Objection.” Jonathan stood, shaking his body like a dog shaking off water. “She has rights, unmanifested or not.”
“Rights that are superseded by Council when it is a matter of fae safety,” the chancellor replied. “As the matter has to do with the death of at least one of our members, we must have the information.”
“Besides,” Senni sneered, “this isn’t a court of law,Jonny.”
“Fine, no objection, then. But if you touch her against her consent, a third chair will open on the Council.”
Senni stood. “You dare challenge a member of the Council!”
“It’s more than a challenge.” Jonathan was across the room and had the seer backed against the stone table in a blink. “I’ll kill any fae who threatens my mate.”
Several other magi were out of their seats, shouting for his release.
It was no use. Gallant as Jonathan was, he was no match for six of the most powerful fae on the planet.
The chancellor raised his hand, and vibrations rang through our ears once again. “Stop.”
They did. Everyone did. He didn’t give them a chance. With a flick of his wrist, Jonathan was propelled back to his seat like an arrow to its target, and Senni was left heaving against the table.
I was starting to understand why Tashi Se was the head of the whole thing. His power was effortless. And vast.
Senni stood against the table, expression searing with wrath toward Jonathan. “You’ll pay for that, pirate.”
“Dr. Lynch is correct,” the chancellor continued as if the seer hadn’t spoken. “Ordinarily we follow due process when it comes to opening another creature’s mind. However, our bylaws allow the Council to break this precedent by a vote in the event of extraordinary need and threat. Considering two of our membersare missing, at least one is presumed dead, and that you, Ms. Whelan, may hold key knowledge, the circumstances fit the need. Therefore, we will take a vote.” He glanced down each side of the table and back, then to Senni. “All those in favor of Mage Perumal conducting a brief discovery of these events in Ms. Whelan’s memory?”
Up and down the table, several of the magi glanced at one another. One by one, their hands went up. Only the shifter, Mbotu, and the Australian siren kept theirs down.
Chancellor Se nodded. “A majority has been reached.” He held out a hand and mumbled a short spell. A gust of wind wrapped around my body and tightened like a rope around the chair, effectively binding me in place. One just like it wound around Jonathan’s chair as well.
“Tashi,stop,” Jonathan snapped behind me. “This is illegal, and you know it. You cannot bind a fae against her will!”
“This law only applies to manifested fae,” the chancellor said calmly. “Ms. Whelan is but a novice.” He nodded at Senni.“Mage Perumal, you may proceed.”
My heart gave a loud thump as the seer approached me, lips curled with satisfaction.
