Another soft pause, then, “I’ll pick you up in fifteen minutes. Be waiting for me, the three of you. And, Cicely, I need not tell you this is dangerous news, not only for your cousin’s health but for New Forest, for the Golden Wood, and for you.” She hung up without another word.
I turned to Regina. “Ysandra’s picking us up. Will you walk us out?” I didn’t want to be alone, even though I knew my guards would be there. I didn’t want to stand out there in the night, without someone watching over us.
Regina nodded. Lannan said nothing, but he threw on a trench coat and then turned to stare at me before sweeping out of the room, his hair golden against the black of the material.
Regina waited with us until Ysandra’s car pulled up. Luna was somber; Peyton was shell-shocked. Nobody said much of anything. As the silent snow swirled down to our feet, I wanted nothing more than for my father to show up. Even in the short time I’d known him, he had come to represent security to me, and now, once again, all of that had been stripped away.
Check took a step closer to me, leaning down. “Your Highness, is there anything I can do?”
“Learn how to ride in a car,” I said, a little churlish. Then, biting my tongue when he looked crestfallen, I let out a sigh. “I’m sorry. It would help, but I didn’t mean it to come out so…nasty. I’m just…”
“Never explain yourself, Your Highness,” was his reply.
I smiled at him then, but the smile didn’t last. I couldn’t sustain it. When we’d routed Myst, everything seemed like it was on the right track. Now everything was shot to hell again and sliding downhill fast.
Ysandra pulled up, and as Check bustled Peyton and Luna into the backseat, I leaned into the front. “Where are we going? My guards need to know.”
With a glance beyond my shoulder, she handed me a piece of paper. I glanced at it. The address was written down, but the writing was glittering and I had the feeling that it was magical, to be invisible to prying eyes not approved for such communication. I handed it over to Check, who read it, then gave a quick nod to Ysandra. The moment I was in the passenger seat, buckled up, the guards took off in a blur to meet us at our destination.
Ysandra eased out of the parking loop, stopping for a moment outside the gates for me to contact Ulean. Then we headed onto the snowy streets. She looked like she wanted to say something, but with a glance in the rearview mirror at Peyton, she shut her mouth and kept silent.
The rumbling of the engine against the muffled night was the only sound as we eased along the ice-slicked roads. I watched the street signs go by, one by one, wondering where we were going. The address hadn’t been familiar to me, but Check seemed to have recognized it.
After a time and a maze of turns, Ysandra edged into a parking lot next to a small building on the outskirts of town. A single light illuminated the front door, and there seemed to be no guards—in fact, no sign of any life around it.
“Where are we? Is Ulean here?” I was reluctant to get out of the car till Check showed up, but Ysandra removed the keys from the ignition and opened her door.
I am here, Cicely. The barriers did not stop me.
“At an area far safer than just about any you’ve ever been to. Don’t fuss. Your Elemental is here, your guards are here, and so are guards from the Consortium.”
“Where?” But she’d already gotten out of the car and was busy helping Peyton out. I decided that if Ysandra felt safe, we probably were, and cautiously opened the door. The moment I set foot into the empty parking lot and stepped out of the car, the entire landscape shifted and changed. I could see more than a dozen cars now, near ours, and not only my own guards but at least eight members of the Consortium’s elite task force, as they were called. They were really units of magical warriors, specially trained for combat situations. Highly skilled magicians, witches and sorcerers, they could stand up to the strongest of enemies.
Breathing easier, I looked around and the barriers of the illusion became clear. The lot and building were surrounded by a force field.
“From the street, this looked empty. Can anyone see us here?”
“Only if they are magically trained.” Ysandra gave me a little shrug. “You think I would allow you to walk out into a deserted lot? Come, Cicely, you know better than that.” The prim taskmistress was back. Ysandra was a pretty woman, but she looked like a librarian, behind her glasses and long skirts and stiffly pressed button-down blouses, and a chignon that hid the length of her voluminous hair. She also happened to be an incredibly strong witch, and I’d seen her strike down a group of werewolves once with no more than a single incantation.
We followed her into the building, leaving the guards behind.
The building itself was also an illusion, covering up something far grander than I’d expected. On the outside, it was a simple three-story office building, its paint fading and its brick weathered.
On the inside, however, the building belied the nondescript exterior. White marble floors, veined with green and red, gleamed, polished to a high shine. The walls were the same color as the morning sky. Benches of the same marble lined the walls, and a center counter of the same material overshadowed the entrance, with an illuminated sign that read, information.
Beyond the information desk, a staircase wound up to the second floor, and there was an elevator to the side. Ysandra motioned for us to follow her, and we passed the information counter, stopping for Ysandra to show the woman a badge. She waved us on to the right, down a hall behind the bank of elevators.
Ysandra led us through the hushed corridors. Even though they were bustling with activity—I’d never felt so much magic congregated in one place before—the sound of footsteps was muffled, and people talked in low tones. It almost felt like we were in a hospital, except there wasn’t that sterile, sick smell or the sense of worry that permeated the corridors.
I nodded. Ulean, wait for me.
Always, Cicely.
Standing back, Ysandra ushered us into what turned out to be an auditorium. There were rows of seats—much like in a large study hall—all facing the stage. But there, the resemblance to a university ended.
On the stage, a long raised table stretched out, covered by a pleated cobalt cloth that draped to the floor. Behind the table, sitting in five of the thirteen chairs, were three women and two men, all in black robes, with some sort of cobalt insignia that I couldn’t read.
Ysandra paused, then leaned down to whisper to me, “Good. All the Council Members present are favorable to you. There are three who do not approve of you and your cousin, but none seem to be here today.”
“Well, thank heavens for small favors.” I didn’t mean it to come out so snarky, but the way things had been going, I wasn’t inclined to be so favorable to anybody who didn’t like me.We edged our way down the sloping aisle, till we reached the front. There, Ysandra motioned for us to sit in the front seats while she climbed the steps leading to the lectern facing the Council.
“Your Eminences, I have brought Her Majesty, Queen Cicely, the Queen of Snow and Ice from the Cambyra nation, before you. She is also a member of the Consortium, leader of the Moon Spinners.”
I stood, not sure if I was supposed to bow or curtsey or say a word. But as I opened my mouth, Ysandra motioned for me to sit down again.
“We have a grave situation. All other questions as to the legitimacy of having royalty among our ranks must wait. For the present, the Moon Spinners are part of our organization and they need our help.”
The woman who appeared to be the head honcho gazed down at us. “We’ve heard.” When I jerked, startled, she stayed any response I might make. “Do you know who I am, Your Highness?”
I shook my head. “No.”
“I am the Mother of the Consortium, you might say. I am the eldest member of the Council. I have the final say, although the Council has a right to vote their opinion, and a majority tends to rule.” She paused. “You seem surprised that we know about the attack, but by oath, word travels, Your Highness, and the Consortium has ears and eyes every which way. We know that the former Regent of the Vampire Nation kidnapped the Summer Queen. We also know that the Blood Oracle is on the loose.”
“Your Reverence.” Ysandra motioned for Peyton to stand. “Peyton Moon Runner, a member of the Moon Spinners. Her father was killed by Geoffrey today.”
The Reverend Mother of the Consortium—that was all I could think of to call her—let out a soft murmur. She looked at Peyton. “Your father sought to protect you.” To Ysandra, she said, “What do they need?”
Ysandra looked back at me, then at the Reverend Mother. “I think…besides protection, a seer. We need to find out where Geoffrey and Leo are. We have to find Rhiannon before Leo turns her. If he tries…she is part Cambyra and we know what that can do.”
The Reverend Mother looked at us, then at Ysandra. “We shall withdraw and consider the matter. Wait here.” The five members of the Council silently stood and, making no sound other than the soft swishing of their robes, disappeared behind the stage.
As we watched them go, I turned to Ysandra. “They know far more than they let on, don’t they?”
She gave me a wry smile. “My dear, the Council of Elders probably knows what the head of the Akazzani eats for breakfast, and what color underwear he wears. The vampires think they rule this world, and we let them think that—it’s safer that way. But the real power…the real power was just in this room. The Council…they may not be as old as the vampires, or shape-shifters like the Cambyra, but the magic that flows through their veins is strong and powerful and has its roots in the very bones of this world.”
Peyton leaned forward, staring at her hands. “I barely knew him. You’d think that I’d get a chance to know him better, but no. They wouldn’t let me have even that. I’ve lost my mother and now my father.” She looked exhausted, but her tears were gone.
“Are you…” I’d started to ask if she was okay, but that was stupid. Of course she wasn’t okay. Feeling helpless, I looked over at Luna.
Luna rubbed Peyton’s shoulder. “What do you need from us?”
Peyton gave her a sideways glance. “A good bed without the fear that somebody’s trying to kill me or my friends. A stiff drink. Maybe someone to sing me to sleep.” She shrugged.
Taking her hand, Luna squeezed it tightly. “I can at least sing you to sleep. I’ll stay in your room tonight. I’m sure we’ll have enough guards posted around the house to stave off an army. Anyway…they got what they wanted.” With a quick look at me, she murmured, “Almost.”
“You don’t have to walk softly around my feelings, Luna. I know that Geoffrey wants me as much as Leo wanted Rhiannon, though for different reasons. And he’s not going to give up yet. Nor will Crawl.” Standing up, I started to pace, folding my arms across my chest. “Oh, why won’t they hurry? I have to find Rhia…I need to find her tonight.”
Ysandra cleared her throat. “They will take as long as they take. There is nothing to do that will hurry the Council.” She sat down beside Peyton and pressed a small bottle into her hand. “Take four drops of this on the tongue. It will help, but it will not dull your senses.”
As she proceeded to try to persuade Peyton to take whatever was in the bottle, Luna motioned me off to one side.
When we were away from the area, she turned to me and, in low whispers, said, “If they won’t help us, I might be able to do the job. You need a seer. While I’m not a natural-born clairvoyant, I do have a spell that might work. It requires a great deal of energy and runs to shadow magic, but I’d be willing to do it. We have to get Rhiannon back.”
I gazed at her, gauging her expression. “You’re afraid,” I finally said. “Whatever this spell is, it will work, but you’re afraid of it. Why?”
Luna rubbed the back of her neck, but all she would say was, “The price is high. But it’s a price I would be willing to pay.”
I tried to get more information out of her, but she clammed up. A noise at the back of the stage signaled the Council’s return.
They motioned for us to reconvene, and we took our seats again. After a moment, Ysandra stood and we followed suit, remaining on our feet.
The Reverend Mother cleared her throat. “In the matter of the Petros appeal for help, the Council has deemed this: We will lay the spell of Greater Protection on the house and woodland in which the members of the Moon Spinners reside. In the matter of providing a seer, we decline.”
I started to say something, but Ysandra grabbed my arm, warning me with a shake of her head to shut my mouth. She turned back to the Council.
“In the matter of the Moon Spinners’ eligibility for membership now that two of the members are royalty of a sovereign nation, we will address that after this situation is resolved. This meeting is adjourned.”
As the Reverend Mother stood and headed back the way she’d come, followed by the others, I wanted to jump on the stage, to drag her back and hammer home why we needed the seer. But Ysandra held me back, her nails digging through my turtleneck, into my arm.
After the auditorium was empty, she let out a long breath.
“Never, ever contradict the Council. They can be deadly foes, and they have long memories.” She frowned. “I’ll do what I can to find a seer on the side, someone who can divine the whereabouts of Rhiannon and Geoffrey and Leo.”
I waited for a moment but was surprised when Luna didn’t speak up about her spell. After a moment’s hesitation, I simply gave Ysandra a gracious smile.