“Not so bad?” I asked. I lifted my hand to gesture at him. “Coming from a man who’s spent his life travelling to every known realm. You have no idea what it’s like to be isolated, locked up. I want so much more than this, Tavlor. I want a job, friends, a husband, children. I want someone I can count on, who didn’t have to be put in a position to choose between two different duties. How is that meant to happen from inside this bubble?”
Tavlor’s jaw tightened and I wondered if it had something to do with the husband and kids comment, or the duties dig. I didn’t mean for him to be hurt, but I couldn’t keep things bottled up to make him feel better.
Of course, if it was my choice, he would be the one fathering my babies and making me his forever partner. But now didn’t seem like the ideal time to talk about that.
“You’re not safe anywhere else, Ava,” he said. “None of you are.”
I set my jaw and met his iron gaze. “I am coming back with you,” I said, flaring my nostrils. “You can take me in as your bounty. Tell them to call everyone else off, and then we will convince them to give me a proper trial.”
Tavlor sat back. He blinked, as though surprised by the ease of my plan.
“I’m listening,” he said.
I gave him my full attention. “We all know that charging me with treason is utter rubbish,” I said. “If I can get them to agree to give me a proper trial, in front of a larger audience of my peers, then we have a chance to get all this craziness to stop.”
“And for you to be able to move freely within the magical realms,” Tavlor finished for me. “So, you aren’t stuck in one place, be it the magic realm or this one.”
And that was what I wanted. To be able to have a normal life.
“Yes.” I nodded, then quickly added, “For me and my sisters.”
Tavlor’s lips twisted. “We haven’t found anything to help us yet,” he said, throwing out his arms almost helplessly. But helpless and Tavlor were two words I couldn’t pair together in a sentence. “There is nothing in the scriptures... or the ancient books...” He shook his head.
“Well, actually, there is...” Bella said quietly.
We all turned towards her.
“Have you found something?” I asked her, surprised she hadn’t said anything yet. All thoughts of Tavlor and feelings for him vanished. I would get back to those later.
“Well... yes. I think I have. Let me go get it.” Bella pushed to her feet and hurried off to her room.
Tavlor turned to look at me. “Did you know about this?”
I shook my head. “No. Not at all. Bella tends to be quite secretive, but she’s incredibly intelligent and has an incredible memory for books and knowledge. If she says something’s there, I believe her.”
What had my incredible sister found, or come up with?
She rushed back in holding a book that looked ancient.
“What is it, Bella?” I asked, my gut tightening with worry at the look of concern on my sister’s face.
She stepped forward and sat back in the chair, holding the book in her lap.
“This is a book on the history of the Witches and Warlocks in our family,” she said, carefully opening the cover. “They go into a lot of detail on the Council as well and why they were formed in the first place.”
“Really?” Tavlor’s voice held nothing but surprise.
I glanced at him. “Aren’t there history books about the Council?”
He shook his head. “No. That’s why we’ve been struggling so hard to find information for you to go forward. So, little is known about the Council and their origins, their rules. They don’t give anyone any knowledge that could be used against them, and they keep most of the archives in their own private realm.”
I pursed my lips together and snorted out my nose.
Not surprised. Bloody hypocrites.
I turned my attention back to my sister. “Go on, Bella.”
“Well, it seems that the Council was initially voted in every ten years,” she said. Now that she was talking about information, facts, she grew more confident. “Like any normal sort of government.” Her gaze slid towards Tavlor. “They were also a mixture of Fae, shifters, and warlocks,” she added.