“Damn,” I muttered, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. “That’s strong.”
Tavlor only smiled and tipped his drink back.
A knock echoed on the newly replaced door.
Our drinks vanish. Tavlor threw his shield into place. He looked at my father and nodded. My father flicked his wrist towards the inner door and it opened.
Two men strode inside. I recognized them from my trial, though I couldn’t remember their names. I tensed, I couldn’t be sure if their presence here was a good thing or a bad thing.
“We are here to agree to your terms,” one of the men announced. His tone was indifferent, hard to decipher. “There will be a new trial, with a congregation of our peers. No Council members will decide on Ava Melfi’s fate.”
A scroll appeared in his hands and he extended it out to me. My eyes widened. I wanted to know what the scroll said but I didn’t know if it was magicked to do something if I touched it.
I glanced at my father. Maybe he would be able to guide me on what to do.
He nodded encouragingly.
I inched forward and Tavlor altered the shield so that I could take the scroll, swallowing the polite need to say, ‘thank you.’
This was practically a death warrant if it went the wrong way.
The man inclined his head, then turned to leave.
“Take Rasslor with you,” my father called after him.
I startled. I’d all but forgotten about Rasslor crumpled unconscious on the floor beyond the couch.
The two men glanced at Rasslor, and then hesitated. With a glance at each other, they gathered up their fallen comrade and pulled him out through the door.
My father took the decree from my hands and scanned it. “We have two days to prepare and it says you are to stay in the Council buildings, under guard.” He glanced at Tavlor. “I suppose that means you both stay here, with me.”
Tavlor nodded and then pulled me into him, holding me tight and burying his nose in my hair. It was a strong show of emotion I hadn’t expected from him, especially not in front of my father.
We’d won the first round, but the war was far from over.
I burrowed into Tavlor’s strength and sighed, closing my eyes against the uncertainty of the rest of the world. I let myself relax. I gave myself this time to enjoy the fact that we were still alive and well.
For now.
“I will go and make arrangements for our accommodations,” my father said.
I murmured in acknowledgement, and without another word, he strode from the room.
I pulled back and looked up at Tavlor. “So, we fight,” I said. It wasn’t a question, and yet, I needed to hear him clarify it for my own sake.
He nodded once. “Yes, we fight,” he said. “No more running, no more hiding.”
I smiled up at him and burrowed back into his
arms. I wasn’t sure what the future held, but it was a start.
LATER THAT DAY, SAFE in the bedroom my father had created for me, I wrote another letter to my sisters.
Dearest girls,
The Council has agreed to give me a second trial and we are preparing for it now.
I miss you and love you, and look forward to seeing you again.