“Who?” she asked. But she knew before he answered.
“Sebastian,” Tobias said heavily. “My son.”
The air disappeared from her lungs.
“No.” The word came sharp, immediate. Her body rejected it instinctively. “He wouldn’t.”
Every eye in the chamber turned to her.
She’d been too defensive. Too fast. Revealed too much. Her father’s gaze hardened.
“He did. He was seen. Hurt members of his own House to get it,” Merrick said, disgusted.
“Why would he do that?” Kara asked desperately.
Lady Simone Navyr folded her arms. Her expression cold, calculated. “There are only two reasons to steal a Shard. To seize power... or to sell it to Vallenna’s enemies.”
Tobias Thorne shot to his feet. “My son is capable of many things,” he growled, “but he would never side with them.”
Merrick, never one to shy from a fight, rounded on him. “Then what is he doing?” he snapped. “He’s left our lands in ruin.”
“You think I know? That I condoned this?” Tobias demanded. “He’s my son, not my pawn. Sebastian has fought and killed for this realm. Nearly died for it. He would not hand over our greatest power.”
“You admit he’s capable of violence,” Simone cut in. “Perhaps more than you care to believe.”
“He is Thorne,” Tobias said fiercely. “We are bred in violence. But I do not believe he would betray us.”
Lord Galen Caldris spoke for the first time. “He already has. He betrayed us when he took the Shard. You enforce the laws he’s now breaking,” he said icily. “It is treason to remove a Shard of the Arcanth. So tell us – where did you go wrong, Tobias?”
Tobias had no answer.
Evelyn Sorrel murmured low across the table, “What if it’s the start of what was Written?”
“That is Council business alone,” Alaric snapped.
“You know as well as I do,” Galen said, “to act as if it’s true can make it so.”
A stony silence filled the room. What was Written? Kara had been right then – there had been a prophecy. Something the Council feared to name, were terrified to speak out loud. Kara’s hands shook as the conversation came back to her.
Draknor rising when they’re whole... they must remain scattered.
Had Sebastian done this because of what she’d told him? Had she set this in motion?
People do all sorts of things.
Sebastian’s own words.
Henry straightened. “What do you need us to do?”
Us?
Alaric cleared his throat and looked directly at Kara. “It is the will of the Council that you are sent to retrieve him. And the Shard.”
Kara gaped at him for several seconds. She couldn’t have heard him right.
“Father – I don’t understand,” she said finally. “House Thorne are our peacekeepers... they enforce the law.”
Tobias Thorne turned to face her. Fury rolling off him in waves. “Thorne will not raise a sword against one of its own,” he hissed.
