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“Yes, that is strange…” admitted Karl.
A soft knock made them all turn towards the door. Jocelyn checked her phone, wondering if their time was up, but the person who came in wasn’t the secretary. Viggo sneaked in as quickly and smoothly as possible.
“I shouldn’t be here,” he said instead of a greeting.
“So they summoned you too,” said Max. “Have you told them anything? We were trying to agree on a story.”
“What story? You don’t need a story. Just stick to the truth and make sure you avoid any mention of the cure. I’m ninety-eight percent sure that’s the only thing they have no idea about.”
“Are you sure?” asked Karl. “They were intentionally vague. We were in there for an hour and I have no idea what they know and what they don’t know.”
“Trust me: they don’t know about the cure. I…” Viggo hesitated for a second. “I have a friend who told me all the details before the Council even summoned me here.”
Avelyn looked at Max and then at Karl, trying to guess if they knew whom Viggo was referring to, but they both seemed clueless.
“Well?” pressed Jocelyn.
“We’re in this together, you know that,” added Max.
Viggo bit the inside of his lip and hesitated a second more. It was true, they were in this together, but this person was very important to him. He would have never done anything to hurt his reputation. “All right… It’s Councilor Grimmr. Old friend of my Fyrstur. Calder and Eric grew up together and they’ve always been like brothers. He called me the moment Councilor Voinom informed his colleagues about the girl and mentioned the involvement of a dragon.”
“Okay, hold on!” Avelyn waved her hands, trying to get everyone’s attention. “How in hell’s name did they know it was you? The she-wolf couldn’t have possibly known or been able to describe you, as she only saw you in your dragon form. It doesn’t make sense.”
Jocelyn nodded her head, and Karl raised an eyebrow. They hadn’t thought about that, and now that Avelyn mentioned it, it did sound weird.
Viggo smiled broadly. The sun reflected in his golden eyes, lighting up his entire face. “Apparently, the girl said the dragon had silver scales.”
“So what? You can’t be the only silver-scaled dragon in the world.”
“I’m not. But the only other dragon with silver scales is Calder Grimmr. Since he’s out of the question, the Council immediately knew it was me.”
“Well, that sucks,” said Jocelyn, slightly amused, though the situation wasn’t funny in the least. “How do you even get the color of your scales?”
“Genetics. Unfortunately for me, silver is a rare color.”
Max shifted in his chair, trying to make himself more comfortable, and checked his wrist watch. Five more minutes. “All right, let’s forget about the colors. We’re lucky Viggo’s friend has actually done what good friends are supposed to do and warned him. We can’t say the same about Dimitri Voinom. It’s time to agree what we’re going to say in there.”
“Deny all the accusations,” said Jocelyn. “They’re ridiculous.”
“That won’t be enough,” said Karl.
“As much as I hate to say this,” intervened Viggo, “a trial is inevitable. Max, you should deny all the accusations and admit to one thing only: that you did turn Sabine Miller into a werewolf. However, that was during the war, before the peace treaty was even a concept. You did nothing wrong.”
“So far, so good, but if we are to stick to the truth, I did lock her up in the dungeon.”
“Because she killed two human girls,” said Avelyn. “It is the truth.”
“No.” Karl stood up and walked to the tall windows. The sun was slowly setting, its coppery rays sneaking between the tall buildings, reflecting in mirror glass windows and covering the entire city in a fairytale-like atmosphere. “No, no, no. We all know Max should have reported it to the Council and let the law decide Sabine’s fate.”
“Wow! You Blackmanes really are fucked up!” Viggo’s reaction was something they should have expected. It was the first time he was hearing this story, and even though he hadn’t been interested in Sabine’s past before, he had to admit it sounded exciting. And wrong.
“Yeah. You see, it’s not that simple.” Karl was leaning with his back against the window, letting the sun envelop him in its warm glow.
“Guys, we don’t have much time.” Jocelyn stood up and walked towards the door. She couldn’t hear what was happening outside, as all the rooms in the building were soundproof. Wh
en more shape-shifters had to work together, privacy could be a pain because of their acute hearing, but it wasn’t impossible to achieve.
“All right.” Viggo stood up as well and placed his hands firmly on the table, showing he meant business. “The fact that you preferred to lock up your ex-bride instead of handing her to the Council is not ideal, but what’s done is done. You’re going to admit to your mistake and make a show of telling them how much you cared about her then and how you didn’t want her to suffer even more, given that her mind was already broken. If you’re lucky, this might mitigate the consequences.”
