AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Why are you here?” Cornelius finally asked. “It is not like you to come here willingly.”
“I require a meeting with the Great Council, and as you know, being neither a Principal nor Elder, I cannot just request it.”
“You can petition them at any time,” Cornelius said offhandedly as he poured himself and his wife a glass of wine.
“Yes, Cornelius, I know that.” The beleaguered patience of Cord made Cornelius’s head rise. “I need them sooner rather than later. Petitioning them for a meeting is...later than I would like.”
“The great Castor, Cord Ivanov, needsme?” Cornelius mocked him as he took a drink. “Thatis why you are here. You wantmeto call for them?”
“It is rumoured that you have their ear.”
“I have more than their ear,” Cornelius said smugly, but a sharp look from his wife made him stop talking.
“Indeed?” Cord watched him and then looked to his mother. “What are you planning?” he asked them softly.
“Nothing.” Delilah approached her son and tugged his hair, which was curling into his nape. “You need to cut your hair, my son,” she told him with a gentle smile.
“I do, but I have been busy.” Cord smiled back at his mother as he caught her hand and withdrew it from his hair. “And your tricks to make me lose track of what I want stopped working when I was four years old, mother.”
Delilah laughed delightedly. “You were always a quick child. Cornelius will call for one or two of the Great Council, but you must tell him first what you want with them.”
“Blackmail?” Cord considered his mother curiously.
“Now who is being dramatic?” Delilah scoffed. “It’s called negotiation, my son, and you cannot have everything you want just because you are my son. Give and take.” Delilah turned and smiled at Cornelius as she extended her hand to her husband, who took it appreciatively and placed a kiss on her knuckles.
“Give and take?” Cord watched them both. “You meanIgive andyoutake?”
Delilah laughed as she placed her hand on his robes. “You would think this was new to you, Cord.” She shook her head as her light laughter made Cornelius smile.
“I need to see the Texts,” Cord told them through a clenched jaw. “If you could be so kind,father.”
“Why would you need them?” Cornelius asked curiously, his eyes lighting up at the unusual request. No, it was more than unusual, it was almost unheard of for any Akrhyn to see the Texts. “There are copies in the libraries of the Castors. In fact, I think we have a copy in our library.”
“I need the originals.” Cord smiled tightly.
“Why?” Cornelius asked as his eyes narrowed on his oldest son.
“Because I asked nicely?” Cord shrugged with his hands in front of him.
“This does not suit you,” Cornelius said quietly as he watched him.
“What? Asking nicely?” Cord smiled at his adoptive father with no humour.
“Asking.” Cornelius walked behind his desk as he glanced over to his wife. Cord did not miss the tiny nod of Delilah’s head as she resumed her needlepoint. “Very well, I can put a call in to one of my friends on the Great Council. Now what do I get?”
“How about abest dadplaque?” Cord asked as he watched the Elder closely. Cornelius laughed loudly as he reached for his writing pen. “You are a funny male. I think other Akrhyn forget what a funny,funnymale you are.” His look was hard as he regarded his son. “Why do you need them?”
“A spell.”
“What spell?”
“A complex one.”
Cornelius stopped himself from shouting, and he was not amused to see the laughter in Cord’s eyes that the effort to do so was considerable. “I want Sloane back here.”
“No,” Cord answered sharply.
“They are corrupting him.”
