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Cord looked at them all. “We need to move, we need to prepare, we need to gather our forces, but first, we need to arrest the Great Council.” With a sharp look to the Sisters, he led the Akrhyn of the Prophecy from the training room.
As they walked, Tegan felt her arm being pulled gently. She looked back and met the identical stares of the Three.
“Sisters?” she asked as they halted her progress.
“The Mark corrupts,” Ada said quickly. “It matters not how strong you are, the Mark twists the bearer’s compass.”
“Cord is strong,” Tegan protested.
“It has already begun, child,” Agatha said softly. “Ask your father why his neck is covered.”
“What did he do?” Tegan asked fearfully.
“What he did is nothing to what hecando,” Aryna said urgently. “He is strong, he is young, and he was already so talented, the Mark gives him more power. His Flare already burns too brightly. He shines from its intensity.”
“Are you saying that Cord isglowing?” Tegan asked in astonishment.
“To us, yes,” Ada said. “To the Drakhyn, he is a fire.”
“Then turn him off,” Tegan snapped. “Tellhiminstead of me,” she added with annoyance.
“We are not permitted, child,” Aryna said sadly. “We cannot interfere.”
“But you just helped us?” Tegan said to them in confusion.
“We did not tell you anything other than the time limit. The rest was known, maybe not by all but known by enough.”
“You are the three mostirritatingfemales,” Tegan said heatedly. Her fury only peeked when one of the identical triplets snorted out a laugh. “Am I permitted to tell him?” she asked through clenched teeth.
“No,” Agatha replied. “But you must be able to call him back,” she added.
“Call him back from where?” Tegan asked in frustration. “Please, justtellme what you want, and I will do it. But I need you to tell me.”
“We cannot,” Aryna repeated.
Tegan wanted to punch them. She literally wanted to bang their heads off a wall in irritation. With three identical serene looks, they walked past her, leaving her standing there no further forward in understanding.
“Tegan?” Crimson Prime Castor Garrick called to her. “Are you alright?”
Tegan looked at him and nodded even as she wiped her eyes. “I…” She shook her head in defeat. “No.”
“I heard them,” Garrick said as he moved closer. “They ask…perhaps the impossible,” he said to her gently.
“I don’t even knowwhatthey asked me.” Tegan shrugged in defeat. “They make no sense.”
“They asked you to pull him back. If,when, the time comes, be ready,” Garrick said softly as he looked worriedly up the corridor the Sisters had walked.
“Be ready for what?” Tegan asked with a cry. “Pull him back fromwhat?”
Garrick turned his attention back to Tegan. “From the Darkness.”
* * *
Tegan sat on her bed and stared at her hands. The day had begun with a training session, followed by a conversation with the Sisters, and then the disbandment of the Great Council. As the traitors were arrested and subdued, Cord had stood tall throughout. Watching everything, weighing every reaction. Her father, Leonid, had stood to his right, while her...father...Salem, had stood to his left.
It was the Elite Sentinel of the Northern Headquarters who had arrested the four remaining Great Council members. Commander Bryce had never flinched from an order his whole life. His face may have shown his surprise, but he acted on the wish of his Principal Elder, and this Principal Elder had the Three at his side.
Only one of the Great Council had protested: Council Elder Warren. As soon as he had spoken, Cord had smiled, his hand slipping into his pocket. Tegan wished she knew what his stepfather had said to him that caused him to smile or even be guided by his words, but it was not for her to ask.
