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‘Of course. Congratulations, Elinora.’
We all added our congratulations to Elinora, who thanked us warmly.
‘About time we had another woman on the High Council,’ Star said. ‘Well done.’
I sneaked a look at Hector, but his face was impassive. He must have known this, but he hadn’t breathed a word of it to us. Still, I guess that was his job. Fair enough.
‘Secondly,’ Aveta said, ‘following Bob’s demise, we have, of course, another vacant space in the High Council. Elinora?’
Elinora nodded and smiled. ‘The Guardians leave the election of other members of the Council to us, and we’ve decided we’d like to offer the position to you.’ She turned her head. ‘Sirius St Clair.’
Sirius stared at her. ‘What? Me?’
‘Oh, Sirius,’ Iliana breathed. ‘What an honour!’
‘But why me?’ he asked. ‘Especially now. I’m going to be walking with a cane, you said so yourself. Besides, I’ve done nothing to deserve this.’
‘We disagree,’ Kendrew said. ‘For one thing, you’re a gifted and steadfast witch. For another, we’re impressed by your plans to open a school for fae and witch children, and your determination to sow the seeds of friendship and love between future generations of our people. Plus,’ he added with a shrug, ‘you’re a St Clair. We figure it’s best to have one of you on the inside. What is it they say?’ He grinned. ‘Better the devil you know.’
‘Charming,’ Raiden said.
‘You know what I mean,’ Kendrew said. ‘I think we need one of you on our team.’
‘But why not Celeste?’ Sirius protested. ‘She’s the raven, after all.’
‘I really don’t want to be on the High Council,’ Celeste protested. ‘It wouldn’t suit me at all.’
‘And, er… Oh dear,’ Amlodd said uncomfortably, ‘don’t take this the wrong way. Thing is, you’re married to a woman who’s half witch and half fae, Sirius, whereas Celeste… Well, her husband is an ordinary human. It wouldn’t do really.’
I smothered a grin and saw some of the others were trying to hide their amusement at this statement. If they only knew!
Wulfram, however, didn’t look amused at all. ‘Phoenix Tremayne was married to an ordinary human,’ he reminded them. ‘If it was good enough for the greatest leader the High Council has ever had, why isn’t it good enough for Celeste?’
They all looked at each other.
‘We’re not prejudiced,’ Aveta said hastily, ‘and we do take your point. But things are so tricky right now. The witches are saying we let them down by bringing the O’Briens into our midst. No offence,’ she added, seeing Killian sitting next to Harley. ‘We’re having to do a lot of work to reassure them we’re completely on the witches’ side and that they can trust us one hundred per cent.’
‘Except that’s not entirely true, is it?’
‘Wulfram?’ Keely frowned as he got to his feet and glared at the High Council.
‘I had an encounter with Havok Pendragon recently,’ he said. ‘He told me everything.’
We all looked at each other, wondering what he meant. Only Emrick seemed unsurprised.
‘I’m sorry,’ Elinora said, glancing at her colleagues. ‘What is he talking about?’
‘The person who betrayed Zephyr and Trinity to the Pendragons,’ Wulfram said. ‘It was Bob. But then, I guess you already knew that didn’t you?’
‘You must be mistaken!’ Elinora gasped.
We all stared at Wulfram in astonishment. Was he serious?
‘Oh dear,’ Amlodd said. ‘I told you it would come out eventually.’
‘Bob!’ Aurora had gone pale. ‘That’s not possible. He would never betray my father!’
‘I’m sorry,’ Wulfram said gently. ‘It’s true.’
