Page 64 of A Kiss of Flame
“Lucian Vane is our thief,” she said plainly. “Or, at the very least, he is one of them.”
She had only pieced it all together after inspecting the rings he wore, and King Thurin had confirmed her suspicions. The black ring set with fae silver had been the very one stolen from his private vault. In the world of immortals, coincidence was a rare thing. Possessing the blade and the ring was proof enough to Levian of Vane’s involvement with the thieves, but she couldn’t be sure there weren’t others in play.
All the council members, save Peregrine, glanced at each other uneasily. Mage Fujioka cleared his throat. “This is a serious accusation,” he said pointedly.
“I’m aware,” Levian ground out. “The facts are what they are. Beyond that, Vane tried to kill me with this very blade,” she said, gesturing to the blade before pointing to them. “An Ambassador of this very Council.”
“That may be true,” Mage William replied, his voice dripping with disdain, “but you cannot pretend you were acting as an Ambassador when thisallegedincident occurred.”
The air felt stifling in the small chamber, with Levian in the center of the round room and the council members staring down at her from their high perches. She was accustomed to their disdain, but she was emotionally on edge from all that had happened with Barith, and it angered her that not one of them seemed to care one whit that Vane had tried to kill her with a Dökk blade. In her irritation, Levian yanked aside the front of her robe to reveal the deep gash stitched together underneath her collarbone. The wound throbbed still with every movement, a constant reminder of how close she had come to death.
“Alleged?” she mocked. Seeing it made all three wince with discomfort, much to her satisfaction. A Dökk blade’s threat was no small thing to any immortal.
Mage Fujioka turned to whisper something to Mage William, who then whispered to Mage Tatiana. Levian used every ounce of her self-control not to roll her eyes as they deliberated. None bothered to rouse Peregrine.
The mages nodded their agreement amongst themselves before Mage Fujioka spoke up. “We were already aware of these thieves you call Black Masks,” he said. “Though you have added some insights we did not possess.” He looked down at the items before her. “And the recovery of these relics is not insignificant. As for Lucian Vane—” He glanced at Mage Tatiana.
“As for Vane,” Mage Tatiana continued, “we will need to bring your evidence and statement to the Witch Magistrate, possibly the Fifth House of Witches. Since you have no other witnesses to corroborate your allegations, the witches may not proceed with any investigation. You have no proof beyond a few stolen items and your own word.”
Levian did have a witness—Barith. But she wasn’t about to drag him in front of the Council, especially not now. The constant ache in her chest worsened at the thought of him, but she pressed on. “The thieves may not be a pressing issue to this Council,” she declared, “but that doesn’t mean they pose no threat. Vane has managed to harness shadow magick as well.”
“You cannot be sure of that,” Mage William clipped dismissively.
“She can,” Mage Peregrine grumbled. Everyone’s attention shot to him, surprised that he had been listening.
“What do you mean?” Mage Tatiana asked.
Mage Peregrine sat up slightly, a few of his old bones cracking, and pointed to Levian. “We all knew Merlin and saw what magick he wielded. It’s not something any mage would soon forget. Especially not his own daughter,” he reminded them. The mages all squirmed.
Levian studied Peregrine as he spoke. She could not imagine why he was suddenly speaking up for her. He had never been particularly kind to her, nor had he ever intervened on her behalf before. She couldn't decide if it was some newfound sense of justice or if he enjoyed making the others uncomfortable. Maybe it was both.
“How could he use such magicks?” Mage William asked.
Peregrine stroked his long white beard. “It was before any of you held seats on Council, but Vane was one of Merlin’s old confidants. He was investigated after Merlin was sent to The Prison, but nothing came of it. Vane’s mother was also one ofthe heads of the Fifth House of Witches at the time, so he was shielded from too much inquiry. Perhaps we should have looked closer.”
“He knew Jacard as well,” Mage Fujioka admitted with discomfort. Jacard had been Gwendolyn’s father. The mage who had hidden the Star of Umbra in his daughter before he’d vanished. He’d been secretly dealing with Dökk magicks while working with the Council. The fact that Vane was connected to Jacard and Merlin didn’t bode well, and everyone grew even more visibly uneasy.
“Vane’s father was fae,” Peregrine continued. “His mother a powerful witch. I doubt he could wield power like Merlin, but it’s not impossible he could wield shadow given his lineage.”
Levian had not shared everything Vane had told her about Merlin. It had been clear to her that Vane had known her father well, but they had parted ways due to differences in ideals. She couldn’t shake the memory of Vane’s words—how he’d spoken about her father with a twisted kind of loathing and admiration.
She added, “I believe the thieves may be attempting to find Celaria.”
The mages squirmed and grumbled uncomfortably again, save Peregrine, who stared at Levian. His discerning gaze made her insides twist like they had when she was a girl. Mage Peregrine had been headmaster of The Towers during her time there, and he had always been a challenging, wrinkled old bag of robes. He had never liked her, which made it even more surprising that he had woken from his nap to speak up for her.
“Celaria is destroyed,” Mage Tatiana said flatly. The silence that followed hung heavy; they all clearly knew better. She sighed and added, “However, such a threat is not something we can ignore.”
“Even so,” Mage William sneered, “there are protocols that must be followed, even by you, Mage Levian. You chose to acceptyour position as Ambassador, and as such, you agreed to adhere to our conventions. We’ve turned a blind eye to your blatant disregard for the code all other mages must adhere to, but no more.”
Levian resisted the urge to snort. They had never once “turned a blind eye” to anything she had done.
“You are a mage,” Mage Fujioka reminded her. “In the eyes of the Folk, you fall under our jurisdiction. Given your family’s history, you must understand why some would be concerned about your involvement in this matter, given the Dökk magicks and relics involved.”
Levian felt like a child again, being chastised at The Towers for breaking rules that seemed to exist only to trap her. She had steered clear of anything related to the Dökk precisely because of this. The Council could despise her for her cavalier lifestyle, but they could never claim she had followed directly in her father’s footsteps.
“I brought them to you,” she reminded them, pointing at the table. “I would have brought them sooner had I not been nearly killed,” she added for good measure. “And I knew better than to come to you before I had any evidence to present beyond my theories.”
Silence stretched out, and Levian held back her groan of frustration. All she wanted was to vanish to the countryside to wallow in her broken heart, but instead, she was openly being chastised by the Council for the grave offense of nearly being killed while trying to help them. Her heart had settled into a steady ache since the moment Barith had walked away. No tonic or drink helped. Her heart remained broken and hurting. She straightened her back, refusing to let them see how much she struggled.