Chapter Twenty-Nine

"Yes." Loralie was looking down at her feet as they walked, contemplative and a little sad, if he was any judge. They had a little bit of time, so they walked relatively slowly. "I really wish I had more information on that topic in particular. For Petr's sake. It would be good to know if he was going to have the same amount of magic as Penny, for example. If so, should he share the duties of Guardian with her? I don't think that's ever been done before. Or maybe he'll just be a powerful mage out there in the world, backing her up if she needs it." Loralie looked up and took a deep breath. "There's much good he could accomplish with his magic, if he doesn't have to use it being a Guardian."

"It could also be quite the temptation, could it not?" Det asked.

She looked over at him, her eyes narrowed, her expression sharp. "It could, which is why you need to raise him to have compassion and the finer emotions. He also needs a strong education and the ability to think logically. I trust you to do that for him, Det. I trust you to prepare him for whatever might come his way."

"You're putting a great deal of faith in me and my people," Det replied. "Wouldn't it be so much better if you were here to oversee his education?"

"Of course it would," she said impatiently. "But when have I ever had a choice about where I was going to live, or how? My life has been one disaster after another ever since my mother died. If I had my choice, of course I would stay with the twins and see to their education. I would nurture them as my mother nurtured me for the first few years of my life. If not for her, there's so much I would not know. That truth was brought home to me when I had to make do without her and learn the rest on my own." She sighed heavily. "But thankfully, our children have you, Det. You're the finest man I know, and I trust you to raise them with love and understanding. As you already have done with Petr. He is such a good little boy, and that's all because of you. If I haven't thanked you before, let me do it now. While I have the chance."

Det shook his head. "You never have to thank me for loving our children."

"Nevertheless, thank you for taking him in and keeping him safe all these years. I could not have managed to keep them both safe. I barely managed to keep Penny sane and whole." She laughed a little bitterly. "I'm not sure I managed to keep myself sane through all of that."

If they weren't currently in a small crowd of people heading for the Council Hall, Det would have stopped and taken her into his arms. As it was, he took her hand, not caring who saw or what they might have to say about it later.

"I have to beg your forgiveness, Loralie. I didn't understand what you were going through when it was happening. If I'd known, I would have found some way to help. Instead, I let bitterness grow inside me. The only bright spot in my life was Petr, and he was struggling until we figured out that he was still joined magically to Penny. I was so worried for him. He had become my life. And now that Penny is here, my heart has expanded to include her as well. The only thing missing…"

"Don't say it, Det," she warned him, her voice breaking with emotion.

"I have to say it, Lora. I may not ever get the chance again. The only thing missing here is you."

She squeezed his hand as they walked along slowly but didn't say anything. He looked over at her and could see the glisten of tears in her eyes that she was fighting not to let fall.

They didn't say anything further as they mounted the steps. The doors along the front of the building were flung open so that any who wanted to hear what was going on inside could watch. The acoustics of the chamber were designed for just this sort of gathering. Det led Loralie to the row of chairs set aside for witnesses, then took his place at the end of the Council table.

Gebel, inside his un-melting block of magical ice, had been moved into the Council chamber by one the dragons. He remained under guard and was set in the section off to one side that was relegated to the defendant. The Council didn't hold many trials, but there was a procedure in place that had been used over the centuries.

Gebel's ice block stood there, under guard of a mage and several of Det's warriors. It was a precaution, merely. Loralie had assured him that the mage could not get out of the ice on his own. It would take an accomplice with a particular set of skills to accomplish that.

Although, they knew there was some kind of collaborator within the enclave. That map they had seen in Gebel's room made that clear. Det was hoping they could flush the accomplice out somehow, but so far, nobody had done anything to betray their true loyalties.

The trial got underway with little fanfare. Several of the mages who had been to the manor were able to testify about what they'd learned of Gebel and the taint of evil that permeated both him and the manor house where he had been for such a short time. The opinion was that only a truly evil mage could cause the level of magical stink, for lack of a better word, in such a brief period of residence.

The mages also claimed he reeked of forbidden powers that should not rightly be his to access. Loralie was called on to testify after the last of the enclave mages spoke, and she dropped a few bombshells on the court.

"How did Gebel gain such knowledge?" the mage on the Council asked, concerned.

Loralie sighed heavily. "First, let me tell you all, if you do not yet realize who and what I am. My name is Loralie, and I am the hereditary Guardian of the Citadel."

A collective gasp went up from the people at the back of the chamber and on the steps who were listening in. It had not been common knowledge in the enclave. Few had known to this point who and what Loralie really was.

Of course, Det was certain there was a lot of gossip going around about himself and the North Witch. That moniker had been used over and over again when it came to identifying Loralie, but she was so much more than that. She wasn't just some village hedge witch, peddling potions. She was a mage in her own right. A powerful one who probably could command more magic, and had more knowledge, then even the head of the enclave's Mage Hall.

She was a power. As her children would be, once they were grown. Det wondered just how many people realized that little nugget, and how it would affect how Penny and Petr were treated from now on. Those who had teased Petr for being half-human, and supposedly weak, would have to rethink their conclusions. And, Det realized, more than a few apologies were in order, both to him and to his children. Not that he would hold out for such groveling. It was enough that everybody knew who and what Loralie was now, beyond the shadow of a doubt.

"I knew you had to be a powerful mage to have used such a spell to trap Gebel," the mage on the Council went on once the murmuring had died down a bit. "I did not realize you were the Guardian. Which makes me feel a bit stupid now, to be honest." She was taking it well, at least, Det thought. Lady Elira had always been a good sport and one of the nicest of the mages Det knew.

"Please do not," Loralie said gently. "I have actively tried to hide my true identity for many years. I did not want anyone else to know that the Citadel was left mostly unguarded while Gebel held my daughter and used her as a pawn to make me do what he wanted."

"The Council has heard Penny's testimony already," Lady Adain said from the head of the table. "We have agreed that the child was most certainly held against her will for many years." Det knew she was just confirming the facts for those who watched from the audience, but she posed a question of her own for Loralie. "What I still do not understand is why he was able to keep her prisoner when you had intermittent contact with her. Surely, you could have gotten her away from him at some point?"

"I tried. Many times," Loralie said quickly, a bit of fire in her voice. "The problem, as Lady Leasharra can attest, was that Gebel had forced a magical bond between himself and my daughter. No matter where I took her, he could always find her. And, he could always torture her through that bond if I didn't do as he asked. In recent years, he also formed that bond with me. He has tortured me directly, rather than inflict it on Penny, at my request. He is not strong enough to force me to accept such a bond, but I took it gladly, if it would spare my child."

Det had not known that. His heart broke for the trials she had suffered.

Lady Adain did not show her reaction by the slightest easing of her expression. Instead, she turned to the dragons that sat behind each counselor.

"Do the dragons confirm this testimony?" Lady Adain asked formally.

"We do," the dragons answered in unison, then let the female that partnered Lady Adain speak for all of them.

"I saw the bond that formed with Lady Leasharra when she rescued Penny, and can see the residual tendrils of the bond Leasharra had broken with Gebel. Likewise, I can see broken bonds within Loralie's soul, and the remainders of pain—great pain—inflicted through that bond."

Det hadn't known the dragons could see such things, but it made sense, given the way they bonded with their chosen heartmates. In this instance, it helped affirm Loralie's testimony, which was all to the good. But Det wanted to pull Loralie into his arms and comfort her for the things she had gone through to spare Penny. She was a good mother, despite her own beliefs on that topic. She had sacrificed so much for her children and was prepared to do even more.

He couldn't think about that now. The trial was ongoing, and Lora had more revelations to make.

"How did Gebel attain his forbidden knowledge of magic?" Lady Elira asked, getting back to her line of questioning. "Do you know?"

"Yes, Councilor," Loralie answered politely. "As you may realize, I have not been able to see to my duties as Guardian properly for a very long time. Even in my mother's day, the Citadel required a certain amount of upkeep. It is very old, after all. For many years—centuries, in fact—each successive Guardian has had to deal with some deterioration of the spells that were originally put in place by the great wizards of old. In my mother's time, there was a breach. Her only recourse was to set off one of the failsafe spells that created another icefield and sealed the breach. With my mother inside of it." She paused for a moment to take a breath. "I have become aware in recent years that the ice around one prisoner in particular has weakened to the point where he can contact certain mages through their dreams. Gebel has been learning forbidden magics from the wizard Skir for a while now."

Once again, gasps sounded from those who were listening, and a low murmuring of conversation came from the crowd. Their world had just been shaken, Det realized. The vast majority of people had no idea that the Citadel could be in such a state. Very few knew that one of the ancient evil wizards had been communicating from his icy prison.

"Skir? The wizard who created the skiths?" Councilor Tolmir, who represented the laboring trades, asked in alarm.

Loralie nodded. "The very same. And I believe you know that the King of Skithdron, the land in which Skiths live and breed, was in league with Salomar, who styled himself King of the Northlands, to lay siege to Draconia not too long ago. They had dragon-killing weapons and managed to greatly injure King Roland of Draconia, though I understand he made a full recovery." She paused for effect. "Happily, King Roland's forces ousted Salomar, and the rightful lineage is now restored to the Northlands throne."

"It is said the new Queen has two knights and two dragons as part of her family," Councilor Della of the seers added.

"I believe that is the case," Loralie replied.

That the Queen of the Northlands had taken two Draconian knights as her mates and now had dragons installed in her castle was all to the good, in Det's opinion. At least with dragons present, they could be relatively certain that any attempts made on the Citadel through that land would be recognized and repelled.

Lady Elira cleared her throat to regain everyone's attention. "Is the Citadel in danger of falling?" she asked outright.

"Not yet," Loralie replied as silence fell, and everybody waited to hear what she would say next. "My next, and likely final, task will be to go to the Citadel and deal with Skir. It is my duty to stop him, and the others imprisoned there, from communicating with the outside world. Until I can manage that, there remains a danger that Skir could find someone better able to breach the Gates of the Citadel and free them all."

This time, it wasn't just murmurs. It was loud and exclamations and conversations between the observers as fear got the better of them. Nobody had ever imagined that the Citadel could fall so easily. Especially not in their lifetimes—long as they were.

After long moments, when the hubbub had died down, the questioning resumed. Loralie revealed that the wizard Skir was in a dream state, to the best of her knowledge. She also described how she could possibly force him back down into full sleep state by triggering one of the failsafe spells the ancient wizards had left behind.

"You said this could be your final act. Do you intend to set off another of the failsafe spells? Isn't that how your mother died?" Lady Elira asked gently.

"My mother lays entombed in the ice of the Citadel," Loralie confirmed. "It has long been my intent to join her by setting off a failsafe, as she did."

"Is there no other way?" Lady Elira prodded further, still speaking more gently than Det had expected. Could it be the leader of the enclave's mages was bending a little where Loralie was concerned?

"Possibly," Loralie answered with a tilt of her head that spoke of her own uncertainty. "Until I battled Gebel, I never knew I could form magical ice, but as you can see, he is well and truly trapped until I release him." She glanced pointedly at the block of ice that encased Gebel's form.

"You can undo that spell?" Lady Elira followed up quickly, seeming truly surprised.

"Lady Adain asked me the same thing, and I believe I can. Yes. Though, I have to admit, I have never done such a thing before" Loralie said. "It was as if, during the battle with Gebel, my power intensified, and the knowledge just came to me from my ancestors. I certainly did not know how to form the magical ice before it happened."

The Councilors looked at her with varying degrees of astonishment and approval.

"It could be hereditary knowledge of your line that somehow comes when needed," Lady Elira suggested, looking a bit uncertain.

"I thought the same, though I've never heard of, or experienced, this before," Loralie agreed.

Meanwhile, Det's mind was spinning off in another direction. Before, when Loralie had talked of her final task before, she'd seemed to think there was no other way to stop Skir than by dying herself. Now, she was considering alternatives. Or, at least, one alternative.

If she could use that new skill of hers somehow and make enough of the ice to put the wizards back under completely, then maybe—just maybe—she could live through this endeavor. Det took heart that she was at least thinking about it. It warmed him that she was trying to find a solution other than her own demise. Just the day before, she had not. Now, everything had changed.

Det hoped and prayed to the Mother of All that things would continue to evolve to a point where she could stay here, with him and the children, forever.