“Pardon, Lady Samira,” Lorian said from the door, his expression barely containing his outrage. “You cannot possibly be suggestingshetake it. She is too young—”
“As I recall … you were only a few years older than her when you joined the council,” Lady Samira hissed, her weakening voice regaining its edge. “If not for her father’s death, you would not have his seat now.”
Lorian scowled. The voices of the other council members murmured in the hall.
“I don’t want a seat on the council,” Dyna said. “It gave my father no sway in convincing you of the dangers to come. None of the plans you have sorted will work. But I know how to end the Shadow’s curse.”
Quiet shock filled the room.
Lorian glared at her through narrow slits. “Explain.”
“What I am suggesting is dangerous,” she admitted. “But not impossible.”
They hung on her every word, waiting for her to continue.
“There are other sources of powerful magic.”
Lorian crossed his arms. “And where is this powerful magic you claim?”
Dyna swallowed the lump in her throat. “The island.”
The councilmen gaped at her before bursting into mocking laughter.
She stood. “You don’t understand. I can save the village!”
They dismissed her as she predicted and turned away to discuss among themselves, shooting her contemptuous looks. They didn’t believe her. How could they when they thought of that place as only a story?
Her hope was sand slipping through her fingers.
“I did not listen to your father when he warned me …” Lady Samira muttered, her eyes drooping heavily. “It was to my greatest regret what befell your family … An apology will never be enough, but you have my blessings. And with it, may your father forgive me. Councilor Pavin?”
“Yes?” The heavy-set councilman readily came forward.
“Bring me paper and ink … I have chosen my successor.”
All the council members stood straight and confident, righting the front of their robes.
“I will leave my seat to Dynalya …”
The councilor’s expressions varied from bulging eyes to gaping mouths. Dyna might have found their reactions amusing if she had not been equally speechless. To take Lady Samira’s place meant she would have the high seat and with it, the power to make decisions on village matters. It gave her the power to save Lyra.
“Hurry, man, I am dying,” Lady Samira snapped.
Councilor Pavin balked and hurried out of the room.
Lorian caught Dyna’s eye and motioned for her to come out to the hall with him while the others gathered to say their farewells to the councilwoman.
Once they were alone, he cornered her against the wall, leaning over her until his rank breath blew in her face. “You are cruel to fill her head with dreams and fairy tales on her deathbed.”
Dyna glared at him and clenched her shaking fists so he wouldn’t see how much he intimidated her. “I am telling the truth. I can help—”
“You will help us by staying here and not exposing us to the Archmage. If we are discovered, all of Magos will descend upon us.”
“Lady Samira has given me her blessings.”
“Her seat, you mean. A seat that should go to one of us.”
“To you if you had any say in it.”
