"Yes?"
"Why would you think that my father would kill you if he knew you were here? I had not thought him a violent man. A bitter man, yes, but not murderous."
"Your father..." Eleanor chose her words carefully, "has been responsible for at least one death. That's why he was exiled here, never to leave the grounds of his manor. It is thought that he is responsible for several others, however, there has never been enough proof to persecute him."
"He used sorcery to kill?" It shocked her.
"Yes."
"Then why was he not executed? That is a capital crime among our Order."
"He gave crucial information against an uprising against the Prime, on the grounds that he would be spared. In return, his sorcery was bound by the Order, until he is severely limited in what he can do. He can practice certain feats, but only those which an adept of the Second Tier can practice."
That would not sit well with him.
Cleo pressed her lips together. She was not a traitor, and though she didn't love her father, she wanted to. Or perhaps she wanted him to love her. But she had a duty to do what was right, and if her father was playing with another plane of existence and she knew about it, then she would be somewhat responsible for the deaths to come. "My father is going to summon a demon, I think. I overheard him perfecting his Words of Power. A demon would be able to remove his limitations, would it not?"
"It would do a great deal more than that. Could you see if your father will do this ritual? Could you see if—"
"He wears a warded crystal around his neck, which prevents me from seeing his future." Something that had always made her wonder. What did her father have to hide? "But I know that he's formed an alliance with a woman named Morgana. She—"
"Morgana?"
Cleo paused. "Yes. Do you know her?"
"Unfortunately, I've had the pleasure." Eleanor's voice was clipped. "I need to tell Drake what I've learned. This gives us even less time to prepare. Thank you. I will come again."
Cleo hesitated. "I wrote the letter."
"I know."
"If the Prime holds true, then I will work with him. I will help him stop my father, but there are several conditions I must place. He must help Sebastian free of his collar and his mother. No matter what happens or what he does under her influence, Sebastian is not to be harmed and neither am I."
"And your father?"
It hurt to say this: "If my father summons a Greater Demon, then he breaks the law. He becomes... dangerous and unpredictable, for if he does it once, then what would he not stoop to the next time? If he summons a demon, then it is upon the Prime to do what must be done, as according to our laws. I would... I would mourn my father, but he makes his choices, therefore he earns their consequences."
"You are a brave young woman."
"I don't know if I'm doing the right thing." Cleo bowed her head. "I hope that I am doing the right thing."
"If it feels like a hard choice," Eleanor replied, "then you probably are. Let that guide you, no matter what happens in the future. I'll return, when I have more information. Is this the safest place to see you?"
"It's the only time I'm not watched, however I'm supposed to be getting married this afternoon. There's been no mention of where I am to live."
"May I take a hair?"
Cleo nodded, and something sharp plucked at her head.
"With this I'll find you. If I'm not back within two days, then be very, very careful of what you do next. I wouldn't mention this visit to those who guard you; they are your father's employees, not yours."
"Oh, I worked that out when I was nine."
Eleanor hurried through the trees that surrounded the walled garden at the back of Tremayne's estate. Demons. Good God, it was true. She needed to warn Drake.
"Hello there, Eleanor," a male voice called.
Eleanor froze briefly before turning around. Dark figures slipped out from behind trees, all of them hooded. One, two, three, four... A branch crackled beneath a booted heel behind her, and she spun, finding another man, a taller man whose face she knew.
