“You have your ballots in front of you.The vote must be unanimous.”
The council members all marked the parchments in front of them, folded them in half, and passed them toward the middle of the table.Mireth opened them one by one.
“The council has spoken,” Mireth said.
My heart dropped.Kael was still expressionless.
“Cassian Nightbrook, if the council votes in your favor, do you pledge your loyalty to the Order of Emberlight?”
I knew this would mean new responsibilities and new dangers.Gone were my little acts of vengeance in the form of nightly robberies.I was about to enter a different world, and I was ready for it.This was the only way to keep Elena truly safe.
“Yes.I pledge my loyalty,” I said, and the weight of those words reverberated to my very core.
“The vote is nine votes yea, zero votes nay.Cassian Nightbrook, you are now a member of the Order of Emberlight.”
The room exploded with cheers.The people in the shadows emerged, surrounding me, all smiles, patting my back and congratulating me.But they were all strangers.Darion and Elena were still nowhere to be seen.
I walked toward the council table to talk to Mireth, but on the way, Kael intercepted me.“Congratulations,” he said, putting out a hand.
I considered him for a moment, not sure what to make of this gesture.He’d raised concerns, but ultimately he’d voted for me.He’d had the power to stop me, but he hadn’t.I clasped his arm.
“Thank you,” I said, but there was plenty of hesitancy in my voice.“And thank you for believing in me.”
“I saw which way the wind was blowing,” he said as he ran his hand through a lock of blond hair that had fallen into his face.“I just hope you’re ready for what’s ahead.”
“Only time will tell,” I said.
“You should know,” Kael said with that sharp tone back in his voice, “that when you robbed The Butcher and you first met Darion, you were meant to take the fall.You were a misdirection.”
I bristled at this.I still didn’t know whether he was trying to warn me, manipulate me, or just get under my skin.
“Darion already explained that to me,” I said curtly.
Kael raised an eyebrow.“Did he, now?Did he tell you it washisidea?”
Darion had saidwewhen he’d told me about the plan to take the book, so he hadn’t denied being involved.The more I talked to Kael, the less I trusted him, and I wouldn’t have put it past him to stretch the truth to advance his agenda, whatever it was.And yet the idea that Darion had left out this detail nagged at me.
“Kael, I don’t want to be your enemy.Have I offended you in some way?”
“I just want to be sure you are going into this with your eyes open.”
“I appreciate your concern,” I said with an edge, which ended our conversation.His eyes followed me as I walked away.
I continued toward Mireth, who was still sitting at the council table, speaking to the older man next to her.
“Cassian, congratulations,” she said with a smile as I approached.“This is council member Darrow Elkwright.”
“Congratulations, young man,” Darrow said with a solemn nod.“We are pleased to have you in our ranks.Your energy and abilities are exactly what we need.”
“Thank you both for your endorsement,” I said, then turned to Mireth.“Forgive me, High Steward, but do you know where I might find my sister?She wasn’t in her room when I woke up.”
“Yes, Darion Thorne took her to the sparring room.I’ll have someone escort you.”She caught Caldren’s eye through the throng of people and asked him to lead me to them.
I said my goodbyes and left the crowd, which suited me fine.I had never been one for large groups and much preferred the company of the people I knew and trusted.As we left the room, everyone was still boisterously celebrating, which I found amusing, since the person they were celebrating was heading out the door.
“Congratulations,” Caldren said.“That was no small achievement.”
“Thank you,” I said.“I just hope everyone is happy for me to join.”
