The Ember Thief

Chapter Nineteen - A man with two names

'With all due respect, Prince Regent, putting him in the Quintail would be a mistake,' Rosalyn argued.

'I think I agree with the Margravine on this one, Gideon. His ability is just too erratic at the moment. He would just end up being killed, or worse, being a liability for the others,' Monty added.

Gideon stared into the circular fire pit that rose from the ground floor. 'He has the potential we thought,' he said, without breaking his gaze.

'Undeniably,' Monty mumbled, through the pipe in the side of his mouth.

The Margravine paced irritably around the circular room at the top of the training lodge. 'But he can neither call on it nor control it. And to make matters worse, he's remembering all the worst character traits that we thought would be forgotten from his human side. Belligerence, arrogance and a dislike for authority.'

Gideon took of his glasses and pointed them to the light. 'We learnt from the mistakes with Pinki that age plays a factor, even with Raide's age there would be unforeseen consequences. Wisp is working on that organising his mind, and we need to give her more time.'

She pointed to the spiral stairs that went back down to the ground level of the lodge. 'That wasn't the Wisp I remember in that pen. There's something else inside that boy that we didn't expect, something malevolent. I'm surprised he has agreed to help our cause so readily since we released him from prison.'

Gideon wagged a finger. 'That's Wisp's influence. So we know she is having an impact on his mind.'

Monty flicked through his notebook. 'After all the people we have tried to recruit, he was still the best candidate, even with is mental state.'

'Only because he was practically catatonic,' the Margravine snapped. 'Has it ever occurred to you, that when pushed, he may have actually killed Sister Elenara? Not some mysterious murderer, who has yet to be caught.'

'Impossible,' Monty scoffed. 'He's nowhere near good enough to take on a Sister, no single Chimera is. Only another one of their order could have done that, and Elenara's disputes with Sister Lucia were well documented.'

The Margravine looked out of the window that ran around the full-length of the circular lodge. 'Yet, look at what he did in that moat. He shouldn't be able to do things like that with the short amount of time he has had with Wisp.' She shook her head and glared at the horizon. 'Not to mention, we have sacrificed our most treasured Ember in the soul of a man, who we know nearly nothing about.'

Gideon sat, polishing his glasses absently with a handkerchief. 'They were, and still are, desperate times, Rosalyn. After all, we have been through, she knew the risks, as did Rogan. Raide could be our only option now.'

'He's not ready, and we agreed to take our time and train him properly,' Rosalyn said.

The old man turned and gave a weak smile. 'I know, but things have moved quicker than any of us have anticipated. Someone does not want this house to survive, and they're doing everything they can to stack the deck against us.'

'What about Rickard or any of the children? We can field any number we like,' Monty pondered, weighing up the options.

'Certainly not!' the Magravine shouted. 'You're not going to put any our children into the Quintail yet. They're years away from being tournament ready,' she said, pointing a finger at the archivist.

'We don't have years so that just leaves Bawbee, Pinki and Nassar. They'll be hopelessly outnumbered unless we can persuade another house to aid us in the arena.' Monty shifted in his seat. 'Also, we haven't even talked about the plan to excavate the new Ember mine, before the other houses find out, and strip it raw.'