COBALT: The Sovereign's Stratagem (Book Two)

Chapter 6: The Hunters (Part 2/4)

          Káel picked at the grains of auburn wood on the table, trying to hide his nerves with a pressed smile. Ariabella had never been the type to simply dish a compliment, which had him on his toes for the rest of her report.

          She straightened herself, eyeing the wall as she tapped a tune with her fingers. "I suppose this is also a good time to say he is appalled by your academic performance."

          "How is this a good time?"

          Káel jumped from his seat as the door flew open, a silhouette filling the frame with barely any colour as Skyfell burst in with his own personal gust of air. "The Council has malice," he boomed, tossing his bag on the table with a sharp crack while a second guest followed him in.

          Mr. Lightwood gave the room a grin, one fluffy white dragon curled in his arms. "Got that right, thought Floyd was going to bite a chunk out of me when I grabbed Puff." 

          Káel melted with relief at the sight of his guardian. "Puff!"

          Puff let out a gasping warble, rolling out of Lightwood's arms to run across the table and into Káel's. They had been ripped away from one another as soon as the Council made it to the scene, and imagining what they could have done to him had plagued him without relent. He twisted Puff into a better position, his heart sinking at the silver cuff around the dragon's wrist.

          "Stella, excuse us please," Mr. Skyfell said, waiting for her departure before throwing up a sound block enchantment. He dropped into his seat, leaving Lightwood to scrounge up the last seat right beside Káel. "We need to close all the holes we can. Lightwood, the book."

          Mr. Lightwood slipped something onto the table, Káel catching a glimpse of a blue dragonscale cover as he flipped open the journal to flaunt its hand written notes. He had always wondered why Zalius' journal had gone after he summoned Phantom, it had been his assumption that the Council confiscated it with everything else in the room.

          "Can you read that?"

          Káel cautiously glanced at the notes, shaking his head at the coded gibberish.

          "Lightwood has been gradually going through it. There are of course a number of outdated and presently illicit spells in there, one such being a powerful persuasion spell."

          Káel stopped with confusion, "So we're arguing mind control? What will happen to Phantom if he's charged for that?"

          "You should have thought like that before nearly killing one of your peers," Mr. Skyfell retorted, sincerity sucked from his words as he held Káel's gaze. "Your freedom is the priority for Alta Staar's sake, proving the Novan's innocence will have to be a secondary goal."

          "That sounds assuring. How many Novans have been proven innocent before the Council?" Mr. Lightwood replied, pushing back in his chair to stare at the ceiling. "Something in the range of zero, was it?"

          "That is correct," Skyfell replied. "With the potential body count on him, I don't think it would be wise to bring him to trial. That puts arguing mind control on the plate." He flipped through the blue snakeskin journal, a loose sketch of a brain sprouting intrigue in Káel. "I have invited Lightwood here for his expertise in engineering enchantments."

          Káel shot Lightwood with a look of doubt, the words running from his lips. "Is there anything you're bad at?"

          "Avoiding extra work that I'm not being paid for," he sighed, sinking down into his chair to make himself comfortable. He tossed his attention to Ariabella, greeted with just as much affability as usual.  "Before we start, do I get a bonus if Káel wins the tournament?"