Free The Schism (The Broken Prism Book 4) by V. St. Clair

as his adrenaline kicked in.
    The ten members of the Council of Mages were seated at a long curving desk in the center of the chamber, which formed the shape of a ‘C’ facing him. There was no seat laid out for him—supplicants were expected to stand when presenting their case, so the space in the center of the room was otherwise empty. All around that space, tiered rows of benches rose from the floor, and Hayden decided that the room could probably hold a hundred people if it was filled to capacity.
    Fortunately that was not the case today. There were perhaps two dozen other people scattered around the benches to watch the trial, though Hayden only recognized a few of them.
    The first person he saw was Asher, whose eyebrows were lifted in faint surprise at the sight of him, though he recovered quickly enough to give him a cheery wave of two fingers. The High Mayor was also there, along with several of his Fias, who were watching Hayden like he was an infectious disease. Hayden couldn’t really blame them for their dislike, after he managed to get out from under all the charges they laid against him last year and instead became a war hero. Master Willow was also here, along with Master Mandra, the Master of Wands at Valhalla. Hayden was surprised by the latter, who he hadn’t seen since his second year of school, during the Inter-School Championship, when they’d spoken briefly at Valhalla.
    Those were the only people in the room he recognized on sight, though from what Mrs. Trout told him he figured the rest must either belong to Great Houses or have some other kind of clout in the community to get in here.
    Hayden approached the center of the room calmly, keeping his posture straight and his face relaxed. He glanced over the faces of the different Council members, and was unsurprised when Mrs. Trout didn’t give him even the faintest sign of recognition. It was game time.
    Calahan, the chairperson of the Council of Mages, addressed him first.
    “You dare come before us in House colors?” He sounded incredulous.
    “Is that a problem?” Hayden asked casually. “I was under the impression that I’m entitled to wear my family’s colors, as the heir to the estate.”
    Calahan narrowed his eyebrows slightly and said, “Legally, you are. It’s just surprising that you chose to make yourself look as much like your father as possible when coming before us.”
    Hayden smirked, because both Edgar and Magdalene had prepared him for this. They’ll do anything they can to rattle you, which almost certainly entails likening you to your father in the hope of shaming you.
    “I can’t help who I look like, and I see no point in apologizing for it,” he replied calmly. “I’m his son, so be it. I don’t see what that has to do with this hearing.”
    A few of the Council members exchanged looks at this, the easy smiles dropping from their faces. They clearly hadn’t expected him to show up meaning business and present a challenge to them. Their uncertainty gave him confidence.
    Calahan’s expression darkened.
    “Very well, then present your case.”
    Hayden clasped his hands behind his back to force himself to maintain good posture.
    “Five years ago you declared my father, Aleric Frost, mentally unfit to continue acting as head of the Frost-owned businesses, and you decided to take control of his estate and assets,” Hayden explained the situation as Magdalene and Edgar had relayed it to him weeks ago. “Of course, he kept murdering everyone who showed up at the house to oppose him, so until his death, your seizure was really just on paper.”
    He paused for a moment to see if they would interrupt, but no one did so he continued.
    “Since there were no other known Frosts at that time, you were allowed to absorb his money and property into the accounts controlled by the Council of Mages. But now I’m here, and to put it bluntly, I want my stuff back.”
    A heavy silence hung in the air for several moments before