Free Edge of Darkness ~ A Darkness & Light Novel Book Three by K. L. Schwengel Page A

Ciara watched the mages intently. Vaedryn and Lady Honval, seemed the most impatient of the lot. A younger man, at the far end of the table beside another vacant chair, studied the goblet in front of him, chin supported on one fist, idly picking at something on its base.
    Footsteps sounded on the tile floor behind them, and Garek grinned. Ciara turned to see who else had joined them, and a flush of relief ran over her as Ariadne entered the chamber and walked serenely to the fore of the room, flanked by two of her personal guard. Another two took up positions at either end of the table.
    "I sincerely hope someone in this room has a very good explanation as to why a Lady of the Empire, consort to the Lord General, and personal guest of His Majesty the Emperor, has been dragged here, against her will, and now stands bound within a ward?"
    If ever the combination of beautiful and deadly existed, Ariadne personified it, and Ciara noticed that very few of the mage's would meet her gaze in anything more than a passing glance.
    She turned to the one who would. "Lord Thadeus, perhaps--"
    "Lord Thadeus has declined appointment as the head of our order," Vaedryn said.
    The room stilled. Ariadne's head turned ever so slightly in Vaedryn's direction, and the hair on Ciara's arms stood on end even through the shimmer.
    "My Lord, you overstep yourself."
    "No, Lady," Vaedryn said, "I believe it is you who have overstepped yourself. This Council is the ruling authority in the Emperor's absence."
    "Not when another of Imperial blood is within the city. Remove the ward."
    Ariadne's shoulders drew back when no one moved to comply. In the next instant, the shimmer vanished from around Ciara.
    Vaedryn shot to his feet. "How dare--"
    "Sit down." Ariadne's voice snapped across the room like a whip and Vaedryn dropped back into his chair as though someone had shoved him there. "I will not be spoken to in that manner by any member of this Council. Explain your actions here."
    Color rose beneath the pallor of Vaedryn's cheeks and his jaw tightened. "It is the belief of this Council that the Lady Ciara willingly conspired with Lord Donovan in his attempt to breach the wards of this city, and, as such, shall be held accountable in the death of Lord Arnok."
    "That's ridiculous," Berk said before anyone else could respond.
    Ciara reached for him. "Berk, don't."
    He brushed her off and stepped forward to stand beside Ariadne. "Lady Ciara wouldn't even have been on that wall if I hadn't taken her. I handed her over to Lord Donovan against her will."
    "Then perhaps you should be tried alongside her," Vaedryn said, his fine nose wrinkling.
    "She shouldn't be tried at all."
    Ariadne laid a hand on Berk's arm to still his next comment. Her voice, when she addressed the mages, had all the warmth of river ice. "You are aware, I trust, that Arnok died by the Emperor's own hand after turning against him."
    "Because of her." Vaedryn extended a slim, pale finger in Ciara's direction.
    "Were you there?" Berk asked. "Any of you?"
    "Commander Garek," Vaedryn said, his deep gaze not leaving Berk. "You will silence your man, or I shall have Captain Marshall put him in chains and remove him to the dungeons."
    "Stand down, Berk," Garek said.
    "Commander, I won't--" Berk snapped his jaw shut with an audible clack, flinching and giving Ariadne a startled look as though she had pinched him. The Emperor's sister, however, appeared not to notice, her attention on the mages, and Berk moved grudgingly back to stand close beside Ciara.
    "Is it the unanimous belief of this Council that Lady Ciara is to be tried for these charges?" Ariadne asked, her gaze sweeping once more across the mages.
    "It is not," Thadeus said.
    Vaedryn scowled. "It is the belief of the majority."
    "A scant majority." Thadeus gestured to the woman beside him who had ordered the warrant be given to Garek. "Laryn stands with me."
    "A scant majority, as you term it, is still a majority."
    "You will have a scribe