by Amelia Shaw
My head came up and I glanced from my father to Tavlor and back again.
My father looked towards me.
“Is there any news you two wish to share?” he asked slowly.
I swallowed hard, strangely nervous now, despite the fact my father had practically given us permission to announce our love and be accepted.
“Ah, yes...” I began.
Tavlor spoke over me, “I apologize for not coming to you first, Matlock, however, last night I asked Ava to marry me. And she accepted.”
Go to him first? For what? Permission?
I wanted to roll my eyes at how traditional such a thought was, especially considering my father hadn’t been in my life for a long while up to me seeking him out. Instead, I bit my lip. I was curious to see what my father’s reaction would be.
He stood up and reached out a hand to both of us.
I got to my feet and Tavlor and I took his hand. He brought ours together, his smile stretching across his face.
“You two were made for each other,” he said. “And when the time comes, I hope you will allow me to officiate the union.”
I looked up at him. “You can do that?”
He nodded. “Of course, I can,” he said, as though it was the most obvious thing. “I don’t often... but I would love to perform that rite at your marriage, Ava.”
I pulled my hand out of his grip so that I could throw my arms around his neck and hug my father close, burying my face in his shoulder.
“I would love that so much, thank you.” A wave of love for my father passed over me. “I... have something for you,” I said, pulling back.
Suddenly, I couldn’t look at him, couldn’t get the words out. I hoped he would react well to what I was going to present to him, but I couldn’t be sure it would actually work.
It was time to give my father the most important thing in my life. It was also time for me to move on, to create a new family for myself. I let out a shaky breath.
I wiped away the tears that had fallen to my cheeks.
“I was going to wait until all this was all over, but since I don’t know how this is going to end, I want to give it to you now,” I said.
I began to back up, towards my room.
“What is it?” my father asked.
I smiled, nervous butterflies flapping in my belly. Was this going to work?
“Hang on.” I put up a hand and disappeared down the hall, grateful he wasn’t following me.
I rushed into my bedroom and took the necklace and gold locket from its safely concealed place. It warmed my hand for a moment and a wave of longing passed over me. Could I really give up this connection to my mother?
Of hearing her voice of wisdom in my ear every day?
I gripped the locket harder. Yes. I was doing the right thing. I was certain of it. This was what my mother wanted. She would never admit it, but I was sure of it.
I rushed back out of my bedroom and walked towards my father, holding the locket in my hand.
“I can’t guarantee this is going to work, because I’ve never tried it on another person before,” I said, then furrowed my brows, shaking my head. “Not outside of my sisters, and it didn’t work with them.”
My father cleared his throat, his eyes shifting over to Tavlor as though he was trying to ask him what was going on with me. Tavlor shrugged, indicating he had no idea, which he didn’t. My father looked back at me.
“What is it, Ava?” He looked down at what I held in my hand. “Is that the locket from the trial?” He paused, and in a softer voice, he asked, “Your mother’s?”
I nodded. “Yes, she said you gave it to her.”
“Can I see it?” He smiled and held out his hand.
I placed it on his palm, and he glanced down. “Yes, it is.” There was a warmth to his voice I had never heard before, and my heart soared. “I gave it to her for her birthday, I believe... Hold on, is it meant to warm like that on your skin?”
My throat tightened with emotion. She was trying to communicate. “Ah, yes. But only if my mother wants to speak to you. That’s her way of telling you she has something to say. Kind of like a warning.”
He stared at me. “What do you mean, exactly?”
I swallowed hard, itchy nerves of discomfort crawling across my skin.
“When my mother died, she instilled her essence into that locket,” I said. I hoped I was explaining it the right way, but it felt like I was fumbling the words. “I didn’t know at the time because it only seems to work in this realm and the Fae one I was living in for a short while. Although, she was weaker there... so to speak. Like she had worse reception. Maybe it has something to do with magical realms, or where she was born. I don’t really know.”
My father’s hands shook as he held the locket, touching the engraved front with reverence. “I don’t understand.”
He was looking so hopeful, and so scared at the same time. My heart went out to him. He didn’t want to believe he still had access to her, and yet, it was the truth.
I smiled, trying to reassure him that everything will be okay.
“I don’t really understand either,” I admitted. “I only know what I’ve experienced. I put the necklace on, the locket heats up when she wants to talk, and then I hold it with my hand and can hear her voice in my head.”
“Are you sure it’s her... I mean... it could be a trick or...”
My father was starting to freak out.
There was no way it was a trick. The woman I spoke to knew everything about me, my life, and my sisters. But I could understand why a man in my father’s position might be suspicious of such a thing.
“Dad, how about you sit down, and we’ll find out?” I said, arching a brow.
I led my father back to the couch and encouraged him to sit down. “Try it, Dad. I’ve had my mother in my ear my whole life. I think it’s time for me to live without her.”
“And you’re giving it to me?” he asked, his voice full of amazement.
I smiled. “Yes, if you want it. You both lived twenty plus years without each other. And you shouldn’t have. Maybe this will help heal some of those old wounds. At the very least, I’m sure you have things you want to say to her, and I know there are things she wants to say to you.”
The same way he’d pawed through her journal, I wondered if he’d cling to this as well.
My father took a deep breath, lifted the necklace over his head, and waited.
I smiled. “You need to touch it with your hands, I think, and for future purposes, I’d recommend wearing it under your shirt, against your skin. I always did, and I think it helps.”
He nodded and reached up, grabbing the locket in his hands.
His brow furrowed as he concentrated, then a light shone over his face. His eyes went wide, and his mouth dropped open.
“Genevieve. Is that really you?”
A smile broke over his face at whatever my mother said.
“Yes, it’s me. It’s Matlock.”
He laughed aloud and I found myself wishing there was some sort of speaker function so I could hear what my mother was saying as well.
Was she as shocked to hear from him, as he was from her? Or was this what she’d secretly wanted all along?
Tavlor took my hand and tugged me away from my parents interacting. I didn’t really want to go and looked back at my father’s beaming face.
“Give them some time,” Tavlor said. “I can imagine the conversation is going to get quite intimate.”
He pulled me inside the bedroom and shut the door.
He was probably right, but even so, I stared at the door for a moment, a part of me longing to be a part of the family I should have always had.
Then Tavlor slid his hands around my waist and pulled me close. “We have a lot to celebrate.”
“Like what?” I asked.
He kissed my lips then pulled back to look down on me. “Like our upcoming nuptials. You said yes to my proposal, your father agreed, and now we even have someone t
o marry us.”
I laughed. “Now we just need for the world not to end, and we can start our new life together.”
Like it would be that simple.
But when was life in our realm ever that simple?
The beginning of forever was right around the corner. We just had one more major hurdle to overcome.
Chapter 18.
THE NIGHT CAME AND went, and finally, I woke up on the day that the Council wanted me to make my decision.
A choice that would change my entire life.
“What time do we need to be there?” I asked Tavlor as we both dressed after our shower.
Tavlor had made love to me twice through the night and I was becoming more confident with each session. I wanted him more now than I had before.
I knew I was making the right choice in marrying him.
“We have another few hours,” Tavlor said, though he hadn’t answered my exact question.
“You know, we still don’t have a real plan,” I said, more to myself than him. I’d been hoping to come up with something before now.
Tavlor looked directly at me, “Well, your father and I have been waiting for you to decide how hard you wanted to fight for this, Ava. Have you decided if you want to be the High Warlock, or not?”
The question hit me with the weight of several bricks. He was right. I’d asked to meet people and ask questions so I could decide.
So, what was I thinking now?
I pressed my lips together. “I want to be able to help people. Like those Fae that lost all their powers, and the shifters that are being forced into slavery.”
I took a breath, my stomach twisting and tightening with the thoughts of what those people had gone through, and still would, with no end in sight if no-one cared enough to step up and fight back.
“But my father has practically said that the High Warlock is only a figure head position. If I took the role, would I even be able to help those I wished to?”
And that was my biggest concern. What power would I inherit once I handed over my freedom? Would I be able to make a true difference?
Tavlor nodded, his face solemn. “Well, that’s not entirely true,” he said slowly. “The Council in the past has done a good job of muzzling the High Warlock, but as you’ve been able to see, your father has an incredible amount of power. He just hasn’t used it to fight the Council’s mandates, up until the other day of course.”
His reference to the fight he’d put up the other day made me smile. “Yes, that was rather... awesome, wasn’t it? I loved seeing him stand up and fight them. And win, of course.”
Tavlor grinned, his dark eyes lighting up. “Yes. I did too.”
“And being able to unleash your powers,” I said, sidling up next to him and running my hands up his arms. “How did that feel? Showing the warlocks that you are so much stronger than they are?”
His grin faded, but the light in his eyes stayed. There was something feral about the way he looked when he spoke about it. It caused my insides to turn to goo and my desire flare up for him once again.
“It was... liberating to a certain extent.”
I frowned. That wasn’t exactly what I thought I would hear. “Why only a certain extent?”
He chuckled and kissed the tip of my nose. “Because I didn’t dare show them what I can actually do. I’ve never truly tested the extent of my powers. But I know there’s more.”
“There’s more?” I asked, sounding stupid, but mystified. “That’s... incredible!”
What an amazing gift to have such power within reach. Our children would be truly magnificent witches and warlocks, assuming we could conceive. But that was a thought for another day.
“Come on,” Tavlor said, stepping back and taking my hand. “Let’s go speak with your father. Hopefully, he’s come up with an idea on how we’re gonna attack today.”
I inhaled deeply. I sincerely hoped so too.
Between trying to resist Tavlor and making love to him, I wasn’t able to come up with a plan on my own. I needed something tangible to work towards. It might inspire a decision in me.
Tavlor pulled me out of the room at the same time as my father came out of his bedroom. He was dressed in all his High Warlock finery—velvet cape, emerald green vest, tight pants—but he didn’t look like the man I’d met the first day I’d arrived.
He was holding my mother’s locket in his hand, chuckling to himself and smiling like a lunatic. Had he got any sleep at all? Or had they spent the whole night catching up? I smiled, despite myself. I was happy for him—for them. They needed to talk, and now they had.
He saw us and said something quietly about needing to go, then popped the locket and its chain inside his shirt, making sure his clothing hid it. I couldn’t imagine what the Council would do if they found who was actually inside the gold locket.
I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face. “You guys all good?”
He nodded, then rushed forward suddenly, grabbing me up in one of the tightest hugs I’d ever had from him.
I gasped as the wind was knocked out of me, but my father held me tight, not letting me go.
“Thank you for this, Ava. I can’t really tell you how much it means to me to speak to her again. Just... thank you.”
He let go as suddenly as he’d grabbed me. I inhaled deeply, touched by his words and the intense tone in which they were delivered.
“I’m so glad you two are getting along.”
He smiled, his face happier and lighter than I’d ever seen. “Like we’ve never been apart.”
A wave of sadness passed over me. Only in death could my parents be truly together.
“I’m sorry, Dad, I...”
“No, no, no...” He waved his hand in front of me. “No apologies. Life is what it is. But if speaking to your mother last night did anything for me, it was to make me more determined to give you the life you deserve. The choices I deserved and was denied.”
He clapped his hands together and looked from Tavlor to me once again. “So?” he said. “Have you decided if you want the job or not?”
I didn’t think, I just answered, speaking from the heart. “I want it.”
I blinked in surprise. My first instinct was to look at Tavlor, but I couldn’t bring myself to do just that.
My father’s eyebrows fluttered.
“Are you sure?” he asked. He didn’t seem to be doubting my choice, but giving me a moment to reconsider what I had said.
“Yes. I am.” I nodded, my belly flipping over now that I’d said the words aloud. “But I won’t marry who they want me to. I’m engaged to Tavlor, and I intend to marry him.”
“So we need to work out a way for the Council to accept you, without their arranged marriage.”
I jumped in, because that was not my only condition. “I won’t be just a figure head, Dad,” I said. “I want to make changes. I want to right wrongs... I want to...”
My father laughed. “I know you do, Ava, and nothing in the contract will stop you doing those things,” he said. “I went over the contract with a fine-tooth comb last night and when you inherit my power, you can use it as you see fit.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “And if I want to make changes before I inherit your powers?
He chuckled. “We can work on that. I promise. Together. But we need to get through today first. One massive flaming hurdle at a time. We need to ensure you’re allowed the inheritance at all, with your stipulations. Once we have, then we can start plotting.”
Part of me didn’t want to let the conversation go, but another part of me realized that my father was right. I had to focus on what we needed to do today. And that was to get me accepted, despite my request to marry someone of my choosing. One step at a time. I couldn’t rush into things. That had been my issue since before Mother had died. I just needed to be more patient.
A huge request as far as the Council was concerned was my prospective marriage amendment. Especially since the Counci
l believed they would win the hand no matter what today.
They got their guy into the High Warlock position either by marriage to me if I accepted, or by abdication if I chose to step down.
“You know they’re not going to play fair,” I said, worry beginning to niggle at me. I thrust my arms behind my back and began to pace, small at first, but erratic and jerky. I tried to smooth out my steps, but it was impossible.
Every time I went up against the Council, I almost lost my life. Either figuratively, or literally. I didn’t want the same thing to happen again. If it did, then what? What about all the realms who desperately needed my help? What would happen to them? To Tavlor? To my father?
“No, they won’t,” Tavlor said, stepping forward and addressing my father. “I would like to leave you for a few hours and see if I can get some re-enforcements to join us. Do you think that would be possible?”
“Re-enforcements?” I repeated, not understanding what he meant, nor did I like the idea of him leaving on a day like today when I needed him the most.
But my father nodded. Neither of them seemed to care about what I wanted, what I thought should happen. “You mean the Fae? The wolf shifters?”
“Yes. I believe I can get at least some of them to pledge allegiance to Ava. If there are enough, that might force the Council’s hand to do their bidding.”
I stepped between the two men who were conspiring a war, a mutiny against the Council.
“Hold on just a second,” I said, my mind still spinning with possibility. Number one, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Those people could get hurt. And number two, would that even affect the Council? They consider the Fae and Shifters... like slaves. Scum. Why would they care if those factions chose me as their leader?”
Tavlor turned his attention back to me. “Because, despite all those things you’ve mentioned, the Council still wants peace. They don’t want civil war, they don’t want unrest, and they certainly don’t want anyone knowing what sort of people the Council should be made up of.”
Tavlor held up the book Bella had found in my mother’s library before she died. He still had the original, which was our ace card. If we decided to play it.