Guilt twisted in my gut at having to evict him from his room.
“The meeting will begin any moment now,” Zoe said. “I just wanted to tell you, be careful what you say in front of the council. With Freya’s death, they are all uneasy. What with her being a royal and all.”
“I’d forgotten about that. Which court was she from?”
“You know there were four fae courts, don’t you? Well, Freya was from the summer court, which was disbanded about eighteen years ago.”
I knew some fae history from what I’d learnt in classes. I made a mental note to ask Tristen about that later. One good thing about him being a prince was he knew a lot about the royals.
“Now when they ask you —” Zoe got cut off by another knock at the door.
It opened and Zoe’s husband, Nick Trevelyan, poked his head in. “It’s time for the meeting. We need to go.” Nick was a gorgeous looking man with short black hair, a chiselled face, and blue eyes. Like Zoe, he wore a black leather jacket, jeans, and a grey T-shirt.
I groaned and braced myself for what was about to come.
The dining tables in the great hall had all vanished when Nick and Zoe took me down there.
Instead, a new table with the six leaders of the council sat there. Along with the newcomer, Lucas Melrose. What the hell was he doing there?
The council was made up of the two fae monarchs, Queen Maeve of the Seelie and King Gerard of the Unseelie. Each ruler had a male and female representative that sat on the council with them. Maeve had Lady Louisa and Lord Michael. Gerard’s were Lady Vinessa and Lord Archon.
My stomach did flip-flops as their steely gazes landed on me. All of them looked beautiful and regal with their high cheekbones, perfect complexions, and perfect hair.
Nick and Zoe as Guardians and teachers here at the academy sat over a smaller table. I was amazed the council had even let them come.
I met their gazes head-on. Sure, these people had the most authority, but I would never cower before anyone. Not seeing Freya there made my chest ache, and a pit formed in my stomach. I was so used to her presence being there whenever I came face-to-face with the council.
“Silvana Eldry, come before the high council,” Lady Louisa with her perfect cheekbones, delicate features, and long blond hair said.
I stepped forward.
Forrest’s glare bored into me. No doubt he’d look for any excuse to get rid of me. The headmaster had never liked me. My freaky powers didn’t help matters. Sometimes I wondered how Freya had even convinced him to let me come to the academy in the first place. He had never approved of me either.
“Miss Eldry, you were with Miss Goodwin last night, correct?” Lady Louisa asked.
I nodded. If they had already ruled Freya’s death an accident, what was the point of this meeting? Unless Forrest had ordered it so he could accuse me of murdering her again. I wouldn’t put that past him.
“And why were you with her?” King Gerard’s right-hand man wanted to know. He was a tall man with a mop of curly dark hair and grey eyes.
“Freya is my mentor; I have lessons with her every evening.” The pain in my chest grew. She was my mentor, I reminded myself. “We had a lesson last night at around seven PM. We went outside to practise my elemental magic. She said it would be easier if we practised outside.”
“Why is it you have lessons outside of your usual classes?” Queen Maeve scrunched up her nose. “No other students receive such special attention. Are you failing here at the academy?”
I gritted my teeth. She already knew I had extra lessons with Freya. I was the only student at the academy who had not grown up as a fae. That combined with my unusual abilities — which proved uncontrollable —— meant I needed help. My classes weren’t able to teach me to control my powers as much as I would have liked. Plus, I hadn’t even known about the block on my powers at first.
“Freya was teaching me about a fae world more. I don’t know much because I grew up among humans,” I replied. “But it was to help me to control my powers.”
“Isn’t that what you learn to do in class?” King Gerard leaned back in his chair, looking almost bored. “Every other student seems to be doing well enough here at the academy. Or is your half-human nature slowing you down?”
I winced at that last comment and I raised my chin. “Just because I am half-human, it doesn’t make me any less than any other student. And yes, I do learn things in class, but my powers had a block on them. I couldn’t gain control of them whilst the block was in place,” I explained. “You said I had to gain control of my powers, or I would be expelled — that’s what Freya and I have been working on.”
“Why would there be a block on your powers? Blocks are only placed on people who go mad or lack the ability to control their powers.” Lady Vinessa wanted to know. “That makes no sense.”
“I don’t know that either.”
“Miss Eldry, there are reports you disappeared for several hours last night, is that true?” Lord Michael asked. “You have a habit of running away, don’t you? You have done so on more than one occasion as I recall.”
I knew he meant one of my previous encounters with the council. They had been suspicious of me and my true heritage, but I didn’t have any clue as to who my parents were. Plus, my freaky powers made me a potential threat to them due to the bad history of faelings.
“Freya and I were working with a ley line.” I tucked a lock of my long blond hair behind my ear. “I accidentally transported myself somewhere else.” I didn’t see the point in hiding that fact from them. Me going to the woods had nothing to do with Freya’s death, so I didn’t see why it would get me into trouble either.
Forrest scoffed at that. “No one in her year can do ley line magic yet. She couldn’t have used it, let alone travelled anywhere through one.”
“Do not interrupt, brother.” Maeve shot him a warning look. “Please continue, Miss Eldry. Where did you go? Tell us what you did whilst you were away. Did Freya get transported there with you?”
“No, she didn’t. I ended up in Eldry Woods — it’s where I was found as a new-born. I thought of it and ended up there,” I admitted. I wouldn’t mention Isla or what I found there. It was none of their damned business, anyway. They weren’t entitled to know every single thing that happened to me.
“And why were you gone for almost three hours?” Maeve demanded.
I had no doubt she and her brother had it in for me. Thank god Tristen was nothing like them. “I got lost, and it took forever to find my way out.” True enough. Eldry Woods was an entire maze of thick trees and overgrown wilderness. It could have taken me days to get out if Isla hadn’t told me what way to go. Maybe that phone Freya had given me would come in handy after all if anything like that happened again.
“How did you get back?” King Gerard asked. “Did you call someone for help? Or did you use the ley line again?
“My friends came searching for me — Melanie Greenwood found me and called Tristen. He flew me back here.” Again, true enough. Maeve’s eyes narrowed at the mention of Tristen’s name. “When I got back, I went to Freya’s room to tell her I was okay. That’s when I found her on the floor.” I glanced towards Lucas Melrose, who’d been silent throughout. He paled at my words. Maeve opened her mouth to speak, but I cut her off. “Freya was struggling to breathe. She told me she’d been poisoned.” I glowered at Forrest. “You should all be doing something to find out who killed her and why.”
Maeve didn’t seem like the woman who got surprised, but her eyes widened. “Freya’s death was an accident. This meeting is just a formality.”
“Then why did your brother have me arrested? Freya wasn’t stupid enough to take poison by mistake,” I snapped.
Forrest sighed. “I have already explained to the council it was a simple misunderstanding.”
“Freya told me —” I wasn’t about to let this matter go. I needed to know her death hadn’t been an accident an
d they should damn well do something about it.
“That’s enough, Miss Eldry. I’m sure you’re upset by the loss of your mentor. That is understandable.” Maeve held up a hand. “But we have no further questions for you. You’re free to go.”
“And since Freya is gone, there is no need for you to have a mentor now.” Forrest gave me a gleeful look. “Now run along, Silvana.”
“Unbelievable!” I fumed the moment Zoe and Nick led me into another room. This was one I had never been in before, and it looked like a private meeting room. Green wallpaper covered the walls, the floor was polished oak, and a few armchairs stood around the fireplace.
A vase smashed against the wall as a blast of air swept through the room. Good, I wanted to storm back into the hall and demand they do something. How could they push this matter aside as if Freya meant nothing? She had been a member of the council. Maybe not a leader, but she had still been important. Yet they acted like she meant nothing. Well, she had mattered to me, and one way or another I would find out what happened to her.
“Why didn’t either of you say anything?” I glared at the two Guardians. “You know damn well Freya’s death wasn’t an accident. Yet you sat there and let them make me look like an idiot. How could you do that? Why is no one bothering to find out what really happened to Freya? I thought she was your friend.”
“I told you not to go against them,” Zoe said. “You —”
“We can’t do anything. It wouldn’t do any good,” Nick interjected. “Now they’ve ruled a verdict on Freya’s death and there is no changing it.”
“Freya told me —” I protested.
“We believe you.” Zoe gripped my shoulders. “But things among the fae are very different from the human world.”
“You are a Guardian, right?” I knew they had been some sort of magical enforcers back before The Change eighteen years ago. Back then the fae world had collapsed, and they had been forced to come and live here on earth. Since then humans and fae had been forced to coexist with each other. Although the fae mainly kept to themselves after cleaning up the planet and preparing all the damage humans had done to it.
“As Guardians, it was our job to keep the fae world a secret and keep fae in line,” Nick said. “But it’s a different world now. The fae are all here in this realm. We have very limited authority anymore.”
“We probably have less now Freya is gone,” Zoe agreed. “Silvy, I know you’re angry but there’s no way to prove Freya’s death wasn’t an accident.”
“Freya had a lot of secrets.” I raised my chin. “The council didn’t like her. Maybe one of them —” I couldn’t bring myself to say killed her. Every time I thought of it, I grew sick to my stomach and remembered her laying on that floor. “Wait, I saw something else last night,” I added. “I saw that new guy, Lucas, come out of Freya’s room — after she was already gone. After they let me out of my cell.”
“That’s not surprising,” Zoe said. “Forrest called him to be her replacement. Since a new term is starting, he is going to be teaching potion classes.”
“Don’t you find that suspicious?” I demanded. “He was already here before Forrest even called him, I bet.”
“Melrose isn’t a killer,” Nick said. “He doesn’t even want to be here.”
Great, now my only potential adult allies weren’t on my side either. Would anyone believe me about Freya’s death not being an accident?
“Silvy, you should be glad the council isn’t trying to pin Freya’s death on you,” Zoe said. “You’re on thin ice with them already. Don’t give them any more reason to change their minds. They might expel you.”
“There will be a memorial soon. Do you think you can keep your head down until then?” Nick asked.
I gritted my teeth and crossed my arms. “Do I have a choice?”
“Freya’s sisters will be there too.” Zoe squeezed my arm. “I know you’re upset, but Freya wouldn’t want you to throw away your future over her. More than anything, she wanted you to come here to the academy and graduate. To give you the best chance in life.”
What future? My future felt hopeless without Freya in it. Now I didn’t have anyone to teach me about my powers. My one chance of having a real family died with her too. I hadn’t even had time to consider the possibility of what her adopting me would have been like. I’d given up on that dream years ago and thought no one would ever want to adopt me, especially now. Being part of a family was something I’d always dreamt of but thought I would never get through to experience. With Freya gone, I never would know.
“How am I going to control my powers now?” Freya had been the only one who understood my powers. Better than any of my other teachers had. She had helped me to remove the block on my powers.
“I can’t believe Forrest denied you having another mentor,” Nick remarked. “He’s more of an idiot than I thought.”
“I don’t want one.” No one could ever replace Freya. Now that the block was gone, maybe I could control things without any extra help. I couldn’t imagine anyone else teaching me, and it would be a constant reminder of Freya not being there anymore.
“I’ll take over as your mentor,” Zoe said. “Until we can find someone else.”
“Once the memorial is over, there will be a legacy reading,” Nick said.
“A what?” I had no idea what he meant. There was still so much about the fae world that I knew nothing about.
“All fae, especially the nobles, leave a statement of legacy. Like a will — the way humans do,” he explained. “So, the surviving heirs know what money, lands, and titles they will inherit. Along with any instructions they have for surviving relatives or requests they have made of friends and people in their lives.”
My blood went cold. “Did Freya have kids?” It made me realise just how little I knew about my mentor. She had never told me much about her personal life. Heck, she hadn’t even bothered telling me about the custodian agreement. Instead, she’d presented it to the council without asking me how I felt about it. I’d been angry with her over that and never had a chance to say I was sorry.
Nick and Zoe glanced at each other.
“Just two surviving sisters. The reading is read out by a member of the court. They will go over everything Freya left in her statement.”
“We will need to be on our toes,” Nick said. “I have a feeling things are going to turn dark now that Freya’s gone.”
Chapter 5
After the council meeting, I regrouped with Alec in his room. It was a good thing we didn’t have classes that day. There was no way I would have been able to focus on taking anything in during class. I had no idea how I would even focus when we went back to class tomorrow.
“How did the meeting go?” Alec asked and spun around to face me in his desk chair.
I let out a low growl. “Don’t ask. They’re not going to do a damn thing to investigate Freya’s death. They are going to sweep it under the rug like she meant nothing.” My hands clenched into fists and I fought to keep my magic under control.
I noticed Mel sitting on the floor. “What are you doing here?” I asked. “I thought you wanted no part of this.”
“I don’t but here I am,” Mel said. “If I don’t help out a bit, I’ll never see either of my best friends.”
“She misses us.” Alec grinned. “Plus, secretly she wants to be in on the action. Because deep down she knows we are right.”
Mel laughed. “Action? This is just another one of your wild conspiracy theories and it’ll get you expelled.” She scoffed. “Silvy is only going along with it because she’s repressing her —”
“What have you come up with so far?” I interrupted. I didn’t want to hear about how I was repressing my emotions. Nor did I want to think about expulsion or breaking the rules anymore. The rules didn’t matter. Not when it came to finding out what happened to Freya.
“We’ve made a list of all the council leaders and what we kn
ow about them,” Alec replied.
Mel rolled her eyes. “You should hear some of the bonkers theories he has about them.”
“They’re not bonkers.” Alec threw a pillow at her. “You’re too narrow-minded to see the truth. Or have you forgotten how the Unseelie king spent most of your life hunting you and your grandmother?”
Mel flinched. “How can I ever forget that? That’s why I am always on my guard and want to lay low. Which means sticking to the rules.” She ran a hand through her long curly hair. “I don’t even know why he stopped chasing me. I suspect Nick and Zoe did something about it. I will probably spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder.”
“See, I told you the council isn’t to be trusted.” I couldn’t fathom why the king might want Mel or her grandmother dead. I didn’t know if it was because she was a Guardian. If so, why hadn’t he tried to kill Nick and Zoe? The council seemed to have no problem with them being around.
Mel scrambled up. “What’s going on with you and Tristan?” she asked me.
I stared at her, wide-eyed. “Nothing. Plus, we have to focus on Freya, remember?”
“Silvy, he was frantic with worry over you last night. And he was in your bed this morning.”
I rubbed my forehead. I was never going to live that fact down. “Nothing. We are friends, that’s it.”
“Right. A friend who kissed you. There is insane chemistry between you. Tristen doesn’t have friends — he has groupies. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Alec let out a low whistle. “Wow, Tristen kissed you, Silvy? He must like you then. Usually, he stares down his nose at most girls.” He sighed. “He is a lucky git with the way he has girls throwing themselves at him. If I was born into a noble family too, I could have any girl I want.”
Mel glowered at him. “I’ll throw something else at you in a minute if you’re not careful.” She picked up a pillow and tossed it at him.
“Hey, a guy can dream, can’t he? I’m probably going to be single and dateless my entire life.”
Everlight Academy Book 2 Page 4