“It is only a rumour,” one of the Law Lords spoke. “Surely you have more than this?”
“I am at a loss to explain this unexpected change in behaviour, my lords,” Wilfred bowed his head before seating himself.
The murmurs began again. Saafir leaned into Tom’s ear. “He didn’t make much of a case to be kept on, did he?”
“No…” Tom said. “There’s something about him that –” he stopped, not sure what it was he felt.
“That what?” Saafir asked.
The voice spoke: “All those in favour of retaining Wilfred Notaries' services, raise a hand.” Tom turned to the Law Lords and not a single hand rose. “All those in favour of terminating Wilfred Notaries' services, raise a hand.” All three Law Lords raised their hands – Lord Dragunov, somewhat lazily. “The House has decided. Wilfred Notaries, you will hereby be stripped of your post as Commander of the Southern Patrols. You will be reassessed as a Guardian and, until an appropriate position has been found, your services will not be needed. You may leave the House.”
Wilfred did not protest or even seem to care. He simply rose up, gave another bow and then turned towards the door.
“He’s quite big, isn’t he?” Tom said.
“I would say he’s at least seven feet tall,” Saafir agreed by exaggerating.
“He’s actually six foot six,” Tara said and Tom jumped in his seat, having completely forgotten she was sitting next to him.
Wilfred walked out of the room and the murmurs began yet again. The subject on everyone’s lips was not of the wolves, but of the new lord, the returned lord. He even heard one whisper, “the saviour”.
A smile played on Tom’s lips before he pulled them tight. He was not supposed to be enjoying this and he definitely was not a saviour. The Zarlocks had murdered Sarah. He didn’t want their lands or their title. He was only here because he didn’t have the courage to say as much to Lord Malik...
“As you all know,” the voice began again and the murmurs died, “we have amongst us, a descendant of Merlin the Great, of Rathbar the Conqueror, of Shaan the Magnificent, a descendant who is the last of the Zarlocks. The young lord is here to reclaim what is his by right – the House of Zarlock and the land of Camelot.
“In the young lord’s absence, House Cullen and Mobridge administered the land, raised taxes and settled disputes. They claim it unfair to return the land immediately as, in the Zarlocks’ absence, Camelot became full of strife. Lords Cullen and Mobridge claim to have spent considerable amounts of their own resources to bring the lands under control and, as such, they wish to submit the motion that they be allowed to collect taxes in Camelot for another ten years.”
From behind Tom, he heard laughter and mocking derision as the voice finished. Although admittedly he knew little of the circumstances, the request didn’t seem unfair to him.
“All those in favour of extending tax collecting rights to Houses Cullen and Mobridge for another ten years, raise your hand,” the voice said.
Tom looked up at the platform as Lord Dragunov’s hand rose. The Law Lord sitting next to him smiled. His hand remained lowered as he turned to the final Law Lord, an elderly man with a white beard and a bald head. His hand rose. That was two in favour of the motion. The smile on the face of the lord sitting in the middle faded and his eyes widened. The mocking laughter of earlier was replaced with uproar. Tom turned to look back at the lords. Some sat in stunned silence; others stood making angry gestures and shouting.
“What just happened?” Tom asked.
Saafir didn’t reply immediately. He sat in a stunned silence, his eyes still on the Law Lords. Tom was about to nudge him quite roughly when he turned, the surprise clear in his eyes.
“Lord Colborn was supposed to vote against,” the words came out inattentively, “we’ve been betrayed.”
Chapter 4
Tom sat in Madam Stewart’s class, staring out the window and not listening to a word she was saying. He wasn’t doing it intentionally. Now that he wasn't scared of her anymore, he found her extremely boring and he had a lot on his mind too.
Law Lords Colborne and Lipton were supposed to vote in his favour. That one hadn’t meant he had been betrayed. According to Saafir, it was unfathomable as to why Lord Colborne would suddenly switch to the Le Fays, now that he, Lord Zarlock, had returned. Even with his betrayal, the Le Fays were still outnumbered by eight houses to five. Apparently this betrayal was only a temporary setback, because –
That was where Saafir had stopped – at a "because", because he wasn’t supposed to know. He had been eavesdropping when the other lords had come to visit his father. He wasn’t supposed to hear what they were discussing. Sulkily, he had explained that Kayvan thought he couldn’t keep secrets, so he was going to prove him wrong by keeping this one…
“Tom?”
He looked up to see two pairs of purple eyes staring at him. It was the twins, Gemma and Jenna and they stood uncomfortably close to him. He should have been used to having his personal space invaded by now – these two did it so often – but he wasn't.
“What?” he asked as he leaned back in his chair.
It didn’t help. They leaned forward.
“The class has finished,” they both said.
Tom looked around. They were right. The class was empty save for Saafir and the twins. Had he just daydreamed away a three-hour lesson? He wouldn’t have been able to do that a few months back. Madam Stewart would have been standing behind him, clearing her throat, waiting for him to come around and then she would ask rhetorical questions, before she either kicked him out or gave him detention... or did both. Now, she either smiled at him or pretended he didn’t exist. He preferred the latter. It was evident smiling did not come naturally to Madam Stewart.
“What were you thinking about?” Jenna asked.
Tom stood up and grabbed his bag.
“Nothing,” he said as he walked towards the door. They followed after him.
“So?” Gemma asked pointedly, her eyes narrowing. “Can we?”
“Can you what?” Tom asked as he walked ahead, not looking back. He knew what she was asking for. It wasn’t the first time they had asked... or the second... or third.
Gemma grabbed him by the arm.
“You know what.”
Tom sighed. He liked her more when she didn’t talk as much. She spoke too much now. Her attitude towards him hadn’t changed much. She was still mean when she had the opportunity.
“I can’t leave the school,” Tom lied.
“Lord Zarlock can’t leave the school?” Jenna asked sceptically.
“You’ve seen the guards they’ve posted around school. Wolves are running everywhere. They won’t let me out.”
Saafir put his arm around Tom’s shoulder.
“You have much to learn about being a lord. Just ask and you shall be given,” Saafir said singingly. “No wait, that’s wrong. You don’t ask. You say and then be… given. So –” Saafir turned to the girls. “What is it you want again?”
“To go to the House of Zarlock,” Jenna fumed. “We’ve told you over a hundred times!”
Saafir’s arm slung off Tom’s shoulder as they came to a halt in the corridor.
“Why do you want to go back there?”
“Do you ever listen to anything we say?” Jenna asked pointedly, folding her arms across her chest.
“Not always,” Saafir admitted. “But I don’t understand why you want to go back to that place again. What do you think you might find?”
“The House of Zarlock has one of the largest libraries in the world. There might be clues in the –”
“They have pretty big libraries in the Land of the Wanderers you know,” Tom interrupted.
Jenna turned to him, a frown on her face.
“What?”
“You said it has one of the biggest libraries in the world. You wouldn’t say that if you had seen some of the Wanderers' libraries.”
It wasn’t like Tom to be pe
dantic, but he really didn’t want to go back to the House of Zarlock. It wasn’t just that the place held bad memories for him; he couldn’t see the benefit of it. The twins wanted to find his parents' murderer, but whatever it was that had killed them hadn't hung around. With his permissions, the house had already been thoroughly searched by a bunch of Guardians.
“Lord Zarlock told you to beware of the wolves. He knew they were coming. In the Werewolf Wars, the Zarlocks and Le Fay’s were at the forefront of the battle. Surely, if anyone knows anything about a wolf king, it would be them.”
Tom nodded.
“Let’s go to the House of Le Fay.”
Gemma’s mouth curled unpleasantly.
“You’re an idiot.”
“That doesn’t even offend me anymore,” he informed her blankly.
“Look,” Jenna said, her frustration growing. “All you have to do is let us in the house. After that, you can disappear, come back here, hide in your tree house.”
Tom glared at her.
“I don’t hide in the tree house anymore.”
It was true. Now that he was Lord Zarlock, no one picked on him and, as a result, he wasn’t spending more time in the school. He had found a tower that led up from the sixth floor roof. There was a single room there with large curved windows. What with the school being on a hill and the tower extending for at least another fifty meters on top of the sixth floor, it was like he could see the whole of Atlantis from up there. It wasn't really, but it did have nice views.
“Just drop us off you big wuss.”
Gemma punched his arm.
“Oh, now I’m convinced,” Tom said.
“Good,” the twins said simultaneously. “We’ll go Friday night,” and with that, they turned and walked down the corridor.
If you wish to continue reading, you can purchase the next book in the series by clicking on the below link.
Thomas Skinner and The Return of The Werewolves
The Other Side (Thomas Skinner Book 1) Page 25