Arbitrate or Die (The Exceptional S. Beaufont Book 2)

by Sarah Noffke

  The House of Fourteen shouldn’t have been expecting her since she hadn’t made an appointment or anything. However, everyone was looking straight at Sophia when she entered the Chamber.

  “You’ve returned,” Haro Takahashi, a Councilor for the House of Fourteen said, staring down at her as she strode into the center of the round room.

  There was an unfamiliar woman beside him. The newly appointed magician family who replaced the Sinclairs, Sophia guessed.

  There were actually so many strange faces around the chamber that it was somewhat overwhelming. The House, which used to consist of seven Warriors and seven Councilors, had grown significantly since Liv had taken her role. Now the council included the Mortal Seven as well as delegates from the elves, giants, gnomes, and fae. It went to reason that there should be a delegate from the Dragon Elite, Sophia supposed, sticking the thought to the back of her mind for later.

  “Yes,” Sophia answered, striding past the Warriors and offering a small smile to Liv, who stood in the center of the arc.

  Stopping in the middle of the room with the Warriors at her back and Councilors staring down at her, Sophia drew in a breath. “I have an update that I thought you all would be interested in hearing.”

  “Please share,” Hester DeVries stated, a pleasant expression on her face.

  “We were able to locate Mother Nature, per your advice, based on the vision your oracle had seen.”

  A great bit of muttering began, silencing Sophia.

  “Are you sure she’s the real Mother Nature?” Lorenzo Rosario questioned, a skeptical expression making his brow wrinkle. “There have been many impersonators throughout the centuries.”

  “That’s because Mother Nature planted them,” Rory Laurens, the representative for the giants, stated.

  “Why would she do that?” Bianca Mantovani questioned, her high-pitched voice matching the snotty expression on her pale face.

  “Because she’s Mother Nature,” Rory stated. “Much like Father Time, when she was active on Earth, she was constantly inundated with requests. It’s one reason that she went into hiding.”

  “Father Time and she actually made a deal to go into hiding at the same time,” Sophia offered.

  “But Father Time returned,” Hester stated.

  “And so has Mother Nature,” Sophia said proudly. “She has agreed to offer some insights, guiding the Dragon Elite in finding and apprehending the offender your oracle saw who is abusing the planet.”

  “Is what our oracle saw accurate?” Haro asked.

  “Unfortunately, it is,” Sophia answered. “If left unchecked, this rising evil will destroy the planet within a century, possibly longer, but not by much.”

  Again the chamber filled with whispers, this time coated with fear.

  When the council had quieted down, Clark leaned forward out of the shadows, staring down at his sister. Sophia found herself smiling at him. “Can you disclose to us what group is behind this evil?”

  “It’s not a group. It is a single man,” Sophia answered.

  Gasps echoed around the chamber, followed by rapid muttering.

  “Oh my God,” Liv said with a sigh at Sophia’s back. “Will you let the girl talk?”

  “Warrior Beaufont, you do not have the floor presently,” Bianca said in a punishing tone.

  “Yes, but I can relate because it’s ever so difficult to get out a report with you all interrupting with your shock and awe,” Liv stated.

  “I think the shock is due to the fact that it’s impossible for a single man to be behind the demise of our planet,” Lorenzo said with confidence.

  “Right,” Liv chirped. “Because if we look back at history, a single man has never been able to do horrific acts. There are zero exceptions to that.”

  “What about Hitler?” Stefan Ludwig asked beside Liv, sounding amused.

  Sophia turned to see Liv slap her forehead with her hand. “Oh, right. I forgot about Hitler. There’s one exception. But there are no more.”

  “And then there’s Stalin,” Trudy DeVries, another Warrior, chimed in.

  “Damn it,” Liv said, pretending to be serious. “Okay, that’s another exception. But there aren’t anymore.”

  “Wasn’t there that one guy who nearly destroyed mortals recently?” King Rudolf asked from the bench, snapping his fingers like trying to remember. “What was his name? Falon Tinclair, wasn’t it?”

  “Talon Sinclair,” Rory corrected.

  “Right!” Rudolf exclaimed. “Yeah, that guy made it so mortals couldn’t see magic, almost erasing it from the globe, which would have sent us into a huge downward spiral, pretty much destroying the Earth.”

  Bianca narrowed her eyes. “I think you all have made your little point.”

  “I’d argue it’s a big point,” Liv stated proudly.

  “Warrior Beaufont is correct,” Haro stated. “If we underestimate what one man can do, then we are setting ourselves up to repeat history. Please continue, Sophia. Who is this man?”

  “His name is Thad Reinhart,” she said and paused, certain that she’d be cut off again, but the Councilor simply continued to blink down at her. “You haven’t heard of him?”

  The Councilors all looked around at each other. “I don’t believe so,” Haro answered for the group.

  She nodded. “It has been difficult to find much information on him. We believe that he’s hiding behind many different corporations which invariably are a part of the scandalous activity that’s destroying the Earth, harming millions and who knows what else.”

  “And what do the Dragon Elite plan to do about this Thad Reinhart?” Bianca asked.

  “We are going to stop him,” Sophia said with conviction, resenting the fact that Bianca was putting her nose into their business. It wouldn’t be okay for her to ask how the House of Fourteen was dealing with things.

  “How?” Bianca questioned.

  “I’m not at liberty to say,” Sophia answered.

  “This is a problem that affects us all,” Lorenzo stated. “I believe it would be wise for the Dragon Elite to communicate with us.”

  “Actually,” John Carraway began, the first Mortal Seven on the council, “Sophia is not a member of this council and therefore under no obligation to be transparent with us. She could very well be guarding secrets that we shouldn’t be privy too.”

  “That’s an excellent point,” Raina Ludwig chimed in. “It’s a good reason for us to consider offering a position on the council to the Dragon Elite, now that they have resurfaced after all these years.”

  Sophia’s heart began to beat fast. Everything was coming together. All of her worlds colliding, as she had secretly hoped without realizing it.

  “They can’t afford to assign a delegate with the reports of their numbers,” Lorenzo stated, immediately making Sophia deflate.

  “Excuse me?” she interjected. “What does that mean?”

  He sighed. “With all due respect, it is assumed by the council based on our projections that the Dragon Elite’s numbers aren’t what they once were.”

  “The Great War with mortals and the time when they couldn’t see magic did affect us,” Sophia argued. “However, we are taking back our roles as adjudicators. It won’t be long before we’re a force that all turn to for direction and justice.”

  Bianca snickered, looking pleased with herself. “She doesn’t know,” she said to those around her.

  “But you apparently do,” Liv cut in.

  The Councilor narrowed her eyes at Liv before returning her gaze to Sophia. “If our reports are correct, then it would seem that the dragon population is on a sharp decline and at a rate that is unrecoverable. So it makes no sense for us to give a position on the council to the Dragon Elite, does it?”

  The air felt like it had suddenly been sucked out of Sophia’s lungs. She wanted to answer but didn’t know what to say. She knew there had only ever been one-thousand dragon eggs. That’s how many the angels created and spread throughout the Ear
th.

  Some had hatched, but Sophia hadn’t considered they all had and that dragons were going extinct.

  The information on the subject in The Incomplete History of Dragon Riders was murky, but apparently, Mother Nature chose the riders who could magnetize to the eggs and those became candidates for the Elite, which served her, protecting the planet through adjudication.

  “Where did you get this information?” Liv asked, stepping forward to stand even with Sophia.

  It immediately made her feel better to have Liv there.

  “We have our sources,” Bianca stated primly.

  “The Forgotten Archives,” Clark answered, earning a scolding look from Bianca. “As well as a few other sources like oracles, and reports from the giants and elves.”

  “The point is,” Lorenzo stated, “that not only is inviting the Dragon Elite to the House of Fourteen unrealistic with you facing extinction, but it also makes me wonder how you are going to fight and overwhelm an evil such as this Thad Reinhart.”

  Sophia wanted to argue, but she knew it was worthless. For one, she couldn’t tell everyone the secrets that went on in the Gullington. And secondly, deep inside, she knew they were right. There were only a few riders in the Dragon Elite, apparently mostly due to Thad Reinhart’s efforts. Maybe the council was right, and they didn’t stand a chance.

  “I think underestimating the Dragon Elite is what is unwise,” Hester stated boldly, looking down the bench at her contemporaries. “Yes, their numbers have declined due to circumstance, but they are back now and taking their rightful roles. Mother Nature has returned. And as the magical creatures with the longest lifespan and strongest abilities, I have every confidence they can rally.”

  Sophia wanted to run up and hug the healer known as Hester. Instead, she simply smiled at her.

  “Although that speech was nice, I think it’s unrealistic to believe the Dragon Elite can take back their roles without dragons,” Lorenzo stated. “If the rumors are true, there are no more eggs out there. No more dragons to magnetize too. You’re limited to the dragonriders already in existence.”

  Sophia’s eyes cut to Rory, who gave her a pointed expression. She immediately remembered something of great importance.

  “I think,” Haro said, contemplating, “that Councilor DeVries makes an excellent point. The time for recruitment is now. I’ve heard reports that there are riders scattered around the planet that aren’t a part of the Dragon Elite.” He offered Sophia a kind expression. “I’m not trying to interject my advice onto you, but it makes sense that finding those riders could help with fighting this Thad Reinhart.”

  Sophia nodded, trying to keep her expression neutral.

  “I think,” Raina began, “that whatever the Dragon Elite do, they should know that they have our full support. It is overdue that we all come together to support each other. We are no longer operating singularly as evidenced by the diverse makeup of our council.”

  “Yes,” Clark stated. “The Dragon Elite have had to recover from what Talon Sinclair did to this world, just as the House of Fourteen had to do. Their journey will be different than ours, but if there is anything we can do to help, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

  For a moment, Sophia pretended the man before her wasn’t her biased brother who loved her unconditionally. She pictured him as a fellow magician who saw her as a competent Dragon Elite and believed in her because she deserved it.

  Chapter Eleven

  “I wouldn’t go in there right now,” Ainsley warned Sophia as she headed for Hiker’s office.

  She could hear banging echoing from the room at the top of the stairs. Sophia paused, giving the housekeeper a tentative expression. “Because Hiker is strangely in a bad mood, which is different from any other day?”

  Ainsley laughed. “You know him well. But he’s in a worse mood than usual.”

  “But we have a lead for Thad Reinhart, the other riders are off doing things to reinforce our roles as adjudicators, and Mother Nature is back.”

  “And the Castle did something to his office,” Ainsley added on the heels of her statement.

  “What?” Sophia questioned. “Because taking away most of his windows and all of his books wasn’t enough?”

  “Apparently,” she answered.

  “What’s the Castle’s deal with Hiker?” Sophia asked.

  “Aside from the fact that he leaves his grubby hair in the bath drain and never says thank you after a good meal?” Ainsley questioned.

  “That’s why the Castle is mad at Hiker?”

  Ainsley shook her head. “Well, those are my complaints, actually. The Castle won’t reveal much to me about its grievances, but I suspect it doesn’t like how Hiker is tackling his job.”

  “He’s doing the best that he knows how based on all the flux of activity.” Sophia found it strange that she was defending the Viking, but there it was.

  “He’s hiding something, S. Beaufont,” Ainsley said in a conspiratorial whisper. “At least, that’s the hint I’ve been given by the Castle.”

  “How is that?”

  “Well, every time I’m going off about Hiker, the Castle hides something of mine,” Ainsley explained. “I mean, it hides my stuff all the time, but I get the feeling that this is personally tied to Hiker.”

  “Hmmm,” Sophia said, continuing to climb the stairs to Hiker’s office.

  “Didn’t you hear what I said about Hiker’s mood?” Ainsley asked.

  “Yes, but he doesn’t scare me,” she replied.

  “And that’s why you’re the best of us, S. Beaufont.”

  Upon entering Hiker’s office, Sophia figured out what the banging sound was from. The Viking was thumping his head on the surface of his desk, which looked a bit crowded in an office about half the size that it had been, all the furniture scooted in closer to the center of the room.

  “Sir?” Sophia asked, knocking on the door frame.

  He stopped banging his head and looked at her, his eyes filled with a sober expression. “I’m busy.”

  She nodded. “I can see that. But maybe if you can take a minute?”

  He laid his head on his hands. “Go on, then.”

  Striding into the office, she tried to negotiate around the crowded furniture, feeling claustrophobic without the windows or space. “So the Castle…why do you think it’s—”

  “Your reason for coming here,” he ordered.

  She swallowed, thinking of taking a seat but deciding against it. “Yeah, sorry. It’s just that I went to the House of Fourteen and gave them a status update.”

  “And they said we are a bunch of dimwits who have no idea what we’re doing, and we’re going to fail,” he said in a muffled voice.

  “Actually, I think their concerns were more about our dwindling numbers,” Sophia said, scrunching up her shoulders and waiting for Hiker’s outburst.

  He covered his head with both his large hands. “So they know.”

  “I think they suspect,” she admitted.

  “How many of them are there in the House of Fourteen?” Hiker asked.

  Before she could answer, he added, “Can we kill them all?”

  “My sister and brother are in the House of Fourteen, sir,” she said, insulted.

  “So you’re opposed to the idea then?” he asked, hope in his voice.

  “Vehemently,” she stated, hands on her hips. “Familia est Sempiternum.”

  “Is that a spell?” he asked, appearing almost drunk with emotion.

  “It’s a family motto,” she stated. “There’s nothing more important to me than family. Which got me thinking after I left the House of Fourteen.”

  “You’re leaving to go and join them?” he guessed.

  “No,” she said, offense in her voice. “I love it here. The Gullington is my home. The Dragon Elite is where I belong, whether you want me or not. Familia est Sempiternum.”

  He gulped. Opened his mouth like he was going to respond. But he didn’t.

  When H
iker didn’t say anything, Sophia decided to charge on. “Anyway, the House is concerned about our ability to challenge Thad Reinhart based on our numbers. And they mentioned something that I wasn’t that aware of, but I guess it makes sense. Sir, are we as dragonriders facing extinction?”

  He slammed his mouth shut, looking around his desk like he misplaced something.

  “I mean,” she continued. “There have to be enough dragons first for there to be riders. And I know there are a finite number of eggs. So is it possible, after everything Thad did, and whatever else that we are—”

  “Yes,” he answered at once, cutting her off. “Our numbers have been dwindling for a while. Thad saw to that. And then after him, no one wanted to join us. And now…well, you were the first dragonrider in a century.”

  “And not at all what you were expecting,” Sophia said, looking down at her colored armor.

  “That’s not relevant,” he stated at once. “You can do the math on this.”

  Sophia decided to gloss over this. “Have you thought about going out to find more of the riders who didn’t at first want anything to do with the Dragon Elite? They are probably still out there, and now that our mission has been renewed, it might be worth approaching them again?”

  He shook his head. “I’m not sure it’s worth our time. I have a very strict way of qualifying new riders.”

  “You treat them like you don’t want them and kick them out, and only if they return do you let them stay?” she asked.

  He gave her a look of annoyance. “Strangely, that sounds about right.”

  “Well, although that is a good strategy,” Sophia began, “the world has changed. And we are in a different position. Maybe it’s a good idea to put on your diplomatic recruiting hat and entice lone riders to come back and join our forces?”

  He shook his head. “We don’t need them.”

  “I think we do, sir,” Sophia dared to argue. “How are we going to face Thad and win if we don’t have the numbers? We already know that he has jets and robots and technology and who knows what else. What do you think will happen if we try and fight him?”