Page 47 of Beyond Her Sight

Claire’s eyebrows scrunched together, he knew Prince Erick was her father because he was royalty? Was she exuding a ‘princess’ vibe or something?

Roderick, noticing her expression, explained, “Not because he was royalty but because of his eyes. You share the same eyes. And when I saw the dagger with you last night, I realized I must have been the messenger for the dagger for all these years.” Claire’s eyes widened. Her father had given the dagger to Roderick to ensure that she got it? That sounded something more like what her mother would do?

“What did Maxios say when he recognized the dagger?” Malcolm asked, changing the subject off Claire’s.

Roderick laughed and ran a hand over his face. “He was not very happy that I hadn’t killed the prince as it would have dealt a massive blow to the Fae but I was able to loudly and publicly tell the story and others spoke to my defense. If they hadn’t, I think Maxios might have had me executed for treason.”

“That seems extreme.” Desmond arched an eyebrow.

“We were at war,” Roderick shrugged. “Everything was extreme.”

“When he gave me the dagger, he said the dagger was passed down from father to first born and so when you had your coming of age ceremony, I passed it down to you,” Roderick said looking at Malcolm. “But looking at Claire holding them now, I wonder if that was a lie.”

“But the Fae can’t lie, I thought,” Everett said.

“They can’t lie,” Desmond confirmed. “But words matter to them. So what he said was true, the dagger was created to be passed down from father to first-born. It’s what allowed the dagger to be passed down to Malcolm but in a roundabout way it was also what allowed Erick to pass it down to Claire.”

“That’s not all you wanted to ask about though, was it?” Roderick’s golden eyes were perceptive.

Claire exchanged a look with her men before Desmond spoke. “We wanted to ask you about your time on the Council,” Desmond said carefully. “As well as why you and the other parents didn’t want us to receive Triad tutoring from the Council like other Triads did.”

Roderick scrubbed a hand over his face. “So straight into the big topics then,” he concluded.

“Dad,” Malcolm said softly. “We need to know. You trained us well in political speech but I won’t use it now. We think the Council is behind the events of the Great War and have been either behind or supportive of the dark magic attacks the Realm is currently experiencing. Attacks that have been focused around my treasure, our mate. We need your help.”

“And you’ll have it,” Roderick’s sure answer had all of them relaxing a bit. “But I don’t think I need to remind you to tread lightly. The Council is powerful for a reason. Individually, they are formidable, but teamed up together they are almost unstoppable.”

“We will,” Claire promised. “Right now we need information. We’ve collected pieces but there are still holes in the stories.”

Roderick nodded. “I’ll start with the Triad tutoring. As you know, I served two terms on the Council after the Great War before I ceded the race to Arran. Those two terms were eye-opening to say the least. While the three remaining members on the Council were saying the right things, there was an undercurrent that us new members were picking up. The elected shifter Councilmember fed into it but I couldn’t. I began asking questions, questions I imagine are the same you are asking now. What really happened on the day of the Market tragedy? What happened to the witch? Why did the violence escalate into war?”

“And what were the answers to those questions?” Malcolm asked.

“That was the thing, I didn’t get any. I was getting stonewalled at every turn while the other Councilmembers spun a narrative to settle the people. The dragons were particularly vocal in wanting to know why the alliance with the Fae had ended and I felt a duty as the elected member to get them answers. The story during the war was weak and afterwards people were starting to poke holes in it. The Fae had aligned with the Elves after the village attack and the Council had labeled them traitors to the Realm. The Dragons should have gone to war with the Fae and Elves but Maxios came back and said we were aligning with the shifters and witches and that the Fae had broken their word with us. It was a fiery speech that turned half of the dragons but the other half wasn’t swayed. And they had questions after the war especially when the Fae all but disappeared from the Realm after the war.

“Anyways, I was asking questions until one day, Brantley sent word from back home that you had an accident,” Roderick looked at Malcolm. “Do you remember?”

Malcolm’s brow furrowed as he thought and Claire reached over to place a hand on his leg. “Vaguely. I was young and had just shifted. Momma and I had gone for a flight when it was like all of a sudden I had lost control of my wings and fell. At the last second I regained partial control and was able to soften the landing a bit. I had a broken leg but not a broken neck. Everyone just said that it happened to young dragons sometimes.”

“It does sometimes but not to you. Mara told me she felt magic that day shoot up from the ground and immobilize your wings. It was a clear message to me that I needed to cease. So I met with Arran in secret. At the time our clans had friction and we played that up during the next race. Arran has no family to risk so he agreed to take the council seat and keep digging but more discreetly. We meet once a year to discuss anything he’s found.”

“So that’s why you never had us go to the Council to receive tutoring?” Desmond asked.

Roderick nodded. “When the three of you insisted you were a Triad, I met with your father, Frederick, who had just taken the elected witch Councilmember seat, and recommended that we tutor you all at home. He must have had his own doubts as he agreed and we kept you away from the Council.”

Something still bothered Claire. “So what was the proof that Maxios presented to the dragons to get them to break the alliance with the Fae?”

Roderick frowned. “That was it, there was no proof. Just a fiery speech full of fiery words. Whatever it was, Maxios believed it whole-heartedly and that’s what convinced the dragons. For all his faults, Maxios had never placed anyone’s interest above the dragons before.”

Claire frowned and a quick look around at her men showed they agreed. There was something there because Maxios had clearly placed the interests of someone above the dragons. But why?

“What were the original alliance terms?” Claire asked.

“Mainly weapons.”

Interesting. Claire felt like she had read that somewhere before. Maybe in pieces in one of Winona’s journals? She made a note to look at that later.

“We’ll let you get back to your paperwork,” Desmond must have agreed with her as he got to his feet. “Thank you for the information.”

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