Page 53 of Shattered Stars

Azlan

I’ve just finished packingup my bike when I receive the message.

The chancellor wants to see me. In the past, I’ve received a thousand of these summons and they’ve barely registered, certainly not sent my blood pressure soaring and my heart pounding.

Because now every summons feels like a gamble, a risk. Is this the time he challenges me? Reveals he knows everything? Delivers the ax down on my head? On Rhianna’s and Stone’s too?

I can’t see him accepting this. Fated-mate pairs are rare these days. Some say just one forming every year. Others say it’s not nearly that many. One every decade. The authorities have been quiet on the matter. There have been no official reports. Some say the waning of the fated mates is a sign of the times, a sign our powers are weakening.

But a fated-mate triad? I’ve never heard of one in my lifetime. The chancellor would view us as a threat, a challengeto his position. He’d come for us. Our names, the memory of us, would be wiped from the Earth before anyone knew.

Like Rhianna’s mother? Her father? Is that what happened to them?

But what can I do? Refuse to see him? Abandon my post?

We need time, more time for Rhianna to develop her powers and skills, for Stone and me to destroy the threat from the Wolves of Night and to fix on a plan. Could we sail to Aropia? Away from here. Away from everything. Live like Rhianna was living, on the run, hidden, away from our people. And our family.

I try not to think of Ellie. Could I leave her?

For Rhianna, yes. Maybe I could persuade her to come with us.

For now though, these are idle thoughts. We’re trapped, forced to play along.

And so I ride to the Council building, my face fixed in a passive mask, ready to receive my orders, determined not to give anything away, praying the ax won’t fall this time.

If it does, I’ll fight. I’ll fight with everything I have, give the two of them the time to flee.

He’s waiting for me outside the chamber, dressed in his heavy ceremonial robes today, the ceremonial chain hanging heavy around his neck, the glass dragon with its ruby eyes soaring on the ceiling above his head.

The sight makes my blood run cold. The man looks like the sinister politician he is today.

However, there are no guards. No guards flanking his sides, ready to arrest me.

“Azlan,” he says, when he hears me approach, lifting his gray eyes to mine. “The council is waiting to speak with you.”

“The council?” I say, my blood running so cold I suppress a shiver.

The chancellor motions for me to follow him and we make our way through into the great chamber, the glass dome alive with vibrant sunlight today, forcing me to squint against the assault. I blink, watching as the chancellor takes his place among the great magicals of the republic; my father and uncle included.

I lift my chin and hold my hands behind my back like a soldier, like the soldier I was trained to be.

I don’t know what this is about – if my father and uncle have told the council about my fated mate – but I’m ready to face anything they throw at me.

“Enforcer,” the chancellor says, “the council has requested a report from you about the …” he hesitates, “disturbances in the West.”

“Disturbances?” my uncle scoffs. “You can hardly call them mere disturbances, Chancellor.”

The chancellor ignores my uncle’s outburst – something I’m sure has my uncle seething – even as other council members mutter their agreement.

“What have you learned?” the chancellor asks me.

“That the forces in the West are becoming more organized.”

There are several audible gasps around the council members.

My uncle, dressed in a black ceremonial gown of his own, thumps the arm of his high-backed chair. “How has this been allowed to happen? You’ve assured us – you’ve assured the people of this republic, Chancellor – that we are safe from the lawless and dark forces of the West.”

An older woman with graying hair – one I recognize from the Darlian family – nods her agreement. “The dark magicals were driven from the new republic to the West in the last war. Their remaining forces were devastated and destroyed twenty years ago. We were led to believe they were incapable of posing any real threat or any real attack to our country.”