Page 48 of The Tree of Spirits (Paragons #2)

THE DEBATE

“ I think Altair’s going to have to make a lot more of these,” Conner declared as he set his Mirror of Woe on my dining table.

It joined my mirror and Kato’s, together forming a trio of no-longer-enchanted artifacts. The battle at the Spirit Tree had drained them of the last of their magic. The glass surfaces reflected only what was in front of them now. Even the shiny metal frames looked duller.

“I’ll pass along your request,” Kato said. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if the Templars reinforce their next armor with magical defenses against the mirror’s spells.”

“Probably,” Conner agreed, handing Kato a cutting board.

Conner had arrived at my cottage just in time for lunch, which he and Kato had decided to make together. I couldn’t help but smile, watching them work together in the kitchen. They’d even taken off their armor, physically and metaphorically.

“What’s got you so giddy, Red?” Conner chuckled as he grabbed an onion and started chopping it up.

“You two are already so much closer to rebuilding the trust between you. You’ll be back to being best friends in no time!”

“Are you crying?” Kato asked me, frowning in concern.

“Nope!” I sobbed, wiping my eyes. “It’s just the onions! They really sting!”

“They do sting,” Conner agreed, blinking a few times to clear his vision. “I should have worn my helmet.”

“A battle helmet? To chop onions?” Kato’s mouth twitched with amusement.

“Knights wear helmets,” Conner quoted in a deep, monotone voice.

“I do not sound like that.” Kato dusted off his hands on his apron.

They were both wearing aprons over their sporty bodysuits. It made them look so adorably normal.

“She’s looking at us like she wants to knit us some ‘best friends’ sweaters,” Conner said to Kato.

“If only I could knit,” I sighed.

“I’m pretty sure you can do anything you set your mind to, Seven.”

“He’s right,” Conner said, nodding. “You learned, what, like twenty spells in your first week-and-a-half?”

“Not quite twenty,” I protested.

“Close enough.” Conner scraped the chopped onion pieces into the wok. “Only Kato and I have ever excelled so splendidly at being Apprentices.”

“Yeah, how did you learn so many spells anyway, Seven?” Kato grabbed a carrot and started peeling it. “They weren’t all from the Paragons’ spellbook.”

“Oh, well, I learned most of the spells by watching other people do magic and just copying what they did.” I shrugged. “That seems like the logical way to do it, right?”

“Yeah, she likes to say that like anyone can learn magic that way. It’s cute,” Conner chuckled.

“But in truth, Red, most people can’t just see a spell once and then, bam!

, they can do it. Well, except for me, of course.

” He flicked his hair. “And maybe Kato too if he could ever stop prattling on about how amazing helmets are.”

Kato looked up from his carrots long enough to roll his eyes at his best friend.

“But even we can’t learn every spell we see.” Conner grabbed a head of broccoli. “And certainly not right away.”

“I didn’t learn how to teleport right away. In fact, I had some mishaps along the way.” I cringed just remembering how I’d teleported myself into a shelf full of food and ended up covered in flour and tomatoes.

“Well, you haven’t lived until you’ve set yourself on fire at least once or twice. Am I right, Kato?” Conner said cheerfully.

Kato dropped the chopped carrots into the pot of boiling water. “At least I didn’t nearly lose four of my fingers because I gave myself frostbite.”

“Yeah, they still feel numb sometimes.” Conner wiggled his fingers.

“Seven, could you turn on the TV?” Kato asked me. “It’s nearly one, and I want to watch the General’s press conference.”

“So said no sane person ever,” Conner quipped, sprinkling garlic and salt over the broccoli he’d chopped.

While he put the broccoli into the oven to bake, I fetched the remote and turned the TV to the Many Realms News Network. “This doesn’t look like a press conference. It looks like a debate.”

The General and Prince Fenris sat on opposite sides of a room lit up with video spotlights.

The General wore his usual black uniform.

Fenris wore a long, dark blue coat with silver embroidery along the collar, cuffs, and all down the front where the two sides of the coat met.

His pants were the exact same shade of blue, and he wore black, knee-high boots over them.

He was sporting some pretty impressive heels.

“The horrific events that played out early this morning only prove what I’ve been saying all along,” said Fenris. “Though I will admit that I have underestimated Gaia. They aren’t just unprepared for the responsibility of joining the Court. They are a threat to all the Many Realms!”

“ We are the threat?” the General countered. “What Prince Fenris is so carefully omitting is the fact that everything that happened today was because of these so-called Templars, criminals who came to Gaia to abduct our Apprentices.”

“The Templars, whoever they are, will be caught and your missing Apprentices returned to you in due course. The Many Realms Court knows how to apprehend criminals.” Fenris slid the General a cool sneer.

“But by ‘horrific events’, I was of course referring to the attempted poisoning of all the Spirit Trees in the Many Realms, an attack perpetrated by an organization of anti-magic extremists from Gaia.”

The General rose from his seat.

“No need to rise for me, General,” Fenris said coolly.

“I’m not leaving yet. At least not until you explain why the Gaian Government tried to cover this up.

Had these extremists succeeded, all Spirit Trees in the Many Realms would have died.

And all connections between the realms would have been severed.

We would have been left isolated and alone.

The citizens of the Many Realms deserve answers, and your Government must provide them. ”

Kato muted the TV audio. “How did Fenris find out about what the Brotherhood tried to do today?”

“No idea,” Conner said, frowning. “Even if the Court has already caught the Templars and isn’t telling us—and I totally wouldn’t put it past them to withhold that info as a bargaining chip—well, all that poisoning-the-tree insanity happened after the Templars left the scene. So they don’t know anything about it.”

“There weren’t many witnesses,” Kato said. “Just the three of us. And the five Brothers that the Watchers have in custody, but there’s no way the General would let any of this info out of the Black Obelisk.”

“There is another possibility.” Conner waited for us to look at him before he continued. “Fenris could have gotten his hands on the video footage from the battle at the Spirit Tree.”

“Wait, there is video footage of the battle?” I asked.

“Yes, my Rebel friends poked around at the Black Obelisk and found some footage from all the drones flying around, as well as some other cameras in the Park. Apparently, the General knows I was there, and he isn’t too pleased about it.”

“But you helped to save the Spirit Trees!” I protested. “And together we caught the bad guys.”

“As far as the General is concerned, I am one of the bad guys. And he would love nothing better than to lock me up next to those Brotherhood nutcases.” Conner sighed. “I only hope you guys won’t get into a load of trouble with the General on account of fighting beside me.”

“I can handle the General. I’m more worried about the Court.” Kato’s gaze snapped to the scene, where Fenris looked way too pleased with himself. The audio was still muted, so we couldn’t hear what he was saying, but whatever it was, it couldn’t be good for us.

“So, you think Fenris saw the videos from the battle, and that’s how he knows what Elandra tried to do?” I asked Conner.

He shrugged. “It’s possible. The Black Obelisk has pretty tight security, but it’s nothing that you can’t bypass with a devious mind and a whole lot of magic.”

“And Fenris is in ample possession of both.” Kato tapped his fingers across the counter. “He could have sent in a team to steal a copy of the footage.”

“Yeah, I’d hate to say this, it being not really self-serving and all,” Conner said, “but I think the Knights might want to add some magical security upgrades to the Black Obelisk and other key buildings. We don’t want Fenris and his Court buddies to be able to stroll in and take whatever they want, whenever they want it. And then use it against all of Gaia.”

Kato nodded. “I’ll bring it up with the other Knight Commanders.”

“Then there’s just one more thing, and this is the other reason I mentioned the videos from the battle…

” Conner’s gaze shifted to me. “My Rebel friends brought me a copy of the footage. When I watched it, I saw something you will find very interesting, Red. One of the videos gave me a pretty good look at Kylie’s body.

” When I let out an involuntary gasp, he set his hand on mine. “Now I know why the Templars took her.”

I bit my lip and waited for him to continue.

“Kylie isn’t dead,” he told me.

“Isn’t dead?” I frowned in confusion. “But she didn’t have a pulse! And she wasn’t breathing!”

“The spell that hit her must have put her in a very deep sleep. So deep that it even fooled me.”

I started pacing, trying to make sense of all this. “I don’t understand.”

“When someone with magic dies, their magic mark fades immediately. But Kylie’s mark was still there. The video I watched showed that very clearly. That means she’s still alive. She’s still out there, Red.”

All the ideas swirling wildly inside my head slowed…

then solidified on a single thought. “A lot of Apprentices are still out there, from this year and the year before. Whoever is behind this—whoever sent the Templars to Gaia—they don’t want anyone to know that the Apprentices are alive.

They don’t want anyone looking for them.

But we’re going to look for them anyway.

” Resolve tightened my hands into fists.

“And we’re going to find them. We’re going to bring Kylie and the others back home.

And when this is all over, we’re going to make sure the people behind this get what’s coming to them. ”