~~~~~~~~~~
The council members were in a state of panic. They knew that Wendy was back but the reason as to why she came back was not clear. They did ask Jared but his information was scarce except for the fact that she did save the king's life. They had also heard of rumors about what had happened the previous night in Gorham's castle. The king unfortunately wasn't there to confirm or deny the claims. They had lost his favor and didn't seem likely to regain it any time soon.
When the door opened and a white haired beauty walked in, the whole room suddenly fell into silence. The rowdiness abruptly stopped and everyone was staring at her. No one had invited her but she was there walking into the room as if she owned the hall. She stopped short.
`I was advised to come and explain myself to you.' She looked around the curved table. At one end her eyes stopped at Nathan and turned abruptly to Alice.
The head of the council regained his composure faster than any of the others. `You had good advice Miss Summer, but that explanation would have sufficed if it came straight from you.'
Wendy smiled as she glanced slightly at Ken and Amber who were by her side. `Believe me when I tell you that I've tried everything to make them leave my side but my father ordered them not to do so and my father's authority surpasses mine.'
`Your father, the wizard?'
`Yes. His name is Henry, by the way.'
The chancellor was left without anything to say on that issue. `We would rather have it with you alone in here.'
`That is impossible given that they see me as being in potential danger.'
`What danger?'
`The weapon that killed my mother is in here with you. If you are capable of killing the queen then who am I to be an exception?'
The chancellor looked around looking for support. He turned back and took the weapon from its holster. `I will...'
`Allow me,' Wendy interrupted. She held out her hand and the weapon flew into her hand. She looked at it a moment then waved her other hand over it and it turned to a sword. She held it out then let go of her grip on it. It flew back to the chancellor's hands. Wendy turned slightly to her bodyguards. `You may leave now.'
They seemed unsure but it was Amber who voiced it out. `Your father...'
`He's not here and neither is Victor, now leave.'
`Yes, of course,' she bowed slightly which surprised the council. They left and in the next minute the door closed behind them.
`Miss Summer, if you will explain what you are doing back here?'
`You speak as if I was banished from my home...' she let the words hang.
`You were never banished though you escaped questioning by the authorities.'
`Authorities meaning you?' No one commented on that. `I am here now. You may question me now.' She paused then looked at Nathan. `Because now, by good authority I can confirm that
Victor Raymond is indeed a wizard.'
`Are you trying to mock me?' Nathan asked.
`No,' she bowed apologetically. `I simply want to show that I have nothing to hide.'
The chancellor took over from Nathan. `If you are going to answer our questions truthfully then you may very well start with answering why you are back.'
`I- I mean we,' she saw he questioning look on the chancellor. `My father, Victor, the others and I knew for a fact that Madison was coming on this side to increase her powers by killing those who have it.'
`Who is this Madison?'
`She is – was a very powerful wizard who was becoming a menace on the other world. She stayed away from this side because the minute she would have crossed over, Diane would have
known it but with Diane dead, there was nothing keeping her away anymore.'
`But how did you know that she would be coming here?'
`Gorham's soon to be born child would have been powerful enough to provoke Madison's power appetite. In any case, we had to start looking for her somewhere.'
`Why would the other wizards be concerned about an unborn child?'
`They weren't. They needed Madison to be stopped and this was their chance.'
`Why?'
`Madison was getting very powerful and that scared a lot of people. She had already defied one aspect of being a wizard which is not wanting to dominate. She was going to be a danger to everyone and no one would be powerful enough to stop her.'
`Except you.'
Wendy chuckled at that. `You give me too much credit.'
`Then who brought this Madison to her knees?'
She knew she was being set up. If she answered, yes then her powers would also be feared as Madison's but if she said no, then they would know that she was lying. `It was a group effort. They wouldn't have done it without me and I wouldn't have done it without any of them. Any more questions?'
`You mentioned Victor,' Nathan started, `Where is he?'
`He is away for a few days but he will come back.'
One of the elders suddenly interrupted the calm questioning. `You have any idea how many wizards we will have among us?'
Wendy stepped back in surprise. She suddenly was angry, `What harm have the wizards ever done to you? Name one and I will asked them never to return here again.' They stared at her. `Name one,' she shouted.
The doors opened. Ken and Amber rushed in. `Please calm down. You don't know how much damage you can cause!' Ken said. `Damage?' she asked but her voice had lowered down a notch. `I simply want to know what the wizards have ever done to wrong him so but he won't name even one reason.'
`Then that shows he doesn't know what he's talking about. We should leave now.'
`We aren't going anywhere!' She spun round and faced the old man. She started to walk towards him. The old man was plainly terrified. Ken looked to Amber and shrugged.
`I am leaving,' Amber said loudly.
`What are you talking about?' Wendy looked at her.
`I was going to tell you that we had the permission to leave when we thought you we ready but now I can see that you are not.' `Huh?' She was confused.
`You cannot control your emotions at least when Victor is not around.'
`Are you trying to insult me?'
`I was trying to change the subject but now that I've started pointing out your faults, I think I will lay them out for you to work on them.' Wendy folded her arm before her challengingly. `You are very arrogant and you lack patience not to mention you can't follow orders.'
`What's the proof that you have?'
`Proof? You were told you had to eat and you throw a tantrum and refuse to eat.'
`That was your fault...'
`Was I supposed to hand feed you?'
`No but nobody said I had to eat in the dining room.'
`And patience, every time you looked at Victor everybody could tell that you were ready to rip the clothes right off his body.' Wendy suddenly flushed in embarrassment. What had she done to deserve this? `Do you want to kill me?'
`What are you now talking about?' she was wary of this. `Who is killing who?' `You?'
`Ah,' she put her hand over her forehead. `Amber, can you leave this where it is and we will talk about it in private.'
`After you finish here?' she asked.
`Yes after I finish here,' she watched Amber make her way to the door. `And Amber, should you ever lay out my private affairs in public again, I will kill you.'
`Understood.'
Wendy turned to the stunned council, `Where was I?' she asked rhetorically. `Any more questions?'
The chancellor, Aaron looked around and affirmed, there were no more questions. `Thank you Miss Wendy for your time.'
She turned to her heels and walked out of the hall. Amber had seriously embarrassed her and from the little dignity that she had left, she walked out proudly. She found both Ken and Amber outside. `Did I really deserve that?'
`No, but you were about to lose it in there.'
`I suppose,' she said quietly. Her eyes went back to the entrance of the hall and saw Alice coming out. She was escorted to a carriage which was odd but that was allowed give that she was also due to deliver. If Dr Ryan agreed to come then she would be one lucky woman. Alice could feel someone watching and turned right as Wendy was looking away. `I think we should go back to Sidney now.'
They stood up and went to their horses. Whatever Wendy thought she was going to do at the council, she was sure that she left the building with a few more enemies than she had anticipated. The good news was that she didn't think that she was certainly ready to lead a whole bunch of people.
Amber was saying something but she hadn't heard the first part. `...As easy as it is to lose your temper, you can control it. Fire burns as water soothes.'
`You want me to use water when I get angry?'
`No, just envision it. It works.'
They made their way back to Gorham's castle and found that Sidney was comfortably asleep and Gorham was the one watching her. They thought it better to leave him spend some time with his wife. There was no problem yet given that she was not in any pain. They were surprised when he came out a few minutes later yet nothing was wrong with Sidney.
`Wendy, walk with me,' he said as he passed them. She went next to his side and walking at the same pace with him, she waited. `How did it go?'
`It was okay.'
`That doesn't indicate bad or good.'
`I lost my temper at the end of it.'
`You have to watch that.'
`Everybody keeps telling me.'
`You'd better listen. With your gifts you don't know how much damage you can cause and worse, it may be irreversible.'
Wendy was quiet for awhile. She had already heard all that before. She looked around. `A lot of things have changed.'
`Yes, you've been away for almost two years.'
`I saw that Alice was expecting. Whose child is it?' Gorham smiled as if in pain. `Jared's.' `Jared and Alice?' she was astonished.
`I was also shocked but the council did what it does best and forced them to marry.'
`No wonder Jared has a lot of power allocated to him!'
`Unfortunately, or fortunately according to me, Jared is a very sensible person but doesn't have that much power. He has been at least trying to reinforce the rules that Diane had put up. Alice would have been hopeless without him.'
`She doesn't do much?'
`Other people would claim that she is pregnant and that is why everything is slipping through her fingers but, it was also like that before she married Jared. The only thing she knows how to do is hold a party but even with that, she almost makes us go to war every time she opens her mouth to a delegate.'
`What you are saying is that you'd rather have Jared alone holding the office than Alice?'
`That is not what I'm saying. Jared may be capable but he still doesn't have the full powers of the office and will ever have them. Alice on the other hand has them but doesn't know what to do with it. Right now she thinks that Jared's power of the office surpasses her own but...' He turned to look at Wendy. `Walk around and see for yourself how the security in the city is declining. Then think about other places which are remote to the city and wonder how the security might be lacking.' `What I think is that you are trying to draw me in.'
`And what's the problem with that?' he smiled, this time genuinely. `I would have thought that you didn't want any preamble in what you are told?'
`Okay, I will take a look around tomorrow.'
`And another thing, you might want to consider meditating in the confines of your room.' `Why?'
`Your hair glows in the darkness when you meditate.'
`I didn't know that.'
`Now you know,' he turned and left her there.
~~~~~~~~~~