Part 20 (2/2)
Jeb waited. When dealing with the fae, any fae, it was best to not provoke them or make rash judgments or actions. They tended to be very nervous beings and easily spooked.
”I see that what I am does not surprise you either,” Zeid said, a smile now playing about his thin lips.
”I think you're only half fae.” Jeb made sure his tone did not condemn or hold a slur.
”I have clearly underestimated you.” Zeid stepped back, crossing his arms and widening his stance as if he'd grown from the ground.
As intrigued as Jeb might be to discover more of Zeid's faeness, there were more pressing needs. He raised the paper in his hand. ”You were the one who slipped this beneath my door.”
Zeid nodded but said nothing. Jeb had often taken the same approach with his children, letting them come to their own conclusions to see how much they really knew or just thought they knew.
Jeb glanced at the paper. ”You warned me but did not give me enough to prevent what happened in the park.” It was a statement though enough of Jeb's frustration must have coated the words for the fae to shake his head.
”I am not a nymph to see into the future.” Zeid's tone was sword sharp.
”Then you too are wavering in the dark.” Jeb inclined his head, hearing what wasn't being said. This fae did not know what was about to happen to Van ahead of time though he did know that Van was going to be at the park. Alex, too. At a different time and place Jeb knew how to approach the fae, with honeyed words and protocol. They were a proud race and once greatly admired and feared. But with worry clawing him, the words would not come. He hoped the fae understood his bluntness. ”What is it you want of me?”
”To know if you are stalwart and true.”
Riddles. Jeb forced his shoulders to relax, his tone to a calmness he did not feel as he shadow danced with this one who held his own agenda.
”I have been tested by time and by trial,” Jeb repeated the old words, the words of legend when one supplicated a liege lord. ”I have sacrificed my heart more than once for the benefit of others over myself and those of my heart.”
”Your wife?”
Like a knife piercing the skin, Jeb accepted the cold slice of a pain he still felt though twenty years had pa.s.sed since her betrayal. A blink of an eye to beings that lived for hundreds of years, and some longer.
He nodded his head but kept his gaze on the fae as he added, ”And my daughter.”
That wound being more recent, dug deeper. But now was not the time for bitterness or regret. Not if he could save his two children.
”And the Council?” Zeid asked, as if the question was of no consequence, which told Jeb it was just the opposite.
”What of the Council? If you know who I am and what I am then you should know what I can and can not reveal to anyone.”
There were some lines drawn in sand and some in stone. This was one of the latter.
Zeid seemed to contemplate something as he shook his head and unfolded his hands, sweeping into a half bow. ”May I formally introduce myself. My name is Zeid Malatesta Asuar. Do you know the meaning of Asuar?”
”I know only that it is of Egyptian origin. No more.”
”Then you are more informed than most of your country men.” Zeid crossed over to brush a hand against the Linden tree as if seeing something far far away before he continued,”Asuar is a form of the sacred name of the G.o.d Osiris.”
Jeb waited but his patience was wearing thin. If Zeid knew something or wanted Jeb's help, then Jeb was willing to bide his time; time that was precious.
Zeid continued, as if lecturing a new student. ”Osiris brought civilization and spirituality to his people.” Zeid's brow lifted as if to say and what do you think of that? But he continued, not waiting for an answer. ”Osiris decreed laws to regulate the conduct of early men, which was desperately needed.”
”And as a descendant of Osiris is this what you do now?”
”My kind walks in the footsteps left by Osiris. We are the Dominatui.”
”Dominators?”
”The masters of rules.”
”Not innocui or pericui?”
”No. We came before the Council, to arbitrate and maintain the balance between fae with differing agendas.”
As a Council member of long standing Jeb should have known of this group. Did others on the Council? And did it matter right now?
It might have been the lengthening shadows across the lawn, the trauma of the last two days, but Jeb had not come to Paris for a lesson on Egyptian mythology. No matter how fascinating.
Zeid must have seen the frustration in Jeb's expression as he smiled, a genuine one reaching his eyes. ”True, you do not need a genealogy discussion. You need clarity.”
”Yes.” At last, Jeb might get some answers. He leaned forward, clasping his hands before him. ”What are you doing here and what do you know of my children?”
”The latter are peripheral to my a.s.signment here,” Zeid said though Jeb didn't think the fae meant to be cruel or callous with his dismissal of Alex and Van. It was the way of the more long-lived and powerful fae. Human lives, so frail and short, were of no consequence. So Jeb bit his tongue and waited.
”I came into the household of Philippe Cheverill seeking a traitor.”
Jeb snapped upright. Philippe was the last man Jeb would a.s.sociate with the word traitor.
”You do justice to your friend,” Zeid said, even though Jeb had not uttered a sound. ”My people have no such ties of loyalty and obligation.”
”Your people? You mean the Dominatui.” Jeb wasn't sure he wanted to hear what Zeid seemed compelled to share, but he pushed for at least one answer in particular. ”Are they not under the Council's jurisdiction?”
”No.” The single word shot like an arrow, true and deadly. ”Osiris feared absolute power in the hands of so few.”
”Osiris has been gone for thousands of years. And the Council only arose as the balance between human-kind and our kind s.h.i.+fted.”
”You mean when the humans covered the earth and forgot their non-human kin.”
”Yes.” Jeb clenched his hands together. ”The Council has been active only a few centuries. Humans are notorious for forgetting their history.”
”Oui.” Zeid smiled, but this time it was vindictive. ”Which is why their greatest peril is from themselves. That is not my a.s.signment, but left to others.”
Jeb wanted to press for more answers but also accepted that the fae would only share so much. Better that knowledge be useful to the most immediate problem, saving Alex and Van.
”So you came to seek a traitor. Philippe?” Jeb braced himself for the answer.
”The traitor is not yet clear to us, though we watch the trail of his actions and see him more and more every day.”
Jeb released a breath he didn't realize he'd held. Philippe might still be the being these Dominatui sought, but his friend was beyond caring of the outcome of that search. ”What does this traitor have to do with my children? With Alex and Van?”
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