Chapter 7

Chapter 6

Beatrice breathed in deeply, eyes on the nearest tree, as her thoughts returned to the ritual. It happened more often as the days passed. Most believed Leonora, and yet still planned on being there the night of the ritual, because Titus wasn’t someone they were willing to cross. She’d made her decision, trying to convince the others to do the same, in the belief it would be enough to stop the ritual.

Cornelius looked down. Keeping his word was important, if he stood a chance of convincing Leonora to work with him, and that was their best chance of actually stopping the ritual. There was no possible way the rest of the Council would make the decision to walk away. He knew them too well to think they’d be able to set aside their fear, because, if Leonora was right, they all knew what Titus was capable of. None of them wanted their family cursed.

“Can we talk?”
 
Beatrice didn’t look at Cornelius, who stood behind her, likely visiting on behalf of Titus. Reuben and Cornelius were friends from the time they were children, so he’d made the decision to be there to help Titus, even though it didn’t seem as though Titus actually needed it. He was certain of all the choices he was making, no matter what the Council said.
“What does Titus need, Cornelius?”
 
“I’m not here for Titus.” Beatrice still didn’t turn, but her back tensed slightly. “This is about the ritual.”
 
“Should we be having this conversation?”
 
Cornelius almost laughed. Of course she was going to be careful. Each Council member had the same worry – Titus was watching them. He knew the conversations they were having at all times, because he could See. The reality was Titus only paid attention if he really had to.
“Yes, we should, because I already know what your answer is going to be. Leonora, however, still thinks there’s a chance you’ll make the right decision, and she’s the reason I’m here.”
 
Beatrice turned to look at him them, an eyebrow raised. “After all this time?”
 
“She was right.”
 
“Of course she was right. Do you really think we’re blind to the truth, Cornelius?”
Apparently it was only Cornelius who trusted Titus. “Of course?”
 
“We all suspect it, even if we can’t be certain. Titus has no reason to worry, because he knows we won’t go against him, when he’s so much more powerful than any of us.”
 
“Bea…”
 
“You made your choice. Titus is Reuben’s son, and you didn’t want to believe he was a danger to us.”
“Now I’m making a different choice. I know more than I did before.”
 
“That’s not going to change my mind. Leonora is willing to put her family at risk, but I’m not.”
 
“Even if I can convince the rest it would be best to stay home the night of the ritual?”
 
“Do you honestly believe it’s possible?”
 
The flicker of doubt in Cornelius’s eyes told Beatrice everything she needed to know. “If I could get everyone together it’s a possibility.”
“Only that would draw Titus’s attention to what was happening, and that’s something I’m certain you don’t want to do. Even if you got the answer you wanted at the time it’s possible Titus would find a way to convince us it was better to go, no matter what it might mean for us personally, because it meant we were protecting our families.”
 
“Making it possible for him to keep his memories in another life, so he can be in control then too.”
“Why, exactly, are you here? You said this was for Nora, but I’m not certain I believe you. It’s been two years since Reuben died, and you’ve been working with Titus since then, so something has changed. Out of all of us you were the one I thought was least likely to accept the truth about who Titus was.”
 
“Anne told me the truth about the ritual, before I met someone who shared with me exactly who Titus truly is. Now I know why I have to work against him.”
“You met someone?”
 
“That’s not something I feel comfortable going into detail about. What I can say is Nora knows they are real, and they gave me a reason to fight against Titus, because pretending he’s not who he is isn’t possible now. I still want to make Glimmerbrook better, for Jon, but Titus isn’t the right way of doing that.”
 
“Before you were willing to become another of Titus’s victims, for your son?”
“It’s not that simple.”
 
“Anne told you the truth about the ritual. She confirmed we were all going to die, but it was more than that. Until then you thought you were going to be the exception, right? You were Titus’s ally, so you’d survive the ritual, while the rest of us would die, so you had a chance to fix the Council. To fix Glimmerbrook.”
“At the time I thought I was making the right choice.”
 
Beatrice looked at Cornelius, the emotions in her eyes telling him he didn’t have a chance of being able to convince her of anything. He was also the enemy, because he was a willing participant, until Anne told him he was also going to die.
 
“Jonathan left.”
 
“Others will be born without magic, Beatrice.”
“They will, yes.”
 
“I want to put a stop to the ritual, for good.”
 
“How likely is that? Knowing Titus? You might have a plan, one that means talking to each of us in the hope we’ll work with you, but that doesn’t mean we have any reason to trust you now, does it? Not when you were willing to kill us all, for a son who left Glimmerbrook.”
 
“A son who deserved better.”
 
“So did we.” Beatrice sighed. “Leave, Cornelius.”

Even bringing up Anne was a mistake, but at least Cornelius knew what not to say to the others. He made his way down the stairs, away from Beatrice, and then stopped for a moment, looking back toward her, going over what he needed to do next time. How he might be able to convince Wolfgang. It wouldn‘t be enough, and yet it was the best way to show Leonora one failure hadn’t made him give up.

Had Beatrice been in Cornelius’s position, given a chance to be the only survivor, would she have accepted? Yes, she would, for her family, so they wouldn’t find themselves having to live without her, especially Seward. He was still so young, and she wanted him to find the right person to spend the rest of his life with. All of the families believed there was a chance they might be able to create an alliance with the Lockwoods, until Reuben died, because then everything changed.

Wolfgang had always been hard to talk to. He, like Beatrice, was one of the older members of the Council, the two of them having watched Cornelius grow up in the same way he had Titus. They never truly saw him as a peer, which was part of the reason it was so easy to make the decision to work with Titus, even though it ended up being a mistake.

Seward, sometimes, showed signs of still thinking there might be a chance for him to have a future with Anne, and Beatrice hadn’t been able to make him see it was never going to be possible. Before the ritual she had to make her decision, her death leaving the actual wedding in Kai’s hands, something he’d be willing to do because it meant their final child was out of the house.

Rather than going to Wolfgang it might be better to visit Magnus or Geoffrey. At least they were both his generation, having taken their places a few years before Titus, the same way Cornelius had. Only they’d never been friends, the way he had been with Leonora and Reuben. It was to be expected, considering their families.

Could Seward ever be happy with someone else? Did it matter? It wasn’t as though Beatrice had truly been happy with Kai, their relationship never how she imagined it might be, in part due to his intense dislike of children, something neither of them knew about until their oldest was born. She wanted better for her children, but maybe it wasn’t possible.

No matter who Cornelius went to next he didn’t believe he’d be able to convince them to keep away from the ritual. If they secretly believed Leonora, the same way Beatrice did, they knew Titus was too dangerous to go against, because he was so much more powerful than anyone else, and if they didn’t how likely was it they’d make the choice to go against him if they didn’t think anyone else was.