He returned it in exactly the same manner, and I somehow sensed that Morgan knew that I wasn’t going to let the girl get hurt without a fight. The fingers of his right hand drummed slowly on the hilt of the sword. It wasn’t meant as a threat: It was simply a statement. If I fought the White Council’s justice, I would be fighting him.
We both knew how that kind of fight would end.
I would never survive it.
We also both knew that, if given the right reasons, I’d do it anyway.
Beside Morgan, the Merlin also watched me, speculation in his features. He knew that I didn’t plan on slugging it out if the hearing didn’t go Molly’s way. In the past, the Merlin might simply have sneered at me, spat in my eye, and dared me to do my worst. Now, he was sure I was up to something else, and I could all but see the gears spinning in his head as I entered holding Molly’s hand and guiding her blind steps, followed closely by Fix and Lily.
Morgan nodded to Ramirez, and he went to pull the doors closed and to close the circle around the building, a barrier that would prevent magical intrusion while the Wardens guarded the purely physical approaches. But just before Ramirez reached up to chain the doors closed, they opened to reveal the tall and ominous figure of the Gatekeeper. Dressed in his formal black robes, with a deep purple cowl that left his features shadowed but for the glitter of his dark eyes, the Gatekeeper stood in the doorway for a moment, and something gave me the impression that he was staring at the Merlin.
If so, the Merlin wasn’t rattled. The old wizard inclined his head in a regal nod of greeting and respect to the Gatekeeper, and he gestured for the man to join him. Instead, the Gatekeeper walked to a point in the circle midway between the Merlin and myself, and stood quietly, leaning on an aged, slender staff.
The Merlin regarded this positioning for a moment, eyes narrowed, and then addressed the room, in Latin. “Wardens, close the circle. Warden Dresden, please step forward and introduce us to your guests.”
I gave Molly’s hand a squeeze of reassurance, then let go of her and stepped forward. “First thing,” I said, looking around at the dozen or so Wardens present, plus a few other noncombatant Council members who had been in the area or who were on the Senior Council’s staff. “Is there anyone here who doesn’t understand English?”
The Merlin folded his arms, a slight smile curling his lips. “Council meetings are conducted in Latin.”
The old bastard knew that my Latin wasn’t so hot. I could understand it pretty well, but speaking it myself tended to result in words being transposed in increasingly odd ways until linguistic surreality ensued. If I tried to defend Molly in Latin, I’d sound like an idiot from the get go, and the Merlin knew it. While he technically held all the power he needed to quash any defense, he was still accountable to the rest of the Council, so he had to do everything he could to justify his actions. He’d planned on undermining me with Latin from the moment he heard about the conclave.
But I can plan things too.
“Granted that Latin is our traditional lingual medium,” I replied, giving the Merlin a big old smile. “But our guests, Lily, the Summer Lady, and Fix, the current Summer Knight, do not speak it. I would fain not show the slightest lack of consideration to such prestigious visitors and envoys of our allies in Summer.”
Choke on that, jerk, I thought. Let’s see you snub the ally who just bailed the Council out of ass-deep alligators.
The Merlin narrowed his eyes and chewed on his options for a moment before he shook his head, unable to find a way to counter the move. “Very well,” he said in English, though his tone was grudging. “The Council welcomes the presence of the Summer Lady and Knight in this conclave, and extends its hospitality and protection while they remain within our demesnes.”
Lily bowed her head in acknowledgment. “Thank you, honored Merlin.”
He bowed his head to her in turn. “Not at all, your Highness. It is hardly our custom to involve outsiders in confidential internal affairs.” He pointedly shifted his gaze back to me. “But given the recent development between our peoples, it would be ungrateful indeed to evict you.”