Putting on the Witch (29 page)

The council was at the table in the stone room. Hedyle had cleaned up and taken her rightful place among them. There was an empty chair where Makaleigh, or Brian, would have been for the meeting.

The guards were rough getting us there. I was sure my arms would be black-and-blue the next day. Every instinct told me to flee, but I went with them to hear what the council had to say.

Drago went too, although he could surely have escaped. I wasn't sure what his motivation was. There was no way of knowing what was going through his mind or hid behind his gloating smile.

Cassandra was back to her normal self—dressed to kill in sparkling silk, her black hair clean now and flowing down her back. Oscar stood on the other end of the table. I thought he looked bemused, as though he was having a hard time taking it all in too. I could only guess by his expression. No doubt he would be forbidden to say anything.

“I see you have been harboring this fugitive,” Hedyle said in her normal tone. With a change of clothes and her hair back in order, she looked and sounded tough. She seemed completely recovered from her ordeal. It was a little quick to me for someone who could barely stand when she'd returned to accuse Dorothy.

The witchfinder had not been able to spare bringing Olivia along with us to the council. I had no doubt they would want to send her back to that realm Drago had warned me about. I also had to wonder if he would unmask me as having outsider magic now as a way to deflect the anger of the council.

“They were not harboring me, my love.” Drago bowed deeply to Hedyle as he smiled and flirted with her. “I helped them bring their friend back to life. That is all.”

Her eyes were hard when she looked at him. If there had ever truly been love between them, it seemed to be gone.

“Drago Rasmun. You have corrupted your daughter and led her into murder. We should have killed you instead of banishing you. What have you to say on your behalf?”

“Nothing the council would like to hear,” he said. “But I will tell you, if you agree to a private audience with me now.”

“No,” Hedyle said quickly. “You won't have another chance to hurt me or anyone else on this council.”

“We do want to know where Brian and Dorothy are,” Abdon said. “They don't have the magic to leave the castle, which means they're here somewhere.”

“You might as well tell them to come out of hiding,” Owen Graybeard said. “Brian has forfeited his right to be on the council. But he won't miss his chance to be in prison.”

As he was laughing heartily over his own sarcastic joke, I stared at him and at the other members of the Council of Witches. They were every bit as bad as politicians in the non-magic world. They did what they wanted to do, not what the rest of us needed them to do.

“What now?” Elsie whispered, her gaze not leaving the council.

“I have something in mind,” I told her. “I hope it will work.”

“You
hope
it will work?” Olivia murmured.

“Yes. But I'm up for anything else you have in mind.”

“Just do it,” Drago urged.

“Oh, why don't you just go ahead and disappear now,” Olivia said. “I know you aren't sticking around to help us out of trouble.”

“You're wrong,” he said. “I'm here for the whole thing.”

By that time the one person on the council not laughing—Hedyle—brought the gavel down. “Why is there such frivolity regarding the death of our sister? It could have been one of you. It almost was me. I'll hear no more laughter from the council this day.”

My plan was roughly based on the fact that a large group of witches were also in the stone chamber. I didn't know any of them, but they weren't on the council, which meant they weren't that different from me, Elsie, Dorothy and even Olivia. They lived their lives with help from the magic they were born with, but not for it. It enhanced their lives, but they still had children, families, probably jobs and mortgages. Being a witch was more a choice of philosophy than whether or not they could fly across the moon.

What I had in mind was more for them than for the council. Maybe Hedyle had too strong a hold on the council for it to work, but no one else had any other ideas.

“Where are the other traitors?” Hedyle demanded. “This will go much easier on you if you tell us.”

“I can't tell you that because I don't know,” I said to her in clear, ringing schoolteacher tones. “What I can tell you is who killed Makaleigh Veazy. Any interest in that discussion?”

The council members muttered among themselves. It was clear to see that they weren't entirely convinced it was
Dorothy and Drago. The witches in attendance were even more interested in what I had to say.

Again Hedyle brought the hammer down on the stone table. “What proof have you of what has taken place?”

“This is Molly Addison Renard,” Abdon introduced me. “She was the last person to speak with Makaleigh while she was still with us.”

There were lots of whispers and muttering between the crowd and the council at the table.

“Addison,” Arleigh Burke said, letting the word roll around in her mouth. “I knew your great-grandmother. She was a wonderful witch. How came you to us this day, Molly?”

“There is no secret to how she came to be here,” Hedyle snarled. “She's part of the group of terrorists who killed Makaleigh and tried to kill me.”

“Ah!” The witchfinder stepped forward. “She did not kill Makaleigh. I can swear to that. Makaleigh died after she had imparted secrets to Molly. As for kidnapping, she was definitely not part of that, as she was with me.”

I could see Hedyle was getting angrier. Could she let it stand that I wasn't to be lumped with Drago and Dorothy?

“Very well.” Her teeth were on edge when she said the words. “But I hope you don't mean to question me about my own kidnapping, witchfinder.”

“Not at all, madam.” He deeply bowed his head in respect. “These are only facts that I know.”

“Continue, Molly,” Arleigh invited. “Tell us what you know of Makaleigh's murder.”

I glanced at my friends, and Drago. I hoped they were ready.

I'd taken drama in high school and college. So had Olivia. She didn't want to be a teacher like I did, but she enjoyed going to school because she was always popular. Elsie was already teaching, since she was twelve years older than us. Her mother had been very strict. There had been no drama,
music or anything not pertaining to teaching while she was in college.

Since I was about to give a performance that might save all our lives, I hoped I was ready for it.

I bowed deeply and considered the part I was playing, just as our old drama teacher had instructed. “Council members and fellow witches, let me assure you that not only did I hear Makaleigh Veazy's last words, I took her spirit into my body to protect and shield her from the rest of the world.”

That started a much louder buzz around me. Hedyle had to bring down the gavel several times, struggling to keep control of the council. The witches around us were amazed and appalled. Taking a spirit into the body was not a witch practice. It ranked right up there with letting a ghost hang around.

As people's voices began to get lower, I raised my hands in an elaborate fashion. What they didn't notice was that Olivia had leveraged herself against me so that her ectoplasm appeared to be part of every move I made. I wasn't sure how far we'd get with it, but it was a wonderful idea.

“I was despicably murdered!” Olivia's voice joined mine, making it unforgettable.

People pushed their hands to their ears so as not to hear the horrible caterwauling. Several women fainted, and others screamed.

“We should take this on the road, Molly,” Olivia said right beside my ear. “This is good stuff.”

I didn't respond as I cast suspicious glances around the room. Olivia actually put one hand over my face to give it a shocking appearance. I couldn't see it, but I could imagine it was ghastly from the way people reacted around us.

“What do you want from us? Why are you here?” Erinna Coptus demanded, though her voice shook.

“Is that really you, Makaleigh?” Bairne asked. “Are you really with us?”

“Are they really falling for this?” Olivia whispered. “Is it just me or did everyone think they were smarter than that?”

“It is I, Bairne,” I returned. “I am here within Molly Renard to renounce this council and the one who killed me.”

Several witches screamed, but Oscar had bolted the
heavy wood door from the inside and would let no one pass. He nodded at me as though he knew what I was trying to do.

“If you are who you say you are,” Hedyle said as she struggled to take charge again, “tell me something only you and I would know.”

I thought back to everything I'd read of her, as well as the things I'd heard and Drago had intimated. What could I say that would continue the masquerade?

It suddenly hit me. What makes two people angrier than anything else? What makes two women difficult to reconcile?

“There are many things only we know,” I told her in a moaning voice. “There are the things only known to the heart, Hedyle. The wars we fought because we both loved the same man.”

I waited for a sign that I'd hit the mark. Already the loud buzz around the room believed it. That left Hedyle's judgment of my claim. I hoped that had been a problem between them with Drago. If that was possible then so was their previous relationship.

Hedyle's face turned pasty white. She forgot to pick up her gavel and instead got slowly to her feet. “What do you want, Makaleigh? You have no right here now. You are no longer a witch but a thing that we abhor. Leave now or be sent to that place.”

She bought it!
I almost couldn't believe it.

“You got her,” Olivia said. “Let's really hook her.”

In full view of everyone, I slowly began to rise—with Olivia lifting me. We kept going up as people cried and hugged one another.

“I didn't know you could do this,” I said when we'd reached the ceiling. “Don't drop me.”

“Don't worry. I've been practicing.”

She brought me slowly back to the stone floor.

I glared at Hedyle, who had resumed her seat behind the table.

“You murdered me,” I said. “You couldn't stand the changes I wanted to make, and you plunged the knife into my back.”

“No!” Hedyle stood again on shaky legs. “No. I didn't kill you. I arranged it, but I could never put the knife in you. You have to believe me. You weren't able to see. It was Bairne who killed you. He said we were doing it for the good of the council.”

Bairne started to his feet, but Oscar and Abdon pushed him back into his chair.

“I only served Hedyle in this. I would never have done it alone,” he claimed. “She was the one who made it happen. She set up Drago and his daughter so they would look guilty. She changed the fingerprints. She had everything planned perfectly.”

“You killed Makaleigh?” Owen Graybeard's roar echoed in the chamber as he leapt across the table and threw himself bodily on Bairne. “I'll kill you myself.”

Oscar had left his position by the door. He and Abdon were able to keep the two men apart. But that had left the door out of the chamber unguarded. A few witches pushed it open and ran into the hallway. It only took a few minutes before the entire audience was gone.

All that remained was the brawling council. Elsie, Olivia and I stayed where we were.

“What's going to become of us now?” Elsie wondered. “There's not enough left of the council to keep going.”

“You heard Drago,” Olivia said. “There wasn't always a council.”

“Speaking of Drago,” I added. “Where did he get off to?”

“I'm afraid I might know the answer to that.” Olivia pointed toward the stone table. There was a large knife, the same knife that had killed Makaleigh and Kalyna, in Hedyle's throat. In all the confusion, someone had killed her.

“How could this happen?” Elsie shook her head. “I'm leaving too. There's only an hour before the doors open. I need something to drink.”

I waited long enough to see the look on Abdon's face when he realized that Hedyle was dead too. There were only ten of them up there. None of the witches had run that way. The suspect pool, as Joe liked to call it, was very small.

“Wait for me,” I called to Elsie. “I think I need a drink too.”

We walked to the main hall down several flights of stone stairs. Halfway down, we met Dorothy and Brian. They'd been hiding in the castle, unable to leave.

“I'm so glad to see you, honey.” Olivia hugged her daughter even though she was still working on her hugs not feeling so suffocating.

“Hi Mom. Elsie. Molly.” Dorothy waved to us. “Oscar let Brian know that things were even worse than before. We thought we might as well come back.”

We continued to the main hall and easily found drinks and places to sit. The place was a ghost town, presumably with witches cowering in their room until it was time for them to leave.

“I don't understand what happened,” Brian said. “Who killed Makaleigh?”

“Apparently it was Bairne and Hedyle. She got Drago to sneak in with Dorothy's cat under the guise of a lover's tryst so she could blame him for it,” I explained again. “They killed Makaleigh because she wanted to make too many changes to the council.”

“And now Hedyle is dead?” Brian said.

“I think Drago did it,” Olivia said. “He was angry with Hedyle and probably felt like a fool because she'd used him.”

“We don't know that,” Elsie said. “He was there right before the fight broke out and gone right after. But I can't swear that I saw him kill anybody.”

I agreed with her as I sipped my pink champagne. “I didn't see him kill Hedyle. I suppose his actions—leaving right after it was over—make him look guilty. But I don't think Drago would kill her that way. He doesn't need a knife.”

Dorothy shivered. “What does that mean?”

“It means that your father has powerful outsider magic. Dragon magic. So do you.” I smiled at her. “It means that he could have killed Hedyle with just his magic. Someday you might be that powerful. That's why it's important for you to learn control now.”

“I'm sorry about Hedyle,” Dorothy said. “But I didn't kill her. I would never kill someone.”

“The only way you know that, honey,” Olivia said, “is if you steel yourself not to let it happen. That's why I wanted you to grow up away from your father. I didn't want that life for you.”

“So he's killed people before,” Dorothy surmised. “And he probably killed Hedyle.”

“We don't know that,” Brian added. “Let's not put the blame on someone else the way they tried to put it on us.”

She smiled and kissed his cheek. “You're right. Maybe I'll see him again and ask.”

“But if you don't think Drago killed Hedyle,” Elsie said, “who else could've done it?”

“I hope we don't have enough time to find out.” I grinned at my friends. “I can't wait to get out of here.”