Chapter 6 The Triple Council #2
“It’s so lovely to see everyone together!
” she declares, her owl familiar settling down upon her shoulder.
She has large eyes and light brown skin that has the tell-tale pallor of a vampire.
It’s odd to see a vampire with a witch’s familiar, but Amrita wears her contradictions proudly.
She’s a natural leader and addresses the crowd grandly.
“Although the past six months have been…trying to say the least, I find it inspiring that we’re all gathered here, as one magical community, dedicated to preserving the peace between our clans. ”
Lavinia scowls, the stern lines of her face deepening. “A magical community that is deeply fractured at this time, Rita. While I, too, long for a peaceful coexistence - and have worked tirelessly for it! - I find it difficult to believe that we all share that same goal, given recent developments.”
“If you’re referring to the uprising of the Satanic witches,” drawls the evil witch with a pentagram on her forehead. “That was the doing of their power-hungry High Priest, who was swiftly deposed, leaving no lingering threat.”
“And if you’re referring to the attack on Elmwood Academy,” Celine adds. “That was entirely the work of Tudor Thornblade and the wolf shifters, and as he is safely locked up in the Cave, that concern has been managed as well.”
“Don’t you see, Lavinia,” Amara says, optimistically. “Our foes have been vanquished. All of us here represent the magical groups of the northern region, united. There’s no reason to continue to distrust each other.”
“I have every reason to be wary, Amara,” Lavinia responds. The other good witches around the dais mutter in agreement. “Tudor Thornblade proclaimed himself an ally of the Triple Council. It was an incredible shock and betrayal when he attacked Elmwood Academy…”
“Well, you were spying on him,” Xia mutters loudly. “It couldn’t have been much of a surprise.”
Lavinia ignores her. “And the Satanic witches were quiet for decades before suddenly rising up in an unprecedented attempt to steal a significant magical artifact. What’s to say that won’t occur again?”
“Oh! I know!” Amrita clasps her hands together. “We need to do something. Something to bring together all of the magical communities again.”
“Isn’t that what you’re doing with Elmwood Inclusive Magic Academy?” asks Damien.
“Yes, yes.” Amrita waves her hand impatiently. “But that’s done for the summer. I - I mean, we - need something else to focus on!”
“This isn’t a forum for another one of your ridiculous schemes, Amrita,” Lavinia says.
My smart watch buzzes. Grateful for something to distract me, I look down at the screen. It’s too long to read on my watch face, so I pull my phone out of my pocket. I’m glad to see it’s from Lily.
So sorry to bother you, it reads. The Khan wedding was hoping that they could extend their party’s stay for an additional night, but they have the entire left wing booked, and the Women in Engineering conference checks in on that same day-
“Renata,” Celine hisses. “What are you doing? This is important!”
“This is important!” I whisper back, typing a quick response to Lily. “The Women in Engineering conference is one of our largest of the entire summer.”
“That’s it!” Amrita says, her sharp ears picking up on our conversation. “Great idea, Renata!”
“What?” I ask, not looking up from my phone screen.
“A conference!” says the vampire-witch, a dreamy look in her eyes.
“We should host a conference of all of the witches. The school is great, of course, but it only brings together young magical people. This is a great opportunity to get everyone together to discuss politics and share traditional knowledge!”
The witches look at each other skeptically. None of them want to contradict Amrita, but they don’t appear very eager to work together. Well, except for…
“That’s a wonderful idea!” Amara says, encouragingly. She joins Amrita on the dais, elbowing Lavinia out of the way. “We could schedule it over a weekend, and host a variety of sessions on different magical topics.”
“I’ll do the keynote!” Amrita offers. “And we can have a party!”
“I guess it might not be a bad idea,” Damien says with a shrug. “It could be interesting for the witch covens to hear different perspectives.”
“Xia, you and I could host a broomstick-riding competition,” Amara says, gesturing toward her.
Xia sighs. “Ok, fine. But Astrid has to participate too.”
The evil witch beside her raises a tentative eyebrow. While she doesn’t appear too excited about the conference, she seems to enjoy the horrified expression on Lavinia’s face. “Well, I suppose as a favour to Rita…”
“That’s settled!” Amrita says. “A witch conference, this summer.”
“We can do it at the hotel!” Amara says. “What do you think, Celine?”
My stomach drops. “Wait, what?”
“Of course,” Celine says, with a pointed glare in my direction. “We’d be glad to host your witch conference at the Respite hotel. Nothing is more important to us than the cohesion of the magical community.”
“Really? Nothing?” I whisper angrily.
She elbows me sharply in the ribs. “Just let us know the date, Amrita.”
Frustration flares inside me, but I bite my tongue. From the expression on my sister’s face, and the eager responses of the witches around us, I know that I’ve lost this battle.
“Fine,” I growl, putting my phone back in my pocket.