Magic Weaver

Chapter Nineteen(v2)

Chapter Nineteen

The Magician's Skat

"What do you think you're you doing?" Jack asked, apparently at James.  

There was a pause.  

"No, don't. He's not a threat." This was James's voice.  

Someone asked a question Cedric couldn't hear.  

"-my brother."  

Quiet talking again.  

"I don't know." James's voice again.  

"How could you do this right under my nose without telling me?" Now Jack was speaking.  

"You're not supposed to be in here unless I say it's ok." James growled.  

"You should have told me." Jack's voice was accusatory. "Did you really think you couldn't trust me?"  

"I know I could!" James snarled. "But it's better if fewer people knew about them. There's soldiers looking for them too you know. I didn't tell them about you for the same reason."  

This silenced Jack immediately. James was right. He had no right to tell the rebellion's business to anyone, even his own brother.  

"It seems James had made a habit out of housing rogues." One man commented, his voice soft and sad, thought the sentence's content was neither.  

There was nervous laughter.  

"He's my brother." James defended himself. "What was I supposed to do?"  

Jack cleared his throat, to turn the attention back to him. "There's a reason I came down here." Jack told the crowd. "Let's do a little business, shall we?"  

There was a hushed silence, and their voices lowered to whispers. Cedric couldn't hear what they were saying, so he decided now was the best time to retreat. He didn't want to get caught. Cedric sat in James's living room, fidgeting nervously. He was about to look over Jack's notes, but realized Jack took those with him. It was clear Jack had an idea, an idea that Jack didn't bother to tell him about. It made Cedric nervous, but he trusted Jack, and this was his specialty. So far, not trusting Jack's instincts only led him to capture and nearly death. So instead, he decided to try and sleep.  

Cedric's dreams were more aggressive than ever, probably because he was nervous. Cedric opened his eyes in a cold sweat, touched his throat, and shuddered. The horrifying feeling of Rafe choking him would haunt him forever. But, Cedric had to admit to himself, he probably wouldn't have discovered his own magical potential if not for that grip on Cedric's neck.  

Cedric recoiled, startled, as he realized there was someone standing over him. A hand quickly touched his arm.  

"It's okay Cedric." Jack told him. "It's just me."  

How humiliating! Cedric laughed at himself. He was losing his mind. He remembered the cook telling him at one time that crazy people never knew they were crazy, so if you knew, you weren't. Boy was he wrong! Cedric scoffed. He couldn't be anything but insane.  

"Are you alright?" Jack asked in a concerned manner.  

"Of course." Cedric sighed.  

"You were right." Jack informed him. "There is a rebellion downstairs."  

"Yes. Were you surprised?"  

"Extremely."  

"So what did you talk about?"  

"They said they might help us get into the castle without detection."  

"How?" They were only a tiny rebellion. Surely they weren't clever enough to successfully do such a thing.