A Year At The Opera

Interlude One: Prologue?

Word Count: 5500 words

Nathan

Officers from the Magician's Council arrived at Nathan's door late in the evening on some not-so-official business.

It was a fine evening. A cool breeze floated through the city of Thyssen. A few blocks away from Nathan's mansion on Wickford Street, stood the Victorian-style clock tower, its loud gong echoing through the entire city as it struck nine. The air stuck to the skin, clinging to it like glue.

As soon as he heard the knock on his door, Nathan knew it was time. Time to run. He never had visitors. Not unless it was an official visit from the Council. If it was an official matter, he would have been notified someone was coming. And Nathan had received no such notice.

All the evidence pointed to one thing: they knew what he'd done and they were coming to kill him. But, as warily as he could, he walked to the door. Running before he knew why they were here would only arouse suspicion. If there was a chance they didn't know, and he ran, they would certainly figure it out by then.

They knocked again. Nathan looked through the peephole, seeing only pitch black. Fuck! Okay, Nate, calm down.

"Mr. Castellano? Are you home? There's an urgent matter we need to discuss!" A voice came from outside. Another set of knocks. He didn't recognize the voice but he slowly turned the lock. Peeking his head outside, he found only one man. The man was maybe in his 40s, with the wrinkles on his forehead almost becoming permanent. Nathan glanced at his outfit. He was rich, that was for sure. A golden Rhyvian belt around his waist, a gleaming white cygnus ring on his finger, and even the black Tryon cloak flowing off his shoulders. And yet everything else in his ensemble was perfectly ordinary. He looked like he was trying to be polite about how rich he was. Fairly on brand for Council personnel.

"Mr. Castellano?" The man asked. His voice was rough yet alluring. "I'm from the Council. We have some business to discuss regarding one of your cases. Do you mind if I come in?"

We? Nathan thought as he scanned the area behind the man to see if anyone else was outside. And, by pure luck, he noticed the helmet of a cadet crouching in the bushes. So they knew.

"Of course. Just give me a moment to change. This was so sudden, I'm afraid you've caught me at an indecent time." Nathan did his best to retain his composure.

"Apologies. It really is very urgent otherwise we would have notified you."

"I understand. Just, hold on. I'll be back in a minute." Nathan said, closing the door.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Goddamnit. How did they find out? He slapped his cheeks to drag himself back to reality. Now is not the time for a meltdown, Castellano. Pull your shit together. Come on, think!

He fumbled through the living room, his stomach wrenching as thoughts of what they would do to him began to fill his mind. He dashed through the kitchen and grabbed his car keys off the countertop. No, he stopped in his tracks. They probably already have it surrounded. I'll have to use the other exit.

Another knock.

"Mr. Castellano?"

"Coming. Just a minute!" He shouted back.

He wanted to avoid using magic. As with most arrests, they probably had vans stationed at street ends to monitor magic usage.

He made his way up to his bedroom on the second floor. Throwing open his closet, he quickly shoved aside the clothes covering the safe. It wasn't an elegant solution to hide anything but it worked fine enough. Especially from Magicians. Magic-proof safes were a godsend.