Horde Thief
Interlude 2 - Council Page
Wizard Dresden,
Pursuant to records submitted by the Gatekeeper, it has been recognised by the White Council that your death was recorded in error. Although your leave of absence has been considerable, the proper forms appear to have been only delayed in transit, instead of never sent. As such, the Council has seen fit to reinstate you as a Wizard in good standing, with all the rights and responsibilities entailed. It is good to have not lost another member of our order in such trying times. Included in this letter is a communications packet, for the Council does not allow its members to stand alone.
The Senior Council
Hoss,
Damn it's good to know you're alive. You should've contacted me, but given your circumstances, I can understand why you might not have been able to. You probably know the situation as well as anyone can, you've got contacts in Chicago, I expect you've used them. The Fomor have moved in hard, and there's only so much we can do to hold them back. The pocketbook you're being sent isn't going to have many names. You'll know your closest Warden, though. Too good looking to die, so he says, and he's proving to be quite skilled in proving it. I expect you'll be seeing each other down the line, given the next letter in this exchange – and don't look at it that way, there's a good purpose to it. The Council needs you, boy, more than it knows. No matter the bargains you've made, that's still true, and the Gatekeeper gave a positively glowing account of your actions the last year. Still took the Merlin his sweet time to confirm everything, but that's milk spilled under the bridge now.
I'll be around, but call me sometime. It's been too long.
Ebenezer.
Harry,
I know that what's in this letter isn't going to be easy for you to accept, but I find myself with little choice. Our numbers have recovered steadily since the end of the war, but the Fomor have proven to be a cunning and powerful enemy since. Despite what you have chosen, I have no doubt you understand their purposes by now, and I think I know you well enough to say you'll understand the words below.
You are an agent of Winter now, its Knight, the only mortal in that Court that may act in the affairs of our kind. But you are also a good man, and the Council has need of those like you in the days to come, regardless of what oaths you have taken. I do not expect you to be able to always help us, but your talent is too great to be squandered. There is a package enclosed with this letter, no doubt you'll recognise part of it. It is yours, Wizard Dresden, to be used in the defence of the city that I know you hold dear. It is also trust, that I do not believe you will betray. I cannot extend my own fully in return, but I can give you this gesture. It may not be all that you wished for, in returning to the Council, but it is necessary. For that reason, I cannot return you to your former position. But I can grant you a different one.
In its long history, there have been members of other nations brought into the Wardens as attaches, to coordinate in pursuit of shared goals. If you are to take up what I have sent you, I ask for your solemn oath that you will only wear it when acting in that role.
Ana
Warden Dresden,
If you've opened this, then I know you've accepted the terms I set upon it. I have an assignment for you, something I had not expected, but hope you can resolve. In recent weeks, the effective siege of Chicago, similar to that around the other cities in the United States with a high presence of practitioners, has been annihilated. Pressure on several cities has lessened since, too, and it is clear that the Fomor lost more than just muscle when they were purged from the city. If this was your doing, then it is only asked that you explain how you did it, if you can. If not, then the assignment is obvious; find out. If there is a being hostile to the Fomor with this sort of power, it would be wise to make contact.
Captain Luccio
Wizard Dresden,
It is with pleasure that we offer this invitation to a small social affair, in celebration of the removal of the Fomor from our city. As one among the ranking members of the Unseelie in the Barony of Chicago and seemingly once more the local representative of the White Council, your presence is requested to witness this momentous event, too long in coming. Hospitality is promised to all guests who observe its obligations. Enclosed is your invitation. Formal attire is required.
The Brighter Future Society
I looked down at the letter in my hand, blinking a few times at it, then at the still not fully unwrapped package of grey cloth beside it under another stack of letters. It turned in my hand, and something slipped out, a finely cut white card with elegantly ornate lettering across it, its edges gilt in gold. My invitation, apparently. "Karrin?" I raised my voice enough for her to hear me from the other room, and she stuck a head through, eyes lighting as they dropped to the invitation in my hand. She made a sound of noncommittal interest and I narrowed my eyes. "How did you know that I was being reinstated into the Council before I did?"
