"Half? What good is half? Don't you know how much weight the Speaker's voting authority carries? And what about you? What exactly is your relationship with Shade now?"
Audrey asked again. The Great Witch of Balance still did not want to reveal "that" secret. She hoped to keep that delicious meat all to herself for a while:
"Our relationship? Can't you tell? Just as you thought, aside from that matter, our relationship could not possibly be any closer."
She set down her wineglass and wrapped both arms around Shade's arm.
"I was the first witch to meet Shade. If I let the others get ahead of me, not only will Emma and the others laugh at me, but the Fifth Epoch Witches will look down on me as well."
"What does this have to do with the Fifth Epoch Witches?"
Audrey asked suspiciously. Miss Galina winked at her.
"I'll tell you about that later. It's rather complicated. But one thing can prove it—Shade really is a God Summoner. You guessed that yourself. Every Chosen One so far has been connected to him."
"When you listed all those titles just now, I guessed it. Is Iluna Beias also his lover?"
She asked patiently. This was very important.
Hearing that question, Miss Galina could not help but laugh. She wanted to comment on her unregistered student, but Shade saw that she intended to tease Iluna and spoke first:
"Yes. Another fortune-teller and I helped Iluna complete the ritual of the Balance Chosen One. You could say that, aside from betraying the Church, Iluna would be willing to do anything for me."
"Actually, even betraying the Church might be negotiable with Iluna."
The Red-haired Witch added quietly, then continued:
"The Dark Chosen One, Ivan Daknis, was killed by Shade and Iluna together. Joey