Chương 41: No Turning Back

Seraphina and Celestia sat patiently waiting inside Simon's office. Neither of them dared to speak. Occasionally, the two women would silently glance at one another, or at the infant's carefully wrapped body nestled in Seraphina's arms. Seraphina felt her pulse quicken as a group of official-looking fairies entered Simon's office. The color drained from Celestia's face and her hands began to tremble. Seraphina mouthed, "It'll be fine," giving the young fairy a gentle nod.

Simon stood up from his desk and nervously greeted the executives flooding his office.

"Welcome. Simon Bud, how do you do?" he said, going around the room and shaking hands.

"Please take a seat if you can find one." He looked around the room and realized there were nowhere near enough seats to accommodate the rush of suits entering the office.

"Perhaps we would all be more comfortable in the executive conference room next door. It would be a little less…" he smiled, "crowded." My goodness, how many suits did they send? Simon thought as he noticed the very well-dressed people waiting in the hall to enter.

"That sounds like an excellent idea, Simon," a familiar voice said, somewhere in the crowd.

"Jasper, is that you?" Simon called out, searching the faces before seeing the older man pushing his way through the crowd.

"Simon," Jasper said, waving his arm then nodding his head. Simon nodded in return and pushed his way closer to the older man.

"I'll take it from here, Simon," Jasper replied once he was in speaking distance of Simon.

"Ladies and gentlemen, if you wouldn't mind making your way next door to the conference room, we will be with you shortly," Jasper called out loudly.

"Angela, would you mind showing our guests to the conference room and getting them situated? We will be in shortly," he said, smiling brightly at the young fairy.

"Of course, sir," Angela said, giving him a quick nod.

"This way, folks," she said, trying to herd the crowd out the door.

"Quarterly Meeting Protocols, sir?" she asked, the crowd now thin enough to speak without shouting.

"Yes, Angela. That's a wonderful idea," Jasper agreed. Jasper watched as Angela walked out and shut the door behind her. He turned to Simon and gave him a cocked eyebrow stare.

"Okay, Simon, what is going on?" Jasper asked, pulling Simon over to the side.

"Not sure, Seraphina requested this meeting and she…" he paused, glancing over his shoulder and looking over at Seraphina.

"Well, she refused to tell me what this was all about until the officials from OPD and Fairy Security arrived," he said, turning back to Jasper. His voice tinged with unmistakable sarcasm and contempt. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Jasper stepped around Simon.

"Okay, Seraphina. What's this all about?" Jasper asked, looking concerned.

"I know you well enough to know you would not have called for a meeting with the top brass, or maintained this level of secrecy, unless it was something major," he said, casting her an empathetic glance.

"I would like to be debriefed prior to us going in and explaining, from the looks of things, to anyone who will listen." Seraphina looked at him, carefully assessing the situation. She knew Jasper well; they had come up through the ranks together. She knew he was a man of integrity and honesty. He played things by the book and she knew he could, above all else, be trusted.

"Considering we are pressed for time, just an overview," Jasper said softly. Seraphina sighed, "Alright, here goes. Celestia found the infant from the prophecy abandoned. She brought her here. We hid her for her safety, until I could bring this to the higher ups. The organization has a mole or a security breach. My house was raided. The infant died while in our custody," she said, before looking down at the bundle sadly.

"These are her remains," she said, lifting the bundle up slightly. Jasper nodded his head, expressionless, while Simon's jaw seemed to hit the floor.

"Thank you for the overview, under the circumstances you did the right thing, Seraphina, waiting to make your report. Would you mind if…" he motioned to Celestia, "Agent Featherstone, right?"

"Yes, sir, you can call me Celestia, but yes I am Junior Agent Celestia Featherstone." He turned his eyes back to Seraphina.

"Would you mind if, Agent Featherstone here, held the child's remains while you wrote out a quick outline of the events?" Seraphina glanced at Celestia, then at Jasper.

"That will be fine, Jasper," she replied, handing the bundle over. He looked over at Simon.

"Do you have a pad and pen?" he asked. Simon nodded his head before looking at Seraphina and casting her a sympathetic glance.

"If you or Celestia had let me know," he said, rifling through his desk and pulling out the requested items.

"I would have sent back up to your location and maybe the child would still be alive," he said, frowning.

"Simon, she did the right thing. She trusted her instincts. Knowing there was a potential security breach she did what she thought was best to protect the child," he said frowning at Simon, before taking the pad and pen and handing them to Seraphina.

"We don't fully understand the events that propelled the situation forward, and until we have all the facts regarding the matter, please keep your comments and criticism to yourself." Simon flustered at Jasper's rebuke. Seraphina did her best not to smirk smugly at Jasper's harsh words for Simon. She began writing on the page quickly. Jasper seeing she was almost finished asked "Shall we?" motioning toward the door. Seraphina and Celestia stood up. Seraphina handed the pad to Jasper.

"Hopefully you can make it out," she said, not waiting for a response, then turned and took the infant back from Celestia. Simon made his way quickly to the exit, while the rest of the group hung back.

"Thank you, Jasper," Seraphina said, brushing his arm with her hand.

"Hopefully the suits will agree with your assessment of the circumstances," she said, returning her gaze to the tiny bundle in her hand.

"We did all we could to save her, Jasper," she said, tears filling her eyes.

"Our intention was to bring her here safe and sound, neither of us were prepared for this outcome." Celestia nodded in agreement, becoming choked up over the genuineness of Seraphina's words.

"We did the best we could, sir." She sighed.

"Knowing the significance of her birth…" she broke off, "well, we are both devastated by this development."

"I understand, ladies, and I do truly commend your initiative in trying to keep the child safe, even if the outcome was not the one that was intended," Jasper said, sympathetically.

"I'm in your corner and I will do all I can with them," he said, motioning to the next room.

"To make them understand why you made the decisions you made." He took a deep breath then motioned to the door.

"Shall we?"