Unto Dust

016.

Saccharine gave way to a murky, clouded greenish gray called Bog. On the surface it was about midday. At her request, Goldy led her back to the navy bricked building on Glocken Street. It was time to see how things were going above.

A smattering of mages were seated around the wooden table. Qafiya was notably absent.

Suli was dressed in her simple, clean dress, as she had on the surface, whereas mor Magus was adorned to the full extravagance his status demanded. Brilliant drops of blue---was it sapphire?---hung from his earlobes.

There were two stacks of papers before her. One was larger and neater, while the other was thinner and disorderly. Orithin scribbled something in a flourish, added it to the messy pile, then Suli handed him another sheaf from the neat pile.

"Goldy and sor Fiona are here," she announced to her master. He looked up at them, then back down to his papers.

"Spending my hard-earned copury left and right, are you?" he said severely.

Goldy casually stepped away from Fiona.

"It's---for research," she said, feeling her insides shrivel a little. She had not been expecting him to track her every expense. From the hostile looks the other mages were giving her, it would be foolish to say she had been dress-shopping. She hoped Goldy would keep his mouth shut.

When Orithin looked up again, the corners of his eyes were crinkled in a smile. She breathed a sigh, then took a seat two chairs down from Suli.

He set down his papers and folded his ink-stained hands. "Last night, my men hid your body in Gead. Soldiers have not yet found it but when they do, they will trace your identity back to the boardinghouse. This might take some time, so we may send some help their way. It is our hope that Enjo will catch wind of rumors about a witch being found in the forest and claim the body once it reaches the boardinghouse."

And Enjo and Suli will search my room and happen upon the letter, Fiona thought. She swallowed, tasting acrid bile at the back of her throat. "Enjo and the other children?"

"Wandering the city, looking for you." He glanced at Goldy. "Which Shade is it?"

"Bog."

He stood and laid a hand on Suli's shoulder. "It will soon be time for you to 'search' as well."

Suli withdrew a thin case from within her cloak and flicked it open. From where she was sitting, Fiona could not tell what was inside. She craned her neck as Suli tilted her head back. Her fingers darted from the case to her left eye, then her right. She blinked away tears, and snapped the case closed.

As she did this, Orithin had cleared away the papers and was swirling his bottle of ink. Fiona did not properly see where his papers had gone but they were almost certainly dropped unceremoniously on the floor, as another mage stooped to retrieve them.

It seemed no one other than his ilor was privy to what was happening. When she glanced at Goldy, he shrugged. His expression read something like, He never tells us, either.

She watched with bated breath, as mor Magus uncorked the bottle and deliberately upended it over onto the table. Ink dark as pitch pooled at the center of the table, spilling in every direction. There was commotion as the seated mages yelped and hurried to their feet. In the case of one unfortunate wizard, his chair tipped backwards onto the floor with a crash.

But the ink did not run off the surface of the table. It spread uniformly and stayed enclosed within the confines of a perfect circle.

"Capicum et mori im medio," he said. A ripple began at the center of the ink, moving outwards, its peaks almost like a wave in ocean. Finally, it was calm, leaving behind a layer of ink like glass. Its edges glistened with a myriad of colors as it caught the light. Then the colors formed shapes.