Tales of Avalon: The Maid and the Falcon

✧ Chapter 9: The Circle ✧

Penny sat still for a terrible moment after Lily had left, then she pulled the remnants of the russet dress out from under her sheets.  She'd torn it apart looking for what she thought she'd felt, and now she was in the process of picking bits and pieces of it out of the skirt.  Finally she spread the thin seams and stitches she'd pulled from the dress on the floor and stared at the elaborate circle it made.

I knew it.  I was right.  For a moment she sat stunned, unwilling to believe the proof in front of her own eyes.  She'd wondered, but she hadn't wanted to believe it.

Abruptly Penny reached out and rang for Willow, who darted into the room at the unexpectedly insistent summons.

"Willow.  Look at this."

The sylph eyed the circle of cloth on the floor and reached out a shaking hand.  "I... no, Lady Penny, how..."  Her fingers brushed the thin lines and she pulled her hand back as if she had been bitten.

"I... need to confirm it.  Willow, what exactly is this?"

"I'm not an expert in enchantment, but it looks like a magic siphon.  A subtle one, but it's certainly there."

"And you can guess where it was."

Willow dragged her eyes away from the elaborate ring of magic on the floor, meeting Penny's gaze.  "The fabric color... it was in your dress."

"Yes."  Penny sat down on her bed, taking a deep breath.  "In my dress.  The one the Queen demands that I wear right before going out on risky missions.  The one that always made me look half-dead."

Willow's eyes flashed and Penny nodded.  Willow wasn't stupid.  She knew exactly what this meant.  But Willow surprised her.

"Lady Penny, take this."  She handed Penny the blue stone the wardrobe had given as a pin for her cloak.  Penny turned it over in her hands and raised her eyebrows.

"Is this... a drain ward?"  Penny had heard about them, but she had never actually held one.  The one and only one she had seen had been placed in the King's crown, which was now on display at his memorial.  And Penny had worn one to the banquet.  Had her mother known what it was?

Willow took the stone back and ran her fingers over it, tracing a complex web of lines barely visible in the smooth surface.  "I think it may be, but I'm not sure.  My knowledge of these things barely covers the basics."

"Fair enough."  Penny scowled at the pattern of fabric on the floor.  "Willow, to tell you the truth, I suspected something like this."

"You..."  Willow paused, looking confused before her mind seemed to settle.  "How long have you suspected it?"

"As a passing thought?  Two, three years, possibly a bit longer.  As a serious suspicion?"  Penny paused, trying to think.  "Mm, probably since the Siren Cliffs situation, so, six months?"

"And this whole time, you never said anything?"

"What good would it do?"  Penny stood abruptly and started pacing.  "I have no proof.  Even if I did, it would change nothing."

"Is this..."  Penny could see Willow coming to a slow realization.  "Is this why you asked me to do all those small errands?"

"Of course.  You're the only one I could trust."

Willow sat down heavily, looking overwhelmed.  Penny sighed; she must be in significant distress.  Willow stood on etiquette, even if her lady did not, and she would never sit while Penny stood unless she were on the verge of breaking.

"Willow, think about it.  Why would I ask you if the gryphons were available?"

"To avoid having to become a peregrin–"  Willow's eyes widened.  "No.  Lady Penny, no.  That's not possible."