The next morning was the warmest in a while and the sky was blue as sapphires, but Arcane didn't pay them any attention. Instead, she was worrying big time.
Last night Merari had woken her up to give her a quick update. As glad as Arcane was to no longer be harbouring her secret, Merari's new position meant nobody was there to make sure her siblings didn't get caught. Yesterday's events had been a scarily close call and when the traces of magic didn't fade, there'd be trouble.
Arcane got out of bed and wandered over to the power concealment potion. Should she give it to the kids? Probably, but her petty side couldn't stand the thought. She'd given them so much already and despite all her warnings, Lilith had ratted her out to their father. But she'd sworn she'd get them somewhere they were loved and safe. She refused to break her promise.
She frowned at the bottle, searching for a solution. Then she ran a finger across the little tag. Who had given her it? The old question resurfaced and she realised that might be her solution. If she could find whoever had written the tag, maybe she could find their saving grace.
Part of the day's plan was a repeat of the Primracon. Arcane neither fancied the idea of it, nor was she willing to waste time that could be used searching for the mystery helper. The one question was how to wriggle her way out of it.
Once she'd made herself presentable, she headed to breakfast. Seeing Merari there threw her off; the sheer size of the buffet presented another surprise. There were platters of fish, bowls of compote, plates of fèreen algea. Arcane gaped.
'You're welcome,' said Merari, picking out the most appetising fish.
Arcane pinched her. 'Wakey, wakey, this isn't your doing.'
'Uh, actually, it's to honour my long anticipated arrival.'
Medea snorted from across the table.
'Actually, it's to make sure everybody fills up before the Primracon,' Nancy commented. 'It's been organised like this for years, although traditionally there should be more restraint and less overeating beforehand.'
'Thanks for filling her in,' Merari whined, then bitterly added, 'You'd better be off soon.'
'I will be. We just... There are matters to deal with.'
Medea spoke up, 'Merari, please tell Sorita to shut up today. She's been winding me up all night.'
That caused Kaya to pipe up, 'Why didn't you tell us?'
'Sorita said not to. Don't ask me why. The Chèr already yelled at me last night,' Merari sobbed.
'Is that why...' Sabrina trailed off.
Merari nodded and Arcane understood nothing of the exchange, so she tucked into her food. Out of the blue, the fish across the table caught her eye again. A foolish and reckless idea crossed her mind and she hesitated. Triggering an allergic reaction was a risky move. Previously, it had always just consisted of hives and a bit of vomiting, but she couldn't guarantee that would still be the case after all these years. Besides, it felt rather drastic.
Arcane requested somebody pass the fish while gesturing at Merari to stay quite with a two fingered wave—their code. She stared at the fish once it was on her plate, disgust swirling in her stomach. She decided she might as well leave it for last so that she could enjoy the rest of her food.
Once she'd finished everything else, she considered leaving the fish. Surely her siblings could handle another day. However, there was no guarantee she'd find the culprit within a day. She needed all the time she could get.
Bite by bite, she ate pieces of the fish. The taste was surprisingly pleasant; she'd forgotten how much the flavour appealed to her. Despite this, she struggled to swallow it down. Years of avoiding the allergen meant the idea of it triggered a certain nausea. Still, she needed to make sure she threw some up which apparently was forbidden in fasting. The Chèr might just send her to the aedrum with hives on one of his moody days.
After breakfast, the group was sent off to religious education. The responsible priest had half a breakdown when he caught onto Merari's ignorance. The idea of having to re-teach everything was soul-crushing but Merari deviously insisted she couldn't remember anything.
'But your best friend's been an Eseterrian for a while. Surely she passed on some of my lectures to you.'
'Nah, I hate religion.'
'But you're... You're having me on, aren't you?'
Merari pulled an indifferent face. 'Well, I don't completely hate it, but I've never been particularly devout.'
Arcane had to suppress several sniggers. Merari was pretending to be dumber than she was, the girl actually had an impressively detailed memory of many myths. Arcane trusted that that would eventually come out, but until then she was also enjoying the priest's despair.
Within a few minutes of the first myth, they picked up on Arcane's hives. She excused herself from the remainder by saying she felt awful. Not long after, the vomiting started. She clutched the toilet seat as she regurgitated the fish. It served as the perfect reminder never to eat fish again. Her siblings had better be grateful.
Eventually, she crawled back into bed. Her maid, Theresa, brought her a bucket in case she threw up again. Now that she was lying there, she began to panic that she'd just incapacitated herself for the day. While her reactions hadn't been too severe in the past, she felt more nauseous than ever before. Her hives itched and it took most of her self control not to scratch at them.
The Chèr was her first visitor. He was visibly uncomfortable at the sight of her red arms and the little bit of vomit in the bucket.
'I guess you won't be doing the Primracon today?'
'I feel like trash,' Arcane moaned, even though this was her own fault.
He nodded reluctantly, then headed towards the door. There he lingered, then turned his head back to her. 'If you need anything, call.'
'What, are you offering to dab at my forehead with a damp cloth?'
'Do you think so lowly of me? Is that why you didn't tell me about Merari?'
He didn't wait for a response. Arcane's eyes rested on the doorway for a while. Had she genuinely hurt him so much with her silence? Shouldn't he understand a friend's loyalty? On further thought, Arcane wondered whether he'd ever had such a close friend. The notion was so sad, she decided she'd try to make it up to him. She'd make the Chèr smile, as impossible as it sounded.
♤ ♤ ♤
A couple of hours passed and Arcane started to recover, so she set to work. Even though she'd felt awful, the time to think meant she had gathered some ideas as to potential culprits.
One possibility was somebody with a connection to Baba Mair. The odd seer had always shown an inexplicable interest in the preservation and training of Arcane's powers. She'd been the one who had made the first brew, so couldn't she have made a second one?
Another option was one of the Leere. Since they could detect powers, they could have noticed traces on her. With the secularisation some Cineans longed for, there was a reasonable probability that one of the Leere had more liberal views. The tricky task would be probing the Leere without suspicion. Then again, all she needed was handwriting.
As quietly as she could, she got out of bed. Her skin was still inflamed, but the hives weren't as itchy anymore. If the Chèr saw her, he might just decide there was time to do the Primracon with how upset he seemed to be with her. She was flattering herself, he surely didn't care that much.
Arcane tiptoed through the hallways. The Leere were her easiest bet, anybody in the castle could potentially be linked to Baba Mair. All she needed was a method of obtaining all of their handwriting.
Quickly, she turned back and plucked a piece of letter paper from the pile in her room. Forgetting that had been a great start. While she was there, she picked up a fountain pen in case the Leere had none at hand.
Upon setting off, Arcane realised she didn't even know where the Leere lodged. She knew they weren't in the Eseterrian's quarters, that was literally just the five girls. Even the Chèr, whose main office was there, had a room in a different part of the palace. Still, she doubted it would be too far.
She started off by heading down all the corridors that lead away from the Eseterrian quarters. Each time she went about fifty steps before giving up and heading back. No success, though she did encounter Lavia and Emilee loitering in a hallway.
'This doesn't strike me as a great date location,' critiqued Arcane.
'On the contrary, it's peaceful. Well, it was peaceful.' Lavia glared at her darkly.
Arcane wasn't sure what to make of that aside from the fact that Lavia wanted her to leave. Obviously, that made her stay out of spite.
'Do you know where the Leere's living quarters are?'
'Maybe down with the servants?' proposed Emilee.
'That would be-' Lavia frowned, then finished, '-a disrespect to the position of Leere. They're in the southern wing, third floor.'
Arcane raised an eyebrow before remembering that Lavia was the niece of a priest. She supposed it made sense that she knew where the Leere slept.
With an awkward wave, Arcane left them to whatever they were doing. She didn't pretend to know what couples did in their freetime, she hadn't exactly got first-hand experience. Well, she doubted a few uncomfortable kisses with a foreign boy when she was nine really counted, nor the girl she pretended to marry when she was eleven. She'd never had time for dating, not with two kids to essentially single-handedly raise. Maybe she and the Chèr weren't so different. She frowned, why'd he even popped into her head?
Arcane took a moment to figure out which path would best lead to the southern side of the palace, then set on her way. She wasn't sure she'd ever been in this part of the building. Before being claimed, she'd mainly whiled away in the western wing which provided accommodation to most of the nobles. As an Eseterrian, she lived in the eastern wing. Upon further contemplation, she realised the southern wing was a mystery to her.
She hurried up a flight of stairs, then wandered through the hallway. A crew of workmen marched through the corridor, carrying ladders and paint. Arcane froze in her tracks.
'Uh, this part of the castle is off bounds, Ponyéva,' said one of the workers, struggling to meet her eyes.
'I'm looking for the Leere.'
'The Leere? They moved out of here a month ago. We were called in to renovate.' He spotted the hives on her arms. 'Are you alright, Ponyéva?'
Already leaving, she said, 'Absolutely.'
The Leere must still be around, even if they had moved to another end of the castle. She refused to believe that they just lived in tents in the forest. The question was, who could she ask that would also know?
She returned to the Eseterrian's living quarters with a sour demeanour. Of course the first lead hadn't worked out, that would have been too convenient. If the niece of a priest didn't know where the Leere were now, who'd know. The Chèr and Medea certainly did, but asking them would lead to too much suspicion.
'Arcane?'
She spun around and saw Sabrina. The Rindea's shoulders were slightly slumped and her stance very timid.
'What's wrong?'
'Nothing, nothing. I just... Would you like me to soothe your queasiness with my powers?'
Arcane stared at her, completely thrown off. For a moment, she wondered whether Sabrina had given her the bottle, then remembered she'd arrived later. Soon, she remembered that Rindea had healing powers.
'Didn't they take away your powers?'
Sabrina shook her head. 'My transformation was pretty close to my arrival. The Leere decided that since Eseterrians are special cases, they'd let me keep my powers... The Chèr actually requested I heal you this morning so that we could go ahead with the Primracon, but I figured it was best not to hurry your recovery for such trivial matters.'
'Don't let the Chèr hear that,' Arcane teased. Of course he'd wanted Sabrina to heal her so that they could go ahead with the religious ceremony. An internal rant started, only interrupted by the realisation that she'd mentioned the Leere. 'You said the Leere decided. When?'
'The morning after my arrival, I was taken down to their little cottage in the woods for them to make their decision. They said my magic was so weak, but it may well have been a blessing from Goece...'
Arcane nodded pensively, then rashly announced, 'I won't be taking advantage of your overly generous offer. I think I'll just try to get some fresh air.'
♤ ♤ ♤
The Leere proved themselves to be a huge disappointment. Arcane invented some story about wanting to know their names. The first struggle was getting all of them to agree to sharing their names. The next hurdle was obtaining everyone's signature rather than having one person write her a list. But through a lot of unlikely persuasion and irreparably damaging their view of her, Arcane got each one's handwriting.
Once she was out of sight from the cottage's window, she compared the signatures with the potion's tag, only to be disappointed. Whoever had written the tag had a small, scrawly but extremely legible hand. Some of the Leere's were ornate, others had a strong geometric influence from writing in escript. Another noticeable feature of the tag was that the letters had a left lean, whereas the Leere's were remarkably upright.
Greatly disappointed, Arcane joined her fellow Eseterrians for lunch. Sabrina and Emilee fretted about her, checking whether she felt at all sick. Admittedly, the morning's nausea meant she only wanted some brown bread with a bowl of broth, but she assured them she felt fine.
Part way through the meal, a servant came in with a note for Emilee. The eldest Eseterrian unfolded it and read it intently, her thin, dark brows knitting together.
'Are you alright?' Sabrina checked.
'It's from Hjalmar. He says his psychology friend doesn't want to come.'
'I don't need treatment,' Kaya hissed.
Emilee glanced up at her. 'I didn't have you in mind, even though you could maybe do with some psychological help. No, we've got a couple of other people that might benefit from some mental health support.'
Arcane peered over briefly, anticipating more sourness from Kaya. She got more than she bargained for. While Kaya was disappointingly stoic, she caught a glimpse of the note. Its handwriting perfectly matched the tag.
Stunned, she stared. She supposed that it made sense for Hjalmar not to be opposed to powers, but the fact that he cared enough to smuggle her an illegal potion was bizarre. Then again, why had he even left his home country to come to Cines? Maybe—admittedly, this was a stretch—he'd been sent by Baba Mair. The idea sent her heart racing.
A hand snapped in her face. 'Arcane, wakey wakey.'
Arcane blessed Merari with her best death glare. 'Thanks to you waking me last night, I didn't exactly get much sleep, so you don't get to complain if I daydream.'
Merari crossed her arms. 'You always complain.'
Arcane pushed away her bowl. 'I don't feel like anymore. I hope you don't mind if I abandon you all to rest.'
Sabrina and Emilee outlined the importance of resting, but Medea was less sympathetic. 'It's rather rude considering the fact you're perfectly well now, but I guess so.'
'And I thought you were nice,' muttered Arcane as she left.
'It wasn't a job requirement,' the Voire called after her.
Arcane laughed to herself as she set to work. By leaving early, she was trying to make sure the others didn't see her. Luckily, she knew Hjalmar was usually on duty, since he was one of the head guards.
All it took was one right turn to find him. She called his name and he glanced over, alarmed. With quick steps, he strode over.
'Is anything amiss, m'lady?'
Arcane dug in her pocket for the potion and held it in front of him. 'Why did you hide the fact that you gave me the potion? You could have told me.'
He stared at her, bewildered. 'What?'
'I'm not about to get you thrown into a cell for treason. I just want to know whether you can get me more.'
Before the confused guard could answer, she heard a sharp voice from across the corridor.
'Arcane. In here.'
Arcane peered over to the Chèr, considering not obeying him, but noticed a weird quality in his eyes. Cursing under her breath, she headed into his office. If he asked, the bottle had only been delivered today.
As soon as she entered, he closed the door. The turning of the lock set her heart racing.
'What are you doing?' she cried out.
'I could ask you the same thing,' he grunted, snatching the bottle from her. 'How could you just wave this around?'
'I was looking for whoever wrote the tag. I thought Hjalmar might know... It appeared in my room today for no reason whatsoever.'
'Lies. We both know you've been drinking this for a while.'
'What? No, I only—'
'Spare us both the theatrics. I gave you the bottle.'
Her eyes tore open in bewilderment. Out of all the possibilities, this one had never crossed her mind. After all, why in Lypera would the Chèr, whose main job was to uphold religion, betray the ideals of their nation. In his defence, Eseterrian powers were a grey area, but this was a step too far.
'What? But...' Arcane couldn't even attempt to formulate a coherent sentence.
'Gadeden told me about your power and I wanted to... I wanted to spare you the loss.'
Wordlessly, she stared at him.
'The plan was for you not to find out, but since Hjalmar... You understand, I couldn't exactly sign it.' He dropped into his seat tiredly.
Gradually, Arcane began to comprehend what he was telling her. 'You mean...' She gulped, then asked, 'Why?'
His eyes flashed green. 'Because...'
Arcane stumbled back in realisation.
The colour returned to its normal brown and the Chèr let his head hang.
The words took a moment to come out. 'You had a power.'
She turned away from him, not wanting him to see how emotional she was. She was confused, so unsure whether he was being genuine, yet also amazed and thrilled, for some reason. She needed to get a grip.
'Yes,' he admitted, his voice raw with... Arcane didn't know what. Remorse? But that made little sense. Then again, if she lost her power, wouldn't she feel regret for having been foolish enough to get caught.
'What was your power?'
'I could read minds. I discovered it when I was eight, my father when I was nine. It was pretty easy to spot since my eyes flash...' He sucked in his lips self-consciously.
'How do they still change if you don't have a power?'
'Sometimes when I wonder what someone's thinking, my brain takes it as an attempt to use my power, so the eyes still flash.' He regained composure, then leaned back in his chair and turned his attention to her. 'Tell me, why did you suddenly decide you needed to know who had given you the bottle?'
'I wanted to know...' Her voice trailed off. She was terrified of trusting him in case this was some elaborate trap, but she could think of no reason why it should be. As much as his inner workings were a mystery to her, she believed this must be genuine. However, there was one small precaution she could take. 'Is it just because I'm an Eseterrian?'
'Your position meant I had more justification, but I hope one day we will move past this fad. There is no real religious justification aside from the spirits regretting their former mistakes.'
Arcane bit her lip nervously. 'So... Say I knew two people...'
He looked at her coldly. 'I can't just commit treason for any of your friends. I want change, but if I lose my position, I can't fix anything either.'
'They're my siblings...' she weakly intimated.
That drew his attention. 'They're in the Minka residence? Of course, spirits seldomly leave traces as your friend claimed.' The realisation made him grow colder. 'Why should I help them? You knew Merari was an Eseterrian, yet you kept me in the dark.'
'I wanted to, but otherwise she might have spread word about my power... Well, I doubt it, but she's the closest friend I have. I wouldn't have turned her in for all the gold in the world.'
The Chèr grimaced. Arcane watched each twitch and small change in his face. His skin was lighter than it had been, she realised, and some of his freckles spread to his nose too. She'd never noticed that. The bags under his eyes were darker again and his skin had seen better days. Clearly the stress of everything was still getting to him. She felt bad for adding to it, but a promise was a promise.
'Fine.'
His concession startled Arcane, but she spared no time when it came to thanking him. Her pride prevented her from being to profuse, but this was no small risk. The fact that he was taking it for her siblings was rather moving. More than moving, she was near elated.
He filled her in on the plan, making sure she had all the details she needed. To her disappointment, things weren't as straightforward as she'd hoped, but this would be a long term solution. So she promised she'd do as he said.
♤ ♤ ♤
The suitcases were packed. Lady Minka promised to give Arcane anything they might have forgotten, although she wa'sn't entirely certain how she'd get it to her siblings. Asking the Chèr each time was probably a simple way of arranging your own murder
They headed down the stairs, through the palace and outside. By the time they were on the path away from the palace, Emrys had already started whining about achy feet. Arcane told him to grow up.
The carriage was made out of unpainted chestnut wood and wasn't particularly elegant. It was small and Arcane was glad not to have to share it with her siblings.
'Why do we need to go?' Emrys whined. 'We're always being sent here, there and everywhere! I want to stay at court.'
'Because you can't just use your powers here and expect nobody to notice,' Arcane hissed.
'What if I don't mind losing my powers? Daddy said they were a sin,' Lilith argued.
'It's not just about powers. You two want a permanent place to stay, right?'
The two children nodded, Lilith more reluctantly than her brother.
'Well, this is your chance. Supposedly, there are fields that you can play in and giant schoolrooms and a dozen servants that will care for you.'
'That's correct.'
Arcane nearly jumped out of her skin. Nancy was stood behind her, a suitcase in her hands and a bonnet covering her hair. Her smile was wide and stretched to her eyes, but her vitiligo scared Lilith.
'There's no need to hide from me, I can't shout for toffee.' Arcane knew that wasn't true, but decided not to argue. 'Now, get in and let's be on our way.'
The two Bays hesitated, but eventually hugged their sister. Arcane sighed and then practically shoved them in. 'Go on, I need to go do the Primracon. That is, unless you'd like to tell the Chèr I can't make it.'
One after the other, they climbed into the carriage. Arcane felt a weight lifted, but still feared for them. Out in the countryside, she wouldn't be there if they needed her. Everything came down to the Chèr and his staff.
'Goodbye,' Nancy said.
'So... You're going to work on the empty estate now?'
'It won't be empty with them there.'
'I guess not...' murmured Arcane.
'Just... Be careful. I don't buy that Avi is responsible for the Eseterrians' deaths. The old Chèr was killed by someone who had access to him, so they may well be in the castle. Keep your eyes open.'
'It's not my job, but fine.'
Arcane waved as the carriage left, then headed towards the aedrum. The Chèr's help meant she owed him not to cheat on the Primracon. The thought of not eating for the next nine hours left her stomach feeling hollow though.
She was the first one in the aedrum. In her boredom, she picked up one of the cellos, the instrument used for services' musical interludes. Arcane plucked each string, then picked up the bow. For a few minutes, she experimented, feeling approximately where each note was—though her tuning was rather dodgy. Then she attempted to play Rusben's First Lament.
'In Sorita's name, please stop,' moaned the Chèr.
Arcane glimpsed up and put down the cello. 'I was bored.'
'That instrument is worth a fortune.'
'It was divine intervention.'
With great care, she returned the cello to where it had been before. She brushed off her trousers, then stood up. 'So, shall we start?'
'Actually, you've still got another three minutes.' He clapped his pocket watch closed dramatically.
Arcane collapsed on a bench. 'What's there to do in a religious building for three minutes?'
'You know, former Eseterrians would actually read the Libtoria,' he hinted.
She rolled her eyes at him and closed them for a moment. At least that way she couldn't see his stupid face when she said, 'Thank you.'
She heard a creak and felt him sit next to her. To her surprise, it sent her heart racing a little bit. Maybe she was scared he was going to sit on her head. Who was she kidding? Last night she'd been awake, trying to make sense of why he'd betray all his legacy represented for her. She'd tried telling herself it was just his first steps towards reintroducing magic, but he'd been so hesitant at first. He'd refused to do it for just anyone, but her siblings, two of the most important people in her life, had swayed him. Had he done it for her? The mere idea made her stomach do somersaults.
He still annoyed her, infuriated her, hacked her off, but maybe that was because even though he could be a stick in the mud and a pain in the ass, she'd grown to like him. More than she'd ever expected to. More than she should have let herself.
Slowly, she sat up and let her eyes trace him. He wasn't even that good looking, but she found she wouldn't change anything. Well, maybe a small zit or the dark rings under his eyes. Against all her expectations, she'd developed a crush on him and it was making it awfully hard to make eye contact. She clenched her fist so much that her fingernails dug into her palm when his dark eyes met her own.
'You're welcome.'
In girlish joy, she averted her eyes. For Gadeden's sake, this was ridiculous. Couldn't Merari have just had her romantic attraction so that Arcane could be aromantic as well as asexual? She nearly shuddered at the thought of alloromantic Merari.
'It's scary what I'd do for you.'
That drew Arcane straight out of her thoughts. She raised her eyes to meet his and was shocked by the tenderness. It both scared her and gave her a sense of euphoria.
'Maybe you need locking in your office. Then you can't commit treason again,' proposed Arcane. A bit of her usual snarkiness was missing.
'I'll see if that can be arranged.' He reached out and brushed a baby hair out of Arcane's face. His hand lingered, then he pulled it away. Was that a slight blush colouring his cheeks? 'Sorry.'
'Don't apologise,' she mumbled. 'Never apologise.'
She didn't know what overcame her. Perhaps her food deprivation was getting to her. No matter what caused it, she leaned in and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. Instantly, her internal voices started screaming at her, yelling that she was a stupid idiot—hypocritical, then again, she was the one responsible for her thoughts. But then his soft hand reached for her own, squeezing it gently. His mouth opened to say something, but it closed again. Arcane wanted to urge him to speak, but then she noticed the footsteps approaching the aedrum. She froze, then leapt to her feet. Within a couple of deep breaths, she had composed herself.
The other Eseterrians entered and Merari headed straight over to her bestie. It didn't take long for the short haired girl to pick up on Arcane's odd mood and she raised an eyebrow. Arcane elected to ignore it.
One by one, they were offered the pink water. When it was Arcane's turn, she used all her self-composure not to snatch a peek of the Chèr. She knew that if he was showing any kind of reaction to what had just passed, it would send her into a childish excitement—or crush her heart. So she returned to her place, gaze glued to the floor.
Not long after, they each headed to their respective spirit's rooms. Finally, she dared to steal a look at him. The last thing she saw before her self isolation was the Chèr's uncontrollable smile.