2412 Iclis 1, Daleth
Elred blinked at Reeca like horns just grew out of her head. Or, maybe they're halfway there, already. What Reeca was planning was not only dangerous, it's also hypothetical. What's more dangerous than not being entirely sure? The guest room's temperature rose along with the waves of disbelief rolling off Elred.
Reeca sighed. "Look, all I'm doing is connecting this maximizer to Xanthy's power and it hopefully leads us to the thrones," she strode past Elred before sitting on the bed once more.
Elred scratched her head as she retook her seat on the couch across the bed. "Where do I come in, then? The works are all you and your... fingers thing."
"Give me a secluded room and use your crystals to provide me a view of the island," Reeca raised her eyebrows at Elred's direction. What in Umazure was that description of weaving? She cocked her head to one side. "You can do at least that, right?"
Elred nodded. "I think so. Yes," she swiped at her chin before setting her hands down her lap once more. She angled her body towards Reeca. "Help me evacuate the people."
It was Reeca's turn to blink at the shard fairy. "What?"
Elred's shoulders slumped as she played with the hem of her tailored bodice. "When the Sovereign attacks Helinfirth, she will not stop at Abshire," Elred pursed her lips. "I won't stand idly by waiting for Xanthy to come here because that could fail. The Sovereign will have my head and the territory goes along with it. We have to get the innocent out of the way."
"What makes you think they would listen to me?" Reeca crossed her arms. "I'm not from here. You also forget that they're nobles."
Elred rubbed her face, seemingly erasing more glamours on her skin in the process. "I'll provide you with an endorsement with the official seal. They should believe that."
Reeca frowned. She came here to finalize her plan on finding the thrones, not to become an overnight evacuation master. It should be every fairy for themselves. She's a lone flier and had priorities lying elsewhere. She's not doing this.
Her gaze settled back on Elred's face set with a determination not common anywhere. Maybe...
Reeca sucked the inside of her cheek, gazing up at the ceiling. She rested her gaze on Elred after a minute or two. "I require a different payment for that," she kept her tone flat. Bored. She had the upper hand here.
Desperation breeds suggestibility.
"We agreed on me aiding you with finding Xanthy and in aiding you in the coming attack," Reeca inclined her head at the shard fairy. "But we didn't get to the evacuation."
Elred narrowed her eyes but sat straighter. "What do you want?"
Reeca held back her grin. It's no use to show Elred that Reeca has already won. She jerked her chin at Elred. "Tell me everything you know about Synketros," she wagged a finger in Elred's direction. "Everything and not that crap about protecting the island. I need you to tell me what Marthiaq Lebayou saw in the Sovereign that drove him out."
Elred pursed her lips and looked at her hands clasped atop her lap. Hesitating. Reeca allowed a small grin. Thought so. "Or if you can't, consider this deal off," she added. "I will call off the armaments too."
"Fine," Elred snapped. Her tone wasn't amused nor pleased. Eh. Bargaining when one was desperate was never a good thing. Especially with people like Reeca. "You drive a hard bargain, varichria."
Reeca unleashed the smug grin she had been holding back. "That's what I do for a living."
Elred heaved a heavy breath, slapped her thighs, and dragged herself up her couch. "Stay here," Elred said to Reeca without turning as she headed towards the door. "I have to deal with the pressing issues in my kingdom that piled up in my absence."
"What are you going to do?" Reeca kept her eyes on the shard fairy's back.
Elred reached out and grasped the door knob that glinted against the faint light. She turned to Reeca. "We are going to Entobern first thing in the morning," Elred said. The door slammed in Reeca's face before she could ask Elred what that meant.
The silence that ensued was loud. Reeca crossed her arms and muttered under her breath for a whole minute. How dare Elred string her around like some play-doll? This wasn't part of the bargain!
What in the afterlife was Entobern? Was that where the army was? Oh, wait. Helinfirth has no standing army. A groan escaped Reeca's lips as she let herself plop down on the bed. The view of the ceiling was...calming. Like the view of the walls, the tables, and everything that wasn't water or food. There's something about the glass in Helinfirth that looked peaceful yet at the same time dangerous.
Evacuating whole cities of shard fairies? Was that retribution for Reeca? Reeca has had enough of palace nobles but it looked like it wasn't done with her. It's never really over.
Reeca blew a breath and sat up. First, she has a call to make.
She cast her eyes around the room, past the empty bookshelves, the bare walls, the murky floor, and the dusty chair by the door and nodded. Good. No strange magical activity. Trails swam in vivid colors as soon as Reeca dropped into the trail dimension. The glass that made up everything offered their own bright trails but beyond those...nothing.
Good.
Reeca bounced farther into the mattress until her legs sank into the soft down. Okay, she took it back. Not everything was made of glass. She knitted her eyebrows. Or did Helinfirth develop a new type of glass that no one knew about?
She shook her head and massaged her temples. Focus.
Reeca spread her hands and felt the energy around her. Her fingertips brushed ancient trails, as if the whole room was alive since the beginning of time. She sucked in a deep breath and summoned her magic. Her weaving energy wove through the trail and formed a net around the bed in some kind of cocoon. A rysteme command slipped through her lips, making the net howl for a moment before blinking out of existence.
Reeca cursed. That should be good to hide any kind of magical activity she would be performing in this room but, damn, intangible trails were the worst to work with. Reeca drew her trailwhisperer from the folds of her armor.
The hollow metal dug into her palm as she wrenched the top half of it open. Inside, as a series of dials and gears laced with her and Rhys's weaving energy. It's their only direct link to each other and most of the time, Rhys doesn't answer. Reeca prayed to every god that this was not one of those days.
She focused on the innermost dial which displayed Rhys's name. She pressed her finger into it before moving it in a downward straight line until she reached the outermost dial.
"Contact," she breathed into the device. "Transcend."
The trailwhisperer beeped then whirred. Reeca crossed her fingers, staring at the lid, hoping Rhys's face would pop up on its polished surface.
Reeca? Rhys's voice rang from the bottom of the device. He's here but he seemed to have turned off the face feature. Reeca swallowed the elation that built up her throat. Not the time. Is that camouflage weaving? What kind of lousy work was that?
"Hello to you too, Rhys," Reeca frowned. Rhys's reply was garbled. The connection was weak. They didn't have much time. "Look into Marthiaq Lebayou for me," Reeca kept her voice low despite the camouflage net around her. "Elred mentioned he'd been in and out of Synketros. Find out everything about him, maybe track him down too."
The reply came out in a gibberish string of her brother's words. Will...best...ca? Losing...
The line went dead when the surface dimmed. The trailwhisperer stopped humming. Reeca blew a breath and started calling off her spells. As soon as the net disappeared around her, the door swung open and out came Elred.
The first thing Reeca noticed is Elred's lack of glamour. The shard fairy's hair hung in limp strands on her head. Dark circles rimmed Elred's eyes and chaps dotted her lips. She was paler than her usual pallor. Reeca watched Elred drag herself into the room and collapse into the same chair.
"Reza wanted no nanny," Elred rasped, staring at the ceiling with a blank look. "Reza only wanted me and Daddy. Why am I complaining about it? I gave birth to that child. Reza wanted to play. Mommy cannot."
Reeca cleared her throat. "Why are you here? Do you want something?"
Elred drew her eyes towards Reeca after resting her head on the couch's armrest. "Oh? You're still here," she drawled. Her eyes were already half-closed. "You got your wish. You stay here and do your stuff. Mommy will play with Reza after five minutes of sleep."
"Come on," Reeca edged off the bed and strode closer to Elred's chair. "Stay awake a little longer and tell me about tomorrow's plan."
The only answer she got was a snore emanating from the chair. Reeca rolled her eyes and scoffed. If being a mother meant collapsing on the chair for five minutes of sleep, she wanted nothing of it.
Still, Reeca leaned down and grasped Elred by the armpits. Reeca dragged the shard fairy's limp form and dumped her into the mattress. Elred muttered something under her breath as her body sank into the mattress' soft sheets. Her long, unkempt hair formed some sort of webbing against the white textiles.
Reeca dropped to the floor and sat cross-legged. She drew out the jar Nyxis gave her and unscrewed the lid. The infernal smell wafted into the room. Reeca glanced at Elred but the shard fairy stayed unmoving. She replaced the cap and sighed. Until the jar was finished, huh?
Reeca gritted her teeth as she flexed her back muscles and spread her wings. She couldn't even do that a few weeks ago without pain knocking on her temples. With clenched jaw and held breath, Reeca stuck her finger into the jar's contents and smeared the dark red paste in the wilt at the base of her wings. A frown dragged her face muscles down. Looks like this one's going to scar.
She let her wing fall behind her as she screwed the jar and stashed it inside her armor again. She'd come a long way, didn't she? She's stronger, braver, and now, people expected her to lead.
Reeca's stomach turned when Rhys's voice rang in her head. Show them what it means to refuse.
If only she could. Reeca crossed her arms and leaned back against the cold, glass wall. She wasn't a soldier. She wasn't even a warrior. She's just a varichria who happened to pick up a sword, learned some moves, and won small wars. How could she lead when she couldn't even lead herself?
Reeca tamped down these thoughts and closed her eyes with another sigh. She's done worrying for today.
Tomorrow, they would start anew.