2412 Iclis 7, Daleth
"Are you finished with these?" Elred asked as Reeca filed the tube into a growing pile on the table. Reeca glared at Elred and blew a hot breath. Was this always this hot in the room? Was it because of the forge? She grunted as she swept the arm-length pile of hollow tubes of metal across the long wooden table to give room for a cooling mold she held with her other hand.
"Don't you have anything better to do?" Reeca dumped the mold into the table so hard the melted metal inside the cast bounced. The sound reverberated across the room's four walls like a loud explosion.
Elred, as if not sensing Reeca's deliberate move to look annoyed, shook her head. "The men reported nothing for the past week," she edged closer to the edge of the table. "The Entobern families refused to help us. Mother and Father are throwing yet another party. Savel is with them, learning how to open a wine bottle with less foam. Reza's with the nannies."
The shard fairy propped herself on the empty portion of the table and inclined her head at Reeca. "So, no," she grinned. "I don't have anything 'better' to do," she clawed two fingers in the air at the word.
Reeca sighed and removed her thick work gloves. The last week had been hectic for the both of them. Elred had been keeping up her public appearances like everything was fine—attending parties, interacting with her relatives, and taking care of her son. Then, at night, after a long day, the shard fairy spent the rest of her time annoying the afterlife out of Reeca.
As if that's not torture enough, Reeca had spent the last week cooped up in the "guest room" which was now modified to a mini-workshop. Reeca and Elred melded weaving magic and glass to build a makeshift forge. Reeca enchanted the fire so that it never needs more fuel. The bed was gone. The bookshelves were what composed the table and the cushioned chair was skinned clean so that only the wood skeleton was left.
Reeca coughed as ash from the forge invaded her nose. What day was it? Which hour was she in now and what sphere? Reeca shook her head. She's been here for too long. But, whatever. She needed to make as many hollow tubes as she could.
Reeca glanced at the cooling metal in the molds she wove the other day. Ephrite. Or at least that's what Elred called it when she presented it to Reeca a week ago. The purple sheen of the metal ores matched Reeca's eye. With a little tinkering with its trail, Reeca discovered it could expand to larger sizes when processed.
Soon, Elred had brought Reeca enough to complete enough hollow tubes to fill the perimeter of the plateau.
Reeca could feel Elred's gaze at the back of her neck so she whirled to the shard fairy. "See those arrowheads?" she pointed to a pile of sticks she and Elred had gathered from the forest a week ago now shoved against a corner, gathering dust. "Take the twine and attach it to the sticks. Make sure they're tight."
Elred nodded and slid off the table. Good riddance. At least, for now.
Reeca sighed and braced her hands against the table's edge, waiting for the metal to cool off. The contraption she was trying to build was simple. It only required twine, a bunch of sticks, and a case of ilkai, Helinfirth's delectable sweets that were as hard as bone. The latter was more for Reeca than for the contraption. She popped a metal canister and popped one in her mouth. It helped her think.
The sweet taste coated her tongue as the first layer of the candy melted. Reeca clicked her teeth against it. The sour layer's going to come soon.
"So, how come you aren't using your wings to fly?" Elred's voice rang from the corner Reeca sent her off to. Reeca glanced back to find the shard fairy still focused on attaching arrowheads into the sticks.
Get to work. Reeca turned back to the hollow tubes that had hardened and picked one off its mold. "I tore them in Cardina. Didn't you know that?" Her magic flared as her waving energy bled to the surface. She touched the center of the tube and punctured several holes by the rim.
"No, I haven't," Elred's reply came after a while. A grunt resounded in the room followed by a satisfied sigh. "Ah, here we go. Nice and tight," the shard fairy breathed.
Reeca jabbed her finger into the smaller holes and wove her magic in. They'd be sensitive to foreign magical pulses soon enough. "What were you doing in Cardina, anyway?'' She set the tube down and trudged to the beginnings of the pile of finished arrowheads by Elred's feet and grabbed one. The shard fairy twined another round before shrugging.
"The Sovereign wanted me to retrieve the throne," Elred's voice was light and gentle against the glass walls. Reeca made it back to her table and picked the hollow tube once more. "She also wanted me to investigate the purges and quite possibly learn its purpose, too."
Reeca pursed her lips as she stuck the arrow into one of the holes by the tube's rim. "What did you learn?" she propped the tube by her shoulder and angled it towards a wall. Gods, she hoped it wouldn't crack. Weaving energy crackled in her palms, forming a glowing ball of coiled magic.
"Cardovia used the purges to build up their armies of both humans and half-bloods," Elred answered. The ball of magic flew out of her hands and into the wall. The tube by Reeca's shoulder wailed before recoiling. The blast pushed Reeca back to her rear just in time for her to meet Elred's eyes.
"What?" Reeca stood and dusted herself before bending down to retrieve the fallen tube. "You mean Cardovia has somehow brainwashed the humans to think that half-bloods are a plague?"
Elred nodded, chucking a finished arrow into her pile. "We discovered that the Human Queen has had a bad encounter with fairies and half-bloods after that ah...relationship drama," she scratched the side of her face. "I think it's evident how the Heiress had used that to manipulate the poor, unsuspecting Queen into giving the Heiress what she wanted."
Reeca's stomach churned. Manipulation. That's the Heiress' weapon. She raked her gaze towards the wall and true enough, an arrow was embedded exactly where her weaving energy hit. Elred whistled. Reeca hefted the tube and didn't stop the grin that spread in her lips. This would be Reeca's weapon, then.
"Well, we've got enough to worry about with Synketros, now," Reeca turned back to Elred's pile and grabbed at least seven arrows, leaving about three. Elred needed to work faster. "Let's not worry about Cardovia in the meantime."
"Yes. They're probably focusing their efforts in getting the sprites to their side as of the moment," Elred nodded and had already moved to a new stick by the time Reeca whirled to the shard fairy.
The Sprites? That's going to be a huge advantage on Cardovia's part should they succeed in getting not just one but four territories with their own forces to their side. What was Synketros doing by fixating on Helinfirth?
"The Sovereign is no fool, Reeca," Elred said after a while. Did the shard fairy hear Reeca's thoughts? "Don't underestimate her."
Reeca picked the next hollow tube and repeated her process. "Of course," she punctured the first hole just as silence reigned in the room for hours after that conversation.
After Pidmena knew how long, Reeca's eyes began to droop. Oh. Her magic's spent. She sank to the ground and rested her head against the table's leg. Come on. She needed to get up. Her vision doubled and spun. Weaving for six days straight wasn't good. Noted.
Unlike humans and half-bloods who relied on spells and embodied thoughts to cast magic, fairies, with the help of their synnavaim, cast from their direct link to the magic in the environment. Not only did it cost more energy than casting simple spells, it also depended on the caster's stamina.
Reeca plopped into the ground as her mind went on a necessary shutdown. She lost feelings in her limbs as her vision darkened. Her dreams after that didn't make sense. Rhys's face floated in and out of her periphery screaming "Weaving!" every once in a while. Xanthy was running around throwing her arms around Reeca. Kymalin slammed her fist in Reeca's arm again and again.
"Reeca, wake up," Elred's voice tore through the dark landscape of Reeca's dreams. Her eyes opened to reveal the bare glass ceiling.
She sat up, rubbing the sleep off her eyes. "How long?"
Elred licked her lips. "Two hours," she turned back to the table. "I finished the arrows, even added a few tufts at the tail for easy flight."
Reeca braced her arms against the floor to hoist herself up. "Thanks."
"I mean, I see what you're trying to do with the tubes," Elred poked one and watched as it rolled on the table, making clattering sounds as it went. "You're trying to make a crossbow that reloads, fires, and aims by itself."
"Congratulations," Reeca gripped the edge of the table and spread her legs to haul herself up. "Now, fire up your crystals and make a compartment for the arrows so they'd be able to reload for a few rounds."
Elred nodded. Their work resumed. After a few hours, Reeca had perfected the trajectory and shooting range, fixed the magic sensitivity, connected the tube to Elred's glass compartment, and designed it to replace an arrow as it flies off its case. Her fingers cramped; her joints creaked. Still, she pushed on. After some time, Elred snapped up from examining a finished product beside Reeca. "Reza's calling for me."
Reeca opened her mouth to say something but the door had already closed on her face before she could even raise her head. A heavy breath sped off her lips.
"Did you finally get the peace you're looking for?" a voice rang from the empty air.
Reeca swiped her hand in a wide arc, a ball of weaving energy flying off her fingers. It sped into the voice's direction. The sound of glass shattering filled the room as Reeca's magic hit air that wasn't so empty anymore. The voice chuckled. "Still not peaceful, I see."
Reeca blinked off the memory of her mother and the voice in the tower. Not here. Besides, this new voice was softer, bubblier, and contained a threat of a five-year-old.
Reeca swallowed against the dryness of her throat. "What do you want?"
Glass clinked and a woman stepped into view. The Queen trotted to Reeca's side and regarded the tubes, her red irises trained hard on the arrows.
"What are these?" the Queen ran a finger at the edge of the table as Reeca straightened her stance. "Did Elred force you to make them?"
Reeca averted her eyes to distract herself from the woman's immaculate face. She crossed her arms. Damn, couldn't she have had the ability to vanish? "No, I came here on my own volition."
The woman touched her forehead where a diamond circlet shone. Reeca swallowed the bitter taste accumulating at the back of her throat. She didn't like this situation at least one bit.
"Where are you from?" the Queen turned to Reeca to face her fully. "Elred keeps finding friends from all places but you're the only one she brought home."
Reeca sniffed and propped a hand against the table. It didn't help when she stood a few inches taller than the Queen. "Is that bad?"
"No, not at all," the Queen chuckled before clasping her hands together. "I find it strange that Elred seems different these days. Do you know something, as her friend?"
Reeca bit her lip. Well, a lunatic she serves would be attacking your territory if the Virtakios would not be offered as appeasement and they were here preparing for the worst. "No," she shook her head. "I don't know anything."
"May I ask what's all this?" the woman waved her hand in the tubes' direction. "Does Elred know of this?"
Reeca licked her lips, gearing herself to start lying and build upon it. "Um, I have a knack of developing weapons," she nodded. It was true but wasn't regarding the current context. "Elred is kind enough to hide me from my parents who truly disagree with it."
That was also true, technically.
The Queen poked at a hollow tube that had several arrows missing still. "Are you planning to sell it for you to make this many?"
"Oh," Reeca paused and tapped her chin to make it like she was thinking. She shrugged. "I'm not sure what to do with these yet. I like making it multiple times. Helps me to practice."
Another truth.
The Queen met Reeca's eyes. "Are you really Elred's friend?"
Reeca nodded and knit her eyebrows for emphasis. "Of course," she touched her chest. There. Sincerity. "Is there a problem?"
"I'm worried for her," the Queen blew a light breath that seemed to make the glass around them clink like bells. "As her mother, I see to it that she's doing fine. It's my job to worry about her well-being. Right now, she's just not here."
Reeca pursed her lips. Whatever this woman's deal was, Reeca needed to be careful. "I see," she turned back to the hollow tubes and played with a spare arrowhead. "Is there anything more?"
The Queen drove her hair out of her face and past the circlet, showing off a lone wrinkle lining her forehead. "She's a flitting shadow, always running around the castle, too busy to conduct a proper conversation with anyone. No one knows what she's up to," the Queen turned to give Reeca a full grasp of her face. The wrinkle wasn't a trick of the light. "I was thinking of letting Savel off Zeral's hook so they can have some time alone."
Reeca's mind swirled. The memory slammed into her mind. You specifically left out that I would get a wrinkle in my forehead! The woman from the mirror had said. By the great gods, how am I supposed to live with this? Even my glamour is not enough to cover it completely!
Circlet, Elred's mother, Zeral. My only girl is giving me a pain in the wrinkle lately. She's gone for more than a week now! Who knows what that child is up to?
A shard fairy in Abshire made the mirrors. A shard fairy got involved and talked with her mother. A shard fairy who had a daughter with no regard for beauty. Reeca's blood swirled in her head. Oh gods. Great gods of Calaris. She's got to tell Rhys about this. Immediately. Reeca had just found Anahel.
Reeca cleared her throat, arranging her features to not betray what she had just learned. "She's probably worrying about something she can't tell you about," she complimented it with a nod.
The Queen, or rather, Anahel, dismissed the notion with a wave of a hand. "She can talk to me about anything! I'm her mother, for Crintine's sake!"
Reeca resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the Queen. "Then go and talk to her."
The Queen blinked. "I was thinking maybe you should be the one to reach out," she drummed her fingers against the table's surface. Her long nails made shrill raps against the wooden surface. Oh, dear. Let Reeca hope the Queen wouldn't recognize her own bookshelf in the table. "Set her back on the right path."
Reeca frowned at what Anahel was trying to say. How could she set someone on the right path when she herself wasn't in one? Who dictated what's right or wrong, anyway? Distaste swirled in her gut but she clenched her jaw and squinted at the glass wall to prevent it from showing in her face. Why couldn't the Queen do it herself? Was she that incompetent?
"Why would you think I was the right person for that?" Reeca turned to the Queen after a few seconds.
The Queen smiled, showing off her perfect teeth. "You're the first of her friends to step foot in Helinfirth," she tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her pointy ears showing off more jewels that could feed the entirety of Narfalk for a year. Reeca resisted the urge to narrow her eyes at the Queen. What did giving friends a tour in Helinfirth has to do with anything? "How's that?"
Reeca's words died in her throat when she had processed the Queen's words. Elred wasn't like Xanthy who saw the good in everyone. The shard fairy was more like Reeca—always thinking which choice would lead to the most profitable situation. Bringing Reeca to Helinfirth happened because Elred had no other choice. All the other options would either be too risky or impossible.
Elred, like Reeca, didn't have friends. They have allies. Those things were different in every aspect. Elred didn't consider Reeca as anything but a pawn in her game. Reeca intended to play, to keep it that way until Elred would soon become Reeca's pawn in a game directed by Reeca's terms. Unlike Elred who played to survive, Reeca played to win.
Reeca faced the Queen and gave the woman one of her best smiles. "Alright," gritted her teeth and forced the lie out. "I'll try my best to get through to her."
The Queen smiled—a misplaced sympathy—before disappearing out of the room in a matter of seconds. The sound of glass clinking was still loud in Reeca's ears as she cursed. As much as she hated lying, she wouldn't hesitate to do it when the circumstance required it. Reeca shook her head and picked up the hollow tube once more.
This was an itch she decided not to scratch.