Whisperer's room was not quite what I had expected, though I admit I wasn't really sure what I had been expecting. The room was huge; nearly five times the size of my small room. A large double bed sat against one wall, the sheets covered in books and papers, there were book cases crammed full of texts, the desk littered with further volumes, and pages of hand written notes were everywhere, each surface was a chaos of literature. The rest of the room however was pristine, the open wardrobe contained pressed shirts, a pair of smoothly polished boots sat at the foot of the bed, laces tucked neatly, the wash basin and jug were filed with fresh water, the towel clean and folded, on the night stand a pocket watch sat atop a piece of paper on which I recognised Ethan's rough scrawl. The air smelled fresh but bookish. It seemed that Whisperer was ordered in life with the exception of research, as if the logical mind had to relax and unravel in order to jumble the jigsaw of life into something more like sense. Even the writing on the pages was clean, crisp and easily understood.
The girl was encouraged to sit in one of the large seats, the huge wingback made the girl seem even more like a child. Though she was sixteen, she was a tiny creature, with a frame that looked like it would shatter if you held it too tightly. She was silent now, though tears still ran freely down her face, Whisperer handed her a damp cloth to clean up, she took it in trembling fingers and wiped her face, simply clearing them before the tears continued. Whisperer gave me a look that suggested that perhaps I should start; he began moving books into less haphazard piles, a way of seeming less intense and dangerous to the frightened girl.
"I know you're scared" I told her sitting on the floor beside the chair, it was better to sit below a frightened person than over them, reduce the intimidation factor a little "I'm not going to hurt you in any way, I'm not even angry at you for what you did, I just need to know who it was that told you to give me the bread roll" there was silence, save for the gentle shuffling of Whisperer's books and papers. I placed a gentle hand over the girls own "Who did they take from you?" I asked quietly. The girl stiffened, I was right, she was protecting someone. "Whisperer?" I called over my shoulder
"Hmmm?" came the reply
"Would you recite for me the text about scrying for loved ones?" I knew the text but that wasn't the point, Whisperer strode over to a bookcase which looked as if it would collapse at any moment under the strain of so many texts, pulling a slim red volume out as if from nowhere, so it was organised chaos.
"The power to find objects has long been a wished for ability dating back for as long as man has ever wanted for anything, in particular items which belonged to a person once and have gone missing, stolen or lost are usually . . . " Whisperer's voice, clear and calm began reading through the text, I mumbled a small spell beneath my breath, willing the power of it to expand outward like a bubble. Whisperer's voice stopped and there was silence.
"Now then" I said looking to the small girl "We're in a special bubble that traps sound, no sound can get in or out, no one can hear you, this spell is so good at blocking sound that even if you were on the telephone the sound would not travel down the receiver to the person on the other side, so if you have a tracking device on you then you can speak freely, no one will hear what you have to tell me" The girl's eyes grew wide as she watched Whisperer's pacing, his lips moving but she heard no sound of his voice or of his footsteps. "Please tell me what happened" I said drawing her eyes back to mine "What's your name?" I asked, feeling silly that I had been here so long without learning it
"Eleanor" she whispered back, I had to strain to hear her, despite the silence in the bubble
"I promise I will help you, I will stop whoever did this to you" I kept my gaze open and honest, but I let some of the fire show, not only was I telling the truth, but I wanted her to know that I meant every word about stopping the bad guys She nodded numbly
"A man gave me the bread roll and told me that my baby sister would die unless I made sure the bread was delivered to your plate, he also told me I wouldn't see her again if I told anyone about him" I stroked the back of her hand soothingly
"How old is your sister?"
"Ten"
"Did you recognise the man?" there was a moment of hesitancy and something else . . . confusion before Eleanor slowly nodded "Who was it?" again she paused looking very reluctant "I won't let him hurt you and your sister, I promise" I told her, but still she looked uncomfortable, finally she spoke again
"It was Brother Ethan" she whispered, my face must have given away my disbelief as she started and continued "Oh but it wasn't, it looked like him, but it didn't look like him at all" she sounded so desperate, I suddenly realised she was clutching my hand tightly, eyes wide in fear, pleading "It wasn't him, oh but it was!" She started crying again. I put the pieces into place.
"So it was an imposter?" I asked quietly, Eleanor nodded furiously, adamant of this fact. But I had to be sure "How could you tell?" I asked "What gave him away?" she shrunk back into the chair
"His eyes" she whispered "He had cruel eyes, Ethan never looks at me like that, never he . . . he . . ." she trailed off, her face burning red. I understood then, she had known Ethan was not the real threat because she was in love with him. The imposter could not have known that the girl he had chosen would see him as exactly that, as an imposter . . . or could he? The more I thought about it the more I realised that she might have been chosen because she was in love with Brother Ethan. It was well known that Ethan liked me, and that he had a young boy's crush, if it were known that this girl had a crush on Ethan then I would be seen as competition, if she were to be caught they would place the crime on her shoulders, an act of jealousy. A cold blow and one I would not forgive lightly.
"And Ethan? Does he know how you feel?" She blushed hugely, hiding her face in her hair, her free hand going to her throat to play with a pendant that hung there, a simple thing, cut wood with a leather thong, the wood brightly polished and worn, she handled it a lot. "May I see?" I asked hand outstretched, she blushed again and slowly removed the pendant. The wood was a simple cut disc, a faint tingle travelled up my skin as I held it; shifting my gaze to astral I looked again, and was put in awe. The very grain of the wood swirled forming the shape of a butterfly which flapped its delicate lace like wings, a moving magical pendant, and it was beautiful. To anyone without the sight it was simply a neatly cut piece of polished wood, but to a mage it was a piece of art, and I realised, a declaration of love. "You're in love" I said softly with a smile "You're both so much in love, but you can't tell anyone because as a young Master, Ethan isn't allowed to take a wife" I handed her back the pendant "it's beautiful, truly" I said, she smiled at me, her hand tracing the pendant edges. "You're awakened" I said suddenly realising that if the pendant's true beauty could only be seen by the sight then that meant . . .
"I am" she whispered "I'm not very strong, Ethan caught me trying to make a spoon move on its own" she said "It's actually how we met, he taught me how to control my power, little though it is" I studied the girl carefully with my sight, she was very weak, her aura only just within the spectrum, I would not have seen it had I not been specifically looking for it, but she had enough to see the design.
"Why didn't you approach Master Wodan with your gift?" I asked, Eleanor blushed again
"He's a little scary, and I'm really not that strong, and the only other women here are really strong like you" she looked me in the eye for the first time "I wanted to be more like you and be strong enough to join the circle, Ethan wanted to talk to you about your powers but never could get you alone long enough to ask" so that explained the young Brother always trying to speak to me, trying to catch me alone, flustered and embarrassed, he'd not a crush, but needed advice. In a way I was a little relieved, I had worried that when it came time to leave it would be hard on the boy, or that a rejection might make him withdraw, but I admit I was also a little disappointed, I guess every girl likes to think someone out there fancies her. "He likes you" Eleanor said.
"Well I'm sure he likes you more" I said with a smile, the girl simply smiled at me
"Not Ethan, him" She pointed to where Whisperer was continuing his movements around the room, book in hand reading aloud, though still no sound passed through. I felt my cheeks flush "I've seen him watching you" she continued "He doesn't say much but I can see it" I looked away, a little uncomfortable with where this was going. I turned back to the matter at hand.
"This imposter" I said "Where did he speak with you?"
"In my room, he was hiding by the wardrobe" she said her hands shaking again.
"Thank you" I stood to go, dropping the barrier. "Whisperer, can you keep an eye on this girl, she won't say a word to me about who spoke with her" I gave her a wink "I'm going to speak with her boss and see if he knows anything" Whisperer not being stupid shut the book, but frowned at me.
"I can deliver her into the custody of one of the other brothers" he said "Remember what the Master said, it's my investigation" thanks for the reminder, I thought.
"Fine, we need to send her to someone we can trust, I suggest Brother Ethan" I said, the girl smiled at me.
"It might be wise if you take a leave of absence for a while" Whisperer told me "Someone here is after you and I don't want them to succeed"
"Clearly" I said "but I don't understand why do I have to leave? Surely they'll show themselves here in time"
"Someone tried to poison you Ghost" he said, those bright blue eyes burning "they would have succeeded if you hadn't given out your food rations" he shunted his glasses further up his nose and ran a hand through his hair "I'll handle things here, I would make your peace with Kalin and the other brothers and take a leave whilst I do some digging, I have some ideas, but they're unfounded at the moment, go to your room and pack, I'll be along shortly" he called Brother Ethan who escorted me numbly to my dorm room.
