Episode 12: Strings and Threads

2nd of Ferventis

Jeremie walked back into the city with Ulrich in silence, his expression darkening with each step he took towards his temporary home and Patrick. He could see the many dark paths Patrick's magistrates would have for Aelita as a result of even the mere accusation of blood magic and to have an innocent girl subjected to that… No! He was definitely not going to let this happen. Angrily pushing the door of his Uncle's house open and leaving Ulrich behind in the foyer he charged towards the study and stormed into Patrick's office, not bothering to knock on the door. His cousin jumped and looked up from the book he was reading. Jeremie pulled him out of his chair, and Patrick pushed him away. "What do you think you're doing?" Patrick asked, surprised and confused.

"I could ask you the same. What do you think you're doing, spying on Aelita!?" The Wise Man demanded, crossing his arms.

Patrick sighed. "This is the last time I trust Odd to keep a secret," he muttered. Looking his cousin in the eyes he continued with forced calm. "Jeremie, I'm doing my duty. You know that I've been training my whole life to be a magistrate. They've finally given me a chance and I don't intend to be dishonorably discharged."

"And so to impress the Knight Templar, you decide to frame an innocent girl of blood magic?" Jeremie asked rhetorically. "You know what they'll do to her if they believe her to be a witch!"

His words were haunting. Most executions that were decreed by the Knight Templar were private affairs, to spare whatever dignity the condemned had left. But in the rare case a blood magician was branded a witch, they were executed publicly. In smaller villages where the Veil was rumored to be thin, like Falcon's Bridge in the far west, their bodies were hung from trees on the road nearing the village. In those villages it was not uncommon for there to be pyres. "That isn't going to happen, Jeremie. I haven't found any evidence to convict her, or even bring her in."

Jeremie's face turned red. "And? What does that matter?" He continued, his voice growing louder and more desperate, "if you make the accusation, the eyes of the public will view her as guilty! You'd need Jupiter himself to clear her name!"

Patrick reached towards his cousin to try and calm him. "Jeremie, calm down! Do you want the whole neighborhood to hear you? It isn't like I've targeted Aelita alone. I'm investigating Laura, too."

"Oh, I know about Laura's involvement. She's been suspicious about Aelita ever since the day they met. I know that she went to the magistrates, and I know that she wants you to get dirt on Aelita."

"Then why are you yelling at me? Shouldn't you be yelling at Laura?"

"Believe me, I intend to." Jeremie hissed as he looked over his shoulder, like he expected to find her there, even though they both knew the Fair was in bed. "Listen, Patrick. I'm not going to ask you again. Leave. Aelita. Alone."

Patrick sighed as his cousin spun and left the office. He was beginning to wonder if they could get any more distant. Did he even remember why they were feuding?


3rd of Ferventis

The market square was as busy as ever with a bustling crowd lining stalls filled with everything imaginable. The air was with thick with scents from the various foods and ingredients on offer while a loud roar made up of vendor's shouts for attention and haggling customers constantly assaulted one's ears. It was through this chaos that the Wise man navigated as he attempted to follow Ulrich's directions. The market stall Jeremie was looking for was smaller than most of the other stalls and located in an out of the way corner. It took many minutes and a fair amount of effort to wade through the crowds, but Jeremie finally managed to find the correct stall.

On the counter were amulets made of hardwood in different shades of brown ranging from almost ebony to rich birch. They were carved with elvish runes, with white and red beads decorating the string. He wished he could read them, but if Ulrich was right and this merchant was city-born, the elf who carved it had probably written nonsensical words and told customers that they meant something different.

The merchant's daughter, a girl of no more than fourteen with curly blue hair, looked up and smiled at him. He smiled back politely. "Papa, we have a customer!" The girl called, and the merchant stumbled around the stall.

"Welcome, friend, welcome! Please, feel free to look around!" He said cheerfully, but his expression changed when he saw Jeremie was human. "Is… there something you need?" He asked sharply.

Jeremie tried not to take it personally. "I'm looking for a gift for my friend. She's a wilder—one of the wandering folk, I guess—and I want it to be special." When the merchant showed no change in expression, he added, "Another friend of mine said that he saw her admiring dolls of elven make. Do you sell dolls here?"

The merchant crossed his arms. "And who is this girl to you, shem?"

"Papa! You're being rude!" His daughter exclaimed.

Jeremie sighed. "A friend. More than a friend, I hope. That's why I want the doll—I want to surprise her, to show her…" He shook his head. "Listen, I would really rather just buy the doll, instead of giving you my whole life's story. Could we please just move this along?"

The merchant opened his mouth, but his daughter stopped him. "Papa, why don't you go fetch some food from the market? You could use some air." She suggested, and her father stormed off. She pulled a box from under the counter and began sifting through it. "I was born in the city, but Mamae was born in Arlathan. She told me all about our culture there and the symbolism behind most of these dolls. I think we have one in here that means protection—maybe if you gave it to her, she'd understand that you will always be by her side?" The merchant's daughter revealed a goblin doll. It had green skin and pointed ears with a long tail. Both his head and the tip and underside of the tail were draped in scruffy dark brown fur. He wore a magenta shirt with a white shirt under it, white bloomer-like pants, and teal green boots and hat.

Jeremie looked up. "A goblin? Aren't goblins known for causing trouble? Why would these mean protection?"

"I don't know!" The girl laughed with confusion obvious in her voice. "Here, let me help you." She found a box and placed the doll inside, and she wrapped it in a ribbon embroidered with purple roses. "Here, take this to the wilder girl."

Smiling broadly, Jeremy paid the girl, adding a little extra for her trouble in wrapping it, and turned away.

"May the Creation Father watch over you," The girl called as he left the stall.


"If you want to go back to Kadic, I don't mind, Yumi." Aelita said suddenly, causing the Colonist to look back from her solitary combat practice. "I mean, I'm used to being alone, and I'm not in any real danger here."

Yumi closed her fans with a flick of her wrists and sat down across from the Outcast. "What if Xana sends her constructs after you? What will you do then?"

"It isn't like I'm defenseless. Besides, I know where you are if they do attack me." Aelita smiled. "And I'm used to being alone."

"Jeremie asked me to protect you, Aelita. I intend to do just that," Yumi replied firmly.

"Jeremie worries too much, lethallan. He means well, I know, but I think he forgets that I'm used to being alone in the wilderness."

Yumi looked down the road when she saw a figure approaching from the corner of her eye. 'Well, speak of Pluto," She said, and she smiled when she noticed his strange gait. "Maybe I'll take a walk. I think the two of you should talk alone. I'll be back soon." She stood, and headed towards town. As she walked past Jeremie, she gave him two thumbs up.

Aelita smiled at the Wise Man as he sat beside of her. "Aneth ara, lethallin," She greeted.

Jeremie smiled back. "I brought you something." He said, presenting her the box.

She took it, and she tilted her head. An idea popped into her head. "Elgar'nan! Did I miss some important occasion? Ir abelas, I promise I'll make it up to you!" She apologized.

He laughed. "There's no occasion, Aelita. I just thought you'd like it."

She was dumbfounded for a moment. "You're giving me a present?" She wondered out loud. "It isn't even my name day." She muttered. Then she spoke louder. "Nobody's ever given me a present before. Useful things, tools or clothes. Because I needed them. Not… just because."

"Well, I'm honored to be the first. Go on, open it."

Aelita carefully undid the ribbon and opened the box. Her eyes lit up when she saw the doll inside, and she held it like a fragile flower in her hands. A soft giggle escaped her lips, and with her green eyes shining like stars, she asked, "Do you know why the People give these dolls to their children?" She asked.

Jeremie suddenly questioned his gift. "The… The girl at the market stall said they meant protection," he stammered.

"She's right, in a sense. Our stories tell us that our ancestors, back when we were still immortal and long before the humans invaded, struck a deal with the Goblin King. There could only be one goblin for every elf. This means that humans and orcs could be plagued by a hundred goblins each, but an elf has only one personal troublemaker." She looked back to the doll. "The People give goblin dolls to their children to trick the goblins into thinking that the elf has already been claimed."

The Wise Man smiled weakly. "So, not really a romantic gift then? Next time I'll buy an amulet."

Aelita laughed. "Oh, ma vhenan, you really are crazy, aren't you?" Her cheeks turned red at her comment, and she covered her mouth with her hand. Had she really just said that?

He simply laughed, not knowing what the endearment meant. They sat in silence for a while after Aelita dubbed her new doll Mr. Pück. "Aelita, why won't you go inside of the city?" He finally asked.

"Because I am uncomfortable there," She said simply.

"As you've said, but it is safer there. There's no reason to be uncomfortable."

"Because thousands of heavy stones always make me feel safe," She muttered a bit harsher than she had originally intended. Seeing the hurt reaction on Jeremie's face, she quickly elaborated. "What I mean to say is, while humans feel safer surrounded by tall buildings and large groups of people, the elvhen tend to be more comfortable in nature, surrounded by the garden of the Creation Father."

"Okay, but is there a reason for it?"

She sighed. "It's hard to explain, but it involves your use of paved roads." She thought for a moment, and then snapped her fingers. "You know how humans have five basic senses, right? Elves sort of have another, which we refer to as 'the Creator's Sight.' Basically, we can sense where we are with our feet, and that same interaction with the earth influences the world around us. Because of the Creator's sight I could run straight through a forest, never change my path and never strike a tree."

"So, what, do they just get out of your way?"

"In a sense, yes." Aelita sighed as she continued. "When we're inside of a city or if our connection to the earth is lost, be it by shoes or on a paved road or if, Creator forbid, we lose our feet, we can't tell where we are. That's why I run into things whenever I go into a city. It's dreadful. Have I lost you?"

Jeremie rubbed his eyes, pushing his spectacles from his nose in the process. "I don't really understand." He admitted. "I can see that coming in handy at night but during the day you can simply see where you are in relation to where the things you want to avoid are," he continued gently. He pushed his glasses back into place and then looked at Aelita to gauge her reaction to his words.

When he looked back at her, she suddenly had an idea. She reached and grabbed his spectacles.

"Hey, give those back! I can't see without them." He pleaded.

Aelita placed them on her own face as she continued. "Think of your glasses as the Creator's Sight. If you entered a city without these things, what would happen?"

"They're called spectacles." Jeremie said, awkwardly taking them off of Aelita's nose. "And everything becomes blurry, so much so that I wouldn't be able to read signs or a map. I wouldn't be able to tell where I was going. I'd run into things and… okay, now I understand."

The Outcast smiled. "It isn't a perfect analogy, since I can still technically see. Just… it would be like you losing your spectacles." Her eyes turned to the sky while Jeremie's remained on her face for a while longer.


Laura collapsed into the first chair she found in the living room, depressed after having been chewed out by Jeremie. 'Why was it that he couldn't see what she saw?' She wondered to herself. His love had blinded him. She answered her own question silently as Patrick entered the room. She frowned and spoke bitterly, "I was under the impression that your investigation was to be kept a secret."

Patrick shook his head. "Jeremie scolded you, then?" He asked rhetorically. "Odd found the notes I had been writing," he answered. "And by the way, there is no evidence to support your theory that Aelita is a blood magician."

Laura groaned. "Maybe she's really good at hiding it. Maybe she found out that you're watching her!"

Patrick slammed his fist against the wall. "Laura, don't you get it? She isn't a blood magician! I know that must be hard to accept, but Aelita is innocent!" He shouted. He tore at his hair. "I don't know what she did to you that made you hate her, but she isn't this evil, conniving witch!"

The magistrate stormed out of the room, and Laura raised her shoulders and crossed her arms. She exhaled through her nose, and she wondered why no one believed her.