Authors note: Sorry I'm terrible at uploading. Hopefully this chapter makes sense, lmk via review if it doesn't. I'm hoping to upload more frequently now.
We reconvened in the room where I had tea with Terrin. Lysander took Terrin's seat. Kendryek pulled up a chair to my left.
"Samanthia did a lot of talking," he said. He still wore his red and gold ring. "Neither of them know where Gaius is or what he is doing. He just, vanished one night. Samanthia doesn't entirely trust Terrin's rule, she thinks he is too soft on the inhabitants of the court." I laughed. For the first time today, he acknowledged my presence, and laughed with me. "I know. Even weirder, she's pissed because he doesn't participate in Calanmai."
"Interesting," Kendryek said.
"They've also got something pretty scary. It's called a Nix, a rare kind of lesser fae that looks like a humanoid bug. They've got it mostly tamed, but it has caused problems in the past. It's powerful and terrifying. One night its caretakers treated it poorly and it snapped, killing ten fae before Samanthia was able to respond and calm it down. She can somewhat control it with her mind," he explained. How does he know all of this? There's no way she told him this much.
Kendryek looked grave. "Do you think Hadrian could handle it?" Lysander shrugged.
"Definitely not when he's got the restrictor in his neck." He paused, giving Kendryek some side eye. "But I doubt it has flesh like we do. Vivianne could probably fry it in an instant, though." Kendryek relaxed. "That's most of the fun and interesting stuff though. The rest is much less pressing and I've got more people I need to meet." Kendryek motioned for me to begin.
"I did not learn much," I started. "Not as much as you, at least." Not entirely true, but I did not want to share all of what happened. Instead, I told them about what the suriel had specifically said and how he had reacted when I questioned his position.
Lysander ran a hand through his hair and looked off into the distance. "Actually, that helps confirm something I was starting to suspect. I don't think Terrin has full control of the Spring Court's magic, possibly because Gaius is still alive."
"I need you to-" Kendryek started to say before Lysander cut him off.
"Figure out where Gaius is, what he's doing, and where he'll stand in the war, yeah I know. Right now, it does not seem like anyone knows where he is. I asked a suriel about him and she said 'looking for a good place to take a bath' - whatever the hell that means. I'll have to schedule a trip to go talk to The Bone Carver or something." How he could talk about meeting an old god like it was a regular business trip was beyond me. "Now, if you'll excuse me…"
Dinner went the same as the previous night's, except for there being more fae and less political talk. On the first night, seating was divided up into courts, so I was unable to speak to anyone from another place in Prythian. But, I watched.
My assumption about Thalia's husband had been right. While High Lady Thalia was still clearly the most important one at their table, much of their court appeared to be in his hand. He talked more than she did and the others always listened. He occasionally walked around the dining room and spoke with various fae. He had importance there, beyond just being the husband of the High Lady.
On the other hand, I was beginning to feel confined to Kendryek's side. There were a handful of other half fae, all of whom belonging to the Day Court, who I wanted to speak or wave to, but they were too far away. A blond haired, freckled lady from the Summer Court smiled and waved directly to me, motioning that she wanted to speak to me. I did not care if she would be kind to or mocking of me. I only wanted someone to speak to. But, I couldn't. I needed to stay where I was. That was what I was told to do.
At least when I was near Kendryek, fae would not whisper things in my dulled ears.
"Dirty-blooded scum."
"I bet your mother didn't even fight back."
"Get out of here."
The instant I left his side, I heard them talk. Sharp whispers as I passed by. A single curse word, spat in my direction. A look, sharper than any blade, thrown at me from across the room. I was not welcome here. My presence was barely tolerated.
I envied the other fae from the Winter Court, for they all had metal triangles that rested on the tops of their ears. They were meant to accentuate the length and sharpness of their primary feature, but I assumed I could use them to blend in just as easily.
Without them, I could not walk freely though the tunnels or speak to whomever I pleased. The best I could do was sit by Kendryek's side and listen to what the fae near me said.
In the relaxed environment of the dining room, the talk was less of politics and more of tales, friendships, and pleasantries. Buried beneath all of the nonsense and self-aggrandizing, I began to pick up on important details.
"And then I tore the beasts' jaw in half and drove my pyke through it's brain!" I heard a fae shout earlier on in the night. Their eyes had been wild with fury, their sharp, almost wolf-like teeth bared at a past enemy. The other fae at his table cheered.
"Do you know why the beast attacked the village?" one had asked. The fae had immediately grew still as the thought of a more challenging enemy came to mind.
"It was looking for magic to feed off of. As were the others," the fae had replied. The topic of conversation immediately switched, no one having been willing to dwell on the implications.
Some time after that I had heard a snippet of conversation between two peregryns, one from the Dawn Court and the other from the Day.
"I don't know if I can heal him on my own. My magic has faded over the last few centuries," the man had said in a hushed tone to his smaller friend.
But, by far, the biggest clue to the dark shadow that hung over the room hung around my own mother's neck.
I only looked at her out of the corners of my eyes. I was not sure if I could emotionally handle coming face to face with the person who tried to kill me when I was younger, so I avoided it at all costs.
Despite that limitation, I was able to slowly figure out what strange pendant hung by a gold chain around her neck. A keystone, or at least a fragment of one. From one angle, it looked like a broken rock with a strange rune carved in the front. From the other, it evaded a perfect description.
This side was where the piece had broken from. It was every possible shade of blue confined in one tiny space. Like two opposing mirrors, the colors echoed off of one another, starting light at first and then darkening into blackness. Staring into this end of the piece felt like looking into the heart of the world.
The keystones were what supplied Prythian with its power. With them being broken, magic had started to fade. Healers could no longer heal the sick or injured. Beasts could no longer find the prey that was once plentiful. The different courts' seasons were beginning to fade.
Prythian was dying.
Lysander
I had my eyes on Terrin and the rest of his court at all times. They had the ability to drastically change how the rhythm of The Gathering - firmly set by centuries of routine - continued. So far, nothing had changed. Fae carried on as though the Spring Court had always been there and, to my surprise, the Spring Court acted as though they had never left.
Terrin had quickly reunited with his old friend Tristan and immediately became fast friends with High Lady Thalia, having apologized for hundreds of years of isolation and promised to rebuild connections and friendships with anyone willing.
I wondered if the others saw through his calm, perfectly tailored exterior, or if they fell victim to his manufactured personality and demeanor. Though, to be fair, he fit right in with the rest of them.
My time with Aibel went...well. I had no real need to do anything with her, but I obliged her requests whenever possible. Especially since I enjoyed the majority of them. The deal I struck with her was simple. She would convince Kalista that it was better ot ignore Allyn, we would act like there was no familial bond, and I would be Aibel's for the duration of the gathering.
I would have given anything to know what Kalista was thinking when she first saw the golden band on Aibel's thumb and again when she saw us disappear into one of the empty rooms together.
The only significant downside to this arrangement was the lack of time that I had to spend on spying and mind-reading. It was a lot harder to scan the mind of someone who was half a mile away while also trying to keep someone entertained.
It was after talks with Terrin that I began to feel bad for Allyn. I could relate to her feelings of loneliness and, once I had calmed down, realized that I was partially to blame for letting her into my mind. I had grown complacent with how I defended the thoughts in my head. I resigned myself to extending an olive branch to her sometime in the future, but not now the time. There were too many people to meet, too many conversations to sway, and too many memories to take.
After Aibel had fallen asleep I slipped out of her arms and slid onto the floor. I hesitated for a moment, watching her in the darkness. She did not stir.
I rested my back against the wall and crossed my legs before placing my hands on my knees. I needed to focus all of my energy onto this task. Kendryek had given me some of my magic back and I hoped it would be enough (I was already making plans to ensure I kept enough for the future). I closed my eyes and let go of my body, letting myself drift for a brief moment.
When in this state I was ethereal. Attached to no body I could float through the world without anything hindering me. And yet, I could not experience any of it. Colors became greyed out, objects became blurry. Sounds were muffled and what little I could hear was garbled and difficult to understand. Taste, touch, and smell were nonexistent, as was speech. It was occasionally fun to be so detached from everything, but ultimately boring.
I stood, pulling myself out of my body. With some concentration, I could choose which surfaces I wanted to interact with. Otherwise, I would be stranded like a sailor alone in the ocean.
I moved towards Aibel without a sound, for there was no part of me capable of making a sound. In this form, the only things I could interact with were minds (or souls, depending on how one thought of things). I placed an ethereal hand on her forehead and briefly leapt into her mind.
She was fast asleep, dreaming about parties, drinking, and what we had done earlier. I doubted there was any more information I could pull from her head. I'd scanned it many times. Besides, she was not my target tonight.
I exited the room and kicked off the floor, sending myself gliding into the stone above. I could not breathe, so I imagined myself breathing. I could not close my eyes, so I imagined darkness. When like this, I could not die, but the fear of being trapped beneath miles of dirt and rock still threatened to consume me.
Then, I popped out of the floor of another hallway. I was moving based off of memory now - I could not tell where I was going based off of the rudimentary sight I had. I counted my paces and ended up a few feet off of the next tunnel I hoped I needed to go through.
Minutes passed, maybe hours, before I reached the doorway that I needed to enter. I was far away from my body now. If Aibel awoke, she would find the shell of a creature sitting on the floor. All it was now was a husk in which a heart beat.
I passed through the wooden frame and into the room beyond it. There were many doors leading from this room. I picked the one on the left and began to check what lay behind them.
First, I found Jarrin. I would have breathed a sigh of relief if I could - now I knew I was in the correct room. Jarrin slept uneasily and worried for the soldiers he had left behind. I let him be, for now.
Next, I found Samanthia, lying in the arms of a Night Court man. She held the same position as me within her court, a glorified whore. I knew Night Court men all too well. I wished her the best before continuing to the next room.
This one felt different. When I passed through the door, the feeling of power briefly washed over me. I paused and chased this feeling in an attempt to find its source. Was he, like I, able to cling to fragments of his power? No, the source came from a box buried deep within a case.
It was a fragment of a Keystone, a missing piece that must have been in the Spring Court for eons. Interesting.
I left it and advanced towards the bed.
The false Lord of the Spring Court slept alone. A spot reserved for Allyn, no doubt. The thought of it made my blood boil.
I entered his mind slowly, taking great caution in each of my actions. If any fae felt magic when there should be none, the outrage would last for decades at least. I couldn't simply overpower Terrin's mind and take what I wanted, no, I needed to coax the memories out of him.
He was dreaming of spring fields and power, amorphous things that he certainly would not remember when he woke up. There was nothing tangible to work with. I could have inserted a thought of my own, but it was a major risk. I would need to be more careful than that.
I could induce feelings in people without them noticing, a strange quirk of my state of being. Positive feelings like happiness and joy were challenging to cause and not worth my time, neutral ones like trust were why I was so good at my job, and negative feelings could be induced as easily as breathing.
So I started with dread, letting a small bit of it settle over his mind, then causing it to grow and grow. Eddies of thought responded to this feeling and from them came images.
Battles, fights, worries.
I pressed it harder.
"TERRIN!" I heard an enraged voice shout within his mind. I recognized the voice from somewhere.
An immense amount of dread washed over me. I felt Terrin's stomach immediately knot in fear.
"What did I tell you about visiting that girl?" the voice roared. A dreamlike image of Gaius appeared in Terrin's head. He stood tall and straight with fury. "She is beneath you! Far beneath! You will wait until your mate is chosen, like I did!"
A faint, sputtering reply came from Terrin's mind.
"I know what I need to do now," Terrin said gravely. The dream began to shift as unimaginable horror washed over Terrin.
He snapped awake, sitting straight up in bed.
"It's not real, he's been gone for hundreds of years," I heard Terrin think. Now was my chance.
"But what if he comes back?" I slipped the thought into his head.
"He won't come back!" Terrin snarled. He took a deep breath and steadied himself. "If he does, I will duel him to the death," he thought. He was sure of himself, but I could feel a glimmer of a doubt. I tried to exploit it.
"How are you sure you will win?" Terrin smiled wide and laid back down. He was calm now, all of his fear had quickly evaporated.
"I have the cauldron. He does not."
I temporarily lost my grip on reality and fell into the floor. The horror that Terrin had felt now filled me. There was no way that was possible…
I scrambled to Samanthia's room and frantically, carelessly, began to break into her mind. I was searching for anything even remotely linked to the cauldron.
And soon enough, I found something. A letter to a scholar hiding somewhere in the Night Court. It was about the cauldron, I knew that, but the contents of it were harder to read. I pressed harder, digging into her mind to find what information she held.
I started to read, something about her being curious about the cauldron and asking them if they knew anything about it. She offered money-
I was shoved out of her mind. She was awake, and kicking the Night Court Fae out of her bed.
"Get out! Get out! I know what you're doing!" I could barely understand her voice through the reality that separated us. But, I knew what was happening. I'd been clumsy and she had picked up on what was happening, but she thought it was the Night Court man.
I floated out of her room and made my way back to mine.
This was going to be a lot harder than I thought it was.