Magda day: Afternoon
The fact that the best combination of magical protection, vantage point and escape route was Helena and Sune's bed had interacted with Runa's low level of energy in a predictable way. Vivian, meanwhile, had apparently decided that pretending to play with her doll was the best way to kill time while keeping her eyes away from anything that might be relevant to Tobias. While Sune had trouble thinking of Tobias' mind as a separate entity from the man who had abused him and Helena, he also understood the need to keep his own mind open concerning previous faces Tobias could have worn; even the most basic assumptions could result in him discarding a good candidate without noticing. Thinking of that, this was probably a good time to dig up some of the historical knowledge he had and see if he could think of anyone who could fit the requirements that existed according to Helena. He tried for a few moments, but soon had to admit that he had trouble doing that alone. Reading a book about whichever subject he was reflecting on seemed to be the bare minimum for him to feel like he had another mind off which to bounce ideas. Maybe he could talk with Runa whenever her nap ended, if he could give her a good reason to be considering an oddly specific "hypothetical" scenario. Vivian was an even worse sounding board for this, as she was the quickest way for Tobias to know what was going on in his mind, not to mention the possibility of inadvertently activating the pain-causing spell Helena had mentioned. Sune suddenly realized that two cloaked figures were coming down the street and slowing down as they approached the small path between the street and the entrance to Daniel's mansion. He woke Runa up and put Janine in her lap as soon as she sat on the bed:
-People are coming. I'm going to listen to what I can from the top of the stairs.
The good news was that the mansion's set-up would let Sune pick up what was going on downstairs with his good ear. The bad news was that any sound from the bedroom, if anything unexpected happened there, would be on his bad side.
Sune came near the stairs just in time to hear a knock on the door, Sigrun answering and a few exchanges he couldn't make out. He soon heard Helena's voice:
-Sune, it's safe to come down. The girls can come also.
He went to fetch Runa and Janine, and the three of them came down the stairs. As soon as he saw the two people in the entry hall, he understood how they had been cleared so quickly:
-Mikkel! Reynir!
Mikkel was the only one of the two Sune knew well enough to both accept and give anything resembling a hug. Reynir, meanwhile, was looking at Janine as if the fact that she existed was sinking in only now. Sune's attention turned back to Mikkel as he noticed him fumbling in his travel bag and taking out a neatly wrapped bundle:
-This is from Alva.
Helena grabbed the bundle before Sune could take it:
-Sorry, but I'd rather make sure the contents are safe myself. Even if you had it in there all the time, we're not completely safe from some putting something in there after Alva made it.
Helena went to the dining room, Reynir followed her:
-If there turns out to be something in there I missed during my last check, I'd better learn how to look for it.
As soon as Helena and Reynir left, Sune questioned Mikkel's choice of arrival time:
-Did you actually plan to get here today? And if so, why?
-The volunteer patrol blockers sometimes like having an imposing-looking man around regardless of actual fighting skills. I did enough stints with them to know exactly what paths to take to get almost anywhere in town without running into anyone on Magda day. I thought it might be a good idea to have as few people as possible witness our return.
Sigrun seemingly showed up out of nowhere and gave Mikkel a good back slap:
-And this is why I'm happy to have you here again! Talking about this, I already have something for you to do. We're keeping the kids in Helena and Sune's room, but we've been trying to keep enough capable adults to stop a "rescue party" downstairs. We could use an actual adult or two upstairs.
Sune first wanted to protest, but had just experienced first-hand the limits of being the look-out with only one good ear. It was probably a good idea for him to grab Janine and… where was she? Reynir's voice coming from the dining room gave him the answer:
-What's with that kid?
Sune got into the dining room just in time to hear Helena tell Reynir that he would get explanations as soon as there would be fewer guests in the house. Sune noticed Tanja and her bodyguard were in the room as well, which made him realize he had lost track of Runa's location. Mikkel came into the room right after Sune:
-I apologize for disturbing your work, but did you, Daniel or Lalli check Runa's state of health upon her arrival?
Helena looked up from the handful of items she was examining:
-She got discharged from the country's best hospital this morning, so I don't think it crossed anyone's mind. Tanja, was she actually examined by a mage before the two of you left?
Tanja nodded:
-She might as well be Rolf's own daughter, of course she was. But that poison was meant to kill her, so the cure wasn't entirely harmless either. She still has a few side effects from it.
-That makes sense. What kind of symptoms does she still have from the cure?
-A rash on her shoulder. The mage who examined her said it was a quite common reaction to the medicine, put some balm on it and sent us on our way.
-Oh no!
Helena promptly sat up and only avoided bumping into Mikkel on the way to the entrance hall due to the latter stepping aside. Sune briefly wondered what could make Helena so worried, then his mind was hit with the possible significance of the rash. He remembered an entire week of being ill, baffling every single mage coming to examine him, and being the only one knowing that Tobias and Helena's claims of not knowing what was wrong with him were lies. He had "miraculously" recovered at the end of the week in question, after Tobias had somehow entered his guarded bedroom in the middle of the night and made him drink something while threatening to kill him if he ever told anybody about the visit. However, on the off-chance this was the answer, there were still a few questions. If he remembered correctly, Tobias had needed to inject something into him to make him catch the disease, and the rash that had heralded it had only appeared several days after the injection. If Helena's suspicions turned out to be correct, when, exactly, had Runa been contaminated? Sune now really wanted to check whether his suspicions were correct or not, and had to remind himself that unless he was called for, the most helpful thing he could do was stay out of the way.
A room with an adult-size bed had been set up on the ground floor on the off-chance that someone would come to seek help from one of the household's mages to heal something. Helena tucked Runa in as she explained the situation to her and Mikkel:
-When I had to help Tobias make that artificial disease, I abused all the loopholes that came to my notice. One of the things I was able to do was keep the original pathogen's weaknesses, that will cause it to quickly decompose into innocuous elements outside of a specific set of circumstances that are absent from most methods for testing something for poison. If it was put in her kettle alongside the poison or in something that came into contact with her during her hospital stay, nobody would have noticed.
Runa answered with a tired voice:
-If it's a disease, did I make other people sick with it?
Helena petted her head in an affectionate gesture:
-It's meant to be given to chosen targets, so I was asked to make it as hard to transmit to other people by usual means as I could. And even if the conditions for transmission are met, it was based on a pathogen to which half the population of Scandi and Finmi is immune. Tobias also made me work on the cure, so I know what it is.
-Tobias has been dead for weeks. Who besides you would make me sick?
During all this time, Helena had been dreading the idea of Tobias putting in place plans that she was now supposed to be the only mage alive to know about. It took her a few moments to remember what she was planning to tell people asking questions:
-I've heard of some of Tobias' work ending up in the market of the dead. I guess some people bought copies, and one of them has their mind set on incapacitating you.
-You are living in a former lover's house, few people are going to give you a real job, and you are expected to provide for a couple of children. Are you sure you're not the one selling that information to people?
Rolf had taught that girl well. The magical version of the cure required a custom talisman, and the focus to make one. Helena briefly cursed the circumstances that had made her able to focus under such emotional stress that being directly accused of being responsible for Runa's condition by Runa herself was easy to handle by comparison.
-Yes, I am. And I can start working on properly curing you as soon as you stop asking questions.
xxxx
The cure had taken more energy out of Helena than planned, and she had decided she needed a nap right afterwards. She had also insisted upon having the nap in the same room as Runa, who had fallen asleep as well. This left Sune with only Mikkel, who had agreed to the "baby-sitting" posting, to talk to. He suddenly realized that he had been hoping for such a situation for a few days:
-There's been something I've been wondering about. But I don't feel comfortable asking about it to anyone here.
-Go ahead.
-I've never felt… "attracted" is the word, I think… to anyone without being under the effect of a "love pill". I've been reading what I could find about them, and why they aren't given to children. One book I found claimed that if a child is given "love pills" and only ever set their eyes on a certain type of person while they are in effect, it ends up being what they are attracted to when they get older, even without the being given the pills.
Mikkel sighed:
-First of all, I'd suggest making sure whatever you're reading is written by someone who knows what they are talking about before you start studying the passage about "love pills". You can bet that people who have a very narrow idea of what kind of attraction is natural frequently blame those pills for the existence of all those they consider unnatural. But saying that this book has to be wrong concerning the consequences such an experience had on you specifically wouldn't be quite right, either. Also, some people do end up being naturally attracted to so few people that potential partners are only seldom encountered, sometime to an extent that their life gets quite similar to that of someone who is interested in nobody at all. Is it something you noticed? Or something you are afraid will happen in the future?
-The second one. Right now, at least. It's a little hard to live here without being reminded that people can get interested – or not interested – in all sorts of other people, and I've been wondering what it would be like for me if Helena and I ever manage to let go of each other.
Mikkel gave Sune a brief pat on the head:
-Well, this is much more optimism about your future love life than last time I tried to broach the subject with you.
Come to think of it, Mikkel was right. While he still had doubts about whether he and Helena would ever be able to lead separate love lives, the prospect seemed to have appeared on his horizon sometime in the past few weeks. Just as he was thinking this, he noticed Runa opening her eyes:
-Were the two of you just talking about something? Would you mind including me?
Sune was relieved when Mikkel pretended that they had been talking about something else entirely, and came up with a conversation subject to which both Runa and Sune could contribute.
xxxx
Emil hoped that the parents of at least one of those children would show up soon. Three was the maximum number he could wrangle at the same time, and Lalli had needed to make himself deaf a while ago to keep the singing from putting him into a complete daze. One of the children ran towards a woman coming in Emil's direction, and they two of them left together without any sign of the woman noticing someone else had just been watching her child. Little after, Emil heard a voice calling a name repeatedly, and one of the kids ran into its direction yelling "daddy". The remaining child, a girl who couldn't be older than five, promptly looked around, and started crying. As he was trying calm her down, Emil realized that he could hear other young children crying, and gave the sky a quick glance to see the sun was starting to make its way to behind the city's buildings. Considering the time of the year, this meant it was past the time at which most children had dinner, and getting onto the time at which they were put to bed. Emil then felt foolish for having completely forgotten the reason for which the gathering was to last until sundown: past this time, actively keeping other people from returning to their home without a good reason was a legitimate reason for arrest. It was one of those laws whose enforcement could depend largely on the guard's mood, but the people being prevented from returning home including parents or caretakers with children crying from exhaustion tended to no play in the favor of the guilty party. Especially if the guilty party refused to leave on their own unless the child was given to them. Emil's attempts to calm the child down continued being fruitless, when Lalli poked his shoulder, then pointed towards the stage. Not only was it empty, but nobody seemed about to get on it. Emil picked up the little girl and walked towards the stage, fast enough to make good time, slowly enough that she or her parents would have time to notice each other if he chanced upon them on the way. It unfortunately turned out to not be the case. As soon as he was on the stage, a few people noticed their presence, which resulted in other people wondering why the people next to them had tuned towards the stage, turning towards the stage themselves and prompting the people near them to do the same. Soon enough, a man was making his way towards the stage as fast as he could:
-Mona!
-Uncle!
By the time the man got to the bottom of the stage, a woman had joined him from another part of the park. Little Mona was pleased to see her, as well, and she turned out to be her mother. The girl's uncle and mother thanked Emil, and the uncle stretched his arms just high enough for Emil to give him the girl. As he was about to get off the stage himself, Emil noticed that the Daughters of Magda who were facing the stage had witnessed what had just happened as well, and had gone silent in the process. One of them seemed to realize that the signing had died down, and brought the sound-amplifying talisman to her mouth to start speaking. Fortunately, people inside the park noticed and started singing again. As he came down from the stage, Emil briefly wondered what they had made of the event, and how it would reflect on the gathering. A hand he didn't immediately recognize grabbed his shoulder from behind:
-Here you are! Is Lalli anywhere nearby?
Emil recognized Markus' voice. Emil turned as to face him and realized he was alone:
-He's closer to the park's edge. Weren't you supposed to stick with Daniel in case someone assumed he was here only for the publicity?
-Whatever they taught him at that school, it doesn't seem to have included a better idea of his limits. He's sleeping a few protective spells off in the infirmary tent and a handful of people who know what magic exhaustion looks like are making sure nobody is bothering him. I'm not sure how we are going to make it back to his place, but I thought getting my hands on you and Lalli would be a good start. Great idea for finding that kid's guardians, by the way.
Both of them headed in the direction in which Emil had last left Lalli.
As people were starting to leave the park, Anna changed into street clothes and wrapped the Sister of Magda novice outfit that signaled her as one of their volunteers into a bundle. She bolted into an alleyway near the park, only to come face to face with someone. The young man was wearing some sort of uniform. The feathered cap, the jacket and the pants were all of a color that couldn't decide whether it was dark pink, red, or light purple. His hair color seemed undecided between a dark golden blond and light brown, as well. A leather bag was resting on his hip, its strap diagonally traversing his chest from his shoulder. Anna was the first to speak:
-May I ask what you are doing here?
-My sister joined the Daughters of Magda a few months ago, and this is the first time she's taking part in their Magda day activities. Someone I know saw her handing out leaflets near here, so I was hoping she would be among those holding the siege and I could make sure she gets back to her temple without getting hurt.
The young man looked like he was a little older than she was. The Sisters weren't lying when they told her that many people were equally ignorant about the Daughters and park gatherings.
-This crowd is probably the most peaceful one you can find. Your sister isn't going to be here. They probably took her to Combatant's park.
The young man looked at her wide-eyed:
-Why would they take her so far away from her morning posting? It's on the other side of town! I'll have to go around the palace grounds to get there!
-There are people who have been deeply hurt by the Daughters of Magda or people sharing their beliefs. Deeply enough that they don't have any kind of sympathy left for them and have come to think that there is no such thing as being too harsh towards them. Combatant's park is where people in that situation tend to find kindred spirits on Magda day. Now, picture yourself as an experienced Daughter of Magda who wants to convince a novice that the people that they are forcing into parks once a year can't be simply allowed to live their lives. Do you show her this park, or do you show her Combatant's park?
-Combatant's park, I guess.
A look of worry crossed the young man's face:
-Those are the people who could hurt her just for being part of the Daughters of Magda, aren't they? And I'm nowhere near where she is!
Anna realized she could help him:
-I work in the palace and had to sneak out to come here. If you promise to not tell anybody else, I'll show you a passage that will let you cut through the palace grounds and get to Combatant's park faster.
The hopeful expression now on the young man's face made the offer worth it:
-You would really do that? Thanks a lot!
Both of them headed in the palace's direction.
Tanja had to spend a few moments pinching the ridge of her nose to fully process the implications of what Helena had just told her. Her explanation of who could have made Runa sick had passed the "too crazy to be made up" threshold a while ago. The fact that Helena also refused to tell her whose body Tobias had taken control of could have been suspect, if it weren't for the fact that Tanja could actually see quite a few people about whom she, herself, would have preferred to keep such a fact close to her chest, had their situations been reversed. She was now trying to convince Helena that naming that person was in her best interest before needing to return to her quarters in the palace. She fortunately saw a crack in which she could wedge herself:
-Tell me, what happened to the mind of the person whose body is currently occupied by Tobias? If it's anything that could be considered murder, you are refusing to disclose the name of a murder victim you are aware of.
-Then I'm allowed to keep my mouth shut. Weren't you finding Janine to be quite capable for a child her age just this morning? Myself and Daniel are that person's best chances of having things get back to normal, and they know how an actual two-year-old – even a fairly placid one – is supposed to behave. We both have interest in playing mother and daughter in the meantime.
It was now even less of a wonder that the young mage named Reynir had been baffled upon handling the child for the first time. The more Tanja found out about the situation, the more she saw why the household was keeping it under wraps and had concocted a cover "real story" to feed the rumor mill. She was going to need to sleep on the situation, and figure out what to do about it.
Almost as soon as Tanja realized that Randi had probably known of the real situation all this time, she heard a set of knocks on the front door. Helena got up from the cushion on which she had been sitting to open it and reveal Randi herself:
-I ran into four young men I believe to belong to this household on the way back from my own part in the festivities. A couple of them looked a little too tired to walk the way back. I think the two who can still stand will appreciate some help unloading them.
Helena called Sigrun and Mikkel, and the three of them headed outside. Randi, meanwhile, let herself in like a regular guest and noticed Tanja's presence:
-It's late, even for Magda day. I thought the three of you would have left by now.
-Runa is staying here tonight and I was about to leave with Inge. I'm just now realizing that your carriage big enough to bring all three of us back to the palace.
An expression of relief crossed Randi's face as she clasped her hands together:
-Would the two of you really come with me? I did pick those four up in part so I would be doing some of the trip back to the palace with company.
Tanja realized that she had the perfect opportunity to confront Randi about a pattern she had noticed over the past few weeks:
-Randi, would you please tell me what's happening? You've all but broken up with Vivian, and since then you've been like a scared little girl when it comes to her. I'm also aware that you've been spending the night here from time to time.
Randi suddenly got very interested in her own clasped hands:
-I wish I could tell you. But it would entail giving you information you may have trouble not using for your own gain. There are other people in on what it is who are sympathetic to me, so I'm managing.
Tanja let out a sigh of relief. Whoever Tobias was practically impersonating, the chances of it being Randi were slim. If it had been the case, Helena would have definitely refused her as a regular guest in the very place to which she had moved to avoid living in the palace. If she could discard the third person who was supporting Anna as the future heir, this would make the two powerful people with whom Tanja needed to cooperate safe. It didn't take Tanja long to realize that Vivian being the person whose place Tobias had taken made sense of a dizzying number of things that she had noticed over the past few weeks. Randi had a point, however: neither she nor any of the household's permanent residents needed to know Tanja had figured it out.
As she got back into the Royal Wing, Anna walked by Emil's room. A lot had happened during the day, and Emil was the only person of the family she could tell about her volunteering with the Sisters of Magda without running the risk that he's tell someone else. Under his bed had also turned out be a great place to hide the clothes and other various items belonging to "Annika".
-Lalli and his husband were at the park today. The recognized me. I told them to not tell Sune… damn, they probably told Councilor Daniel or Helena by now. I also met a boy on the way back.
Tobias leafed through the orphanage's records, and found someone who matched the young man Anna had described while thinking she was talking only to her semi-catatonic cousin. Dirk, fifteen years old, currently trying out working for the Royal Post. A "twin sister" who had effectively joined the Daughters of Magda as a novice, even though she was officially noted as having decided to do an extra month of internship more than six months in a row. Tobias had already heard of her via the means of surveillance they had in Daniel's household. The true owner of their current body hadn't been forthcoming as to whether Anna had started that volunteering activity on her own, or if any of the three Councilors who wanted to see her on the throne had encouraged her in some way. All three of them would have definitely seen benefits in having Anna spend some time with the Sisters of Magda. Once again, Tobias couldn't help but wonder what Frederick would say if he saw the teams that had formed behind each of his grandchildren, with the men within the Council supporting Håkan and the women within the Council supporting Anna. Things were more diverse among their other supporters within the court, but they were hard to keep proper track of due to some changing their mind depending on what the rumor mill had produced over the last day or two. Hopefully, Rolf would get tired of trying to talk Håkan out of wanting possessions from the other side of the world and start supporting Anna instead. The next step in Tobias' plan was going to require one of the two princelings still in the running to have minority support within the Council.
xxxx
Several days had passed, and Helena still had trouble figuring out whether Tobias had planned for Runa to get sick with that artificial disease while under the same roof as her or not. She wasn't quite sure she was safe from Daughters of Magda showing up after having caught up on a backlog, either. This came on top of having to pretend to not know of Anna's double life around Sune. Not to mention that Mikkel's cooking made her quite close to agreeing with Randi's stance on the balance between avoiding spies and having competent servants. And now, the household's source of good tea was going to be away for part of the day, as well. She was more than grateful for the possibility of making a nest out of the dining room's unused sitting cushions. If she was wasn't already exhausted by all the things she needed to keep track of, Helena would be seriously considering learning to cook and make tea herself. The only good news was that now that Sofia was away, they no longer needed to pretend Janine needed any kind of supervision when there weren't any outside guests. The fact that Daniel couldn't go to the market of the dead, meanwhile, meant that Helena had a somewhat solid counter-argument in case her mind suddenly decided to start claiming she wasn't being much use to the household outside of telling Emil things Daniel knew just as well as she did. Her mind drifted towards the fact that Reynir was a rather odd addition to Emil's support circle. The two of them being part of the same group fleeing Scandi, then ending up living under the same roof, was one thing. Coming back to Scandi to be by his side when they seemed to share neither a friendship nor a language was another. Since Reynir was also in the room, she dredged up enough Shared Tongue to ask Reynir the question. Reynir gladly answered:
-Onni is extremely cautious about who he lets into his spirit realm safe area. It took me a good couple years to be considered as trustworthy as Lalli and Cecilia. In such circumstances, it was easier to just have me be the "in case Lalli is busy elsewhere" messenger between Saimaa and Scandi when the operations would move back here. And to be honest, many of the things people are heard of doing to avenge the death of a loved one don't feel suited to me. But I don't like the idea of doing nothing at all about it, either. Helping Emil with what he's trying to do feels like a good compromise.
As soon as Emil saw the location of his stand, he understood why it was among the handful of spaces given to newly licensed merchants. He didn't even have to tempt fate to make things worse, as both the Daughters of Magda stall and the Sisters of Magda stall had a young woman with a familiar face assisting an older superior. Mikkel, who had come to help him carry his merchandise, quickly saw the problem:
-There are the rules I remember about this kind of situation. Before you build enough of a customer base, neither you nor your neighbors are allowed to ask you to be moved. The Planner may choose to move you on his own accord, but he rarely does this unless he really wants a new stall to fail due to people being unable to find it in the same place on different days. If a fight requiring the Planner's attention erupts, it's up to the Planner whether the first strike was an actual first strike or an excuse used to "retaliate". I'd say that one thing you have going for you is that more people will be understanding if you choose to be more friendly to the Sisters than to the Daughters.
Emil decided to walk toward the empty stall, his steps slightly slanted to the right as to be closer to the Sisters of Magda stall as he put his pack on the worn counter:
-Oh, hi Annika. Didn't expect to see you here. I just got my merchant's license and this is the space I'm stuck with until I get somewhat of a customer base.
-It's nice see you… I apologize, but I'm afraid I forgot your name.
Emil played along, as he realized that if she did remember his name, she would have learned it while being served tea at the palace.
-I'm Stig.
He gave a quick glance towards the pair on the other side of his stall, which consisted of Alicia and the woman who had been talking with Daniel a few days earlier, before addressing Anna again:
-By the way, no need to skirt around the place where you met me around those two. The one with orange-ish hair almost shoved a leaflet into my face while we were walking to the park the other day.
Anna nodded, and Emil introduced himself to the older Sister of Magda holding the stall while he and Mikkel made the standard-issue bunch of wood and fabric that had come with the space presentable. Once they were done, Mikkel left to go about his own day. Almost as soon as Mikkel left, Alicia addressed Emil:
-May I ask you a question?
-You can. Whether you get an answer or not will depend on the question, though.
-How well do you know Daniel?
-As well as I can having lived in his house for the past few weeks.
-I've heard rumors about him having an affair with a betrothed woman a few years ago. Do you know whether it's actually true or not?
-It's true. I was friends with the woman with whom he had the affair before I ever met him.
A look of disappointment crossed Alicia's face:
-Getting away from that orphanage was an even better idea than I thought. Wait, if he really did have that affair, how did he ever get into that magic school on the Isle? What kind of high-standards magical school lets someone like that in?
-I've never had any reason to discuss that school with him, so I don't know.
-Fair enough. Did you have a chance to read the leaflet I gave you?
-I did, and I'm not interested in what you have to offer. Actually, if I ever do get interested in Lady Magda's teachings, I think I'm more suited for the Sisters' way. Now, if you don't mind, I have a few things to set up if I want to make any money today.
After getting the tea out, Emil arranged the hair dye he had from lightest color to the darkest. Anna's superior, whose hair was quite obviously greying, looked at it and seemed to have her interest sparked:
-I happen to know someone who would be very interested in black that won't damage her scalp if you have any.
Emil shook his head:
-I did try to make black, and the result is still decorating a wall in my in-laws' workroom. Between that and the darkest colors I could make without too much trouble not selling in Finmi, I gave up trying. I'm currently wearing the darkest color I can safely make, in case your acquaintance is willing to settle for anything a little lighter.
The chat with Anna's superior continued, and it turned out to be a magnet for people who were hoping to glean some info by listening to the conversations of others. In the lot, several were interested in Emil's merchandise. Alicia and her superior tried to discourage people from buying, but the few that even noticed ignored them, one person outright questioning the reasons they gave to not buy from Emil. Another person strongly advised him to get a few magic protection spells or talismans for the stall as, according to them, there was a high chance of something happening to it in the next few days, if not overnight.
