Chapter 3 #3
After their argument with Magda, Enid had holed herself up in her room as she so often did whenever she wanted to be away from their aunt’s shrewd gaze.
This time, she’d refused to open the door for Anelize, no matter how much she tried to reason with her.
Knowing her sister, she wouldn’t have answered for anything in the world.
Eventually, Anelize retreated down the other side of the narrow hall.
The blinding glow of the sun setting behind the forest greeted her from the windows, shimmering over her eyes as she slipped into her room.
The moment her back rested against the door, she released a sigh that made her entire body feel heavy, as though she could drop to the floor if she would only give in.
The desk situated against the wall beside the window was filled with vials, a mortar and pestle, along with several journals neatly stacked atop each other that she’d collected over the years.
Some belonging to her father, filled with his scrawling writing.
She still remembered watching him during her apprenticeship in silent awe while he stood over the counter making his notes and observations, his strong jaw and searching eyes illuminated by the caress of candlelight.
His gentle smile that he shared with every single person who wandered into his shop.
After he died, reading his writing was the only way she felt she could still feel that he’d been real. His voice and appearance may one day fade from her mind, but she knew she would always have his passion and devotion written down for her to see for many years to come.
Taking a seat on the edge of her bed, the sheets and covers rumpled from when she’d unceremoniously tumbled out of them this morning, she slid her hand beneath her pillow and retrieved a small, red leather-bound journal.
The one she kept all to herself. Records of the malady, the vacant milky eyes, the clear signs of decay all found in the patients struck with it—all had been kept in this journal.
The rumors of how to achieve a single drop of magic as the Vedrans possessed.
All of it wrong. As it would always be.
It was difficult to name exactly when the traces of this strange illness had begun coursing through the veins of Madic’s torrid history.
Only that it had started when King Amaranth had been caught between the swords of the Eastern and Western kingdoms fighting to claim his land.
The war had waged for many years until his soldiers slowly began to dwindle in numbers.
Losing more and more control when the Madacian boyars that the king had appointed betrayed his rule and allied themselves with the East, creating an uprising against him.
Providing a sufficient distraction for the fleets sailing to invade their shores to go unnoticed.
King Amaranth knew that if he had no army, then he needed to spark fear within his enemies by any means necessary.
That was when he sought out the strange beings who had resided in the forest far longer than any knew.
The Vedrans. Known for their strange gifts to conjure powers that transcended far beyond his grasp, the leaders of the Vedrans came to an understanding with the king.
Allying themselves with King Amaranth for the sake of preserving their home, the Vedrans fought in the war against their invaders.
Many died, but the Vedrans had remained strong and fearsome.
Revered as saints for their gifts. It was because of them that Madic, along with its people, survived.
What came next however, changed everything.
One day, the Vedrans turned against King Amaranth, commencing another war entirely that had since spanned nearly three decades.
Casting out the wicked threads of their power onto countless innocents.
Thus, naming them the next true enemy all must fear.
Until the day the king rids Madic of their blight.
That is the story all children of Madic had been told, and they learned to fear the Vedrans.
Yet, that ever-present curiosity remained.
The yearning for power never truly fading amongst the people.
But Anelize knew that history had a way of being woven expertly into what was expected, even if it was recounted incorrectly.
Not that it mattered. The damage had long since been done and set into stone for all to be reminded.
When the sun began to disappear behind the steepled rooftops of homes, Anelize struck a match and lit a candle half melted in its holder beside her bed, the warm glow granting her enough light to add more observations she’d made of her own patients today.
She continued her pondering, sketching the markings she’d seen on Mihai’s body to the best of her ability, until her eyes grew tired, an ache for sleep finally catching up with her.
A quick incessant tap, tap, tap from the window pulled at her attention before she could slip into a fast sleep.
She looked to the window where she caught sight of a raven perched on the sill, its black beady eyes watching her as it tilted its head curiously.
Frowning, she stood to shoo the bird away and popped the latch of the window open.
“What do you want? Go on, be on your way,” she murmured when it refused to do so. It merely watched her as if she were the one intruding on it. Releasing an impatient sigh, she made to reach for the raven. “I said, go, mangy bird.”
The raven released a deep croaking sound from within its chest as if in reproach before diving off the ledge, taking flight at the last moment before it reached the cobblestones.
Anelize braced her hands atop the sill, watching it glide down the street until it soared into the darkening sky.
It was then that she caught sight of movement around the corner of a home.
Long golden hair swirling in the wind before the figure disappeared down another street.
Dread suddenly fell over her like being doused by the frigid water of a bucket. Anelize didn’t want to believe it. Not when it was foolish beyond all reasoning. Still, something possessed her to leave her room and head down the hall, her steps hurried.
“Enid?” She knocked, but when there came no answer, she tried the doorknob and listened to the gentle click of it opening. She pushed the door and peered into the room, finding Enid’s bed neatly made, empty. Heart sinking, she hurried downstairs. “Enid!”
“What’s all this ruckus?” Magda stepped out from the kitchen with a steaming cup of tea in her hands, the linden blossoms a sickly-sweet scent wafting toward her.
“Where’s Enid?” she asked, pushing the woman aside to look in the kitchen next, then the garden through the frosted window, the single tree and plants covered in thick layers of frost in the back.
Nothing. She wasn’t here. Panic made Anelize rush for the door, yanking it open and letting a blast of cold air shove its way past her.
She stepped onto the landing, scanning the empty streets, her voice drowned out by the howling winds. “Enid!”
“Anelize, close the door at once! Have you lost all sense?” Magda said, grabbing her arm and pulling her back into the house, and hurriedly shutting the door.
Without wasting a second, Anelize spun on her heel and yanked the thick cloak she’d left draped over the stool behind the counter, wrapping it around herself.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Magda demanded.
“She’s gone out there to go find Wellyn, no doubt. The sun is still going down, if I leave now, I can find her in time.”
“If you don’t, you’ll condemn the both of you. It will be her own saint’s damned fault.”
“I don’t care. I’m not letting her be taken by the Watchmen or worse because of the cruelty you spewed at her,” Anelize said through gritted teeth, unlocked the door and yanked it open, Magda’s words lost to the night as she ran in search of her sister.