L | SCROLLS AND SECRETS
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"DID YOU KEEP potion's bottle?" Oriel asked.
"That's the first thing you ask me?" Celvene replied. She removed the flask from her pocket, holding it out to Oriel.
They took it, picking up a rag from their desk and polishing the glass opening. "Bottles are getting expensive. I'd rather save them when possible."
"Don't you make a lot of money? You're in two of the highest positions in the castle."
"That's beside the point," they said. "What did you find on Aleksandr?"
"I haven't read it yet." She pulled two parchments from her tunic, handing one to Melantha. She wanted to go through the information as fast as possible, and having two sets of eyes on the scrolls would enable her to act faster.
Melantha took it, though a frown flickered on her face. "So what is this, exactly?"
"I guess we'll find out," Celvene said, opening her scroll.
"Wasn't it in the forbidden section? Are you sure these aren't rigged to explode in our faces when they're opened? Not to mention the questionable legality."
"You've been breaking laws too," Celvene said pointedly. "I can't even list every war crime Noriya has committed. I'm sure I don't know how many there are."
"Fair point," mumbled Melantha. "And I guess I didn't have a problem with it earlier. Just... it literally feels dirty. I can feel the dirt on it."
Oriel reached into their suit's breast pocket, removed a cloth, and waved it in the air, the white fabric untouched. "Precisely the reason I keep something on me at all times to remove dirt. Old books tend to be disgusting, for lack of a better word."
"I wasn't going to carry a cloth on me. Some of us were on the brink of death on the outskirts of a city that hates them. And others were holed up in a cushy study." Melantha's gaze drifted to Celvene. "I'm talking about you, not the scholar."
"Should've been better prepared, Mel," said Celvene, smiling as Melantha smirked and rolled her eyes. She still wasn't used to seeing the milky white of her eye instead of crimson, or the ruptured skin around her socket.
Oriel held out their cloth, shrugging. "Take it. I have six more. And be gentle."
Something was off with Oriel, though. Even though they'd spent time with Melantha—at least, Celvene assumed so, given the two were still together—their posture was still smaller than normal, their hands a tad more clenched, and they avoided looking at Melantha. Were they still uncomfortable with her?
She wouldn't find answers by beating around the bush. "Oriel, did you entertain Melantha?"
Silence.
"Talk to her, at least?"
Silence.
Celvene glanced at Melantha. "Alright, you tell me. Did you two actually speak?"
Melantha's mouth flapped open, then shut, then open again. Finally, she looked in Oriel's direction, but not at them, and said, "Uh... no, not really."
Celvene's lips thinned. "What, you just stood here the entire time in silence twiddling your thumbs?"
Melantha's eyes fell to her hands. "Well, now that you mention it, my thumbs are sore. I guess I was. That, and staring out the window."
"There's nothing even out there. It's a courtyard."
"Well, it's a change of scenery, and I could use looking out on a sunny courtyard filled with happy people after the past few days I've had."
Celvene bit back her reply. She knew if she looked out the window right now, the people in the courtyard might've been well-fed and happy, but that was because they were wealthy.
Most of the kingdom was starving, poor, and sad.
There wasn't anything else to it. Virion's mistakes and Aleksandr's ineptitude saw to that.
"We're going to have tea or something after I confront Ziel Rui. You two can get to know one another then. It would be quite awkward, assuming I take the throne, for my advisor and..." Celvene made a broad motion toward Melantha, "you to not get along."
She didn't know what to call herself and Melantha. Friends? Ex-friends? Friends to enemies—but not really, but sort of—to friends again? Something... more?
Her cheeks flushed hot. Was she allowed to think about that?
Melantha raised the scroll, seemingly oblivious to Celvene's fever. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Ziel Rui?" Oriel asked, cocking an eyebrow. Their hands wrapped around a book. Celvene imagined they'd been reading it instead of twiddling their thumbs. "You found something on her?"
"I've spent most of my day sneaking around the library to get that," Celvene gestured to the scroll Melantha was holding, "and you haven't even opened it.
It has our answers. You're lucky you're pretty, Mel, or else someone would've stolen your wallet because you were too slow to pay years ago.
" She decided to ignore what Melantha had asked.
"Difficult when you're inviting me to tea.
That's far more important to me," Melantha scoffed, taking the cloth from Oriel and wiping it across the scroll.
It did nothing but spread the dirt further thanks to Melantha applying far too much pressure.
Melantha's brows furrowed. "And theft isn't an issue in Norway. "
Oriel snickered under their breath, and Melantha said something Celvene couldn't understand. But based on the way she said it, it wasn't a compliment.
"I almost don't want to open it," Melantha said, yet Celvene could've sworn she heard a faint note of reluctance in her voice. "I'd love to be as shocked as my father is at the moment you reveal it. You're doing it at the ball tomorrow, right?"
"If everything goes according to plan. But getting around the castle is going to be a challenge. I don't want to rely on illusions. What if someone decloaks me?"
Oriel sighed. "You don't have to worry about getting caught if I'm doing the magic.
And the vast majority of workers here don't know magic, much less specific illusion spells.
They have a select few guards they call upon when they find someone they think is cloaked, if one isn't already working the gates. "
Melantha sighed, her eyes scanning the letter. "So why didn't my father throw the letters away? It's not like him to leave evidence behind. He's able to put on a convincing front for strangers, and I don't think he'd risk something like that getting out."
"Noriya still sends their messages by raven, and we have a ravenmaster to intercept the mail, assuming Aleksandr didn't get rid of them after he never received the letter," Oriel said, removing their glasses and cleaning the lens with the edge of their jacket.
"I haven't checked in with them recently, but I'd imagine that letter was sent after Virion's death and Aleksandr's start on his path to steal the crown.
There's a possibility the ravenmaster read the letter and didn't deliver it to Aleksandr. Rather, they went straight for Risis.
She would have read it and put it away in the archives. "
Celvene frowned. "Did they not think to... you know, tell us? Me? This could've turned the tides before the summer. This whole pursuit started months ago, for the Gods' sake. It's gone on for too long."
Oriel's eyes flitted to Celvene, whose scowl deepened. "Not everyone is as careless with their safety as you are. They would've known they'd lose their job and be thrown in prison had Aleksandr found out they'd spread his lies and plans."
"Okay. Thank you for that. They wouldn't have had to worry about it if they'd come to me with it. I would have protected them."
"There's a chance it happened before Virion's death. Either way, you have it now, so there's no use chirping about how stupid the castle's staff is."
Celvene hated to admit it, but Oriel had a point.
Aleksandr was lax with her. He didn't think she was a real threat to the throne.
And the ravenmaster exposing all of Aleksandr's dirty secrets would mean, if the kingdom didn't believe them, that they would be persecuted to the highest extent from Aleksandr. He wouldn't want to risk the kingdom turning against him and starting an uprising protesting his rule.
Which was exactly what Celvene planned to trigger.
"I guess you're right," she said, undoing the worn ribbon wrapped around the rolled parchment. While it was tied with a firm knot, it had clearly been opened before. So either Aleksandr had gotten his hands on it, but lost it somehow, or the ravenmaster had read it before Aleksandr could.
She opened it, feeling the faded parchment beneath her fingers.
She couldn't tell whether the paper was so aged because of its stay in the forbidden section, or because it had been sent months earlier.
Either way, all she could hope was for it to be something incriminating. She began to scan the paper.
When Celvene finally finished reading, she realized she'd been holding her breath.
She looked up from the parchment, and the world around her was spinning, spotted with black dots.
Blinking a few times, she forced herself to breathe, and when she glanced back at the paper, she'd ripped a small tear at the top.
She closed the letter, resisting the urge to crumple the parchment.
"I'm assuming you read something... not favorable," said Oriel, sliding their glasses back onto their nose.
Their voice was impassive, but between the increased flickering of their artificial leg and their widened eyes, Celvene knew they were nervous.
And if Oriel was nervous, this was serious.
"I..." She couldn't find the words. They were on the tip of her tongue, but when she tried to speak, no noise came out of her mouth.
Melantha moved into view and bumped Celvene's shoulder with her own, a concerned frown twitching on her lips. "Are you okay?"
Celvene couldn't respond. All she could do was lean against a stool, wiping her brow with her free hand.
She could feel Melantha loop Celvene's arm around her own to help her stand, but the world still blurred.
She'd expected this. She should've been happy she was right. So why did it feel so wrong?
She swallowed and rested her hand on her chest. "I was right."
Oriel raised an eyebrow. "On what front?"
"Everything. Zelphar sent Aleksandr a letter that details everything. He's working with them. They're planning attacks. And there will be two more by the end of the month." Celvene's eyes widened.
She didn't want to utter the next words; she didn't want to speak the mere possibility into existence. "What if he's setting the ball up to be attacked?"
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