8. Chapter Eight #2
“Did you learn how to fight at the guild?”
“Yes, we could be attacked on our way to help villages and needed to know how to survive.” I make sure everything is back in its place and take one last look around.
“Do you think you could take Morvin out of here and let him find a hole in the palace wall for freedom?”
“Yes, I can do that if it’s what he wishes. Wouldn’t that leave you alone?”
He points his beak at the ground. “A crow is much more noticeable than a mouse.”
“If you wish to leave, I will take you. Climb onto my shoulder, and Morvin can go into my pocket.”
His wing bones flap up and down as though he’s dancing in place. “Are you sure? It may anger the king.”
“Let me worry about the cruel king.”
Aldric sticks his head behind a stack of wood next to the fireplace and returns a few minutes later with Morvin scurrying behind him.
The mouse crawls into my coat pocket, and the crow tucks himself between the white fur lining of my coat and my neck.
I take them back to the palace and straight up to my room, so I can deposit the three vials under my bed between the upper left bed leg and a small bedside table.
Since I hadn’t asked Zyon for permission to use the apothecary shed, I don’t want to chance that he would take them away from me.
He might not care if I survive or not, but I have no choice but to live because my baby brother needs me too.
Not even just him anymore. My entire family depends on me ending the curse and taking both cures to them.
I remove my winter gear and hang it in the small wardrobe next to my bathroom. “Both of you are welcome to stay in my room. The king enters whenever he likes without knocking, so be warned.”
“That is quite rude of him,” Aldric says.
“He is a rude person. The rudest I have ever met.”
“We will keep to the shadows. It is nice to be out of that shed. We have been stuck there for so long.” He picks up Morvin, when the mouse drops from my coat pocket, and carries him into my wardrobe.
I close the door just enough to keep them concealed, leaving room for them to exit whenever they want. “Let me know if you need anything. Do either of you eat?”
Aldric sticks his head out between a couple of dresses. “No, we no longer require food and water. I sometimes miss it.”
There’s a knock at my door, and a cat servant carries in a tray of sandwiches, scones, and tea as though some force wanted me to brag to Aldric how I can still eat.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper and back out of the cabinet.
The servant leaves me to my food, and I eat out of view of the wardrobe as quietly as possible. It will do me no good to avoid eating and lose my strength, though I have never eaten so well and don’t need as much as is offered.
The rest of the afternoon is spent looking for a library, and I hope to find a book on the history of the castle and a map.
I ask two passing servants if they know where the books are kept, and they tell me there are two libraries, but one is somewhere no one is allowed.
They refuse to tell me its location beyond that.
I follow their instructions to the one that is open to everyone and gape at the massive room.
Balconies stick out from levels and levels of books.
In the center of the first level is a staircase that branches off in two directions at the top of the second story.
I could live five hundred years and most likely not make it through every book.
So much knowledge is hoarded by the selfish king.
Hours pass with me looking through books, but the task is too great for me to find any sort of direction.
When I tire, I return to my tower and change into a white nightgown after brushing my hair and teeth. Aldric sticks his head out of the wardrobe briefly to let me know they love their new space. Eventually, I’ll encourage them to take advantage of the many rooms in the palace.
Lazzus startles me when I turn away from speaking with the bird. “What are you doing?”
“Looking at all my clothes,” I say.
“That makes sense.”
I crawl under my blankets and slide back onto my pillow. “Have you come to tell me how things started with Evelia?”
“Yes, we must have a bedtime story, shouldn’t we?”
“As though I am a child.”
“No, you are not a child, and adults need them too. That is something I have learned about humans. They love stories even into old age.”
“That’s true, but before we start, can you give me any clue at all where the cloak, key, and dagger are?”
“The castle is a pretty big place, I suppose. The dagger will be in an outbuilding. I can’t say much more than that. These are things you must find on your own to make the timing right. The key and cloak are indoors. The key is in place that many go here, and the cloak is behind a forbidden door.”
“There are many forbidden doors. Could you be more specific?”
“No, the key will be with many other keys.”
My shoulders drop, and I resist jumping up to punch him. If that would even be possible with his smoky appearance. “How will I know it’s the one?”
He makes the black rose appear in his hand, and one petal is dangling, ready to fall. “Remember how it felt to first find the rose?”
“The pull?”
“Yes. All three objects will feel that way when you are close, so as you search, concentrate on even the smallest twinge. If you follow any urgencies, you will find them and know they are what you seek.”
“I wish you would give better details, but that is good to know.” I suppress my yawn to keep him from leaving. “Story time. I want to know how you met Evelia and became obsessed with her.”
“I was a child.”
I jerk forward just enough to look at him better. “You were a child when you met her?”
A rumble rolls from his hood like an odd hum. “That’s the best word for it that you will understand. I was very young, as was Evelia. But that meant different things where we each came from.”
“You mean from different kingdoms?”
Short, cheerful growls sputtered from him. “No, realms.”
“You’re not from this realm?”
He lets out the same noise again, and it must be laughter. “You act as though you have known me for years and thought me human?”
“There are many monsters and creatures in this world, and I assumed you were one or maybe even a god.”
“Aren’t gods from other realms? More powerful realms full of greater magic.”
“I suppose that would make sense, and they can sometimes see into ours and turn events either to our favor or detriment.”
“Yes.”
“So, you’re a god?”
“Some would call me that, but I will tell you my story from the beginning, and you can determine what you believe I am. We will go back to when I had not existed long. By the standards of my kind, I was a child, though time isn’t the same where I came from.”
The tower fades into something wondrous and difficult to describe.
Stars fold into themselves as bright, colorful ribbons surround black rock that holds shimmering colors as though precious metals and stones have fused to the ground.
An entity I can’t comprehend hovers in front of me, and Lazzus starts the story.