CHAPTER IX
FIRE AND EARTH
“I don’t think you should be alone with His Grace and brother tonight, Alexis,” Mana says quietly at my side, the two brothers walking me down the second story hall of the residence.
I sigh, thinking the same thing on our quiet walk back through the woods.
I didn’t know what version of Keane would greet me tonight, but I did know I wasn’t in my own right mind to handle it correctly. Golem would do his thing with the brothers… it was all I could hope for now.
“Let me grab my things,” I reply as we continue down the encasing white marble walls.
I push through the door and into the quiet room as Holis follows closely behind.
My Discerni friend grabs my traveling packs from the foot of the bed, his eyes looking at me in small sadness as I look around the room in anguish.
I would greet Keane and Desmond tomorrow, whenever we heard word of our departure, and would wait for Golem to bring them back to normal before telling them what we saw in Stefan’s pub.
They needed to be their normal selves to hear it.
Mana gives me a small nod from the door, holding it open as the three of us continue back to their room, all of us consumed in our thoughts at what transpired.
We all knew that we wanted to speak with each other, knew that we were waiting until we were alone to even dare say a word, and didn’t want our revelation to be overheard.
Mana opens their door in the middle of the hall, extending his hands to Holis as his twin passes my packs over. I turn to Holis just as Mana walks inside, not understanding why we aren’t joining him.
“Cal and Alanna,” he replies softly.
My heart lurches forward, glad we’re going back to them. Mana steps out of the room and closes the door before we all walk quietly to the middle of the residence, bounding down the sweeping staircase and into the hall again, moving towards the two doors that rest across the way from the kitchens.
“It’s us,” Mana knocks.
Alanna opens the door quickly, her cool grey eyes looking around as the three of us move swiftly into the room. To my surprise, Nathaniel, Bryson and Sam are here as well, the soldiers standing at our arrival as I take in the small room.
The walls still shimmer in their pristine white, though they form a room best suited for a single occupant, barely two.
A single bed rests at each corner, the two crammed together with the thinnest of sheets lying across them.
My eyes narrow at the sight, feeling my blood boil as I walk between the beds and let my back rest against the wall.
“Tell me what you saw,” I demand of the group.
I need to know I wasn’t hallucinating.
“The pub is not as we were meant to see, Alex,” Cal grimaces at my side from the bed. His elbows rest on his knees as he leans forward, head tilted up with a new darkness in his eyes.
I grimace and turn my gaze to Alanna.
“You’ve told me before that the humans in Woodlands live in huts and hovels. Did what you see remind you of that?”
“Yes,” Alanna nods, her features cold. “Exactly as I remember.”
Dear Ancients. Nothing’s changed.
“What is causing it?” I look at the Discerni brothers, not understanding the magic enough to make a guess. “What can hold an illusion so well that we all can’t see through it?”
Mana turns to his brother, the two of them looking at eachother for a long moment before he replies with a small frown. “There has to be a very powerful Discerni here to create and maintain that kind of summoning. He’ll use the earth around it. Manipulate it the way he wants it to be seen…”
“Perhaps more than one,” Holis scowls, turning to me, “maybe that’s what they do from above. Why they don’t come down from the woods.”
My brows raise. It’s a compelling theory.
“Has anyone tried this room?”
Cal and Alanna shake their heads.
I nod and reach into my bag, my heart racing as I pull out the matchbook that I stored from earlier.
Everyone’s eyes focus on my hands, watching as I pull the edge of the thin green sheet away from the corner of the bed and let it fall to the ground.
I take a deep breath before striking a match, dropping it to the ground as the small flame reaches for the fabric.
We all wait in anticipation, looking at the ground and the walls around us as nothing happens.
“Of course this is real,” I scoff, quickly stomping my boot on the sheet.
I hate this place with every part of my being.
Cal turns his thoughtful gaze to the twins. “Why fire? Why does it affect the magic?”
“If the homes are still as I remember,” Alanna grimaces, walking to the bed as she takes a seat next to Cal, “then they are extremely old and prone to go up in flames at the smallest burn. The fire affected the magic because it is pure. The Pyrenese believe the flames destroy impurities...”
“Do you think the humans of the village see it as it is, then?” I ask no one in particular, remembering Stefan’s eyes as they roamed around his pub when I told him it was welcoming. “Do you think they live normally and it’s only us who are held to the summoning?”
Nathaniel lets out a hard breath. “That’s fucked up.”
“Yes,” I nearly laugh, pushing off the wall as I pace between the beds, “and have any of you noticed the large sacks that some of them carry on their backs? It’s not wood that weighs them down.”
“Of course we have,” Cal grimaces as the rest of the room nods. “This whole place is just downright suspicious. But what does Keane think of it all, Alex? Why are you speaking with us and not him?”
I stop in my movements, letting my gaze fall slowly on the brothers as they both look at me in heavy kindness.
“The King is indisposed,” I grimace at the group, “both him and his brother. Hopefully just for the night. I’m letting Golem keep a close eye on them.”
“When you say indisposed…” Alanna replies slowly, her voice cool and grey eyes hard on mine.
Do I tell them? Worry them?
She looks at me in resolute, and I know by her determined gaze that there will be no avoiding the truth.
“They, too, are under a small illusion of sorts,” I reply quietly. “They’re experiencing emotions of contentment and adoration, enjoying their night and the Discerni here without suspicion.”
Alanna stands up quickly from bed, her features filled with silent rage.
“That is the King of Disce and its Master Informer, Alexis! They should be under no influence.”
“They shouldn’t,” I agree with the fiery woman, letting my own rage match hers, “but the situation needs to be handled carefully, Alanna.”
Ancients, I sound so much like the brothers right now.
“Golem has agreed to pull them out with his own summoning,” I continue, “but he needs to be alone with them to do so.”
“How is he supposed to that? If there’s anyone in this room who can get the King alone, it’s you, human,” Alanna scowls, crossing her arms over her chest.
I shake my head, feeling my heart push violently against my chest at the indifference that rested behind Keane’s eyes when he looked at me.
“It’s not that simple.”
“Then we need to make it simple,” Alanna takes a hard step forward, reminding me so much of myself from last night. I now understood the brothers’ hesitancy, the anger in their knowledge that sometimes the best thing to be done in the moment is nothing at all.
“Golem has it handled, Alanna,” I tell her steadily.
“Then we what?” she asks, “sleep for the night and hope all works out well? Let the Woodlands Discerni continue to summon and do Ancients knows what else they’re doing? If they feel comfortable enough to use summoning against the King, what more are they doing now as we wait around?”
“It is not the Woodlands Discerni that affect the brothers,” I sigh, bringing my hand up to my temple as a steady ache begins to form, “but their brother, Prince Troy.”
All three soldiers look at me with wide eyes as Cal does the same, the room becoming unbearably still.
“I know it because the Prince once did the same to me. He can summon emotions into a being and make them feel a certain way. I believe he’s only distracting the two, keeping their minds away from any ill thoughts while they’re in Etter.”
Or so I hope.
Alanna pushes quickly past me, moving to the foot of the bed as she rummages through her packs and pulls out her oak wood and pen.
“Are Alexander and Canon still with the two?” she asks hastily.
“They were when we left,” Mana nods as we all watch the blonde Discerni write.
“They need to be made aware,” she scribbles into the wood fast.
“Both of those men suspect,” I grimace, remembering their gazes on Keane at the table. “Or they’ve noticed something odd.”
“But for how long…” Alanna frowns deeply, watching her words disappear.
I scowl.
Does she think Troy will attempt the same on them?
We all wait in anticipated silence, the air around us tense and unwavering. Alanna stares at the oak before she lets out a sigh of relief, announcing to the group.
“Lord Alexander is okay. He suspects something is off with the two and will be talking to Canon shortly. He says the dinner is winding down.”
We all take a collective exhale, comforted by the words.
“How long will it take Golem to do what he needs to do?” Cal asks, also standing from the bed.
“Possibly all night,” I sigh to my friend, “and maybe into the morning once we depart. I won’t know until I see the King.”
“And what of what we found out tonight?” he continues, voice extremely low.
Nathaniel, Bryson and Sam all look at me, their gazes curious as well. I consider the question, knowing that Keane’s fury will be unmatched when he learns what happened in the pub.
“We need to remain as we were, unsuspecting and with our heads down,” I tell the group. “Please pack and be ready to leave at first dawn. That much I can convince the brothers…”
I turn to Alanna with a hard grimace, looking her directly in the eyes.
“Let Alexander know as well, and Canon. We leave Etter swiftly tomorrow morning before the sun rises.”