Chương 93: Chapter 91: Closer.

The door closed behind Cordelia, and the library was quiet again. I stood in the doorway for longer than I should have. The faint scent of her perfume lingered. It was the scent of lilies. It rather suited her. On the table, the pastry box sat open. The tarts were untouched. Every single one of the creampuffs had been eaten. There were no more chocolate cheesecakes, and I was sure Cordelia hadn't reached for them. Sere had been rather busy, and I had been far too focused to really notice.

She smiled at me, obviously noticing that I'd noticed. I reached over and ruffled her hair. She ducked away, but not very hard.

"How's your arm? Does it still hurt?" Sere shook her head very vigorously, too vigorously. I didn't press, I had done so plenty of times already. I heard footsteps before I saw her. Her steps were always measured. The door opened, and Anias stepped into the library. There was a tray floating in the air behind her. She took in the scene at a glance. Everything on the table began to glow and float, gently moving over to the tray and placing themselves. She said nothing while she did this.

"How were things while I was gone?" I asked. The question was overdue. I had been back for almost a full day now and I hadn't asked. There had been the parade, and then the planning, and then Cordelia and through all of it I had been too tired to do the one thing I should have done first. Anias didn't look up from the tray.

"The Greenward overtures to the Counts began soon after your departure. He sent letters first, then dinner invitations. Both Counts declined. Naturally, Count Vance wasn't there to decline."

"That's good."

"Count Sterling was slower to decline than Count Calloway. It took him two days, Count Calloway declined within a day." Anias set the teapot on the tray with no sound at all.

"I would not read too much into the delay, My Lady. Sterling's courier was ill. I confirmed it." Of course she had confirmed it. Anias confirmed everything. And I had not read into it…hadn't read much into it, anyway.

"What else?"

"There was a dispute in the textile quarter. Two merchants both claimed the same warehouse space near the eastern market. A man called Sollins had a lease. Another called Garrett had a lease as well." A pause.

"Garrett's was forged, and forged poorly."

"How poorly?"

"He used the wrong seal. The District registry stamp changed eight months ago. His document bore the old one." Anias's tone was dry.

"I imagine you retrieved the original?" Anias nodded absently.

"Indeed. It didn't even take two hours." I almost smiled. There was something almost meditative about listening to her. Something about her tone, that made each word feel smooth.

"Also," Anias said, her tone shifting by the smallest degree, "seven marriage proposals arrived during your absence." I groaned.

"Seven?" I asked.

"I thought I already rejected everyone in this damned city." Anias nodded, and this time there was the hint of a smile on her face.

"You did, My Lady. These came from outside the city." Well, that was just lovely.

"Was there anyone of important note?"

"No, not especially." Anias said.

"Nobody above the rank of Viscount. I rejected all of them per your standing instructions." I thought she was done, but she continued, "One was unusually persistent. A Baron's son from the Eastern Province. He sent three letters in ten days."

"Three?"

"The third included poetry."

"Was it good poetry?"

"No, My Lady." I laughed, and it felt good, and I said nothing for a moment before I stepped forward. Anias went still when I hugged her. She was taller than me, and for a second I was just pressing my face into the shoulder of her dress. Her body was rigid.

"Thank you," I said.

"For taking care of things when I was gone. I should have said this when I first got back. I was tired. And…not just that. Thank you for everything." That was the truth, and it was a small thing to admit. It still felt like pulling a tooth. I did it anyway. Anias did not move for three heartbeats. Then, very carefully, her hands settled on my back.

"Welcome home, My Lady." Her voice was quiet. Her hands stayed for just a moment, then lifted. Neither of us said anything else as she left.

"Sere, are you here?" I asked the empty room as I looked around. She didn't appear. She'd wandered off, but where- "Ah. To see her, probably." Dorothy was still at the mansion. The woman had been exhausted after we'd made haste to get back as soon as possible, and it had felt wrong to just toss her out. So, for the day, she was staying here. In a few days, after she'd developed the pictures and after she'd done her writing, she would publish her article. The one that would change my life.

There might be some rumors before then, but rumors from drunken men in bars could only ever be that. I took a deep breath. It was fine. This is the path I've chosen, after all. The training courtyard was warm in the late afternoon light. I paused at the entrance. The sparring ring -the one Violet had so thoroughly cratered before the expedition- had been repaired. Fresh stone now filled the gaps where her hammer had folded the tiles in half. It didn't look like the work of an artisan. It looked like…

someone's Gift. Damian's work, I was certain, even without asking. He had gone to his own house, but it seemed he hadn't done so right away. He hadn't mentioned it. I looked at the ring for a few seconds longer than I needed to, then moved on. Violet was already there. She had her feet up on a small elevation on the grass, arms folded behind her head, eyes closed. She opened one eye when she heard me coming." Took you long enough. Thought you were having another tea party."

"Just the one." I sat down across from her on the grass, cross-legged.

"Ready?" Violet scooted closer to me. She cracked her knuckles, rolled her neck.

"Hit me."

"That's not how this works."

"Then un-hit me. Whatever." I closed my eyes. Breathed in, breathed out. I channeled a small amount of mana outward, letting it radiate from my core and through my hands, reaching toward Violet. This was the part I could do. The mana moved. It flowed outward, pressing against the air between us. I could feel the edge of something. The point where my awareness met hers. It was odd. I was touching another perception. I was not touching her physical body, though I was touching that too.

I was touching some immaterial part of her. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Her soul, maybe? From my tests and my questions, it didn't seem like anyone else felt this same sensation. That meant it was specific to my Gift. That meant this was my Edict. I pushed. It was like pressing my hands against thin glass. I could feel the surface and could almost feel the shape of what lay behind it. The surface beyond was warm, even against the glass.

I pushed harder and the mana slid off. Dissipated into the air like smoke.

"Anything?" I asked, though I already knew.

"Nah." I tried again. This time, I focused on precision rather than force. I used thinner threads of mana. I guided them toward Violet, tried to weave them into the seams in the glass I could almost feel. The glass resisted. Well, that wasn't quite right. It was like saying a wall resisted when you pressed against it. I opened my eyes. Violet was watching me with her head tilted.

"You're thinking too hard," she said idly.

"It's supposed to be easy."

"I'm always thinking too hard. That's the problem." I reached for Vaelin. I wanted to feel his presence. The Godblade stirred in the back of my mind. Now that I had a grasp of what the Godblade was, it felt silly not to ask. What am I missing? Do you know? There was a pause. Then, with it came the distinct impression of puzzlement, as if I had asked it why water was wet: Severance. I stared inward at the blade's presence. It genuinely did not understand the question. I tried not to sigh.

The Godblade cut things, why the hell would it know how to use my Gift? Well, despite the failure, I still thought asking it wasn't too silly. I tried a third time. I poured everything I had into it. The mana surged outward even as Violet almost fell flat on the grass. I felt my awareness brush against the shape of something. There was a flickering instant where something almost connected. A pull that almost locked in place. It was gone Violet blinked, rose and rubbed the back of her head.

"Felt something that time, besides the damn pressure... Kinda like a buzzing behind my eyes."

"Really?" I leaned forward.

"What kind of buzzing?"

"I don't know. Buzzing. Like…." She put a finger on her chin, looked up thoughtfully.

"I don't know. Just a bloody buzzing." How very eloquent. Perhaps I had asked for the wrong training partner. I tried to replicate it anyway. I tried again, pushing the same way, with the same amount of mana. Nothing changed. I let out a breath and lay back against the grass, staring up at the sky. So close. There was something I was missing. Something fundamental about the way this was supposed to work. I could feel it the way you feel a word sitting on the tip of your tongue but can't quite remember it.

It was so infuriatingly close.

"Break?" Violet asked.

"Break." She stretched, rolling her shoulders. Violet winced and then paused. Then, she tried to hide it. Tried to hide it and failed. Violet Indri could not hide a damn thing. That was the shoulder she had landed on when the dragon's tail had struck her. Alira had healed the worst of it, but her healing left the phantoms of wounds. That S-rank healer could have helped, but she wasn't in Aelheim at the moment. It must hurt. The last thing I wanted was such an obvious reminder of what I'd asked of my friend.

I would never stop being grateful for her. I could imagine the pain myself and- There was a buzzing. Violet paused, rolled her arms again, more freely this time. Her wince softened. I noticed the odd moment. Could it be? Before I could ask, Violet had turned towards me. Her gaze was rather intense. Surprisingly intense, as if she wanted to fight me right here. Which… I would do, if that's what she wanted.

"Why that girl?" She asked, abruptly turning away. Violet picked at the grass in front of her, pulling out blades one at a time... pulling them out very hard. She did not need to mention who, I understood.

"I don't get it. She's going to report everything back to her father. You know that."

"I know."

"I mean everything." Violet said.

"Even shit you didn't think about. Her type are always like that." Once, Violet would have never thought to say something observant like that. I sat up straighter.

"She warned me, Violet. At the gate. I told you that."

"Or she played you into thinking she did." Violet grumbled. A response came and my mouth opened. I abruptly closed it. That…was a possibility. Not one I had considered very seriously, but it could have happened.

"You weren't there," I said.

"At the tea party. The first one. Or at the parade when I asked her."

"I was at the parade."

"You know what I mean." Violet ripped out a small clump of grass and threw it forwards.

"I saw you bow to her like some damn Knight. After her bastard father tried to get you killed in your sleep." Her voice had gone quiet. Not Violet-quiet, which was still louder than most people's normal volume -actually quiet.

"She's not her father," I said.

"She doesn't have to be her father to be dangerous." I couldn't fully dismiss that either. It seemed she had been giving this a lot of thought. I would not dishonor her with some clever argument I wasn't entirely sure of myself.

"She's coming to the orphanage opening tomorrow." Violet's head snapped toward me and something sharp crossed her face. I didn't think it was anger, not exactly. Something hotter, and more personal instead."What? When did you-" She caught herself. Her jaw tightened.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm telling you now."

"You just- you invited her, just like that? Without-""Without what?" Violet didn't finish. Her hand went to her braid. She tugged at it, then tugged again, hard enough that it must have hurt.

"I'm coming too," she said flatly. I tilted my head, reached out a hand and flicked her forehead.

"Wasn't that obvious anyway? I try to go everywhere with you, unless I think you're going to break something." She froze and bit her lower lip. Violet looked away from my gaze.

"You had that damn tea party without me."

"You…wanted to be part of a tea party?" She grunted. It wasn't quite a laugh, but it was close enough.

"Fair." That seemed to make her less annoyed, though the tension didn't fully leave her shoulders. She stood abruptly, scooped up her warhammer from where it leaned against a small stone.

"Can we spar? I need to hit something." I stood, moved over and drew a practice blade from the rack at the courtyard's edge. This was new, and rather convenient. Anias's work, I assumed. The sword was heavier than I would have liked. That was fine. Violet hit harder than usual. I didn't comment on it. We moved across the fresh stone of the repaired ring, and the sound of steel on steel filled the courtyard until the light turned amber and then began to fade. The Manor was quiet.

My room was dark save for the faint blue glow of a new Magical Implement near my window. It hummed softly, filling the space with a warm blue light. The humming was rather pleasant, though the light was… less so. One of Anias's less favorable changes. Sere was asleep in my bed. She had snuck past Violet, which was an achievement in itself. By the time I'd retired from my office, she was already curled beneath the covers, her sling carefully arranged beside her pillow. Her notepad lay open on the nightstand. Please?

I did not have nearly the heart to say no. I sat on the edge of the bed, one leg tucked beneath me, and brushed her hair away from her face. It was tangled -it was always tangled. The blonde strands caught the faint light as I worked through them with my fingers, careful not to pull too hard. Sere murmured something in her sleep and pressed closer to my hand. I kept brushing. It was a simple, repetitive motion.

The kind of motion that let the mind wander in directions it wouldn't go while the body was busy doing something else. Tomorrow, I was opening an orphanage. It was a small but sturdy building, repurposed from a warehouse Count Calloway had acquired. I had neglected those children for too long, unable to face them. I did not understand why. It wasn't like I had taken them. Cordelia and Violet were both coming. That… all I could do was pray there was still an orphanage left after those two met.

There were so many things to think about. No wonder I'd started to get bags under my eyes. I thought about the Edict practice. There had been something there, at the end. I should have pushed at the moment, but the conversation had been more important. Even now, I still did not know if this was a power anyone was supposed to have. My Edict. If it really was the power to reach into another person's perception and make it mine… then surely it was a rather dark power.

Did I, of all people, have the right to something like that?

"Silly question to ask," I murmured.

"When I've already decided to." I would figure it out. I had to. Sere shifted in her sleep, and I adjusted the covers around her shoulder, the uninjured one. My fingers lingered there for a moment, feeling the rise and fall of her breathing. Vaelin stirred. There was a presence, warm in a way it had not been before the mountain, before the cave. Then, very softly, he spoke: Ellaine. I went still. My hand stopped mid-stroke in Sere's hair. The name was said so softly, almost gently.

I did not know Vaelin could be gentle. Though… I suppose he had been in that cave, at the end. I just breathed, and let the name sit in the silence. I kept brushing Sere's hair. The tangles came out slowly. She slept on, undisturbed. I lay down beside Sere, one arm draped over her. She curled into me immediately, her small hand bunching the front of my shirt. She was warm, and soft. The night was quiet. I closed my eyes. For once, I did not dream of anything at all.