Chapter 23 Connecting The Dots Might Lead Me To A Vacation
They had only walked a few distances before Maeve stopped. They were in a hall, quite far away from the training grounds, open enough so any passerby could hear whatever they were saying.
Amir did not feel comfort in it.
Still, he said nothing as she made a movement with her hand. “We will start slow, yes? You believe that the Duke might be part of the reason I got poisoned?”
“He works for the Queen,” He had seen many things before, felt many things… but hearing her voice now, after all this time. Seeing her talk to him. It was such a strange feeling. Like he had been thirsty for the longest of times. “He was the one who came to my village, claiming that she was ready to help fix our problem. We said we did not believe it and why would we? He fought with a few of us,”
“Did anyone die?”
“No.” He sighed, “But many were injured. It seemed… it seemed she already did not expect him to speak with us. She just needed us to see the… strength he possessed, I believe, to make us understand the might of her army since he leads it.”
“So you believe he poisoned me… because she asked for it?” That would make sense. It fit the Queen’s style. Poison her for something. For a reason. But would the Duke accept something like that? And when would he have poisoned her? When he put his mouth over her?
Held her wrist?
She couldn’t even tell what it was. Maybe the foods? The drinks? She had to be more careful.
It still didn't suit his M.O. He looked so worried when he realized Isabella had ‘lost her memory’. Causing actual harm felt so far-fetched.
“Did you ever find out your mana rank? Or affinity?”
Maeve raised an eyebrow at that. “How do you know about it?”
“I was there.” Then he took his hand out. Right on his wrist was a mark. A snake mark. “It was the same day she recruited me. She said she needed us as spies, to know more about you and how you were. And she would fix whatever it is that ravaged our lands,”
“But you came to me to ask for my help?”
“Yes.” Amir sighed, taking a hand through his hair. “I… I had only realized after I told you that she expected you to find out and I told you, because when I tried to tell you— what I am, I could not speak it. The mark on the wrist burned, sending shockwaves up my—”
Maeve suddenly grabbed his arm, hurrying with it to the light as she gazed down at it. It looked like any other snake tattoo she would have seen if she walked into a dark alley and took the hands of the first druggie she met but there was… there was something about its eyes.
She could, never (write that down) NEVER forget something that could bring her money, “It looks like the snake I found on me when I was passed out,”
“What?”
“Well,” She raised his hand and angled her head. “They all look the same but I feel a connection to it. Almost as if I can smell it all over again. So the snake I met belonged to her? How fascinating. She’s everywhere apparently,”
It seemed the Queen counted on every little event that had happened… almost as if she was gently pushing all of this towards a specific point.
A Key Beat.
All of this, everything that had happened that seemed to be influenced by the Queen’s hand. Almost as if she needed Maeve to reach a certain point. And if the poisoning was part of her plans as well, then she also was aware of the fact that Maeve could have survived it. NACE hadn’t said it was a skill… or explained her survival.
Which meant… her mana had to do something with it. Her black mana.
“Why… why are you smiling?”
Maeve couldn’t help it. The grin spreading across her face did so of its own accord, especially since she knew now that if she followed the Queen, then perhaps, another key beat would follow. And then another. And if she got TWO more key beats then…
THEN VACATION.
Maeve could almost smell the ocean breeze, taste the coconut in her mouth. She’d get a pineapple kebab, mixed with— wait. Pizza! By the heavens, there would be pizza. And she’d lay next to the beach and—
“You are… drooling,”
She quickly wiped the sides of her mouth, “Focus. Stop trying to admire my lips. Where was I? You are right, perhaps. Your theory. I am not… certain, but I will not hold it against you. Still, I will have to cut our conversation here short because I believe the Duke should not be sparring for Lucien this long without supervision. Especially if the Queen has whatever leverage she has on him?”
Amir didn’t know if she was lying. She never spoke straightforwardly like other nobles. Or like the Queen. The Queen didn’t seem like she talked much. If anything, the first time he had seen her, it had been the same lazy stare she possessed when they met again at the Velaris. .
She said questions, leading statements but barely said anything of what she wanted, focusing the attention of the people around her away from herself.
But Isabella talked.
Just… very strange. For a noble. Or a human. He sighed, taking his hand from her. “Would you like anything done to him?”
Maeve shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe a little push? A little shove? Something that angers him slightly. Whatever happens, I’ll need him to throw a tiny tantrum. He talks more in that state. By the way, could you help me by channeling my mana? Making it come out, I mean,”
His face seemed to crack. “I— I do not—”
“I did not ask what you are, nor did I push you to explain,” Maeve cut in, pulling down the sleeve of her shirt. “I need to know for certain what I have, and I’d like to believe whatever affinity will show if I am in immense pain. Lucien would rather put the pain on himself. The Duke… well, that’s not a good plan. You have no connections to me so you’d do a better job in putting my life in as much danger as I need. Can you kill someone?”
He stared at her. Stated at her very long. Then softly sighed, “We are bound by Vashka not to—”
“Good.” She smiled brightly. “Now, go, go. I need to speak with him,”
Amir bowed, knowing she was already done with him. That was how she was at the beginning. That was how she always was.
But as he left, he couldn’t help but wonder…
What happened when she decided she was done with a person?