Chapter 32: Chapter 30
“When the stones begin to speak, be wary of the opinion of the digger”
Xanthanius
I was yet to have my seat when the door was opened.
“You sent for me?” Anthonier’s voice was as exhausted as he looked. Ever since that night, he and I had been throttling around every thing that seemed relevant to solving our mystery.
It involved sleepless nights of reading and decoding.
Internally, I hated that I was putting him through this mess.
“First of all, do you know if the message got to Granj and Hilra that she has woken up?” Finally sitting down at the head of the table. We were in the Townsend meeting room.
“I am aware of that of Hilra because we were together when the messages came. What I can not certify is that of Granj but I trust the guard to deliver it appropriately. How did you know she was awake?” He occupied the seat to my right so it would be easier for us to discuss.
“I was with her”
And despite the tension of the season, Anthonier still found a way to smirk at that statement. “Is that so?” He added with a sheepish smile.
“Fix your face or else I would do that for you. I have some information that might be helpful to us”
“From her?”
“Oddly, yes”
He listened with rapt attention as I forged ahead.
“Apparently, that day at the tower, she did see something. The Hecate had not only put her in a trance but revealed something to her”
“Which is?” The question fueled from pure curiosity.
“Lack of eyes. She showed her herself without eyes and urged her to ask her what she was and open up her mind to her”
When Anthonier said nothing again and seemed to only be interested in listening, I continued. “That does not paint your mistress in a good light. We are yet to understand why she demanded her presence and now she is dropping clues with her?”
For a heartbeat, he thought quietly “Was that all she revealed?”
He obviously wanted to full tale first.
“No. She also said, the guard that she had killed was just like the Hecate during the Hex. Eyeless”
Anthonier narrowed his eyes in a little confusion. “I am very sure all the guards had their eyes intact and none had been gorged out”
“She could swear he had skin where his eyes should have been. Just like our escaped prisoner. I do not know if you are thinking what I am?”
“Your mistress can see through hexes?” My high adviser said.
That was a point I had not considered.
“There’s a possibility of that. But there is also the tale of: the guards had been hexed by the same source. Now initially, she denied using any charms on the guard currently in our medical facility but the same hex she had used on Marina was the same she had used on the guards who attacked because it presented the same way to the one person who had been influenced or attacked by it”
“I’m a bit more surprised you called your mistress by her name. Sometimes I think you forget it”
“Focus!” I half yelled “Based on what we had read. For a hex that strong to work, she had to be close to the people she had charmed”
“Meaning, she was around the castle the night of the ball” Anthonier finally saw where I was headed.
“Now there are two things that can be drawn from this. Number one is the fact that she may have stolen the real sword and number two is…”
“Unless she had a carriage, she was not the one to kill Caraven. Someone else had” he cut me through my analysis to complete it.
I watched him release a huff of air through his nostrils and run his hand through his hair. Making it more disheveled than before. “Did she say anything else?”
“Yes, but let us take it one at a time. She is as confused as us all on why she was attacked specially. Based on her narration of the story, the guard did not intend to kill her. He had wanted to kidnap her”
“I would link it to your Hecate. She has a specific interest in your mistress”
“But why? Up until she was my mistress, she did not seem to have any interest in the girl whatsoever. She had not even set eyes on her when she requested her presence” I was still confused.
“And you are certain you broke through the hex before she could touch her?”
“One hundred percent. I would have sliced her hand off before she even had the chance to transmit the charm. Your mistress was un-transmitted”
“You mean your mistress?”
“Anthonier you already know who I am talking about”
“I do but at the same time I’m trying to lighten the weight of this situation, we need a break. It’s all coming too fast” I understood him perfectly. “In order not to divert the topic, what else did she say?”
“With regard to the sword, she claims she was the only one who held onto it. In an attempt of self defense, it was the nearest she could grab and the only contact it made with the guard was when she stabbed him”
“So she is also saying she is certain the sword was not swapped?”
“Yes” unfortunately.
The sound of the door shutting caused My high adviser and I to look at who just walked in. We were too occupied with our conversation to even hear when it had been opened.
It was Hilra.
“Carry on. I have been here for a few minutes now and it did not stop the conversation. I figured I should keep the door closed when the gravity of the information I was hearing was getting too risky” she walked towards the table and took the opposite end. The farthest from Anthonier and I.
“Now let’s try to draw a sketch of the course of events, shall we?” Anthonier said, not waiting for a response as he carried on. “You’ve had this woman for months and the only time she was willing to bargain information, was when the mistress came into play”
“Yes”
“She requested to only see the lady and she would give you a clue”
“Which she did” my interjections were to let him know I was following.
“She had tried to hex your mistress and revealed something only the mistress could see and in that same line, she used the same hex on the guards that had caused them to attack the castle and specifically, kidnap this same mistress”
“Indeed”
“To attack the castle, she had to be close by. Meaning she was around us when it all happened but she did not steal the sword because Marina was sure she had the sword and from prior recall of scenario, you saw when the sword dropped from her hand”
“Exactly”
“The fact our Hecate was close by, it meant Caraven was killed by someone else who is probably not under our radar yet”
“And that’s where we are”
“Xanthanius, is there anything else?”
“Yes. She had believed the Hecate was my mother”
Anthonier and Hilra could not help the snicker that escaped them at the information. Had I not been troubled, I may have found amusement with them too.
“And where did she hear that from?” Hilra asked, still muffling down laughter.
“Now this is where it gets interesting” I said, as I leaned forward “she said, the rumor began from The Eclaris Pub”
I could see their eyes widen at the surprise. It was the same way I felt when she had told me too.
“Excuse me, did you just say a pub?” Anthonier wanted to be sure.
“Yes. She said all rumors and tales that spread across the country originate from that pub. The Hecate’s clue said a man at a pub would stand out to me and this is the first pub I am hearing of that generated a rumor about me”
Hilra and my high adviser looked to each other before looking back to me. “We may have our pub then” Hilra said.
Endless nights of trying to find a solution, the clue was a rumor house?
“Now how do we find this man at the pub, that is the major question” it was not just the pub, there ought to be a man of interest.
“The person who spoke of the pub should lead you to him. Or better still, should go to him”
Anthonier and I were surprised that Hilra had suggested sending the mistress on a political errand when she was the one against it the last time. Which was why we had not informed her.
“Do not gape at me like two idiots who share a common brain cell. You have already begun using her for your errands, complete it.” Her last words letting us know that she was still angered by the Caraven quest we had sent the mistress on and allowing her to speak with the descendant witch,
Even though it yielded results.
“When she gets better then, she could carry that out.” Said Anthonier.
Sounded like a reasonable idea. Only thing was, how long would that take.
“She made a request on the night of the ball…” I chipped in.
“Bold girl”
“Tactical”
Hilra and Anthonier said respectively, cutting my sentence short but I continued anyway “I could trade with her. Visit the pub for her request”
“And what did she ask for?” Her palace maid asked.
“To visit her family” reminded of how crestfallen she appeared when I had rejected her offer.
“Strong enough bait. You would deliver the message yourself then?” This was my high adviser. Of course he would want me to.
“Like you would go if I asked you to”
“Glad to know we’re friends of common ground” he replied and flashed me a bold annoying smile.
It looked like our little meeting was coming to an end but there was something I needed to let out. “After this pub visit, I would like you to send your mistress home”
“Why?” He asked, and he even had the audacity to be shocked at my request.
“She is somehow at the centre of it all. I do not wish for that to continue” she was getting too involved for the good of any of us. Herself inclusive.
“I am sorry your highness but I would not do that. Perhaps you are yet to notice, but your mistress seems to be a linking factor in all of this. Of what coincidence would it be that the Hecate demanded her presence for a clue and the clue came right through her without knowledge that there is a riddle being solved?”
“Anthonier, she only became relevant to the equation because she got mingled with me, by your wish. Prior to that, she was an ordinary woman of commons who did not have a place in this game. Send her home and ensure she receives settlements weekly to aid her family situation. ” that was why she was here in the first place.
He looked like I was speaking gibberish with a trace of Aspenian aborigin. “After the pub visit, send her home” I repeated.
Hilra scoffed “Had I not known you since you were a neonate, I would have called you a fool. The master piece to your chess board is sitting directly under your nose and you wish to discard it? Xanthanius, son of Flutheria, use your senses!”