Ari squinted against the explosion of colours. Blue and gold drapes hung from the top of her four-poster bed, and tapestries swallowed up the walls. She blinked, and blinked again, until her eyes gained focus on a picture of a crowd kneeling in front of an eight-armed giant, while flames licked at their feet.
A dying fire burned in the hearth. She pulled the white linen smock that clung to her new body tighter around herself and padded over. Slowly, she lowered her hands towards the flame. No flinching. No squirming. Her heart raced, then calmed as she breathed it away.
Good.
This was a new world, and she didn’t need the shackles of unfound fears that’d plagued many other failed Agents.
Straightening herself, she took a deep breath and tried to confirm her mission. But it was as if she was still on her break: there was nothing here to tell her what to do, no button to call for back-up, not even a map to show her where she was and where to explore. She attempted to send a report to the Chief through, well, crystalising her thoughts. It had a greater chance of travelling between worlds than an incriminating piece of paper which had the additional hurdle of not being present in the room.
Agent Lee here. I am in a room. I will now go forth and…CRACKLE CRACKLE REALISTIC CRACKLING. OH NO, THE STATIC! I’M LOSING YOU. CAN YOU CRACKLE CRACKLE ME? Wait. What… is… this… Is it a… a… ARGH, it’s a YETI on a JETSKI. THUD.
She scanned the room again. The details felt too real. No matter how close she got to each stitch in the tapestry, it looked sharp and clear. Gold engravings poured from every corner of the room: from the pillars of her bed to the sun-like ring that surrounded a round glass mirror not much larger than her face, which made the plain black metal bracelet that sat on the foot of her bed all the more like a remnant of the real world where she had come from.
Tiptoeing over to the mirror, she took a deep breath and confronted her new face. Was it as alien as this willowy body felt?
Except… The face that stared back at her was a twin of what her face had been, just with tidied brows and a missing scar that had faded above her left temple. The thick black hair that she’d usually wear in a ponytail hung down neatly in two limp plaits, and–
~GET OUT OF MY BODY NOW!~
A silver trail brightened above her head, where her own ghostly face looked back at her and screamed into her head.
~GET OUT, YOU… YOU BODYSNATCHER or whatever it is you are!~
Ari tugged at the silver thread. The ghost screamed and faded.
She still remembered one of her first choices from her first mission, where she’d made the mistake of breaking and entering an occupied house. There’d been a young man with a forgettable face upstairs, having his nap. He had a pillow and she had a Glock.
She sighed and let go of the thread.
She placed the memory of receiving the mission, of Miri, into the forefront of her mind, and hoped that the original occupant of this body would understand.
~Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry about what happened to Max!~
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It might be hard to convince the spirit to help her, but it was worth a try. She was alone and, worse, currently weapon-less in this world. A guide could really improve her chances of success. She’d need to check that no one else could see the spirit, of course.
~Ooooh, we have some really handsome knights coming to visit us today. I mean… No offence, I couldn’t see Max’s face, but I’m pretty sure these knights are going to blow your mind. Don’t do anything in my body though, because they’re a no for me. You’re going to be amazed. All the ladies love them. Also, don’t kill me. I can help you find love.~
<… Find Miri, you mean.>
~Yes, yes, get Miri, get married, that sort of stuff. More on that later. For now, brace yourself. My chambermaids are coming.~
Ari glanced at the iron poker next to the hearth. Too messy. She untied a rope that held back the drapes around the bed. It was a shame that the original occupant of this body had taken such poor care of herself, but–
~What? I take great care of my body. You won’t find a single patch of dry skin anywhere. Not on my elbows. Not on the bottoms of my feet.~
~Why, thank you. Make sure you return it in the same condition you found it in.~
~Please don’t kill Lucy. She’s amazing. My dogs love her, and she gives the best head massages.~
The door creaked open and a small freckly redhead walked in wearing a light blue floor-length dress. The cream apron that was tied over it was embroidered at the waist with a diamond pattern in a matching blue. Lucy, she presumed. The real question was…
‘Good morning, Lady Claribel,’ said Lucy, walking through the real Claribel.
Two birds, one stone: the other spirit was invisible, and her name was Claribel.
Ari dropped the rope and smiled to the best of her ability. But who the hell was Claribel? From the state of the room, Lady Claribel couldn’t have been someone of no significance.
Of all the characters in the book, female ones were oddly lacking. There had been the main character, Rosalind, of course. Leolin had no living siblings, and even if he did, hadn’t it been a blond half-brother? Did Tristram have a sister, or just a tragic back story? He had black hair, so perhaps she would too, if she were to exist.
‘I’ve prepared the ivy Jumontian silks, the Eye of Una, the Aquilon pin and your guild medallions as you requested, my lady.’
‘Very well,’ said Ari. Half of those words rang as much of a bell as the name Claribel itself.
Lucy led her to a room littered with intricate oak furniture, yet dominated by a ceiling covered in golden arches and golden stars, twinkling in a twilight-blue sky where a flock of ravens took flight.
Ravens.
Wasn’t there a few throwaway lines about the olive-skinned lady from the house of ravens? About a minor villainess who’d enjoyed bullying a milkmaid called Hannah? She’d remembered the milkmaid’s name easily as it was the same as Agent Temple’s. If she remembered correctly, this minor villainess had also gone to the same academy as the genius fire mage Hesperus, and had used her wealth and influence to make his days darker.
~What? I’ve never been unkind to Hes. Our circles didn’t really overlap, though I admit that’s partly because he didn’t have a circle back then. More like… just the one friend? But a really good friend, which counts for more than ten bad ones, I’m sure you’ll agree.~
There’d been a flashback of his, included at the end of a fight scene with Leolin to show how the lead characters managed to befriend the misunderstood genius, how he’d never felt kindness up until then, how it’d make sense for him to pledge his loyalty to Leolin and Rosalind, leading to their ultimate victory in the final battle. It was a flashback made opaque with symbolisms, but the one unmistakeable fact was that despite his hardened heart from a troubled childhood, the lady from the house of ravens had managed to make him cry.
~I don’t know where you got those rumours from, but they are not true. I mean… yes, it’s probably true he had a troubled childhood because his father seemed like a waste of space, but... who are you getting all your information from?~
Ari glanced at the two other chambermaids, bowing their heads at her as she approached, each as real as anyone from the world she was from, yet completely unmentioned in the book.
The taller of the two handed Lucy a bronze bowl carved with intricate waves and swirls, and she dipped a hand into the bowl to sprinkle Ari’s face with rose-scented water. The other offered her a small tub ointment that smelled like sage and salt. Toothpaste?
~You need to say the morning prayer! Repeat after me!~
‘May this day be filled with memories worthy of thee, O Fated One, I will be one day thine.’
Also not in the book.