Deep in the heart of the kingdom’s capital, on the highest floor of one of the inner city’s wealthier manor houses, a young woman sat at a desk hunched over a pile of books. Her face was round and she had long brown hair and wore a simple blue dress. The room she read in was lit by only a single candle and the walls were lined end to end with overflowing bookshelves. Every nook and cranny was stuffed with the books, parchments, and scrolls the woman had collected. Ever since she had been taught to read she had collected every piece of literature that caught her interest which naturally meant that she collected everything.
She was currently trying, yet failing, to read two books at once. Her most recent fixation was comparing modern knowledge with what was known in previous eras and she was now comparing a book on modern farming with one written in the third era. Farming wasn’t particularly interesting to her; she was just interested in how techniques have advanced. She would do nearly anything to get her hands on something written in the first era but that was so long ago that most knowledge of it had been lost to time. Even her father, the royal historian, only had works dating back to the middle of the second era. She jotted some notes down when she was disrupted by a knock at her door.
“Elise, dear,” called an elderly voice from outside her room, “do you have a moment?”
“Just a minute Dad,” Elise called, slipping leather bookmarks into her books and closing them. She sighed as she placed the books back onto their places on the many shelves and slid her notebook into a desk drawer. She opened the door and her father, Tobias, walked in and sat on her bed. He was tall and lean, far skinnier than one would expect a man of his wealth to be. His head was crowned with a surprisingly full and luscious mane of hair that was kept in a perpetual state of disarray.
“You’re going to need to learn to sort your books better if you’re going to take over my position someday,” Tobias said, looking around at the books strewn about the room with reckless abandon.
“There’s a place for everything, and everything is in its place. Name a book and I can tell you exactly where it is,” Elise replied with a huff, crossing her arms.
“No need, I believe you,” Tobias chuckled. “I didn’t come just to tease you on your book sorting. I’ve been called to an audience with ‘His Royal Majesty King Alban.’” He put on a mocking tone at the name of the newly crowned king. “I need you to pick up my medication from Roland.”
“Yeah, I can grab it. But what’s this audience about? You in trouble?” joked Elise.
“Don’t worry, it’s nothing to do with me, he’s called for the whole court. Something about a bandit problem.” Tobias said with a shrug. He looked down and lowered his voice, “I hear a whole village to the east was destroyed a few days ago, there’s no one left.” Elise gaped at him. Tobias nodded solemnly, but added, “But you’re too young to be worrying about bandits or the King. Leave all that to us old folks and go spend time with that friend of yours, Myrtle.”
Elise rolled her eyes. “It’s Mary, Dad. We’ve been friends forever how do you not know her name? And I’m not a kid anymore, remember? You promised once I turned 19 you’d start telling me everything that’s going on.
“Yes… Yes I do believe you’re right. I apologize. This evening I’ll tell you anything you want to know I promise.” Tobias went to pat Elise on the top of her head, but pulled his hand away once it began to shake. He grabbed it with his other hand in a failed attempt to hide the tremors.
“Thanks Dad. I’ll go get your medicine,” Elise said, looking at her father’s shaking hand. They each put on woolen jackets and hugged their goodbyes; each going in opposite directions.
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The inner city housed all of the nobles and their families, each living in three to four story manors. The streets were wide, clean, well guarded, and quiet. Elise passed through the open gate separating the inner city from the outer, and the difference was immediately apparent. The houses in the outer city were mostly only one floor and the streets were full of people, mud, and litter. Elise appreciated the more lived-in qualities of the outer city but preferred the peace and quiet of the inner city.
The business district was a large area contained in the center of the outer city and was always bustling with activity. The cobbled streets were wide with market stalls and shops covering every square meter of usable space. The buildings around here were all two or three floors. The ground floor of every building was made of stone bricks and contained shops or ale houses, and every floor above that was where the shopkeeps and their families would live; constructed of timber frames and daub walls. If it weren’t for the generally helpful demeanor of the people who lived here, any visitors or travelers would be hopelessly lost. Elise, however, maneuvered through the stalls and around the shops with ease.
Elise knew the best routes to get to her favorite places with minimal interaction with other people, even though that usually meant longer routes. She noted there were more guards around than usual, with at least a small handful of them on every street. It was midday, which meant it was well past the time when all the previous night’s drunkards should have been taken care of, so why were there so many guards? Elise was so distracted by this that she didn’t notice the speeding blur that was barreling towards her from behind. With a mighty thunk, an unstoppable force impacted with an immovable object. Two small arms wrapped around Elise’s neck and two little legs wrapped around her waist.
“Good morning Anna,” Elise sighed once she caught her breath. She didn’t need to see the little hellion to know who it was, there was only one person in the kingdom who could have deftly initiated a piggy-back ride at the speed of a galloping horse.
“Mornin’ Miss Ellie,” said Anna, clambering up to sit on Elise’s shoulders and hanging upside down to be face-to-face. She had a long blonde mane of what could probably be called hair after hours of brushing. Her arms and face were adorned with small scrapes and cuts from roughhousing with other children.
“Look,” she exclaimed, holding her mouth wide open, “I lost a tooth!” Sure enough, the hyperactive 8 year old had lost one of her front teeth; likely doing something foolish, Elise figured.
“Wow, that’s very impressive,” Elise said in faux amazement, “I could've sworn you still had all of your teeth during our lesson yesterday.” Anna nodded excitedly. “Speaking of which, have you done the reading I asked you to do?”
“Nope!” Anna replied, still beaming.
Elise sighed and readjusted her so the ride would be more comfortable. “I’m going to see Roland, wanna come?” Anna nodded and settled into the optimal piggy-back position.
Elise carried on walking with some difficulty. It would be another few years until Anna was too big for her to carry like this, but she certainly wasn’t light anymore. She had known the little scamp since she was born, and she had started teaching her to read last year. It was a great hassle to get Anna to sit down and focus on her studies, but she could be an attentive student when she wanted to be. It helped that Elise was a deft hand at choosing topics that interested her like sword fights and tales of knights and adventures.
Soon Roland’s apothecary came into view. It was a smaller building just on the threshold between the business and residential districts. There was an open window hatch with a small counter on the front of the building so customers could quickly come to purchase medicines without potentially contaminating the storeroom inside. The window was currently empty and Elise could hear noises of movement from inside, so she knocked loudly on the wooden frame.
“Be with you in a moment!” called a voice from inside. Not long after, the freckled face of Elise’s adopted brother Roland appeared at the window. He had his long black hair tied up in a ponytail and was wearing an apron with different plants and herbs stuffed in each of the pockets. He was taller than average and, despite being only a few years older, towered over the shorter than average Elise. He immediately brightened at seeing the two of them. “Oh! Hi Elise, Anna. What can I do for you?”
“Hi Rollie!” Anna practically shouted; waving with both hands and nearly falling off Elise’s back. “Look! I lost a tooth!”
“Good for you! Does it hurt at all?” Roland asked, but Anna shook her head.
“I’m here for Dad’s medicine. Is it ready yet?” Elise interjected.
“Oh, yes, I’ve got it right back here.” He turned to root around in his storeroom. Roland had been studying medicine ever since his birth parents fell ill and passed. Tobias took him in and let him use his archives to become a certified apothecary. He doubled his efforts once Tobias began showing symptoms of the same illness that took his parents.
Roland soon returned with a sealed leather pouch with the official Healer’s Guild emblem etched on the front. “Here we are! How is he doing?”
“He still shakes and coughs,” Elise replied, taking the pouch. “He tries to hide it but he doesn’t do it very well. You should stop by sometime. Tonight we’re going to be talking politics over dinner, you should come!” She fished three gold coins from her purse and placed them on the counter; a hefty sum but the medicine was effective and more than worth the money. Anna, who was quite bored that the topic of conversation strayed away from her lost tooth, perked up at the sight of the coins.
“That sounds like a lot of fun but I have a few house calls I have to make tonight,” He replied, picking up a single gold coin and sliding the rest back to Elise; Anna immediately reached to grab them but was swiftly swatted away. “I’ll visit soon, don’t worry. Tell Dad I say hi!”
“Will do, see you soon!” Elise rolled her eyes at Roland’s refusal of the full payment and put the remaining two coins away. He did it every time but she and her father still insisted on bringing the full cost regardless. It was their little tradition; a way of showing appreciation to each other. Waving to Roland and making sure Anna was secure on her back, she set off towards the market square.
The square was a large clearing situated in the center of the business district. There were nearly fifty pop-up market stalls arranged chaotically throughout the square. There were more guards sprinkled through the crowd than usual. Elise looked out at the sea of people, standing on the tip of her toes to catch a glimpse of the curly brown hair of Mary. Instead, she saw a tall blonde-haired woman waving at her.
“Anna, your mother is calling,” Elise said to her passenger.
“Noooo just 10 more minutes,” whined Anna.
“I’ll bet,” whispered Elise conspiratorially, “that your mom will let you ride on her back if you ask nicely.”
That was all she had to say. Anna practically leaped off of Elise’s back and sprinted towards her mother, who’s eyes immediately widened in horror.
“Ask nicely, I said!” Elise called after the speeding child. “Oh, and do your reading for next week!”
Anna, decidedly without asking, clambered up her mother like a ladder, settling into a bear hug around her back. The mother stared daggers at Elise, who smiled back all too innocent.
“That was cruel,” said a familiar voice from behind Elise.
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“Well Mary, you try walking across town with a child for a backpack and see how quickly you’d sacrifice their mother for some relief,” Elise chuckled without looking back. She didn’t need to look to recognize the voice of her childhood friend.
“No thanks, I’m good,” Mary said, wrapping an arm around Elise’s shoulder. “Anyway, come look at this, they got new paints!”
Mary led Elise by the hand to a stall that sold art supplies. Not many could have the spare time to practice art and even fewer could afford the supplies, but Mary’s mother was a painter and she nurtured those same passions in her daughter. Elise wasn’t overly interested in painting but even she had to admit that the vibrant blues and purples on display were quite impressive. A guard loomed nearby, eyeing them for any indication that they might try to steal the valuable goods. Elise pretended not to notice.
“That’ll be 1 gold and 35 copper, miss,” said the shopkeeper when Mary selected the colors she wanted.
“My goodness, all that for just 3 jars?” Elise exclaimed, slightly too loud. “How do you have the money for that?”
Mary shrugged and handed the sum to the shopkeeper. “I started doing small family portraits for cheap. Most people can’t afford fancy paintings these days but most people will pay for stuff for their family.”
“A wise strategy,” the shopkeeper interjected. “Pleasure doing business with you, do come again.”
Once Mary was done ogling the paints, they visited a stall that sold books, paper, and scrolls. It was Elise’s favorite stall, and the shopkeeper knew her by name. There was nothing there she hadn’t seen before, so she simply picked out a leather bound book of lined paper for her to take notes in.
“Why do you buy notebooks if you own the books you’re taking notes on?” Mary asked with a hint of teasing, picking out a book of completely blank paper.
“I don’t know, I just like it. Helps me remember stuff,” replied Elise. “Why do you keep buying sketchbooks if you never fill any out?”
“It fuels my artistic passion,” Mary harrumphed, turning up her nose dramatically.
“Fuels your spending addiction more like,” teased Elise, presenting both of their books to the shopkeeper.
“Welcome back Ellie. Those two will be 72 copper,” He said with a smile.
“Can I get change for a gold?” Ellie asked, holding out a single gold coin.
“Of course.” He took her coin and handed back 28 copper coins. “Take care now.”
Next, they visited one of the many food carts to find some lunch. They both got a bowl of stew for just 20 copper total, which Elise paid for with the change from the book stall. Wanting to get out of the crowd to eat, they retreated to a bench outside the market square. The warm food was a boon against the chilly air. Winter was on its way out and the snows only melted very recently, but it was still rather cold. Elise sat the bag of medicine from Roland on the bench beside her. Mary glanced at it and her face turned bright red.
“You know,” giggled Elise, “you could just go talk to Roland.”
“Hey!” Mary yelled, crossing her arms and scowling. “If it were that easy, why don’t you go talk to that cute red haired girl at the bakery?”
Now it was Elise’s turn to blush at the foul betrayal. “Now who’s the one being cruel,” she whined.
“But yeah,” Mary faked a sigh, but a smile broke through her facade. “I’m happy just letting things be how they are for now.”
“Yeah, same here.” Elise nodded, and the two ate in companionable silence.
“Hey, have you noticed how many guards are out today?” Asked Elise, dropping her voice low.
“Yeah,” replied Mary, leaning in close to not be overheard. “I heard it’s to stop people from protesting.”
Elise groaned. “I heard there’s a bandit problem, but it’s probably both. Either way it makes me uncomfortable.”
As if on cue, a group of three guards passed by. Elise and Mary did their best to look nonchalant, but the guards didn’t take notice of them. Elise wasn’t surprised that there were protests; most people were unhappy with the new king. Almost immediately after his father died of a mysterious illness and he took charge, he started raising taxes and increasing the size of his army. Not long after that, he started locking up anyone that he deemed to be ‘delinquents’ or ‘undesirables.’ Maybe Elise could’ve gone to talk to the girl at the bakery if the old king was still in power, but not anymore.
“I miss the old king,” mumbled Elise once the guards were out of earshot.
“Yeah,” agreed Mary, “me too.” She shuffled slightly in her seat. “Hey, thank you for the sketchbook and for lunch. I’ll pay you back one of these days.”
Elise pushed her slightly with her shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, really. I’ve got more than I need and if I didn’t spend some on you then I’d just spend it on more books.”
Mary laughed and leaned on Elise’s shoulder. The two finished eating and returned their bowls to the food cart. Elise could feel a twinge of dread and anxiety rising in her chest. She looked up to see that the sun now dipped slightly behind the roofs of the buildings lining the square.
“Dad should be getting home soon if things are going well at the castle. I should start heading that way with his medicine.” Elise felt something drawing her home. She couldn’t explain it, but all of her instincts told her that she needed to return home quickly.
“I’ll walk you home,” Mary offered, seeing that Elise had turned pale and stiff.
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The walk from the market square to the inner city wasn’t long, but right now it felt like an eternity. With every step they took the air grew stale and cold, and Elise’s anxieties kept increasing the closer she got. When they approached the gate to the inner city, they were shocked to find it closed with half a dozen guards standing on either side.
“Halt, citizen. State your business.” A guard declared, stepping forward to block their way forward.
“Why’s the gate closed? I need to get through,” Elise said, her anxiety beginning to turn into a panic.
“That is classified information. State your business in the inner city or leave,” said the guard, unbothered.
“I live in the inner city. I’m Elise Godwin, my father is Tobias Godwin, the royal historian,” Elise huffed as panic mixed with frustration. Her breathing was fast and she was beginning to sweat. “Please I need to get home.” Mary placed a reassuring hand on Elise’s back
The guard looked her up and down appraisingly. “Do you have any identification?”
Elise gulped. “Identifcation? I don’t have any identification.” She was starting to shake slightly, both out of fear and anger at the guards and because of whatever sense dread was guiding her home.
“No identification, huh?” The guard stepped forward and grabbed her by the arm. “You’re going to have to come with us, then.”
“Hey!” yelled Mary, “You get your hands off her!”
“What is going on here?” A young voice said from behind the gate, startling everyone and getting the main guard to let go of Elise. The guards all turned to look at the source, and they all knelt to the ground and bowed their heads in unison. “Can we get this gate open, please,” the voice asked kindly.
The metal gate immediately began to rise, shedding light on a figure that Elise had only seen from a distance at large events her father dragged her to. She fell into a bow and pulled on Mary’s arm to get her to follow. The man was somewhat short and his platinum blond hair was pulled back into a low ponytail with not even a single hair out of place.
A guard stood at attention and shouted, “Make way for Prince Edward!”
“Please, please,” chuckled the prince. “At ease everyone. Now, can someone please explain to me why this gate was closed?”
The guard who introduced the prince stepped forward and said “Orders from King Alban, your highness. The inner city gates are to remained closed while the king is holding court.”
Prince Edward looked at Elise and rolled his eyes. “First I’m hearing about it, and I was just there,” he mumbled. “Anyway, did I hear right that you’re Godwin’s daughter? And is this young lady here with you?”
Elise nodded, too panicked to speak. She was still shaking and her knees were becoming weak.
“Wonderful. Speaking of which, it does seem like my father will be keeping your father rather late, unfortunately. The court is running long. I’d also like to personally apologize for this whole fiasco,” he said, waving his hand vaguely at the guards and the gate. He turned to look directly at the guard who had grabbed Elise. “And I will see to it personally that this will not happen again.”
“Thank you, your highness” Elise and Mary said in unison.
“Of course. Get home safely now, you hear?” The prince waved them off with a smile.
The pair walked quickly through the now open gate, decidedly not making eye contact with any of the guards. They heard the gate close behind them.
“Guess I’m stuck on this side now,” Mary said with an awkward chuckle once they were out of earshot of the guards. “Think I could crash at your place tonight so I don’t have to go back through those clowns?”
“Yeah. I’m sorry for getting you into this,” Elise said softly.
“It’s totally fine. My parents will be fine, and it’s not like I was planning anything.” Mary patted Elise on the shoulder.
They walked in silence for a while, neither daring to speak again until they reached the front door of Elise’s manor. The door was still locked, meaning the prince was right about Tobias being out late.
“What… What just happened?” Elise asked to no one in particular as she unlocked the door.
“I have no idea,” Mary replied, stepping in and hanging her jacket on a hook in the entrance. “That prince guy seemed nice though.”
“Yeah, I guess.” Once the door was shut and locked, Elise leaned back on it and slid down to the floor.
Mary hung Elise’s jacket, placed their bags on a nearby table, and crouched down to be at her eye level. “You ok Ellie?”
Elise turned her head to the side and closed her eyes. “I don’t know. I had this feeling like I had to get home. Like something terrible was going to happen. And at the gate…” She trailed off, rubbing her arm and looking in every direction except at Mary. “It was just scary. I hate that sort of thing.”
Mary stood up and held her hand out her hand for Elise to take. “Tell you what. Lets get you up to your room, eat some food, and you can tell me all about whatever books you’ve been reading.”
Elise hesitated, but eventually took Mary’s hand and let her drag her to her feet. They climbed the 3 flights of stairs to the top floor, but when they got to the landing Elise gasped and froze. Her bedroom door was open and there was a light on inside.
“I take it that was closed when you left, huh,” said Mary, glancing between the paralyzed Elise and the open door. “Ok… let’s do this. On three?” She grabbed a metal candlestick and held it like a club and waited for Elise to nod. Once she got her approval, she lowered her voice to a whisper while counting. “Alright. One. Two. THREE!”
The two girls burst into the room; Mary swinging her improvised weapon wildly and Elise bracing herself for whatever might lay inside. A quick scan of the room showed that it was exactly how Elise left it that morning but with one major difference: sitting on her reading desk was a lit candle and a single book.
The book’s cover was a rich blue leather with ornate gold patterns and a large opalescent stone imbedded in the center. There was no text on the cover or the spine and the pages looked old and slightly yellowed. At a glance, it looked to be roughly the same size, if slightly smaller, than most of the books Elise owned.
“Is that yours?” Mary asked, admiring the book. Though Elise thought she was probably just admiring the vibrant colors.
“No, I’ve never seen it before,” Elise replied, sitting down in front of the mysterious book. “I always clear off my desk when I leave the house. And I would definitely never leave a candle lit.”
“The candle does look pretty fresh,” Mary said, scratching her head. “The door was locked, the windows are closed… Hey Ellie I’m going to go make sure we’re the only ones home, ok?”
“Yeah, thanks,” replied Elise, though she wasn’t really listening. Something about the book was drawing her in, almost beckoning her to open it.
Mary left the room, weaponized candlestick in hand, and Elise went to open the book. The moment she touched it she felt a pulse move throughout her whole body. Warmth entered her fingers and spread through her arms into her chest. From her chest, the warmth radiated outwards into her head, her stomach, her legs, and then back to her chest. She rested her hands on the book for a moment, trying to feel the movement of the warmth in and out of her chest cycling inside her like a whirlpool. It was a strange feeling, though not entirely unpleasant.
Curiosity got the better of her, and she lifted the front cover of the book. All at once the pages, the ornate gold patterns, and the opalescent stone on the cover began to glow a magnificent yellow. The room was enveloped in the golden light, and yet it did not feel hot or blinding. The churning whirlpool of warmth inside Elise’s body stabilized into a crystal clear lake. She felt bonded to the book, as if it was made especially for her. It almost seemed like the book felt happy to see her.
As quickly as it came, the glowing faded, but the comforting warmth of strength and vigor filling Elise remained. With the pages no longer glowing, Elise could finally read the words written in large bold print on the title page. “Master Tome of the Arcanist.”
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High above the world in an endless white void, a man with a long red beard placed a glowing gold pawn onto an otherwise empty chessboard.