Chapter 23: A Beautiful View

As I stared at the table in disbelief, Four scooped up the pile of coins with a grin. "Better luck next time," she teased.

I turned to look at her with a thoroughly baffled expression, and she reached out slowly and hesitantly. For a second, I thought she was going to brush her fingers across my face, but she gently poked me on the tip of my nose and grinned with a glint of mischief marred with worry in her eyes. Her trepidation told me she thought she was taking a risk like she was poking a bear. But I just shook my head and laughed.

"Well, think of what you want. You have 'til we make it back to the castle to finalize your decision."

"Hey, that's not fair," she said. "That wasn't part of the deal."

I shrugged. "Yeah. Too bad. You're lucky I'm not demanding your answer now."

She sighed. "Yes, master," she said, though she still looked quite proud.

One and Nine both sulked slightly, but no one could be really too upset. All that was lost was a little bit of pride from them, and I had to do Four a favor. But we had passed most of the trip entirely entertained.

Also, my magic had improved by leaps and bounds. Maybe not the pure amount of magic I would be able to output, but my control over it was significantly better than before. Being able to detect sensory input from it changed its effectiveness entirely.

But I was worn out. My mind was exhausted from all the work. My magical muscles, or whatever it was that powered the shadows, were tired, and my body had been up for almost two full days.

We still had a few hours left before we got to the castle in the early evening, but I simply leaned against the door and closed my eyes, trying to figure out how the four had pulled that off. As far as I could tell, Four didn't have any magical powers. But she had completely tricked me and somehow canceled mine. Hmm. It was hard to say. I just dropped off to a thankfully dreamless sleep for a couple hours.

I woke up to One gently brushing my cheek to wake me up as we rolled into the castle. Looking around, I realized that everyone else was also waking up. And you're finally about to get back. It should have felt like coming home, but I was nervous. This is where the other Numbered would be and all the other people who should know me but didn't. I had to get even better at my acting.

Pulling out the small notebook for reference, I realized Six was on duty for me for this half of the day. And that was one that One hadn't mentioned. And she'd warned me about Five and Seven and run over quick things that were important to know when we had brief moments alone. But I was walking the situation completely blind.

And the carriage pulled up. We disembarked, Nine and One darting out and Four staying by my side as they surveyed the area. Even in our home base, they still protected me with astonishing dedication and ferocity. And there was no grand reception. The only person around stood at the top of the stairs at the entryway to the brick castle. She was who I assumed was Six.

Six was tall, very tall, and as I climbed the steps, I only got a sense of how tall she was. She was only a few fingers shorter than me, taller than One, Nine, and Four by several inches. Her hair was a long strawberry blond but wound up into a knot secured by a few very fancy-looking hair ornaments, but still trailing halfway down her back. Her face was lightly tanned skin, with brilliant blue eyes. She had a light layer of makeup, but it was barely noticeable. Nothing that clashed with her long evening gown. She was wearing a single-piece black dress that hugged her elegant curves and left her arms and shoulders bare. She showed off a decent amount of cleavage, a lot more than any of the Numbered that I have so far, and she actually wore high heels that must have been at least four inches tall.

When I got close, she dropped into an elegant curtsy. "Welcome back, master," she said with a lilting upper-class accent.

"It's good to be back, Six," I said, and she sent me a dazzling smile, showing a perfect row of sparkling white teeth. I was floored, but I had been so used to One's and Four's company recently, and they were every bit as charming in their own right. It was only because of that my tongue wasn't tied into knots.

Nine disappeared somewhere, and I assume she was off in the shadows doing what she did best.

Four whispered in my ear. "I want to come with you next time you leave."

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Then she waved and walked into the castle by herself, presumably going about her duties, while One pulled Six aside briefly and had a quickly whispered conversation as I followed Four into the castle.

A few moments later, Six appeared at my side, her heels not having slowed her down at all as she fell into step, just slightly behind and to my right. Luckily, I had studied on the map, and I knew where to go to get to the library. I probably could have gotten some food or something, but I had so many questions over the last few days from my dreams and from history and politics that I just couldn't leave them be. So, I took the shortest route I knew to get there.

Six followed along without saying anything. When I got to the library, Six steps ahead of me and bent over, pulling something out of her hair and opening the lock. As she slid it back, I saw it was a very thin knife that she had used to jimmy the latch rather than use the key.

I found that it was hard to pay attention to that, as when she bent over, she displayed her perfectly shaped rear for my perusal, and it was all I could do to not reach out and palm it. Her figure and form so perfectly made it seem all the more taboo and reserved with her elegant status. I managed to tear my eyes away from it and meet hers as she looked at me, holding the door open for me to go through. She gave me a half-smirk as if she knew exactly what she was doing, and I couldn't help but grin back.

As I walked into the library, I couldn't help but think whoever I was before this had excellent taste in women. But clearly, he didn't appreciate them enough. At least Six didn't seem terrified of me like Four had. So far, she also hadn't shown herself to be so devoted that she was going to kill herself like nine. Maybe I just hadn't given her a reason to be. Maybe she still held the same anger one had secretly for so long, but. I'd have to get to know her more. For now, though, I had questions.

The library is laid out in sort of a weird design that I couldn't get, but I went towards a collection of atlases and flipped through them until I found a decent world map. Examining it, I found where we were located. We were in a place called Irdgez. I wasn't sure if that was actually how you pronounce it. For some reason, the names didn't quite translate. We had just gone to the Kingdom of Qash. But had a few other borders, as well as a sea to her north.

"Okay." It's looking at. This map helped me place a lot of the names that One told me in my brief rundown on current affairs. I wanted to tear it out, but it was fine. I just quickly scanned over it for a little bit, thinking and memorizing it.

[Map.jepg]

I put the book back and went over to find some of the newer stuff. After a quick search, I found a book on contemporary politics. The book claimed to be contemporary, At least. It was about 20 years old, but at least half of the rulers in it were still relevant, and it could give me someplace to start. In the book, though, I found a few references. Mage towers and a much slimmed-down version of the map had them spotted. Each country had a couple placed there, making it nearly two score towers evenly spaced throughout the kingdoms and geography. Each one had its own title, and as I scanned through the list, I saw that. One of the towers was controlled by Archmage James de Gaulle of the Blue.

I flipped through and found the index, and moved over to the chapter of the Archmage of Blue. I saw that 20 years ago, James was newly appointed through the suspicious death of the previous Archmage through unidentifiable causes. Apparently, he had died in his sleep but was no older than 200, which, apparently, for an archmage, was quite young.

The previous Archmage had been known for being extremely isolationist and unwilling to meddle in the affairs of the lesser races, as he called anyone who couldn't wield magic. James was a bit of a wild card, completely out of the picture for succession, until a surprise vote of the Council of Archmages had brought him along instead of any of the regular aspects of taking over the Tower of Blue.

But seeing that that tower was in the Empire of Ugh-Ug, I figured there might be some favors that James could give me. Related to that, at least I had some idea where to start. I searched a little bit more through some of the political stuff, looking for anything else about James, the organization, or the old man. But I couldn't find anything about some secret organization specifically that matched what we were expecting. And James was a new enough figure that we didn't have books published about him. I imagined there was something in my reports that was more relevant, but the density of information was more efficient here as a starting point.

I did find a book on dreaming magic, and I put that along with a contemporary book and one of the atlases in my pile. I searched around and found a book on the basics of shadow magic. Tossed that on there as well, as I was sending them out. Six cleared her throat, and I looked up. She met my eyes but didn't say anything.

"Yes, Six," I asked.

"Uh, master, I have to ask. I'm not sure I understand your reading selection. Is there anything I might be able to help you with? If you're looking for local politics, I, as you know, I am a bit of an expert in anything noble. You can always just ask." She looked a little insecure, which didn't match her bearing at all.

"I'll keep that in mind. Right now, I'm studying up on some things about the author," I said, gesturing to the basic Shadow Magic book, hoping that would be a good explanation for me reading a book made for ten-year-olds.

Six nodded, accepting why and hopefully not too suspicious.

After signing out, I went to pick up the books, but Six beat me to them and cradled them against her amply-sized chest. I looked at her, bemused, but went along with it, and I opened the door for her this time as she led the way out.

I told her that we were going to make a stop at my office before I might call it a day early. We had a late night last night. Six nodded and led the way to my office. I fell a couple steps behind her to admire the view as she sashayed through with her heels and elegant dress draping around her curves.