A crisp knock at the door interrupts my breakfast.1
“Mmrmph?” I say through a bite of my half-eaten egg sandwich.
I’m not sure why the maidservants are making me stand up now, when they’d just let themselves in before.
Another knock comes.
Grumbling, I dust off the crumbs from my hands and dress and go get the door.
“Sorry, I’m not quite done—“ I swallow my tongue.
“Good morning, Aurelia,” Luke says with a polite smile. “May I come in?”
“Uhm,” I say intelligently. Luke is probably the second-to-last person I’d have expected to have been behind that door, behind only Magnus. But I do manage to step back to clear space for him to walk in.
The door closes firmly behind him.
Luke looks much better than last time I saw him. The previous day’s dusty clothes have been replaced with another richly-colored doublet, one that hides away the sight of any bandages. And while he’s still sporting dark circles under his eyes, probably because he’s still staying up dealing with the the battle’s aftermath, his gaze is alert and keen.
This doesn’t help me cough my tongue back up though. Probably the opposite.
“How are you, Aurelia? ” Luke begins. “Yesterday was… eventful.”
I grimace. That’s one way to put it.
But when I respond, it’s to say, “Fine? Good?”
I mean, he did make the effort to come check up on me. It seems rude to respond otherwise.
“Good,” he repeats. He taps the pommel of the sword at his hip. “I hope you’ll forgive us for our, ah, assumptions. With the limited amount we knew, our explanation was the most plausible at the time.”
“Yeah, no, I get it.” I’m not even lying. I can’t say I’m not at all miffed, but in retrospect, it’s fair enough that they just went for their first known enemy, which Aurelia also happens to be connected to. My grudge is mostly with Magnus and Valeria anyway. “Thanks for speaking up when you did. It helped.”
Luke chuckles. “Not at all. I only said what I believed.” He pauses. “Though I had far less effect than my brother.”
Is it just my imagination, or was that pause weirdly loaded?
“You know, you and my brother were quite the united front when my parents I returned from our discussion,” he continues. “It was a rather large shift from how the two you were acting immediately before.”
“Oh. Yeah.” I laugh awkwardly. My right hand raises automatically towards my throat—but drops before making contact.
I’d woken up with a little bit of a sore throat this morning, and the skin had ached when I’d prodded it.
“We just, you know, talked it out,” I reply. Or choked it out, to be more precise. But it’s out. “It was a bit hard before, with the vision stuff, and the uh, rebel stuff. So. But that’s all settled now.”
Huh. Practice really does make perfect, even with lying apparently. I’m impressed with myself, like, I’d believe what I said.
My words make Luke smile again. “That’s fair enough. You two always have been as changeable at the weather. One moment at each other’s throat and the next the best of friends.” He pauses. “But are you sure there isn’t more to it? My brother was evasive about what you two spoke about, and you still aren’t acting quite like yourself.“
Ah.
So Luke didn’t make the effort to come check up on me. He came here for reconnaissance.
I ignore the sinking feeling in my stomach at the realization. Does anyone other than Winfred care how I’m doing?
“No, of course not,” I hedge. “It’s just been a lot. You know.” I make a vague gesture.
I mean, what else can I say.
it’s not like I can tell Luke anything. Right?
Like, at least I know enough about Alex from the novels to have some cards to play. Luke has been nothing but super kind, and super observant… and I still don’t really know him from Adam. I have no knowledge to leverage with him.
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Luke watches me with sharp eyes.
“Aurelia,” he says. He takes one step closer. Because he’s a little taller than Aurelia, he has to tilt his head down slightly to look me in the eye. And great, now I’m close enough to notice that he smells like grass and sunshine.2
“I know we’ve never been as close as you and my brother. But we still grew up in this castle together. And you must know I do not share my parents’ concerns about you. I know how much you care about Alex and the Keep.” His voice is very low and his eyes very serious. “If there is anything else weighing on your mind, any other considerations from your visions you still haven’t divulge, know that I will keep your counsel. And that I will assist as you can, so long as it does not conflict with my conscience.”
“Well, you see, I...” I stammer.
Okay. But actually—
Why shouldn’t I tell Luke and his stupidly handsome face?
If the combination of my knowledge and Alex’s protagonist abilities are potent, shouldn’t the combination of all that plus Luke’s authority be even more potent?
And sure I don’t have any cards on him like I do with Alex, but he seems much more reliable than Alex. Probably I won’t even need them.
“Well, you see, I… I’m not—” My heart is pounding like it had last night again. I lick my dry lips.“I’m—“
But Alex had evaded Luke’s inquiries, hadn’t he?
He loves and trusts his brother. Like, really loves and trusts him. I’d almost expect him to have told Luke already.
So what does it mean that Alex hasn’t?
“I’m not really familiar with magic?” I finish. “And how it works?”
Luke’s fast, but I still manage to see a flash of disappointment before he tucks it away.
He steps back, and I ignore another twinge in the pit of my stomach.
“Is that so? ” Luke says. He’s smiling pleasantly again, all the previous intensity gone. “That’s to be expected, I suppose. I’d be more surprised if you did. As I said yesterday, the Crown has strict control over information about magic.”
I nod slowly. I’d said that mostly to stall. But on second thought…
“Yeah, for sure. But it seems bad doesn’t it? For me to be so ignorant about my own abilities? Or Alex’s? I mean, people say knowledge is power, and if we’re going to be useful… I know you said Silverwood Keep has several books about magic tucked away. Maybe I could read a few?”
Luke hesitates.
“Oh. Right.” I forgot I’m technically still under house arrest.3 "Or you can just lend them to Alex?” I tack on.
Luke sighs with a chuckle. He shakes his head. “No, you are correct In truth, even our books tell little beyond the most fundamental, but perhaps what is there will be helpful to you.” He smiles faintly again. “There’s no need to involve however. I’m well aware that sharing anything with Alex is tantamount to sharing it with out. If the messenger comes as we expect, I will bring a few volumes to you this evening.”
Ugh, he really is so nice and reasonable. He’s making me feel bad.
“Ah. Great. Thanks, Luke,” I say.
It’s fine. I’ll just talk to Alex soon, see if he’s any particular reasons for hesitating to Luke or if he’s simply not gotten around to it. Then I’ll circle back to Luke.
As if my very thoughts summon him, I hear more steps on the other side of the door, then Alex’s unmistakable voice. “You awake?” it shouts.
There’s a very curt, impatient knock, and then before I can even respond the bastard bangs open the door.
“Come on, get up, there’s lots to do today. And we need to speak furth—Luke?” Alex cuts himself off. “What are you doing here?”
“Inquiring after Aurelia, that’s all.” Luke says mildly. He nods to us both. “I’m afraid that’s my cue to take my leave of you. I must check with Father Domitian that the last of the sanctuary-seekers have begun their journeys home.”
“Sure sure,” Alex says, waving a hand that’s almost a shooing motion. “I’ll send notice when the royal messenger arrives.”
When, Alex says. Not if. I still don’t quite understand how they can be so confident, but I guess they know this political game better than I do.
Luke acknowledges this with a very stately incline of his head. And then in another moment, he’s gone, just as he says.
Once it’s just the two of us, I turn my full attention to Alex. He hadn’t come empty-handed. In his left hand is a dark green cloak and a large scroll. Like Luke, he’s got a sword strapped to his hip today too.
“What do you mean, ‘lots to do’?” I ask. “I thought I was supposed to stay here until the messenger comes?”
Honestly, I was sort of looking forward to angsting around in here until called upon to attend another meeting,4 at which point I’d planned to show off my fancy fancy pretend-Seer skills and then watch Alex work his magic again to arrange a visit to the Seer coven.
Alex rolls his eyes. He throws the cloak straight at my head. I manage a fumbling catch and then scowl at him.
“How would that be useful to anybody, least of all me? Put that on and let’s go. We’ve things to do and topics to discuss,” he says.
I secure it by the throat clasp while not breaking my glare.
“Where are we going though?”
Does he think he’s a fairytale prince whisking the princess away for an adventure or something? This isn’t a Disney movie here, it’s a grimdark fantasy! That I’m trying to fix!
“Out to the woods,” Alex says. Come on.”
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1. The nice thing about being a Fancy Prisoner is that you get breakfast-in-bed. I’d woken up that morning disappointed I was still in Aurelia’s body, and gone out to the sitting room to find a breakfast platter of boiled eggs, cheese, fruit, and that deliciously nutty bread again.
Of course, I’d turned that immediately into an egg sandwich, because I was good at creative leftovers. It’d helped to take the sting off of my bad mood considerably.
2. I’m not complaining. It’s nice that in this Medieval-Europe-and-Ancient-Rome fusion world, they followed the hygiene habits of the Romans and that of medieval Europeans.
3. But it’s not like learning more about Aurelia’s probable Seer abilities would help me get out of house arrest, so I don’t know what the concern would be. What am I going to use those abilities to do? Dig a hole out of the castle with my all-seeing eye and brain like a super-powered Houdini?
4. You know, sometimes it’s just nice to give in to your existential dread while getting fed at regular intervals. I’m like this at home before big tests a lot too.