Chapter 90

Squared off, opposite the room from each other, it appeared as if a strange battle were underway.

Riley sat, perched on her hind paws, with her forepaws forming an inverted V, almost touching, drawing, and grounding, practicing, feeling the flow of her power, channeling it towards various spells.

Tobias, meanwhile, worked through his sword forms, flowing from movement to movement.

Riley could feel his concentration stacking on top of her own, but with it, a sense of unease hung strangely as if a fog upon the air that had clung around him since their meeting with Lady Godwin the night before.

Shifting her focus while continuing to draw and ground, Riley broke the early morning silence.

"What's bothering you?"

Tobias continued to work through his motions, never stopping, "I was so damnably eager to get into this case. I spent a silver, met with Wystan, and had every opportunity to start at the beginning, but I didn't."

Riley perked as it all clicked in, "You're doubting yourself."

"How'd she see it, and I didn't? It's so simple!" He complained, working back to form 1.

"She understands people; it's her work," Riley replied.

"It's my work, too, now," Tobias sighed.

"And we are both still learning. Lady Godwin has had a lifetime of training in being an information broker, as much as anything. Cut yourself some slack; it was your first day," Riley demanded.

"Adapt," Tobias chuckled.

"Adapt. Kicking your own ass over missing something isn't going to help. Learning from your mistakes will," Riley, dropping to all fours, pulled out the kinks in her back.

Tobias paused and looked back at the map, "It's not like it was all wasted; I did need to familiarize myself with the case, and I've got a direction."

"Attaboy," Riley praised.

Setting his sword at the top of his scabbard, he let it drop into his sheath, then moved over to the water basin to wash his face and run his fingers through his hair, finally donning his leather jerkin.

"Breakfast?" Riley asked, getting her hopes up.

"Indeed, what do you think about heading to the academy today and then visiting the family? We can stop by the cathedral on the way," Tobias offered.

"That sounds great! What's at the cathedral?" Riley asked, growing curious.

"The Abbot of Linnan Ealdre, Sabine suggested we check in with them. They're the High Priest of the God of Death and oversee the crypt and the bodies that rest there," Tobias explained, sensing her confusion.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"Oh... sounds spooky," Riley replied.

"There's nothing to fear from the dead, only the living," Tobias stood as he spoke, "I'm going to go put in our order for food."

"Before you go, would you unroll the report scroll on the floor? I need to get caught up now that you aren't hogging it," she quipped, the edges of a tease dancing on her voice.

Tobias ruffled her ears as he passed by, only to take the scroll up off the desk and, after a brief scan of their quarters, rolled it out between the bed and desk.

"Do you want me to set the desk lamp down as well?" He offered.

"No, thank you, servant. Be about your business," She said dismissively.

"I'll remember that no jogana fruit for you this morning," he teased.

"Hey! No fair!" Riley complained, hopping towards her morning reading.

"Welcome to Calaria," he remarked wryly before leaving.

The sound of his boots echoing down the hall framed a quiet that hung over her like a blanket. Calaria was far more tranquil than the world she distantly remembered. There was almost always the sensation of sound there, from the background hum of electronics to the motions of machinery.

Yet, Calaria was devoid of those basic distractions. Silence was prolific here, especially in the small hours of the morning when she found herself awake.

To be certain, there was often something to draw her attention, the scuttling of a rodent or the call of the guards, but they were not constant; they were punctuations, underlining actions that framed the greater quiet that surrounded her.

It was strangely oppressive, still, and distracting; a feel of preternatural pause framed the silence as if it was a container, like the world was aching for expression, holding its breath.

As she began to read, she thought back to a ticking clock her grandmother had, how it could define the nights, drawing attention while the world rested, and she wrestled with whatever had kept her up.

"By the Gods, this is dull," she complained as she went over the report, wondering how it was made. Entries were set like an outline. Next to each victim's name was something like a semicolon, and then on the line below, a handwritten entry describing the scene, listing witnesses, of which there were none, ending with who made the initial report.

It told her both everything and nothing as she went down the list until coming to the end.

Twenty-three victims existed upon the scroll, with room for more. A considerable reserve existed at the base as if waiting for the next murder.

Yet, Calaria drifted on with a casual placidity. No one seemed overly worried, and Wystan viewed it as some twisted opportunity.

It struck her as strange, as another oddity popped up in her mind.

Where was Tobias? Ordering breakfast shouldn't have taken this long.

"Tobias?" She projected loudly, not knowing if her words or feelings of unease would carry that far.

The world continued blissfully in its quiet, growing ominous at its edges.

"Tobias!" she cried again as the shutters of their window flew open with a bang. Her heart fluttered to panic; instincts took over, and her power jumped to the fore. Scurrying nails scraping against the wood added punctuation, shredding the peace of the night.

She vanished under a veil as she hid beside the bed, poking out warily.

Two glowing eyes gazed in from the window as Mavora beat her wings against it.

The sound of boots rushing up the stairs caused her ears to swivel a moment later while the hawk launched itself into the night.

"Riley? What's wrong!" Tobias entered with Sabine a moment later with his weapon drawn.

"Mavora, she was just outside the window!" She shuddered, reappearing from under her veil.

Tobias, noticing the open shutter, strode to the window and peered out into the night, sheathing his sword.

"Strange. Why show up now?" He puzzled before turning and moving towards Riley.

"Intimidation, it seems you have an enemy," Sabine stated the obvious.

"Are you ok?" Tobias asked worriedly.

"Just spooked, but I don't understand why she would show. What purpose does it serve?" Riley boggled, her heart still racing in panic. "And where were you?"

"We were chatting downstairs, talking about the case," Tobias explained.

"Still think Chadrick is innocent?" Riley pressed.

"I don't know if I ever felt that way exactly, but this was Mavora, not Chadrick," he deflected, pausing to consider his words, "They could be meaning to distract us or bait us into stupidity. He doesn't have to be a serial murderer to be a serial prick. The one thing I'm certain of is he wants us to fail. If we storm in over one petty incident, it would be playing into his hands."

"By all means, let's ruin his day," Riley replied as she stared out the window into the night worriedly.