He didn’t think the last time he’d see her was when she announced her departure. He never imagined all the rivers to be full of names he recognized. He thought his days of putting on a brave face when all he wanted to do was disappear were long ahead of him.
But then it got worse.
Much worse, if the way Imre and Samone came up to him meant anything. It made any fraction of hope he had about the nightmares completely disappear.
They glanced at each other before Samone led with, “Do you remember Tyche? You and Natheniel met her when we went to Levi Asari a couple of years ago.”
Slowly, Tavin nodded and dared to prove his fears. “Is this about my nightmares..?”
“At this point I don’t know if I want to know if we’re right or wrong somehow…” Imre sighed, as much of an answer as anything else would be.
Samone nudged him and brought her attention back to Tavin. “We’re just going to pay her a visit, alright? Nothing you need to worry about.”
Already he knew to doubt those words; he also knew, though, that if they were like this to begin with, they weren’t going to elaborate further.
They left much sooner than he’d expected. The only conversation was murmuring between Imre and Samone—sometimes about Natheniel, or Iris, and sometimes he’d swear he heard them mention Lydia but heard nothing else. Tavin tried to spend the time mentally preparing himself for the crowds of people they were undoubtedly going to encounter in Levi Asari.
It didn’t work. All of it felt far too overwhelming than usual. This wasn’t normal, but he said nothing about it. Imre seemed worried enough.
“You told Tyche we were coming, right?” he asked.
“Come on, Nokae, you’re already stressed out and we haven’t even gotten to the Lysha headquarters yet.”
“Samone, did you talk with her?”
“You’re forgetting I’m her favorite and she has nothing better to do.”
“What if she does have something to do?”
“She’ll make time for me.”
Imre sighed. “Please don’t make this look like a big deal…”
“The king, prince, and region overseer casually walking through the city? Oh, it’s most definitely nothing…”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Just then, Samone pushed open the doors to the comparatively-empty room. A few people looked up to see who it was and fewer didn’t immediately go back to their work. With the way Imre mumbled greetings to some of the Lysha, Tavin assumed they’d had at least a few other unimportant encounters.
They didn’t even need to say anything to the Hourglass at the front desk for the person they were looking for to come.
Tyche was the kind of person that was hard to forget. That, and the strong perfume that barely hid the smell of smoke made it easy to tell she was coming. “Samone, King Imre, Prince Tavin! I had a feeling I’d see you all soon. Let’s go somewhere quieter, shall we?” She glanced at those still staring before ushering the three of them in the way she came in.
“You picked it up a lot quicker than I thought you were going to,” Samone admitted.
Still, even as they got further away from the others, Tyche kept her voice down. “You’ve already checked to make sure they weren’t anything else?”
“We wouldn’t be here if we thought they were simply Myaló.”
“I presume you’re well aware of what the consequences are if we find something?”
Imre, though clearly unwilling, nodded. “It wouldn’t be something we could keep secret for long…”
Finally, Tyche pushed open one of the doors and gestured them all inside. Someone else was waiting inside but she quickly showed that it was planned. “We finally got Nehi to retire. This is the new Vulture, Dusek. He’s going to be doing most of the work today to get some hands-on experience.” She must’ve noticed the look Imre had and added, “Don’t worry, he’s perfectly reliable. He was a Lily before this—it’s not like Nehi found him on the street somewhere.”
“There’s nothing really dangerous about this, even on the off chance something goes wrong.” Dusek offered with a reassuring smile. He was looking at Tavin when he said it. It did nothing to calm his mind about the situation. “Why don’t we show you?”
Tyche grumbled something but complied. She waited for Dusek to get something—a piece of paper, which probably had runes on it—to cup her hands. He put the piece of paper on her hands and put his under hers, muttering a spell. A vague glow came from the paper, but nothing else appeared.
“I don’t have a spirit, so nothing appeared,” Tyche explained. “For you, it’ll show at least one person—Saint-King Lucas. We’re going to see if anyone else shows up.”
Knowing that he needed to do something, Tavin mumbled his understanding.
Tyche gestured towards the door. “These two need as much concentration as they can get, so it’s probably best if we step outside.”
Before he was able to be ushered out, Imre glanced at Tavin. “Are you sure you’ll be fine?”
Despite his true lack of confidence, Tavin nodded.
“I promise there’s nothing to worry about,” Dusek said once the other three left. “This isn’t going to last long and you’ll hardly notice a thing.”
‘Hardly’ wasn’t the word Tavin would use to describe the feeling once they’d imitated what Dusek and Tyche had done. Even a more accurate description of what it—like something being pulled away from him—was like couldn’t quite match it.
They both watched for the figures that appeared, one being no surprise and waited to see if there were any more. For a moment he thought that might be it—until three more familiar figures appeared.
Dusek looked between Tavin and the figures, clearly unable to determine how he should take this. “Well, this is one way to start my career as the Vulture…” Then he uttered the words to end the spell.
He slowly walked up to the door and opened it. “Congratulations,” he said in a voice that lacked true excitement, “your prince has become a saint.”