Rays of sunlight fell on William's face, so he squinted his eyes and put his hand protectively over his face. He could faintly hear the voices of the others, buried his face in the pillow and growled softly. He lay like that in bed for a good minute until he turned to the side and stared wordlessly before his eyes. Surprised, he paused as he realized where he was.
Aaron had stopped by last night. He had had to deal with annoying work all day and had a discussion with Grischa in the evening, so he was pretty fed up the whole day, even if he didn't say so directly. Together with the others, the five of them had had dinner and then talked for quite a while about the planned lessons. For Aaron this was actually interesting, because he could barely understand what people at that young age understood and what not. After a partly funny conversation, even Ben had challenged Aaron to a duel, which the High-Magician actually accepted. The young prince was fascinated by how Aaron opened up to them more and more, almost as if he were looking into his own old reflection.
But while he silently watched Ben and Aaron fooling around, William couldn't stop thinking about Cale. For days now there had been no sign of him, and he was really starting to worry. But worst of all was the fact that he was afraid to leave Exarion before he could say goodbye to Cale.
He wanted to avoid that at all costs.
When he had recently had a conversation with Ben about their plans for the future, William only really realized how much the Duke's son wanted to go home. He seemed to miss his family and the fact that creatures stood between him and his family gave him many thoughts. It was obvious that Ben wanted to go back to Sylve to protect his land and its people.
A thought William could certainly understand and accept, but he himself didn't quite know what to make of it. He would not want to stay here in Exarion alone, because for Aletta and Philippa were also up for debate that they would continue to travel to Frignez. They hadn't given it much thought yet, but when William heard the statement, he couldn't help but feel the need to make a decision as well. Should he stay alone in Exarion? What could he do here, after all, he didn't want to live in the capital forever at Cale's expense? What would the royal family and especially his father, King Leonhardt of Sylve, say?
William did not know. Currently, he let himself be influenced by the statements of others without being able to make a decision himself. He simply did not know what was the right way for him.
How should he, the 3rd Prince of Sylve, shape his life in the future? Was there even a place in the world where he belonged?
"Did you sleep here?", Ben spoke up. With his arms crossed, he stood in the doorway and gave William a reproachful look. William, on the other hand, merely turned his head a little to the side, but didn't move the rest of his body an inch. He hadn't realized Ben's presence at all.
"Yes", he returned truthfully.
"In clothes?"
"Didn't mean to."
Ben sighed and held his forehead with one hand, suggesting to William that his friend still had something to say to him. For that reason, he straightened up and slid to the foot of the bed as he looked expectantly at Ben.
"Cale's back", the brown-haired, tall man explained back. Momentarily, William's ears perked up.
"How do you know?"
"He was here. In the apartment. Aletta saw him", Ben explained as William stood up and began to pat out his rumpled clothes.
"Where is he now?"
After the statement, Ben just ignorantly raised both hands in the air and gestured to the floor with a nod of his head.
"Is he still there?"
It was clear that Ben could only mean one person, and William also realized the mana source below them. Aaron was probably below them in the office. He had talked with William alone for a while that evening and had told a lot of things about his past. When the two of them had gone to Cale's study, Aaron had taken a closer look at Cale's history collection, because presumably it was still bothering him where Cale had gotten the information about his past.
In doing so, he expressed a thought William could not believe. Aaron believed that Cale might be a lot older than he admitted, and he also believed that the Eldest knew about it. Yet William trusted Cale. At least he tried. The High-Magician had assured him that he was 22 and from Sylve, why would he still lie to them after all this time? That he hadn't brought it up at first was understandable, but why not now? Assuming the assumption proved true, which William saw as the only conclusion by now.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"Apparently so. I'll go see", William declared, which is why Ben distanced himself with a nod of his head. The prince headed for the spiral staircase and quietly descended the steps, halfway up he glanced at Aaron, who watched him silently as he did so.
"Have you been reading all night?", William asked in wonder before stopping. He watched as Aaron looked around searchingly for a moment and then focused his gaze on the table.
William sighed as he watched Aaron's seemingly confused look and squatted down on the stair step. The High-Magician on the other side of the room stood up and neatly pushed the chair into its original starting position, as if to hide the fact that he had been here. But William suspected it was already too late for that. If Cale had really come back to the apartment, then he had almost certainly seen Aaron and him. Why hadn't Cale just woken him up?
"Cale is apparently back", he spoke up again.
"Since when?", Aaron returned quickly, pausing in his movement as he looked up at the prince.
"Ben just said to me that Aletta saw him at night. So I'm guessing for a couple of hours. You're welcome to ask her yourself if you want."
William watched Aaron put the book back on the shelf and turn his attention back to the prince, causing William to chuckle softly.
"Your hair... your hair gives you away", William explained with a light laughter, pointing at Aaron, who instantly combed his hair with his hands. In moments like these, the High-Magician seemed a bit awkward, which is why William couldn't help but be amused.
"I'll be on my way", Aaron announced a moment later. Of course, William understood why, because Aaron had some awkward conversations to have today that he was not looking forward to at all. The prince merely nodded and, after a brief farewell and greeting, went back upstairs.
He slipped over to the guest room and met Philippa in the bathroom, who was getting her hair done by Aletta. Spontaneously, he stopped for a moment, which is why the two girls looked up at him and both wished him a good morning.
"Good morning to you too. Aletta, when did you see Cale and do you know where he is now?", William asked cautiously. With both hands full of hair, Aletta shrugged, began braiding the dark, long hair and explained what exactly had happened.
"I don't know. It was the middle of the night when he came back. Maybe he's with High-Magician Vonstetten or with the Eldest. If you're going to look for him, it's probably best to start there."
Inevitably, William reached for the crystal he still wore around his neck and looked down at Philippa. To be precise, he stared at her tattoo for a moment before thanking her, nodding and disappearing. He entered the guest room, but Ben had already gone down into the kitchen.
Silently, he looked around the room for a few moments. They had gotten quite the mess in here, especially where Aletta sleeps. Dozens of clothes, pillows, books, small souvenirs and other decorative pieces lay untidily distributed around her bed, a luck that one could still go through. In her corner, she had lovingly collected things over the weeks and diligently bought. By now it looked like a real, lived-in room.
William briskly slipped into fresh clothes and hurried down the stairs when he spotted Ben thinking at the table
"I'm going to look for Cale for a minute", William called as he passed, causing Ben to sit up in horror.
"WHat?", he shouted after his friend, but William had already exited the kitchen. He held his sword tightly as he ran out of the apartment and down the hallway toward Grischa's apartment. Mages he met along the way bowed to him. Someone must have told them some time ago that he was the third prince of Sylve, because when he returned, the staff behaved completely differently. William strongly guessed Aaron or the Eldest, for Cale was not there and another would simply not know. At least not so quickly.
With big steps he rushed William along the neatly decorated corridor, skipped some stairs and within a minute came to a stop in front of Grischa's apartment. He could clearly sense that the High-Magician had spotted the visit, for he approached the door and opened a crack, as if to check first who was checking in on him so early.
"Good morning, William", Grischa politely announced, opening the door wider. William could therefore see the mage in full and also get a glimpse of the apartment behind him.
"Morning. Sorry...", he lifted, for a moment lacking breath. "Was Cale here?"
"Caleb? Is he back?", the High-Magician interjected, causing William's anticipation to curb.
"Yes. Aletta said she saw him tonight. If he's not here, he's probably with the Eldest."
He watched Grischa hold his hand in front of his face in surprise and look down at the ground.
"I thought that was another dream", he muttered as his face flushed red. For a moment, William looked at the High-Magician in confusion, before Grischa grabbed his jacket and literally shooed him into the hallway. With a loud bang, the front door slammed shut behind Grischa, who merely straightened his uniform and turned his attention to William. "Let's go see the Eldest."
"Okay", he merely replied, following the High-Magician a few doors down. He didn't know that the Eldest had his apartment practically right next to Grischa, because the Eldest didn't have a number or a name written in front of the door like the rest.
It was as if Grischa knew abruptly that no one was home, which is why he turned and walked back the way he came, considerably faster than before. William hurried to match his gait with the mage's as he glanced through the large windows into the Magistrat's courtyard.
Wordlessly, he grabbed Grischa's arm and stopped before gesturing downward with his hand.
There he stood. The man they had been trying to find for over a week. The High-Magician, whose black hair matched his dark clothes perfectly in appearance. Cale was having a conversation with a familiar face that William immediately recognized. The High Mage Sefra Risztus, the one who was in charge of the school system in Exarion and who, together with Miguel Heriog, organized the upcoming classes. He had talked to her several times in the last few days thanks to Aaron and Miguel, though he could never really judge what was going through the woman's mind. From her gestures, however, she seemed glad to have Cale back in the house. Laughing, she patted him on the shoulder, while Cale smiled sheepishly.
Silently, William and Grischa watched what was happening as Cale then said goodbye to the High-Mage and started to move. Grischa instantly followed suit. In a split second, the white-haired High-Magician began to run as if it were a matter of life and death.