Janine’s funeral took place two days after her death, a sombre affair that saw her buried within the frozen earth at the family cemetery where generations of Distan’s previous lords had been laid to rest along with their most beloved servants. She had grown up as an orphan in a small barony that resided in the duchy of Calei, and had no known friends or family, so the heartbreaking ceremony only involved the members of Caedmon’s household along with the other servants of the estate.
Watching her casket being lowered into the ground had been very difficult for Alistar, so strong was the guilt that stabbed at his soul in that moment. It wasn’t just him; Alder, Mr. Albeck, and his uncle all blamed themselves for the tragedy, none of them having been able to detect anything wrong with the ring. This was especially true for Alistar’s teacher, who had closed himself off from everyone else over the past two days, ashamed at his inability to spot the curse that had been placed on the sinister adornment. He’d even given Alistar the okay to put it on, a thought that made him more depressed as it was evident that killing Alistar had been the entire purpose of the devious gift. What was worse, the fact that Antoine had brought the ring along with him for the trip meant that he had never intended to be anything but an executioner for his estranged, unknown nephew.
In light of the incident, it had become apparent to Alistar that Antoine had been putting up an act for the entirety of their interactions, likely in an attempt to get him to lower his guard. Why had the man done something so drastic? Did it have something to do with the way that his uncle Daniel had been staring at him upon their departure? Thinking back, Daniel had been acting strange ever since Antoine had said that they wouldn’t be informing their father about Alistar’s existence. No matter how much he mulled things over, it just didn’t make any sense for his uncle to have done such a thing.
A few hours after the funeral, Alistar stood at a window on the manor house’s second floor that overlooked the cemetery on the northern fringes of the estate. Eyes wet and stomach sour, his gaze didn’t leave the distant plot where Janine would rest forever more, a million memories cascading through his mind as he struggled to fight off the rise and fall of his chest. She had always been so surprised whenever he had offered to help her with her duties, was always happy and grateful of even the smallest courtesies that he had extended to her. Ever since he had invited her to dine with the other members of the household during her first day on the job, she had gone to great lengths to make sure that his life was as comfortable as possible. Whether it was bringing cold water out to the courtyard while he was training, preparing baskets of snacks for him to take into town, or simply dropping by his room to ask him about his day, the older girl had unsuspectingly become a warm and welcome part of his life.
And now she’s dead, because of me.
His gaze drifted down to his hands, which he clenched into fists as he stared at the limiters that decorated his fingers. First his parents, working themselves to death in order to preserve the desperate hope of one day delivering him from slavery. Then, his uncle Raidon, who had knowingly sacrificed his life to buy Alistar the smallest amount of time to run away from Bertrand, his uncle having not let go of the man even after the light of his life within his eyes had dimmed and dispersed. Now, he had inadvertently cost a wonderful young girl a bright future with many years ahead of her, all because of the sheer fact that he had been born into this world.
Taking a deep breath, Alistar didn’t allow himself to wallow in self-pity and guilt any longer, at least not at the moment. Yes, many people had died in his place throughout his short life, but ultimately the ones at fault were the killers, not the targets.
Antoine…
Alistar vowed to seek vengeance for Janine, regardless of how long he had to wait in order to make it happen. As his despondency turned to rage, and rage into an impenetrable resolve, he realized that at the rate things were progressing, he would never be able to protect the people that he loved, let alone rescue Kaila from Crystellum. If Janine’s death could shake him so profoundly, then how could he expect to take the lives of others in pursuit of his goals? It almost went without saying that there was a strong chance he would have to enter into several life-and-death situations when the time came for him to sneak back into the mines, an even more worrisome prospect considering that some of his friends were determined to accompany him on his harrowing mission. If Alistar was serious about his desire to save Kaila, he needed to become accustomed to death, to placing his life on the line and taking those of others.
“What have I been doing?”
Pressing his head against the glass, Alistar realized that he needed to take his training to the next level. As things were, sparring with his friends wasn’t enough to prepare him for the dangers that lay ahead of him. With only a year and a half left until he planned to set off for Melsian County, he would need to take drastic measures to ensure that he was fully prepared for the path ahead. Raising his head to stare out at the looming peaks of the Tall Mountains that surrounded all of Distan, he realized what was required of him. With Kaila’s life on the line, he couldn’t risk even a moment’s hesitation when it came to potentially confronting the guards or arcanites that lived within the mines, which meant that before he even set off for his end destination it was absolutely imperative that he become accustomed to taking lives. The only feasible approach to this was, of course, to hunt animals in the mountains like many people within the county did in order to support themselves.
“A—Alie?”
He absentmindedly glanced at Anice, who he’d sensed at his back about a minute ago but had been too immersed in his soul-shaking thoughts to acknowledge.
“Alie, your eyes. They’re…they’re scary.”
Seeing how she took a subconscious step back, he ran through his meditations and calmed himself down.
“I was thinking about Uncle Antoine.”
Anice walked over to him and grasped his left hand in both of hers, staring into his eyes with a discerning, worried look. “Don’t do anything stupid, okay? Maybe just take it easy over the next few weeks until things calm down.”
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“Why would you think I’m going to do something stupid?”
“I don’t know, I just… Just don’t, okay?”
He gave her a light smile and then led her down the hall by the hand. “Let’s go have some tea.”
“Okay, but you have to make it. You do it better than Madeline.”
“I wonder what she’d say if she heard that?”
“She would probably just compliment you. It’s all she ever does.”
“Someone sounds jealous.”
“Who’s jealous?” she muttered, glancing to the side.
Normally, she would have pulled her hand away and run off after hearing something like that, or at the very least would have kicked him. Now, however, she didn’t seem to want to be apart from him.
In order to comfort his cousin, Alistar spent the rest of the evening in her company. They didn’t do anything in particular, simply sitting with one another at different places throughout the property, sometimes talking about miscellaneous things, other times sitting in silence while holding each other’s hands. Anice was especially affected by Janine’s death, as it was the first time in her life that she had been old enough to experience and remember the passing of someone within her own social sphere.
“You two, come here for a moment.”
Late in the evening, Mr. Albeck happened to pass by them while they were heading to the kitchens to grab a snack. His short black hair was greasy and unkempt, his robes rife with wrinkles while the area beneath his pine-coloured eyes was sunken, hollow and darkly discoloured.
“Teacher,” said Alistar, a bit of worry in his voice.
Mr. Albeck shook his head, dismissing his concern. “Here,” he said, fishing a handful of thin bracelets from a fold within his robes. “These are protective charms. After what just happened, I think it would be best if you two and your friends kept these on you at all times.”
Accepting the bracelets and inspecting them, Alistar could sense a subtle presence of energy within them. They weren’t impressive in appearance by any means, simply circles of twined rope that had been run through little punctures on tiny rectangular tags of copper that spanned half of their circumferences, tied at the other end with neat little knots.
“What do they do?” he asked, handing one to a curious Anice.
“They can protect you from harm for a short period of time. Keep in mind that this is only in the case of magics that a mid-tier magus might cast, and the duration of use is limited to ten seconds.”
“That’s it?” said Anice, who was twiddling her bracelet with a lacklustre look in her eyes. “What’s the point, then?”
“It only takes a second to lose your life,” said Alistar, his words steady. “These are very useful.”
Taking a step back, he bowed towards Mr. Albeck and spoke with the utmost sincerity. “Thank you very much, Teacher. I’m sure these weren’t easy to make.”
The pale magus gave a tired smile. “A trivial thing.” Resting a hand on each of their shoulders, he said, “We can’t say for certain whether something like this might happen again. Please, you two, be sure to keep these on at all times, and tell your friends to do the same. Now if you’ll excuse me, I think it’s about time for me to get some rest.”
As Mr. Albeck walked away with a yawn, Alistar and Anice slipped the charms onto their wrists and tied them a bit tighter, securing them in place. They then ventured off to the kitchens to enjoy some hot soup in the company of some of the cooks before the two of them prepared to retire to their respective rooms.
“Anne? What’s wrong?”
Standing in a hallway on the manor’s first floor, she frowned, a bit downcast. “Do you think we can sleep together tonight? I haven’t slept since…since it happened. It just doesn’t feel safe anymore.”
Sensing her sincerity, he let out a small sigh. “I’ll drop by your room later. There’re some things I need to do first.”
“You promise?”
“I promise.”
She thanked him and then left with nervous steps, more on edge than he’d ever seen her.
Watching Anice round a nearby corner, Alistar turned around and headed down to the basement. For now, there was a particular spell of Haussen Scuff’s that he wanted to learn as soon as possible.
The trip downstairs was a bit longer than usual, as he’d moved all of his belongings to another room at the opposite end of the basement. It was twice the size of his previous one, and shaped like an L rather than a simple square. He’d made the move as he just couldn’t bring himself to sleep mere steps away from where Janine had lost her life, her emaciated appearance still vivid in his mind especially whenever he happened to pass by his old bedroom. For that reason, he made sure to keep the door closed at all times.
Sitting at his new desk under the light of a dozen or so slow-burning candles, Alistar flipped to a page that he had memorized previously and began to reread the relevant parts. What he desired to learn was another advanced ocular alteration spell, one that would supposedly create a thin film of energy over his eyes in order to allow for him to see in the dark. He would have thought such a thing impossible if he were younger, but now that he had learned so many spells and had experienced so many things, he knew that the former owner of the grimoire wouldn’t have included instructions for such a technique for no reason.
Using the experience he’d gained after mastering his previous ocular spell, Alistar spent the following four hours trying to focus his inner energies around his eyes in the exact ways described within the grimoire, experimenting with different compositions and different densities. He did so in near-complete darkness, having extinguished all of the candles in his room as soon as he had solidified the instructions within his mind in perfect order. Only a thin line of light was visible along the bottom of his door, though this was nowhere near enough to see by without any magical assistance.
By the time he decided to put a pause to his practice, he was just barely able to make out the whites of his palms within the heavy darkness of his room. This only worked when they were held about a hand’s length in front of his eyes, but even so, progress was progress.
Lighting his candles once more, he gave his eyes time to adjust to the soft illumination and then glanced at the far wall. Hiding the grimoire within his new dresser, Alistar pulled back the tall piece of furniture and then placed a hand on the cold stone, activating an incomplete version of the basic earth-shifting spell that his teacher had taught him. All he could currently manage at the moment was to create a pocket within the wall in the same manner as Servan had done, though he was still unable to seal it shut. Instead, he stowed his mother’s locket away and then dragged the dresser back in place, obscuring the little slot from view.
Venturing through the quiet manor house, Alistar snuck into Anice’s room just as he had promised, finding her sleeping in the fetal position while hugging one of her pillows with a distressed look on her soft, delicate face. Shaking her awake as gently as he could, he hurriedly told her that it was him and then slipped under the covers to lay next to her in silence. Neither felt the need to speak, simply finding security in one another’s company.
Ever since Janine’s passing, it had seemed as if a perpetual chill had settled in throughout the estate, one so pervasive that even the fires seemed to give off less heat than they used to. Laying there next to Anice on her large, four-poster bed, for the first time in two days Alistar felt nothing but warmth, the heat of her breath on his neck, the comfort of her embrace as she clung to him as if he might disappear at any moment.
Although he had resolved not to share the same bed with her in the future in order to avoid falling into any more embarrassing situations, this no longer seemed a cause for worry under the current climate within the household. Holding Anice close to his chest, they gradually fell asleep alongside one another, both grateful for the other’s presence.