As the sun passed the highest point of the sky, bringing forth the evening, Lucian dread reached fever pitch. All his yes could see was a dagger plunging into his hand. He had learned not to be frightened of the faces that would surround him. But the thought of crumbling under the pain still haunted him.
He sat in his room, the clothes he had worn in the afternoon lying in his bed. He wore a black shirt, over which he wore a ceremonial black waistcoat with golden buttons and a pattern of gold branches weaved all over it. Next to him on the bed was a long white cloak, trimmed with yet more gold. On top of the cloak was tall top hat with a strap and a small golden rod shaped like tree branch sticking out of the top. Lucian stared at this set of clothes, knowing their immense importance. He then laid on his bed and sighed. Still conflicted and still filled with dread.
As he laid on his bed, his hands outstretched. Trying to drown his worries away, he heard a knock on the door. The sudden sound made Lucian’s head jerk swiftly towards the door. The first knock was followed by a second, but Lucian didn’t feel like answering. He convinced himself that it was most likely Lily, or Benjamin or the twins. Such assumption barely lasted a few moments, because the second knock was followed by a voice, one that made Lucian jump out of his bed with fear.
“Lucian, are you in there?” said the voice, it was feminine but sounded much older compared to any of his peers. The voice sounded clam at first but it soon became angrier, “Open this door right this moment, young man!”
Lucian practically fell from his bed as he desperately staggered towards the door. He grabbed the doorknob and unlocked it before swinging it open. On the other side of this door was a woman who looked like she was in her forties. She wore a whitish grey dress and a similar waistcoat with a pattern of silver branches. She had hair that was blend of black and brown which extended down to her neck and was held back by a horizontal crown braid. She had brown eyes and a kind smile. One of her most striking features was the blue gemstone necklace she wore around her neck and the golden ring she wore on her left hand. Her name was Janice, Janice Demon, Baroness of Demonum Borough.
“Mother…!” he said. “What are you doing here?”
“I don’t think I need a reason to see my own son!” said Janice. She then walked forward; Lucian instinctively moved out of the way, he then watched as she took the cloak and top hat that were lying on his bed. “I assume you have no complaints about these, you will have to wear them throughout the ceremony. So I suggest you tell me whether or they need to be changed,” she said while glancing at Lucian. Lucian nodded, “No, they’re fine”, before he sat on another side of the bed. Janice took both articles of clothing into her arms before turning around in order to walk away. Lucian took a deep breath and prepared to return to his sulking. But then he saw Janice peek over at him while she was walking out, she seemed to realize something was wrong that moment she saw his face. She stopped walking and sighed, she then walking over to Lucian whilst glancing at him sympathetically.
“Is something the matter?”
Lucian flinched, somewhat surprised. “What? No! Nothing, mother,” but his hurried and somewhat lackluster response did not deter Janice. She sat down next to Lucian. Her sympathetic smile made Lucian melt faster than any of Joe’s insults and accusations. “How are you feeling?” she asked with a voice so soft that Lucian thought he was being enveloped by clouds.
“A bit…uneasy” he said. Janice chuckled, “Well that is an understandable feeling, it is not wrong to dread the mysterious,”
“Did you fear it?” Lucian asked suddenly, “During your ceremony,”
Janice looked off into the distance for a moment, perhaps recalling her own experience. She then smiled again, “Yes, yes I did. And so did your father,”
“Really?” asked Lucian curiously, finding the thought of Henry being scared of something a bit unbelievable. “Why of course! Don’t let the formality fool you! Your grandfather told me your father was practically shivering in his shoes when he walked up to the knife and chalice! I suppose you’re really his son in that regard,”
Lucian sighed. Those words relieved his worries some more. But he still had questions. “So what was it like? Your ceremony?”
“Well, it was far more modest than this, that’s for sure!” she said. “Even the lesser nobility of Everton Borough would look humble compared to all this,”
Lucian blushed. But Janice was still not done. “I see you’ve been getting along quite well with the others,”
Lucian snapped out of his thinking, “Y…yes, mother. I suppose you could say that,” he said swiftly think about all the things he had done with the others up until that point. All the sneaking and speculating. Part of him worried whether his own mother suspected him of something.
“Good, Lily told me that she didn’t think you’d be so open. I suppose it is safe to say you’ve thoroughly proved her wrong,” said Janice, Lucian noticed the tone of her smile shift a little. It made him feel somewhat uneasy and it only reconfirmed his thoughts.
“Lily underestimates me, she like to be demeaning and insulting. She gets laugh out of it,”
“Well that is just how she is,” Janice said with a sigh, “Admittedly, she reminds me of myself at that age. But don’t fret too much over your little sister. Such qualities often go away with age,”
Lucian laughed weakly. But then Janice gave him a side eyed glance. “Your father tells me you’ve been sneaking about the house with the Hatlys and the Morrows”
Lucian inhaled sharply. Which made his mother raise an eyebrow. “May I ask what you’ve all been doing? Your father tells me that he caught you snooping about outside his study, he seems to think you’re up to something”
“No!” said Lucian hastily, but he then realized that his response wasn’t ideal. So he continued, “No, mother. I was a just… showing them the house!” he said, his mind working faster than it had ever done. “Nothing more,”
Janice narrowed her eyes at her son. It was clear that she wasn’t completely convinced. Lucian was beginning to sweat. But to his surprise, and relief, Janice just sighed.
“Hmm,” she said, “Well I suppose there’s nothing wrong in that,”
Lucian sighed inside. He still wasn’t sure whether his mother had been convinced. But he wasn’t going to pry any further. And neither was she. Janice then stood up from the bed with the ceremonial clothes still in her arms.
“Well best of luck, dear. I know you will not disappoint!” she said with enthusiastic smile. Lucian smiled back, trying to seem equally cheerful. “You know I won’t, mother! You know I won’t,” he tried to say, but his tone ended up sounding weaker than he would have liked. Luckily, Janice didn’t seem to mind.
Lucian watched as his mother walked out of his room. She closed the door behind her. The moment Lucian heard the door close he released a sigh of relief and laid on his bed with his arms outstretched. He then began to drift once more into self-loathing, driven farther the fact that he had reassured his mother that he was ready for the ceremony. He knew such wallowing wasn’t what most would consider healthy, but there was a certain comfort to be had in the admission of fear and doubt.
Unfortunately, he was but five minutes into his deep pondering when he was interrupted once again by the sound of someone knocking on the door. This time Lucian wasn’t going to take any chances. He quickly got up from his bed and ran to the door before the stranger outside had barely knocked twice. He swung open the door, expecting to see his mother once again. But to his surprise, the only person that stood there was Benjamin.
“Uh…hello?” asked Lucian quite awkwardly.
“Umm, is this a good time?” asked Benjamin, who seemed to notice Lucian’s awkward and sullen expression. Lucian saw him try and peer behind him, trying to get a look at what was behind him. But Lucian simply adjusted his posture in order to block him.
“Yes, of course!” Lucian said swiftly with a half-hearted smile, “Why would it not be?”
“Wasn’t that your mother? Did she ask you something?”
“No! Nothing at all! She was just trying to console me. That is all,”
“Oh good! Because the Morrows want you to come to the downstairs lounge. They want to talk more about that letter you all found before the ceremony starts,”
“Oh” said Lucian, intrigued. “Well tell them I’ll be there in few minutes. I just have…some things to arrange,”
Benjamin narrowed his eyes at Lucian for a moment before shrugging. “Well whatever you’re doing, you better hurry. I hardly doubt Joe wouldn’t take every second you’re late as proof of treachery,” he said with a smug smile.
Lucian simply smiled weakly in agreement before closing the door again. Once he did, he simply leaned against the door and sighed. He then opened the door again, but this time only slightly. He peeked through the small keyhole and looked as to whether Benjamin was still standing there. Sure enough, he wasn’t. Lucian was about to walk out of him and join Benjamin in the lounge when he remembered something. He turned away from the door shortly and almost walked towards a table that stood next to his bed. The table had a small drawer beneath it. Lucian grabbed the drawer and opened it. From within it he took out a golden pin that about a third the size of his palm. It had a circle with eight teeth and a trident at the center engraved on it, the symbol of the House of Demon. Lucian looked at the pin; he didn’t know what it meant to him. Perhaps it meant family, perhaps his mother’s words had inspired him, but whatever the case he knew he had to wear it. Therefore, he took it and pinned it to his shirt beneath his waistcoat, hidden just like the way his father wore it.
Lucian then made his way out of the door and towards the lunge. He went through the hallway, down the stairs and towards the hallway leading to the lounge. But just as he made it down onto the second floor he noticed something. He saw a soldier, wearing a brown cloak, standing at the entrance to the hallway leading to Henry’s study. Lucian didn’t think much of it at first but the he saw the soldier look at him with a stern and serious gaze that was as hard as iron. He eyes seemed to follow him as he walked past him. Lucian looked back the soldier, but his gaze did not divert. Lucian felt a deep sense of uneasiness, especially when he noticed that the soldier’s hand sat suspiciously close to a gun that visibly peeked out of his uniform. Lucian did not pause or stop, he simply quickened his pace as he walked passed the soldier, momentarily staring back from time to time to see whether the man was watching him. Sure enough, the man never took his gaze off him until he reached the lounge door. Lucian could hear voices echoing through the hallway leading to the lounge but he did not stop to listen. He simply pushed the door open and marched inside, losing sight of the soldier at last.
Inside the lounge, Lucian was greeted with the sound of incomprehensible chatter. Chatter that died down the moment he entered. Lucian immediately noticed the Morrows in bright colored attire sitting in the same corner that they had sat before. He saw the Venshires sitting in a sofa close to the center of the room. He saw Joseph sit on a lone chair facing directly at him. Finally, he saw Benjamin, who stood only a few feet in front of Lucian.
Benjamin stopped whatever he was saying and turned to the door the moment Lucian entered. For a moment, Lucian thought Benjamin would greet him. But to his confusion, Benjamin looked… disappointed?
“What? No!” he gasped as Lucian looked on with confusion. He saw both James and Joe snigger in their seats. “What’s going on?”
“He was trying to get us to bet on whether you’d come or not again,” said James with a smug grin. “Unfortunately for him, we did not fall for it.”
“Well you would’ve!” said Benjamin. “You all heard Charles say that there was a chance he won’t come,”
“I told you it was improbable!” Charles interjected. “A needle in a mountain circumstance,”
“Well there’s always good money to be made in off chances!” said Benjamin. “But now you’ll never get such a chance” said James. “Lucian inadvertently foiled your plan for profit,”
“Well, there’s still the Hatlys and the Mornings, they’re not here yet!” said Benjamin. Even the Morrows seemed to raise their eyebrows at that suggestion. Benjamin, disheartened after realizing that his peers were less than convinced, turned around and looked to Lucian’s right before asking, “Right, Maurice?”.
Before Lucian could ask anything, he heard a spine curdling ‘CAW’ from his right side. The sound made him jump almost instinctively. He turned to his right and saw a black void of feathers shaped vaguely like a bird, standing on a wooden stand in a corner of the room outside his vision. The bird ruffled it’s feathers and cawed again before standing as standing silently and regally. Benjamin smiled at the bird before turning to the others. “See? Maurice agrees with me!”
“Do you really rely on your pet to support you?” asked Alice, not impressed.
“Well excuse me for having someone to turn to when in need,” Benjamin said defensively. He then stroked the raven below its beak affectionately.
“What…is it…doing here?” Lucian stuttered. Benjamin and some of the others glared at him. “Oh don’t mind Maurice!” Benjamin said swiftly, “He’s just got some valuable information to tell us,”
“By that you mean, tell you,” said James. “Because for all we know it could all be baseless nonsense,”
“Are you doubting me?” asked Benjamin, once more on the defense. “Don’t tell me Joe over there has rubbed off on both of you as well,” he said pointing his finger at Joseph, who yawned out of boredom.
“Well he’s right, though!” said Alice. “According to Joseph, your sister is in on everything! How do we know that you and that black-feathered chicken aren’t?”
Both Maurice and Benjamin tilted took heads back, seemingly offended by that statement. “Well if you knew Lira like I do you wouldn’t be making such accusations,” said Benjamin plainly. He then seemed to go on a rant. “Believe me; she’d rather choke the life out of me than tell me anything. After all that training my mother insisted that she go through even I’m not sure that isn’t some Gratousy spy disguised as my sister!”
The room fell into an awkward silent. “Hmm, seems all is not well in paradise, eh?” Lucian heard Charles whisper to Willow. Benjamin seemed to hear it too but before he could go on another tirade Lucian, who hadn’t understood anything thus far, decided to switch topics.
“Information? How? What do you mean?” he asked, turning towards Benjamin. Benjamin seemed to calm down after that. For he simply cleared his throat and returned to his regular posture. “Well I might have ‘accidentally’ left Maurice’s cage open for the past day. He’s been quietly spying on our parents. Flying around the house listening to their talks,”
“And who’s to say that Lira hasn’t done the same?” James interjected. Benjamin immediately gave him a grim glance. James opened his mouth to say something else but Alice quickly tugged on his arm and got him to stop. Alice then gave James a stern glare. James paused for a moment. He then shrugged, apparently disappointed, but he didn’t go against Alice for he simply stayed silent.
Those words echoed in Lucian’s head. Had Lira used her raven to spy on him and the others? Would he have noticed if she did? He tried to convince himself that Lira had no reason to do such a thing. But then he remembered what he had said to her the day before.
“The rumors? Does she think they told them to me?” he thought to himself. He was beginning to regret his earlier choices. But before he could sink too deep into his own mistakes, he was once again swept up by the conversation.
“So when are you planning on telling us this oh-so special secrets?” asked Joe.
“Ah, ah,” said Benjamin. “Not so fast! I want everyone to hear it! And that means waiting for the Hatlys and Mornings!”
James groaned. “Are all Bernsteins so damn insufferable?”
“Well it takes one to know one, I would say,” Benjamin replied with a merciless haste. “Now! What about a little wager to pass the time, hmm?”
“NO!” everyone screamed at once. Benjamin shrugged with disappointment, but he seemed to have gotten the hint.
A few moments later Lucian heard the door open from behind him. With timing that almost felt comical he saw both Laura and Charlotte enter the room, followed shortly by Evelyn and Arthur Morning. Lucian then noticed a fifth person enter from behind them. His eyes widened slightly when he saw Lily appear from behind the Mornings. She immediately walked up to him and, to his surprise, put her arm around his shoulders before speaking in a cheerful tone.
“Well! You actually did it! You actually did something useful with yourself!” she said with a sort of pride.
“What?” asked Lucian quickly taking her arm off his shoulders. Lily gave him a smug look. “Well I didn’t think you’d be possible of anything other than mild disobedience, but breaking into father’s safe? Are you even the same person?”
Lucia didn’t find her ‘complements’ very amusing. He simply replied with a frown and an annoyed stare. “What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to look after Lid and Lucy,”
“I was,” sad Lily without hesitation. “But I managed to pass those incredibly important duties onto Luin. Believe me, he was very grateful”. Lucian was not impressed by the thick sarcasm that emanated Lily’s words. However, he did find the image of Luin wasting away with the twins to be somewhat amusing. He also briefly and smiled waved at the others. Particularly at Laura and Charlotte, both of whom returned the gesture with equal enthusiasm.
Suddenly, once it was clear that everyone who was needed had arrived, Joe stood up from his seat. Attracting the attention of everyone in the room. He then turned to Benjamin and Maurice the raven.
“So, Bernstein? It appears that everyone you want is already here. So mind telling us what your fat crow has to say?”
Benjamin took a deep breath. “Firstly, he not a fat crow. Secondly, I…” he said, but Joe gave him a tense stare, his fist twitching as though he was ready to punch him. Benjamin saw this and immediately stopped talking and gulped. He then took another deep breath and turned to Maurice.
Lukan saw Benjamin take Maurice into his arm. He then lifted the raven up to ear. Maurice then started making faint sounds that sounded like regular raven sounds. But to Benjamin they seemed to mean something different.
After a moment of listening to the raven, Benjamin turned to the others. “He says that he heard them talking in the living room about two hours ago. They seemed to be talking about what happens after the ceremony,”
Everyone looked with intrigue and interest. Even Joe raised his eyebrow. “After the ceremony?”
Benjamin nodded. “They said something about a train, one leaving the city tonight. About how they’re planning to catch it after Lucian’s affair is all said and done,”
“A train? To where?” asked Evelyn. “The Baronies,” Laura replied swiftly. All eyes the turned to her. Lucian assumed she had read Benjamin’s mind faster than Benjamin had spoken.
“He’s talking about train leaving for the Baronies, in the countryside. Far away from the city. I assume they’re going to take us there the moment we leave this house,”
“But why?” asked Alice. “Why leave so suddenly? And without telling us?”
“Well now that’s obvious,” said Joe. “You all saw the newspaper. The Circle is on the brink of conflict. It’s fair to assume our parents are taking us to the countryside in order to flee from it!”
“Then why wouldn’t they tell us, hmm?” argued Charlotte. “How would they keep this a secret from us once we’re on the train? Wouldn’t it be better to tell us immediately?”
“Because perhaps we may not make it to the train!” exclaimed Willow. All heads turned to her. Willow momentarily glanced at both Lucian and Laura. Lucian’s face then went pale. Lily seemed to notice this, for she tugged on his arm and asked, “Lu, what’s wrong?” Lucian saw Joe stare at him, but before he could answer James interjected.
“What do you mean?”
“I have been seeing things in my visions,” said Willow. “Both Charles and I see something going wrong in the future,”
“What’s going to happen?” asked Arthur restlessly. To which Willow sighed, “I don’t know. It’s not clear enough for me to understand. All I see is roaring fire, a glowing door and the sound of guns. None of which I would consider a good sign,”
Everyone looked at Willow with expressions of shock and terror. Lucian saw Laura look at him with a worried expression. Lucian’s blood ran cold and his mind flowed with a million grim thoughts. But none seemed to be worse than what the others were feeling.
“S…So is that it? We’re doomed? No, right? Your father must have seen the same thing. Our parents must have a solution!” exclaimed Benjamin, seemingly unable to comprehend what he had just heard.
“It is a matter of probability,” said Charles plainly. “These events may not come to fruition but that is yet to be seen. I assume our parents thought it best not to tell you all this given that this is the reaction you all would’ve given. Better to have us oblivious than worried, asking uncertain questions that demand answers,”
“So why tell us this now?” asked Joe, raising his eyebrow suspiciously.
“Since we are so close to the turning point, I feel it is better to warn you all now, when we’re all here at once. Better than to let you all find out when the time comes,” said Willow. She then once again turned to Laura and Lucian. Joe followed her gaze and soon he began to stare at them as well. Lucian gave Willow a pale expression, Laura turned to Lucian and shook her head in panic, which aroused the suspicion of Charlotte. Willow gave Lucian a subtle nod, and before he could reply, she turned to the others and spoke.
“Besides, if there is any chance of us making it out alive, they lie with Lucian. So it’s best we be prepared if the time comes,”
Lucian’s skin went paler than milk. He immediately saw the shocked and confused gazes of everyone in the room fall onto him, including the gaze of Lily, who looked at him as though he had committed some heinous betrayal. He saw Charlotte stare directly into his eyes, trying to read his mind. Lucian tried his best to hide away his thoughts but then he saw Laura grabbed Charlotte by the shoulder and pushed her attention away by covering her glasses with her palm. Charlotte responded to this behavior with a look of confusion.
“SO YOU WERE HIDING SOMETHING!” shouted Joe suddenly. He then took a few aggressive steps towards Lucian. “Care to tell us when you were planning to tell us about our impending deaths, Demon? You sly-tongued fiend!”
“Hey, watch it!” said Lily defensively whilst taking a step forward, to Lucian’s surprise. “He wouldn’t dare hide something like this without a reason!” she then turned her head towards Lucian, “Right?”
Lucian remained silent. Joe was not impressed. He saw Lily’s confidence waver. “Hold on, how do YOU know all this?” Arthur suddenly asked. “Did Lucian tell you before he told all of us?”
“I overheard him. He told it all to Hatly over there the moment she started questioning him,” said Willow plainly pointing towards Laura.
All eyes then turned to Laura. Lucian saw he face turn red. Charlotte gasped and looked at her sister with an expression of shock. “You knew?” she asked but Laura didn’t answer. She stayed silent for a few moments. She stared at Willow with a baffled look. A look that turned into burning fury as she then marched over to Willow and, to the shock of everyone, slapped her in the face.
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“YOU WRETCHED LITTLE SNITCH!” she screamed as her slap almost made Willow fall over and trip on her skirt. The entire room erupted into uproar and arguing. Laura tried to hit Willow a second time but Charles swiftly grabbed her hand and stopped her. Charlotte then grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back, with Laura still struggling to get her due vengeance.
“HOW DARE YOU!” Laura shouted. Willow recovered from the slap and looked at Laura with look of outrage. “How dare I? HOW DARE I? How dare I what, secure the future? What were you planning to do by holding onto such important information? Were you planning to tell us all when we’re about to die?”
Laura went quiet. Lucian could feel the cold stares of the room slowly shift towards him. He saw Joe walk up to him with an aura of bitterness. His glare was unavoidable and steely. Lily tried to stand between him and Lucian but Joe just lightly shoved her aside. Lucian tried to stand firm and meet his gaze with something that was equally intimidating. But his posture was found lacking compared to that of Joe.
“What is it?” asked Joe plainly. “What?” asked Lucian, initially confused. This seemed to increase Joe’s frustration.
“Morrow said you have a way out. That means our parent’s told you something, yes?” he voice was subdued, yet still it felt like a threat.
“I…ah” Lucian stuttered. His mind was still conflicted. Lira’s orders and the desire to let out the truth bought fought for dominance inside his skull. He opened and closed his mouth several times. But no words came out. Joe raised his eyebrow at Lucian, which only deepened his internal arguing.
“The lives of your peers will rest in your hands,” his head rang.
“The lives of your peers will rest in your hands,”
Finally, it seemed as though he had pushed his silence too far and Joe seemed to snap. Within an instant his hands lunged towards Lucian without a warning. Lucian barely had time to react as Joe grabbed him by the collar and pulled him violently towards him.
“SAY IT! YOU PATHETIC, TREASONOUS WRECTH!” said Joe. His suddenly burst of aggression triggered the entire room into a frenzy. Lily grabbed Joe by the waist and tried to pull him away shouting, “Get off of him!” but Joe simply shrugged her off. Laura tried to help but Charlotte held her back, her own feeling of anger still unresolved. Meanwhile Joe shook Lucian a few times. Finally, Benjamin ran over from his side of the room and grabbed Joe by the shoulder. He then pushed Joe away with all his might. Joe tried to hold on but he was forced to let go of Lucian. He fell back and leaned into one of the chairs in the center of the room, his expression showing nothing but disgust.
“ARE YOU INSANE?” asked Benjamin, “You won’t accomplish anything by using brute force! What is wrong with you?”
“HE IS STILL WITHOLDING CRUCIAL DETAILS!” Joe snapped back. “After all this, Demon still won’t spill the truth!”
“Why are you so obsessed with ‘the truth’?” said James. “Has hearing the unwanted whispers of everyone who has ever met you made you think everyone is lying to you?”
Joe gave James a look of shock, his posture now appearing almost feral. “But he is hiding the truth! You all heard Morrow. He is keeping the way to safety all to himself!”
“Well perhaps it’s for good reason!” Lily shouted back. She then shot an unsure glance of Lucian, who was still a bit shocked from Joe’s aggressive shaking. “Maybe the future is better off if we do not know,”
Joe looked at Lily with a look of a both rage and desperation. It appeared as though the entire room had turned against him. “Are you all mad? You can’t be serious!”
“You took it too far, Angelmore!” shouted James. “We do not attack each other! That is not the way we do things!”
“Well, fine then!” said Joe, throwing his hands in the air, apparently accepting defeat. “You are all FOOLS! He has hid things from us since the day we came here, and none of you have the will to find out!”
Lucian looked at Willow, who looked at him back and nodded. Lucian then looked at Laura, who he knew was reading his mind at that moment. Laura did not move and both she and Charlotte simply stared at Lucian with Laura giving an expression of acceptance. He then looked around the room, which seemed to be on the verge of chaos with both Benjamin and Lily standing beside whilst Joe argued with James and Alice. He then took a deep breath and sighed.
“IT’S THE MIRROR!” he shouted at the top of his lungs. Joe and the Venshires immediately stopped arguing. Benjamin and Lily turned to him in surprise, as did the Hatlys and the Mornings. The Morrows both closed their eyes and sighed. Lucian stared Joe straight in the eyes as he spoke.
“That’s the solution. I was supposed to take you all into the Mirror for safety if things went wrong. THAT ISIT,” he said with his utmost authority. “Are you happy now? Satisfied? IS THAT WHAT YOU WANTED TO KNOW?”
Joe stood speechless. Lucian walk past Benjamin and Lily and approached him. Both him and Joe stared off at each other, appearing as though neither knew what to say next. Their standstill was only broken when Alice chimed in.
“The Mirror? How?” she asked. Arthur seemed to follow her lead since he too then stood up with his own questions. “Yes, how? Is there a Flame Door here?”
“Yes, a Gateway,” said Lucian plainly, without looking away from Joe. “I’m supposed to open it using the Flame lantern hanging above the door to the hall. The one we used earlier to open my father’s safe,”
“But why you?” Charlotte then asked, to the surprise of Laura. “Lira told me that if the times comes. I will be the only one able to open it. She also told me not to tell any of you…”
“Perhaps for fear of changing the future,” said James whilst looking at the Morrows, his expression was of concern. “Are you both sure this does not seal our fate? If Mr. Morrow and your aunt saw the same thing, surely they would have told us, right?”
“Oh hogwash!” said Willow, who sounded almost insulted. “Perhaps they decided to focus more on the futures where we all follow Lucian here like cattle without question. Perhaps that is what they expect of us,” she said, addressing the entire room. “Perhaps my father did not see a bad outcome where we do not know the truth, but neither me nor Charles see any future where knowing the truth works to our detriment. And besides, any future in which we remain oblivious would’ve been compromised the moment Lucian spilled the truth to Hatly!”
James narrowed his eyes at Willow. But even he seemed to know that it was too late. The truth had come out. And there was no way in which they could take it back. The room fell into silence once more. “What else did my sister tell you?” asked Benjamin.
“Well, she definitely did not tell me how to behave during the ceremony,” said Lucian lightheartedly. He then looked at Joe, who looked conflicted. In Lucian’s eye, Joe had gotten what he had demanded. Yet he still did not seem satisfied. He stared at him coldly.
“I think we’re done here,” he said, to the surprise of Benjamin and Lily. Lucian then turned around faced the door. He saw Laura momentarily reach out to him, but then she took it back and returned to her sullen expression. He noticed Charlotte give her sister a subtle yet obvious frown. But at that moment, Lucian did not want to get involved lest he wanted to stoke the fires even more. He simply turned to the door and walked away slowly, leaving behind a divided room. But at that moment, he didn’t care. In all honesty, he was quite fed-up with them all. Therefore, he simply walked steadily out the door and closed it behind him.
Once he was in the hallway, he took a deep breath. He looked back at the door one more time before turning away and walking down the hallway. But as he walked he got the feeling that something was odd. He looked around but so nothing out of the ordinary at first. But then he realized it. He walked to the end of the hall and peeked over into the lobby. He realized that soldier who had stood there earlier was no longer there. At that moment, he simply assumed that the man had moved on. But it gave him an unnerving feeling for some reason. But as his attention was focused on the now empty lobby he heard a sound come from behind him, the sound of footsteps. He then felt a cold chill run down his spine when he felt a hand grab him by the shoulder.
“AH!” he screamed jerking violently and turning back to face the owner of the hand. But to his surprise, and embarrassment, he realized it was just Lily.
“What were you looking at?” she asked, seemingly concerned by the way Lucian had reacted. “Nothing,” Lucian replied plainly.
Lily smiled smugly, “Well that was quite the display you did. Never thought you had it in you to yell back at Joe,”
“He deserved it; he thinks he can do to me what he likes. Well he is wrong in that regard! I have my dignity,” said Lucian. The very thought of Joe only brought back the memory of him grabbing him by the collar. Lucian couldn’t take such an insult.
“Now that is debatable,” he heard Lily whisper under her breath. “Well at least you proved you can stand up to him,” said Lily examining her fingernails. “But where that dignity of yours lies I think is a different question entirely,”
Lucian sighed and smiled slightly, “Ah, I see. So you’re mad at me for keeping secrets, aren’t you?”
“Mad? Yes. I along with most of the others. Charlotte and the Venshires in particular didn’t take it very well,” she replied in a fast-paced voice, her demeanor slowly shifting away from subtlety and calmness and towards urgency and panic. “But surprised? No. Frankly, I am impressed you managed to keep a secret for this long. But I suppose you were always one for obedience,”
Lucian flinched. “What does that mean?”
“Oh, nothing! It is just that Lira told you not to tell anyone and you abided dutifully. But still, it seems odd to me that you told Laura before everyone else,”
“She pressured me!” Lucian said swiftly. “She was onto me from the start. And I couldn’t escape her mindreading,”
Lucian saw Lily look back towards the hallway. She sighed. “Well, speak of the restless spirits and they shall come forth,”
Lucian raised his eyebrow no confusion. Then he heard more footsteps and moments later, he saw Laura appear from the hallway, staggering towards them with sadness written all over her face.
“Are you alright?” asked Lucian sympathetically.
“Charlie won’t talk to me. She said I betrayed her trust,” said Laura in a depressed voice. She then leaned against a wall and began to sulk. “But it wasn’t your fault,” said Lucian, trying to cheer her up. “I told you not to tell anyone. You were just being a good friend,”
“Well Charlie doesn’t see it that way,” said Laura, whose mood did not improve in the slightest. Lucian frowned sincerely. It was clear his approach was no working.
“Oh don’t worry!” Lily chimed in. “She’ll forgive you eventually,”
“I’m not so sure about that. She thinks I wantonly put her life in danger, and perhaps she is right,”
“Well I wouldn’t fret about that,” Lily said smugly while giving Lucian a side-eye. “I have broken Lucian’s trust more times than I can recall! He always forgave me! If Charlie’s even half as much of an all-forgiving softie like my brother, she’ll forgive before the end of the night!”
Laura tried to hide her chuckles from Lucian. Even then, it was obvious. Lucian’s frown became less sincere when he saw Lily give him a smug smile. He sighed and tried not to take it personally. At least, it cheered up Laura.
Unfortunately, however, such feelings of happiness did not persist. For Lucian heard yet more footsteps. And his eyes widened when he looked behind Laura and onto the hallway, for he saw now saw both Willow and Charles walking towards them. But they seemed more upset than sad. Laura immediately saw them approach, and her expression once again soured. Lily narrowed her eyes nervously, for even she knew something bad was going to happen.
“Uh…Willow. I…” Lucian muttered nervously. But Laura immediately cut him off and gave Willow a look of fury. Willow replied with an equally disgusted look.
“You have a lot of nerve walking here,” said Laura.
“What? Why? I am not allowed to traverse a hallway now?” Willow remarked gesturing to the hallway.
“What do you want now? Haven’t you done enough already, you ease-dropping miscreant?”
Willow covered her mouth and sarcastically imitated an expression of shock, “Why you little…”
“Nothing!” Charles interrupted. He held Willow by the shoulder and stepped in front of her. “We just came here to get away from all the commotion. Joe did not take well to you just leaving like that,” he said looking at Lucian, who shrugged.
“I can see why, he’s probably made everyone think I’m a traitor by now. Yes?”
“Not really,” said Charles. “Bernstein’s arguing in your defense and the Venshires don’t seem too keen as to listen to Angelmore. After all, you gave us the newspaper and Laura helped open your father’s safe, you all can’t be any less trustworthy than the rest of us,”
“Well thank you,” said Lucian. He then looked over to Laura, who was staring at Willow with a deep, hateful gaze. Willow groaned impatiently and nudged Charles. “Well we better get going. You know we have somewhere else to be,”
Charles nodded at Willow. But as his sister dragged him along he also briefly nodded at both Laura and Lucian. Lucian nodded back but Laura didn’t notice. Willow stuck out her tongue at Laura before grinning maliciously, which made her fume furiously. She took out her hand and waved it in the air. Lucian saw one of the small decorative flower vases situated on one of the lobby tables containing a bundle of thorn-less white roses fling forwards into the air and come flying towards Willow. Willow’s grin disappeared as she saw the vase come flying towards her. She glanced at Lucian for a moment before closing her eyes and holding out her hands in a panic. Lucian then panicked as well. He then held out his hand next to Laura. As soon as he did, the vase came to a sudden halt less than a foot away from Willow’s head. A few moments later, Willow opened her eyes and found the vase floating silently in front of her. She sighed, and then looked at Lucian once again.
“Thank you, I knew you wouldn’t let me down!” she said with a smile before walking away again. But Laura wasn’t done. She gasped before looking at Lucian with an expression of betrayal. She then swiftly hit Lucian in the waist with her elbow before he had time to speak. Lucian was pushed to the side and almost fell over. But luckily Lily caught. But in the process of staggering to the side he had put down his hand. Immediately the floating vase once again began to shoot forwards towards Willow.
“No!” said Charles as he saw the vase move, he held his hand out between Willow and the vase. But he tripped over his own shoe and placed is hand too low. It collided with the bottom of the making it fly horizontally with the flowers facing Willow’s head. And as Willow turned her head back in order to react Lucian watched as her face was completely enveloped by the white roses. The force of the vase’s flight was so great that it propelled her towards the wall. Willow reached for the vase and tried to pull it away, Laura then put her hand down and let the vase fall onto Willow’s arms.
Once the vase fell Lucian noticed what it had done to Willow’s face. The roses were crushed and several petals had become stuck in her bush-like hair. Her face had several small patches of dark brown potting soil and some of it had even stained her collar. Charles looked at her with a mix of sympathy, shock and disgust. Willow looked at the vase in her hand before looking at Laura. Her expression a mix of various different emotions.
“Well now we’re settled,” Laura said coldly. “You soiled my name in front of all the others. And now I have soiled you!”
Lucian saw both Lily and Charles try and hide giggles of laughter. And frankly, he too found tried desperately to hide his own amusement. Willow dropped the vase on the ground where it made a light thud as it hit the floor, but didn’t break. She stared at Laura, but then it seemed her attention was diverted towards something else, her eyes moved back and forth as though she was thinking of something. She then simply sighed and said, “Fair enough,” before wiping the soil off her face and gesturing towards Charles. Together both of them then walked away without another word.
“Huh, and you say I’m petty” said Lily, who had witnessed everything that had just transpired.
“Never do that again!” said Laura turning to Lucian suddenly. Lucian took a step back, intimidated by Laura’s furious state. Laura then took a deep breath and sighed. “Well, what is done is done. I suppose we have no other except to accept it. Hopefully Willow knows what she’s doing,”
“In hindsight, I think she’s right,” said Lucian. “If we all know the truth we can all work together,”
“But if what Mr. and Ms. Morrow saw is true, we might be in a trouble,” Lily interjected.
“Well, there’s no need to worry,” said Lucian calmly, “All of this only matters if what the Morrows saw comes to fruition. Which is unlikely!” he said for he did not want Lily to worry about the same thing he was dreading. But it was clear from Lily’s unconvinced expression that his reassurances had little effect.
“I think I need to go back,” said Laura, now calmer than she was before. “I owe Charlie an apology,”
“Well, hopefully she accepts it. She is your sister after all, she can’t stay angry at you forever,” said Lucian.
“Maybe that was the case with childish quarrels, but as Joe implies, this is life or death,”
“I would not pay attention to everything Joe says. Listen to him for long enough and you’ll eventually want to jump off a building,” said Lucian condescendingly, for he was still salty on the subject of Joe.
Laura laughed before walking away towards the lounge once more. She waved briefly waved at Lucian, and both Lucian and Lily waved back. But once she had disappeared into the depth of the hallway both their gazes feel on the fallen vase. Particularly on the mess of broken petals and soil around it. Both did not want to be the one to clean it up. And Lucian had an idea.
“Where did you say Luin was?”
“I told you I left him with the twins and all other small ones. Well, all except for little Oli Morrow, he wanted to be with his parents, why do you ask?” said Lily, her concentration fixated on the dirt stains on the floor.
“And where do you think he would take them?”
“Hmm, knowing him he probably took them to the library,” said Lily with a scoff.
“Good,” said Lucian with a light nod. He then tightened his collar. “Well, I have something to discuss with him. So I suggest you enjoy cleaning this up,” he then began to swiftly and silently walk away.
It took Lily a few moments to register Lucian’s words, “Wait, what?” she said initially, but then she came to the realization and shouted, “NO! Don’t you dare leave me with this mess!” but by the time she reached in to stop him Lucian had disappeared into another hallway.
Lucian lightly jogged his way to the library. He approached the familiar green and gold doors. And pushed them open. The sound of high-pitched laughter and screaming filled the air around him before he even took a step inside. The tall walls and the arched roof of the library amplified the sound. But among the playful sounds of childish delight was also the sound of annoyed grunting and pleading. Lucian walked towards the open area at the other end of the room and there he found Luin, running around frantically while chasing the twins. Lucian noticed that Luin was missing his glasses, and he found those glasses in Lucy’s hand.
“Give those back, you little thieves,” said Luin lunging towards them. But both Lidian and Lucy evaded him whilst passing the glasses between each other. Luin staggered back and forth, his vision impaired and his fury growing as the twins laughed at his face. Lucian laughed alongside his siblings. He then looked at the rest of the room. He saw that the table in the middle of the open area had been filled with books, and Elliott laid there on his knees reading them with utmost focus. On the other side of the table, he saw Grandfather Wren, sitting his usual chair facing the window. But this time Lucian saw him act rather lively. He then noticed Mabel Venshire and Morgan Bernstein both sitting and standing beside him, looking at him with fascination as he told them a story with more vigor than Lucian had seen in years.
“I told that lazy excuse of a spy that he was most scummy little runt I’d ever had the displeasure of meeting. Then I told him to go sod off like the rest of them! Safe to say my wife was not very pleased. She didn’t even give me any of our shared whiskey that night,” he said gesturing with his hands as the young ones watched in awe with their mouths open.
Finally, Luin seemed to notice Lucian standing next to them. He narrowed his eyes in his direction. “Is that you, Lu?”
“Yes, it is I” said Lucian. “And by the looks of things you seem to be having a bit of problem. The twins then ran over to him and hid behind his back, giggling manically. Luin stood in front of Lucian clawing the air as the twins ran from one side of Lucian’s back to the other.
“YES I DO,” said Luin furiously. “These two frustrating little delinquents won’t give me my glasses back!”
“Well you’re always so pompously over-confident, so why don’t you just take them!” Lucy shouted whist waving the glasses in the air. Luin lunged in her direction but she simply disappeared behind Lucian and evaded him, passing the glasses to Lidian. Luin groan in anger, “Oh gosh damn you both!”
Lucian pitied Luin. Hence, he decided to help. He quickly grabbed Lidian by the collar and grabbed his hand while he was waving the glasses next to his head. Lidian looked at Lucian with surprise, “Lu! What are you doing?”
“Fun’s over, Lid,” Lucian said plainly, “I think you’ve punished your cousin for long enough. Besides, you don’t want him to tell father, do you?”
Lidian went silent. “Alright!” he said letting go of the glasses. Lucian handed them over to Luin, who polished them with his waistcoat before putting them on. He then frowned at the twins. “Shame, he looked like he could use more punishment,” said Lucy.
“No, no. I think you both have done enough,” said Lucian. Lucy and Lidian both stuck their tongues out at Luin before walking away together, searching for something else to do.
“For your information, I could’ve taken more punishment,” said Luin walking back to the table. He then took a seat next to Elliott. “Besides, all this noise was disturbing Elli,” he said whilst looking at the same book alongside Elliott.
“I see you two have gotten along, how surprising,”
“Well I like to think of Elli as my protégé, he’s one of the only people here who has any taste!”
“Well aside from that…” said Lucian who did not want to go off the topic he wished to discuss. “I came here to ask you about that letter,”
Luin blinked several times, confused. His attention still focused on whatever Elliott was reading. “What letter?”
Lucian sighed. “The one we got from my father’s study, remember?”
“Oh that letter!” he exclaimed. “Well I haven’t been able to solve it yet, if that was what you were hoping for,”
“Well why haven’t you? Aren’t the great scholarly know-it-all?”
“Well that’s not exactly high praise coming from you, is it? And even then, solving a code like this isn’t that simple!”
“Well how hard can it be?” asked Lucian, but he meant that as a rhetorical question. Moreover, it had the intended effect of making Luin lose his temper. For he grumbled and reached into his waistcoat where he pulled out a piece of paper, he then showed it to Lucian who knew it to be the code they had copied off his father’s letter.
“You see here,” he said angrily. “This appears to be a simple substitution. Just one symbol for another. But unfortunately, the problem here are the variations,”
“Variations?” asked Lucian, to which Luin nodded. “Of all the codes I’ve read about they always have variations. And looking at this I suspect there are at least twenty five different variations of this,”
“Twenty five?” asked Lucian in shock. “Yes, one for each shift of a letter,”
“Well how long will it take for you to solve it?”
“Hours at the minimum, I still need to figure out how each letter is depicted,” said Luin.
In all honesty, Lucian was not too surprised. Even his parents seemed to have trouble finding an answer so the fact that Luin was finding it difficult was not a shock to him. But yet part of him still had confidence in Luin. However, before he could say anything else. He heard a sounds coming from the other side of the room.
“You two! Over there!” he suddenly heard Grandfather Wren shout. Surprising even Morgan and Mabel. He was pointing his cane at piece of paper that Luin was holding out in the open. Both Lucian and Luin exchanged confused glances.
“Yes, Grandfather?” Lucian asked. He then took the piece of paper and approached him.
“Where did you two youths get your hands on this?” he asked strictly before snapping the paper away from Lucian. He once again looked back and exchanged confused glances with Luin. He then got an idea and turned to his grandfather. “Do you recognize it?”
“Of course I do!” he exclaimed. “What sort of Baron would I be if I didn’t know such trivial things?”
Lucian went silent for a moment, “So…can you read it?”
“Well…no,” said Wren looking at the paper, both Lucian and Luin frowned with disappointment. “It seems that most of this has slipped from my mind. Although I do recognize some things,” said Wren, who couldn’t seem to grasp his own inability to decipher the code.
“What things?” Lucian inquired further, hoping to get something out of this. Wren then pointed to a series of letter and numbers on the paper, characters that read ‘G1G3B2E2D1E3’. “This one,” he said. “I know this word, it’s ‘Guilds’. Yes, I’d recognize that word anywhere,”
“Guilds?” Lucian thought to himself, unable to understand how such a word fit in with the message. Then Wren started telling a story. “You know we had an incident with the Guilds a while back. One of those traitorous little wretches ratted out the Evertons to the Order. Oh, that poor, poor boy Ulysses. Those imbeciles were lucky we didn’t dissolve them all then and there!”
Lucian listened intently to what Wren was saying. But his tale was cut short when Luin walked over and snapped the paper away from Wren. Their grandfather stared at him with a look of disbelief. “Well it seems we’re getting off subject again,” Luin said before making his way back to his side of the table.
Lucian was about to join him when he felt Wren grab the sleeve of his coat. “Who are you, boy?” he asked with narrow eyes. “I’m Lucian, your grandson,” Lucian said kindly and honestly. Wren smiled and almost began to laugh. “Well, young lad. I admit you are quite funny indeed. How can I have a grandson when neither of my sons are even married?”
Lucian saw Morgan and Mabel stare at him with awkward silence. He saw Luin roll his eyes. However, he didn’t care. He simply looked at his grandfather sympathetically before walking away quietly. Wren frowned for a moment, but then returned his attention back to Morgan and Mabel. As though his conversation with Lucian had never happened.
“I still don’t see why you try. You know he’ll never accept it,” said Luin.
“It was worth a try, maybe one of these days…,” said Lucian optimistically.
“Well at least we know one word now. This should make it easier to solve,” said Luin rubbing his forehead while staring at the paper. “Make sure you solve before the others leave. We may not have time to use whatever message we receive by then,” said Lucian, the possibilities of future events played in his head. His worries always drove these hypothetical scenarios to their worst conclusions.
“Why is that?” asked Luin. “Believe me, it is better if you didn’t know,” said Lucian bluntly. Luin seemed to have gotten the hint, for he simply shrugged and went back to studying the paper.
“Well can you at least take these puny scoundrels off my hands; it would make me work faster,”
Lucian grinned, “No, I think you’re working fast enough. Besides, there is somewhere I need to be,”
Luin raised his eyebrow at Lucian. But Lucian just turned away and walked out of the Library, leaving Luin with the small ones. He saw the twins rummaging through a nearby bookcase on his way out, making a small fort out of thick tomes. He dared not disturb them. He closed the Library doors behind him as he went. Afterwards he went back to the lobby where the staircase was located. Once he got there, he found it completely empty. Lily as seemingly left after cleaning the vase from earlier. Lucian took a seat in a nearby table and rested. He wasn’t sure whether it was too soon to do what he was about to do. Therefore, he simply rested for a few minutes. Enjoying the quiet of the lobby for a few minutes. He took a few deep breaths and reclined on this cushioned chair. Then, once his mind had been calmed and a few minutes had passed, he once again got up from his chair and made his way to the lounge again. As he walked down the hallway he expected to hear muffled shouting, bust strangely the entire room seemed to have become silent. He hesitantly placed his hand on the doorknob before taking a deep breath and swinging open the door. He closed his eyes and stepped into the room. But weirdly, he heard no voices. He opened his eyes and realized the room was almost completely empty. With the only occupant being Benjamin, who sat reclined on one of the sofas with his raven Maurice perched on one of his hands.
“Oh, hello there! Didn’t think you’d come back,” said Benjamin rubbing Maurice’s head.
“Where is everyone?” asked Lucian.
“Oh they all left, it seems that no one could stand each other after that argument we all had,” said Benjamin.
“Then why are you here?”
“Figured I’d stay, at least I get to spend some time with Maurice before I have to put him back into his cage,” said Benjamin scratching the raven below the neck. Maurice gave a loud caw the moment Benjamin referred to the cage. Benjamin looked at it sympathetically, “Well I know you don’t like it, but I can’t keep you outside either,” he said as though he were explaining something to an actual person. Lucian meanwhile couldn’t look at Maurice without being viscerally disgusted. Maurice seemed to notice this. It turned its head to Lucian before cawing loudly and flaring its wings. Its cry was so loud it made Lucian jump and it made Benjamin raise an eyebrow.
“Well Maurice wants to tell you that he doesn’t like the way you’re looking at him. He doesn’t like you in general it seems,”
“Birds tend to think that about me,” said Lucian, remembering how Lira’s raven also despised him.
“Well at least it’s not as bad as the Hatlys,” said Benjamin.
“What you mean?” asked Lucian curiously. Benjamin winced. “Well Laura tried to apologize to Charlotte; it did not go over well,”
“Well what happened?” asked Lucia now more invested than ever. “Well…Let me just say that was not where the argument ended. Charlotte seems to have drifted over to Joe’s side of the field. Along with the Mornings,”
“What about you?” asked Lucian, taking a seat in a sofa that was perpendicular to Benjamin’s. Benjamin sighed and did not look Lucian in the eye. He then shrugged. “I don’t know. I simply don’t know. You do not seem like a traitor to me,”
“That’s what Charles said,” said Lucian. Benjamin paused for a moment. He then tilted his head and looked at him compassionately.
“You know I will always stand beside you, right? I’ve been standing beside you since…”
“Since that day on the bridge. Yes, I know” said Lucian. There was an awkward silence as Lucian recalled that day, that fateful day in the Baronies that happened all those years ago. The memory had slightly faded, but he remembered standing there, on an ancient stone bridge in the middle of the countryside, watching in horror as Joseph fought for life in the river below. He did not remember how it happened, but he was still feeling the consequences of it.
Maurice the raven leaned on Benjamin’s lap and cooed affectionately. Lucian smiled. Benjamin smiled back. In that moment, Lucian’s mind shone with the glimmer of hope. Despite all the things that had transpired in the past few hours, despite all the worries that plagued him, despite the visions of oncoming doom and death that played in his head, that glimmer of hope persisted.
He thought to himself, “Perhaps we might be alright after all.”