My eyes opened slowly, adjusting almost immediately to the light entering through the window slats. A cricket was chirping just outside, the dust on the dresser settled in place, and the floorboards felt real.

  I was really out of it yesterday. Today I was half sand, half air. Still heavy, but the weight was draining out of me. I raised my arms above my head, interlocking my fingers in a tall stretch. I felt a yawn in my throat, and today I let it manifest.

  The door clicked open, turning slowly as if not to wake the hinges. Marie peeked in from the gap, hesitating as we locked eyes.

  “Morning, Ley.”

  There it was again. Ley.

  She cleared her throat, fingers brushing her lips like she meant not to say it.

  “Join me?”

  It put a smile on my face. Without a word between us, I put my boots on. She waited in place, occasionally tapping the ball of her foot to the ground. “I could do with a bit of fresh air anyway.” I finally remarked, hoping to defuse any tension. The world existed today. Steady, present.

  The morning air was slightly cold, just enough to be comfortable without being annoying. Marie was walking a pace ahead of me, scanning the tree line for anything peculiar.

  “So... slept well?” She asked, voice slightly muted by rustling leaves.

  “Yeah, I passed right out yesterday. Didn’t even dream.”

  Her shoulders relaxed slightly. We passed by a rather large tree, and I saw something I wasn’t expecting. Fist-sized, red orbs hanging off the branches.

  I stopped, raising my hand up and toward a group of them. Marie only noticed after a couple of paces.

  “Leonn...?”

  I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath through my nose. The vision of a swirling vortex flooded my mind, and I felt the wind gently brushing up against my fingers.

  The sound of a whip cracked through the air, and a couple of apples fell from the tree. I missed the stems, shaving a bit from the top like a bad haircut.

  Im surprised that worked... I caught them in my arms as they fell.

  “Want one?”

  Her eyes lit up at the question.

  “What? Absolutely. I didn’t even see those yesterday!”

  She graciously took one, biting down eagerly as she stole a glance at me. They were surprisingly sweet for having grown in the wild. We used to have these shipped up to the manor from a farm in west Arnier, but they were sort of bland...

  We reached a small clearing, bathed in a pale gold. Dew still clung to each blade of grass like lovers. A gentle breeze rolled through, shaking the trees behind us. I turned to a crooked birch tree, brushing my hand up against the bark.

  “None of this felt real yesterday” slipped out before it fully formed.

  “Well...” Marie responded, quiet and careful.

  “Is it real today?”

  I didn’t even pull my hand away from the tree. Instead, my fingers found found subtle cracks where the bark had healed.

  “Yeah, more than it’s been for a while.”

  Silence reigned for another moment. We both watched the wind form waves in the grass.

  She then sighed, “...that’s good.”

  A small, earnest smile gripping the corners of her mouth as she turned toward the manor.

  “Come on, Agnes has probably woken up. We’d better get back before she sets something on fire.”

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  I huffed at the thought, if she’s awake, she’s already up to something.

  We entered the manor to the sound of Agnes’ muffled curses. She appeared at the banister of the second floor, shouting

  “morning both of you. Leonn could you help me with something?”

  Both of us exchanged a wordless look, and I shrugged.

  I made my way upstairs, ready to see what Agnes really needed help with. A hefty book sat on the floor, a clear line carved out in the dust from her dragging it.

  “I found this...” She began, trying to catch her breath, “massive ledger. I got it off the shelf but then I couldn’t lift it again and-...”

  I grabbed the spine in one hand, hoisting it off the ground. Surprisingly, it wasn’t as heavy as I thought.

  “Do you want this downstairs?” I asked.

  “Yes, please, if you could.”

  Agnes responded as she beamed, smile stretching to both ears.

  “This thing is big, and not just physically. Transaction records linking the project and noble houses here, and abroad... at least I think.”

  I lugged the leatherbound brick downstairs, placing it onto an un-cluttered table. I figure she would need the space if she can’t move the thing on her own.

  “Oh, one more thing, Leonn.” She halted me as I turned my heel.

  “Do you know noble seals? I can recognize which coat of arms is which, but not these. It’s like a cipher...”

  I sighed, realizing my work was cut out for me this evening. Perhaps it wouldn’t be all that bad, if a bit boring.

  Agnes opened up to the first page, “transaction of One hundred and twenty five gildes between...”

  she pointed to the first seal.

  It looked like the royal seal of the Arnier royal family. The second looked to be from another nation... Rosco, maybe? The federation known for its pottery and glassware?

  Marie joined us at the table, listening quietly as we discussed the transactions and their implications. There were many between the Vuudweyen research division and Kastvassen’s spirit subjugation team, though they paled in comparison to the Kastvassen’s team and other foreign houses.

  We skipped to the last page.

  “There’s a payment between...” she paused, and I filled in the blank

  “Vuudweyen and Arnier.”

  It’s the largest payment I’ve seen, but it’s listed as...

  “Vacation?” Agnes blurted out.

  “Why would Arnier pay your father for a vacation?”

  I shrugged, the cold air felt slightly colder as I stared at the page.

  “...they didn’t.” I concluded, jaw tightening as I contemplated what that could mean.

  Vacation was a couple weeks after my birth.

  Marie spoke up in reaction, “They... didn’t?”

  Agnes didn’t need me to answer that.

  “It’s another code word. These people hate clarity, and I hate them for it.”

  A mote of dust drifted from upstairs, landing on Marie’s cloak.

  We all gathered together over stew once again. There was silence for a moment, exchanged looks trading a silent question.

  Then Marie spoke up, “Hey, everyone, what should we do from here? There’s no guarantee those soldiers stay away forever.”

  Kaleh nodded, “they’ve likely gone for reinforcements.”

  Agnes leaned back, “despite what we should do, what can we do? At the least, Kaleh’s not up for another journey right now.”

  His mention sent him grumbling under his breath.

  “I’ll do what we need to.”

  Silence hovered once again. Agnes fumed at him through it, glaring daggers at him for choosing the wrong answer.

  Perhaps... I should say something. I thought about what to say, why to say it.

  Oh to hell with that, just start talking.

  “We won’t move an inch.” I declared to mixed reactions.

  A candle between us flickered softly with everyone’s uneasy breath.

  “Yes, soldiers are coming. However, they will take a while to get here.”

  That follow-up seemed to quell Marie’s worries.

  “The group that showed up here didn’t look like they had a messenger," I explained.

  Kaleh’s eyes opened wide, “Gods, I’d not thought of that. Either they just sent their messenger, or they didn’t bring one. That’d mean...”

  “Yeah. They have to travel all the way back to Argos to regroup with the main force. Even then, they’d have to bargain with their commander.”

  Agnes’ lips parted “So... how much time do we have?”

  I closed my eyes, envisioning how long the journey took.

  We stalled for a couple of days in that watchtower, and it took us a couple of days to walk from there to here.

  “They’re a large party without a trained hunter, and they’re weighed down by armor and weapons. the journey took us a couple of days, and we were moving at full speed because someone doesn’t know how to take a rest.”

  I jabbed once again, reminding him that his suffering wouldn’t be invisible to everyone.

  “Two weeks,” I finished.

  “Ten days of travel, four days more for bargaining and recuperation.”

  Marie smiled, just a bit. “So we should stay here as long as we can, and move on when we find evidence of them returning.”

  We reached a resolution. Everyone continued chipping away at their evening meals, this time all with relaxed posture.

  I closed my eyes, thanking Merric for the strength to bring them together.