“Hold still. Try not to blink.”
Akna instinctively tried to blink as Agernon used his thumb and forefinger to hold her left eyelid open.
“I said, try not to blink!”
“Sorry.”
He held up the stone he had prepared a few moments before, whispered a couple words, and it began to glow with a bright, almost blinding light.
Once again, Akna wanted to blink, but she did her best to hold back, while Agernon stared into her eye.
Angelida paced behind him. “Anything?”
“Not yet,” Agernon said.
The light was painfully bright.
“Make sure you look carefully,” Angelida said. “If I did something like this, I’d make sure the mark was the same colour as her retina.”
“Quiet, woman. I know what I’m doing. Far better than you, I dare say.”
“Ha! Same old Agernon, full of yourself with little good reason.”
“More like same old Angelida, who won’t give a moment’s peace to let me perform a delicate action. Best thing Elderaan ever did was dump you.”
Angelida laughed. “Dump me? Is that what he told you? I dumped him!”
“Would you two quit arguing?” Akna snapped. “This light is painful and I’d like to keep my sight, thank you very much.”
They both went quiet, and Agernon continued to stare into Akna’s eye. After a moment, he lowered the stone and switched to her other eye. He went through the same process, then let go of her and extinguished the glow on the stone.
Akna blinked multiple times as rings of colour danced over her vision.
“Nothing,” Agernon said.
“You’re sure you checked closely?” Angelida said.
Agernon scowled. “Yes.”
“Then it must be a mentalism effect.” Angelida stopped pacing and looked at Akna. “And a powerful one, too, if it can affect her like this.”
Sleep was still a problem. The sleeping draught had helped. The first night had been amazing. She’d slept deeply for the first time in ages. However, each time she’d used a draught since had been progressively less effective. Angelida had procured an even stronger draught, and it had made little difference. Something was still keeping her awake.
“It shouldn’t be possible,” Agernon said. “Those sleeping draughts have nothing to do with mental processes and everything to do with bodily processes. If it’s a mentalism effect, that means something is making Nin-Akna’s mind overcome the draughts and that shouldn’t be possible. Now, some sort of enchantment that is physically blocking or countering the draught, that makes sense.”
“But we’ve checked everything,” Angelida said.
They really had. Over the last two days, people had examined every part of her body—no exceptions she could think of. It had all been consensual, but still uncomfortable. The backs of her eyes were the last remaining option.
Akna rose from the cold stone floor, her butt aching from sitting in place so long. “Felitïa said she couldn’t find any evidence of mentalism.”
“Yes, well, Felitïa was hardly in the right mind to make such judgements,” Angelida said.
Akna rubbed her thigh. “She really wasn’t and she eventually admitted it. She said she believed there was some sort of mentalism magic in effect. She was also really paranoid at that point, though.” She walked over to the table and sat in one of the chairs. Why the hell did Agernon insist on doing these things on the floor? The Hall of Knowledge was almost entirely made of stone, and it had few carpets. This room had none, and the floor was cold.
Agernon rose to his feet, leaning on his cane. Corvin came forward to help, but he shooed the boy away. “Assuming it is mentalism—which I’m not yet convinced of—we don’t have a mentalist to help. We don’t even have Felitïa right now, and there are no more left in Quorge.”
“Jorvan said he was bringing a mentalist back to help Felitïa,” Corvin said.
“Yes, but Jorvan’s not back, is he? Whoever he has or doesn’t have is therefore irrelevant.”
Akna laid her head down on the table. It was uncomfortable, but there was no such thing as a comfortable place in the Hall of Knowledge, especially not in these small study rooms. “Then we just have to hold out until Jorvan gets here.”
“Easier said than done, girl. It’s only a matter of time before the new lord sends his forces against this place. And if that Isyar who served his father still serves him…” Agernon eased himself into one of the other chairs. “We’re pretty much doomed in that case.”
There was a knock at the door.
Akna started to rise, but Angelida waved her back. The old woman walked over to the door and opened it.
Chief Librarian Pedrin walked into the room carrying a small stack of books, which he placed on the table. “Some of the books you requested. Also, some news. We were just visited by a small group of Red Knights. Lord Belone has ordered the Hall of Knowledge shut down. He has given us two weeks to clear out.”
“You said no, I hope,” Agernon growled.
“We didn’t say anything,” Pedrin said. “They gave us the message and left. They didn’t wait for a reply, and probably wouldn’t have listened if we’d given one. That said, the Council will be meeting to discuss how to respond.”
Agernon stabbed his cane against the floor. “We need to start planning our defence, obviously.”
“Weren’t you the one just saying we were doomed?” Angelida said.
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean we should just give up. We go down fighting.”
Akna lifted her head from the table. “I agree.” She put her head right back down. She was so tired. Why couldn’t she sleep? She closed her eyes and Chica’s face exploded again.
“I’m not sure all the others will agree with you,” Pedrin said, “but you’re welcome to try to convince them. Ezmelda is putting out a call to all wizards in the city to attend, whether part of the Council or not.”
“When is it?” Agernon asked.
“In two days,” Pedrin said. “Noon.”
“I’ll be there,” Agernon said. “Not like I have anywhere else to go anyway.”
“I’ll be there, too,” Angelida said.
“Can I go, too?” Corvin asked.
Pedrin shook his head. “Sorry, kid. Wizards only.”
Corvin frowned. “Fine.”
“You can look after me,” Akna said. “I’m pretty useless in my current state.”
“If you’ll excuse me,” Pedrin said, “I have duties to attend to.” He bowed his head to them, then headed to the door.
Akna raised her head once more. “Pedrin?”
He paused and looked back.
“I don’t suppose there’s been any news from the palace, has there? Anything about Anita?”
“Or Felitïa?” Agernon added.
Pedrin lowered his head. “I’m sorry, no. There has been no news since it was announced that the new lord’s coronation would be at the end of the month.”
“Which is now conveniently after all the wizards are expelled,” Angelida muttered.
Pedrin nodded. “We will let you know as soon as we hear anything.” He bowed his head again, then left the room.
Akna laid her head back down on the table, and tried closing her eyes again, keeping them shut despite Chica’s exploding face, despite Ses-Tlacotl’s smashed face. Yet sleep still did not come.
* * * * *
Akna lay on her bed, staring at the plain stone ceiling. The bed was only marginally more comfortable than anywhere else in the Hall of Knowledge. It confounded her. These wizards could do all these magical tricks, but they couldn’t conjure up a comfortable bed. It was like they wanted to be uncomfortable.
Two more days with virtually no sleep.
Last night, despite Angelida’s insistence that it was dangerous, Akna had drunk three doses of the sleeping draught all at once. If she didn’t start getting some sleep soon, she was killing herself just as surely as overdosing on the sleeping draught, so she went ahead and took the risk. It had put her to sleep for about two hours. It wasn’t much, but it was the best she’d had in several days.
She hated lying around doing nothing, but there was nothing she could do. She couldn’t help with the studying as she couldn’t concentrate on any book she was given to read. She couldn’t assist Agernon with his experiments on Corvin or the Staff because she also couldn’t stay focused on anything, and was more likely to ruin what he was doing than help.
She wished she could be at the Council meeting right now, but she knew she’d be no help there either, regardless of whether she was a wizard or not. So she was just lying here, bored out of her mind.
Corvin was reading something to her. Or maybe he was just talking. Either way, she’d lost track of what he was saying ages ago and had tuned him out. She was kind of surprised he hadn’t noticed.
Or maybe he had, seeing as he was lying on his bed with his eyes closed, not saying a thing. When had he stopped talking?
Huh. She really hadn’t been paying attention.
With a sigh, she closed her eyes and watched Chica die a few more times. It was strange. It didn’t really bother her anymore—not like it had at first. Though that wasn’t really the strange part. The strange part was, she now had a morbid fascination with it. Every time, she looked for something—some detail—she hadn’t noticed before. She always found something, too. Some little piece of viscera, or maybe the fact the spearhead had a slight indentation on the left side just below the point, or numerous other things.
“Why don’t you come find me, Akna?” Chica said. “You said you would.”
“You’re dead, Chica. You’re not real.”
“Except I am. You know that.”
“No, I really don’t. You died. I watched you die. I see it every time I close my eyes.”
“You’re talking to yourself again,” Corvin said.
Akna opened her eyes. “Sorry.”
That was embarrassing.
“Don’t worry,” Corvin said. “We’ll get you better again so you can sleep. Like you said, we just have to hold out for Jorvan to get here. I’m sure he won’t be much longer. He’s had lots of time so far.”
Akna smiled. “Thanks, kid.”
“How do you know he’s the real one and not me?” Chica asked.
“Fuck off, Chica.”
“Yeah, fuck off, Chica,” Corvin said.
Akna laughed and jumped to her feet. “I’m bored. Let’s go see if the meeting’s over.”
“But they only just started,” Corvin said.
She stared at him. “Really? I could have sworn it’s been hours. Fuck, I’m really out of it.”
Corvin grinned. “Just kidding! Just seeing how out of it you really are.”
“You little shit. Come on, let’s go.”
They wandered the hallways of the Hall of Knowledge for a little while, eventually passing the Council room. People were talking inside, but not loud enough to eavesdrop, so they continued on their way. Eventually, they wound up in the entrance hall.
Akna went over to the tiny fireplace to warm her hands. “This is probably not the best place for us to be. I’m supposed to be dead, remember? Same with you and Agernon. What if some of those Bloods walked in right now?”
Corvin began spinning around in the wide, open space. “It was your idea to come here.”
“It was?”
“Yeah. you never actually said to come here, but I just followed you, and you led us here.”
Akna sighed. “Guess I wasn’t thinking. We still shouldn’t stay here. We’re supposed to stay out of sight.”
Ezmelda walked into the hall. “And you, Corvinian, are supposed to watch over Nin-Akna to make sure she doesn’t do foolish things. Yet, despite her sleep deprivation, she seems to be thinking more wisely than you.”
Corvin stopped spinning and stared at the floor. “Sorry, ma’am.”
“It’s no matter,” Ezmelda said. “This time. See that it doesn’t happen again.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Ezmelda came over to the fireplace and warmed her hands as well. “How are you doing?”
Akna shrugged. “The same. I can’t think straight, and I’ve been talking to phantoms of my dead friend. You know, same shit as always. Is the meeting over?”
Ezmelda frowned. At her ridiculous height, looking down at Akna, the frown carried a hint of disapproval with it, though Akna couldn’t be sure if that was just her imagination. She imagined a lot these days.
“It is,” Ezmelda said. “The Council is split on the matter. Well, not technically. We voted to disband the Council and leave Quorge, try to reform somewhere else.”
“They won’t fight?”
Ezmelda shook her head. “They’re frightened. It’s been a long time since we’ve had any battle wizards. We’re not really cut out for fighting. After the Isyar single-handedly took down part of the entrance last year, they’re not willing to face her. I don’t really blame them.”
“You said the Council was split.”
Ezmelda nodded. “Several of us refuse to leave. There’s too much valuable knowledge here. Even if every one of us took as much as we could carry or transport, we wouldn’t save even a tenth of it. So some of us have decided to defy the Council and stay behind to fight. It’s a futile battle, and we will certainly die, but we will die for what we believe in.”
“Who’s we?”
“Myself, Pedrin, Agernon, Angelida, Fridrin, Marsellis, a couple others.”
“Aren’t you head of the Council?” Akna asked.
“Yes.”
“So by defying the Council, aren’t you defying yourself?”
“I suppose you could look at it that way.”
Akna chuckled. She wasn’t sure why she found that funny. Had to be a sleep deprivation thing.
“Uh, Akna,” Corvin said. “Look!”
Akna and Ezmelda turned around. “What?”
Corvin was pointing at a figure standing just inside the large entrance doors. The figure began crossing the wide hall towards them, her long, silky black hair flowing behind her.
Akna’s jaw dropped. “You see her, Corvin?”
The boy nodded. “Yeah, of course I do. That’s why I pointed her out.”
“Well, I’ll be,” Ezmelda said.
Akna found herself breathing more and more rapidly. “Oh gods, she’s alive. Chica, you’re alive! You’re alive!” She broke into a run, straight towards Chica.
“Nin-Akna, wait!” Ezmelda called.
Akna paid no attention. She leapt at Chica and threw her arms around her, kissed her. Chica was taller than she remembered, but that didn’t matter. All that mattered was that she was really alive.
“Woah!” Chica said. “The eager greeting is nice, but let’s not overdo it.”
Akna held her tight, sobbing. “Oh gods, Chica, I’ve missed you.”
Chica tried to pull away from her. “Uh…”
Why would she pull away? For that matter, why couldn’t Akna feel her hair on her back? Had she cut her hair? Why would she cut her wonderfully long hair?
Akna let go, and stepped back.
It was not Chica.
Oh gods, it was someone she didn’t even like that much.
“Everything okay? Who’s Chica?”
Akna turned aside. Gods, what had she done?
Ezmelda strode over. “Nin-Akna’s been a bit unwell. I have to admit, I never expected to see you back here again.”
Zandrue shrugged. “Yeah, neither did I, but there’s a lot of weird shit going on right now.”
