Chapter 47: 47 Surprising
As Elyre went out of the room, another person came in. It was Mage Thrace, who was an acquaintance to Mage Phabian but as Elyre thought better of it, he had to be one of the archmage's people.
"Hey, Elyre, how are you?" he said.
"Fine," she said. She was too shocked by the recent events so she wasn't sure how she felt about it.
"Come in, Thrace," Aristhaeus called.
The latter stepped in and stood in the same place where Elyre had stood just minutes ago. They closed the door.
"Sire, are you feeling well?" Thrace asked. Aristhaeus's eyes seemed to be avoiding his, when the archmage was usually the person who intimidated people with his stare.
"Better than well," the archmage replied so confidently that he thus avoided further questions.
"Then I am sorry to have to dampen your mood, but I have to report something regarding Heliona. I did as you advised me: I mentioned to Heliona that Elyre would go to the Seasons Tavern, south of the city. It is not very far away but it is a lonely place where Elyre would have been an easy target. And just as you guessed, someone appeared at the tavern. It was Heliona's apprentice, Darrin." Thrace sighed, "She must be spying on us and using her apprentice to help her. What should we do?"
Thrace was slightly surprised at Aristhaeus's rather impassive reply,
"Don't do anything now. We will be leaving Vahara Arta soon."
***
Aristhaeus was finally alone. He thought about Elyre's amulet and the Seventh Fire. The person who had created the amulet had been able to control both. Who was this person? He remembered Elyre's words,
…I was adopted as a baby by the Queen of the Wood-nymphs…
…about a month after that the amulet suddenly appeared on my neck…
~The amulet hasn't appeared on her neck,~ he thought. ~It has been on her neck from the very beginning but it was invisible.~
Aristhaeus took some rare books with incantations from the library to his room. He decided to have a better look at the spirit guardian's amulet from the Unseen, which was still in him. The amulet could reveal its own history if it was made to "speak." This time Aristhaeus would employ only his natural power without the Seventh Fire because he didn't want to make the amulet "overreact." Aristhaeus closed his eyes and focused.
The decorations on the amulet – beautiful spiral designs engraved on the metal – seemed to come alive and followed their own complex pattern on the surface. Aristhaeus saw… or rather felt... tranquility. Perseverance. Endurance. Qualities that belong to the magic of the amulet.
He was so immersed in himself that he didn't notice how hours slipped away and the white moon sprinkled the room with its light, outlining the objects.
Back when the amulet had been created, it had been invisible for a very long time before it had finally revealed itself. This was the first true magical sensation that Aristhaeus had. He was sitting on his bed and there was an open book with incantations nearby, which guided him when necessary.
A second sensation. Unlike the ancient spirit guardian, the amulet was comparatively newly created, which surprised Aristhaeus.
~This was the reason why I couldn't find any information about it in books on magical artifacts!~
Aristhaeus decided to go further back in time and feel the history of the amulet. He had the sensation that a young woman put in a drawer a royal seal, similar to his own but belonging to the previous Arunai dynasty. He felt that this lady wasn't Elyre but she was her relative.
~So, he thought astonished, Elyre indeed belongs to the Arunai dynasty?~ He still couldn't believe it.
How could Lyneanne be in the dark about that? Then, he realized. Lyneanne knew. She had to know. She probably also knew about Elyre's talent in magic.
~That would explain why the Queen does not allow women to become mages. So, it was not just discrimination. It was a precaution. She was afraid that Elyre could become a mage and turn against her to seek revenge.~
If women weren't allowed to become mages, Elyre wouldn't become a mage… Could it be that for one reason or another, back when Elyre had been a baby, Lyneanne had been unable to kill her… That was too strange. The spirit guardian had been so strong?
***
Mage Thrace believed that the case with Heliona was clear and she was a spy, but something would change his views. He overheard a conversation between some maids.
"And he is no longer sleeping at the dormitory of the library? It is so strange. I thought Heliona was a very nice person… Why would she do that?"
It turned out that Heliona had had a conflict with Darrin and ordered that he must leave the dormitories of the library. This seemed strange to Thrace too.
"I also thought that she was quite kind and would never do something like this… But, see, you can never judge a book by its cover," one of the maids added.
"I don't think he deserves that. He has never behaved badly to any of us."
"Well, I like him but really he was a bit too arrogant with Heliona. I wouldn't punish him so severely if I were her, but he did go overboard. She told him, 'You do not have an idea what you're involving yourself in. You cannot imagine who he is.' And he said, 'Why don't you tell me?' but sounded defiant and insolent…"
"Who were they talking about?"
"I don't know."
It seemed that the maid had overheard an argument between Darrin and Heliona. Thrace was surprised. If this was true… if it was true… if Darrin was truly no longer living in the library… then Darrin might have acted on his own?
Also if 'you can't imagine who he is' referred to Aristhaeus, and Darrin had reacted in an insolent manner to this statement, then it would mean that both Darrin and Heliona knew Aristhaeus's identity. Thrace hurried to share the news with the archmage.
"Heliona might have told Darrin about Elyre visiting the Seasons Tavern. But he might have gone there on his own. Maybe Darrin is the person we are looking for."
~So Darrin is a spy,~ Aristhaeus mused. That was actually better, much better than Heliona. Darrin didn't have as much influence as the old librarian in Vahara Arta.
***
Later in the evening, Aristhaeus returned the amulet to Elyre's spirit guardian. He said he didn't need it anymore. The spirit guardian was surprised.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone