23 the true governor(s)

Sir Felluor's heavy steps thundered down the hallways like an approaching storm. He invited himself into Master Willdyer's quarters rudely, interrupting the individual's serene thinking behind his desk.

"Terrell, did I hear right? Did I just hear about Careth escaping and almost getting to Accruxia?" He roared, his voice now booming due to his impaired ears.

Master Willdyer laced his fingers together. "You heard right. Careth indeed ran away, but we managed to catch him."

Sir Felluor slammed on the desk, causing the inkwell to spill, and hollered. "JUST WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING? IT'S PAINFULLY OBVIOUS THAT THE BOY KNOWS, YET YOU'RE NOT DOING ANYTHING TO PREVENT HIM FROM RUNNING AWAY!"

"I have ordered the servants to keep a close watch on him. And I've shortened his curfew; you can't say I'm not doing anything," he defended calmly, putting away the stained papers.

The senior grabbed Master Willdyer's collars and hoisted him up, breathing heavily like a beast about to devour. "I know you're purposely being lenient on the boy because you want to help him. You didn't think I was stupid enough to not realize that, do you? Terrell, what you're doing is going to doom us all. We're given orders and all we had to do was follow them. Why are you making this so difficult?"

The master lowered his eyes and said nothing. Sir Felluor let go and dusted his hands, then massaged his ears. "Fine. If that's how you want to play it, then I won't hold back too. I'm not going to let emotional imbeciles like you ruin my life." He unlocked the door, and two guards filed in, approaching the master swiftly and pinning him down.

"Take him to the basement. And the nurse too." The guards nodded and dragged Master Willdyer out, and Sir Felluor whispered just when he passed through the door. "Don't worry, I'll let you out when the tea party starts. Maybe you could use this time to bond with your first failure of a son."

—

Master Willdyer was thrown into the underground room like a sack of potatoes. Shortly after Nurse Rosetta followed in similar fashion, and the red door turned its back on them, clicking into a lock.

"I presume you helped sneak Careth out when you went to the gates last night," the master said as he stood up and adjusted his attire. "If I was informed of this earlier, I could've stopped the guards in time."

Nurse Rosetta whipped around. "And how could I have told you? You could've been working with the grandmaster, and I would basically be revealing the plan to the enemies."

"Maybe that's where everything went wrong," he said. "We all doubted each other, and only believed in our own ways of helping Careth. Look where it got us now."

"Enough of that, we need to figure out how to get out," the nurse scanned the room, and noticed the door leading to the bedroom was ajar.

As she approached it, Master Willdyer stayed at the dining table, his memories of when Rian was first locked down here resurfacing. It had been how long? 10 years? Since the room was reopened again after Dotilda—

A harsh scream pierced through his ears and Master Willdyer ran to the room, concerned for the nurse. When he saw the scene before him, he fell to his knees.

Rian was at the foot of his bed, leaning against the frame, blood splattered against his white uniform disguise. His hands were battered, as though someone had hammered his hands instead of nails on purpose. It was a grotesque scene, that even the nurse felt disgusted as she stared at the mess of red before her.

"I... got caught," Rian said weakly. "Grandfather knew... I was the one that... blew out his ears. But I guess it didn't make him... completely deaf."

Nurse Rosetta went to his closet and pulled out his clothes, wrapping it around Rian's injury. "How long have you been like this? What did he hit you with?"

Rian nodded towards a hammer on the other side of the floor. Nurse Rosetta gritted her teeth and turned to the master, who was equally horrified. "Tell the guards outside to bring me my emergency kit. Now!"

—

Although Nurse Rosetta had tried her best to cure Rian's injury, it was still far from being properly treated, but Rian turned down the suggestion of visiting a doctor.

"It's not like they'll let us out, anyway. And I'm pretty sure I'll heal soon. Grandfather healed quite fast from his injury, didn't he?" He turned to the master, to which the man nodded.

Master Willdyer sat on the bed dejectedly. "This is terrible... we're trapped down here, and have no way of communicating to Careth." He then turned to look at Rian, who was clutching his hands. "If only that vision window could transmit sound. And now you can't use your Talent properly, either."

Rian rolled his eyes. "Quit being so depressing. I'm not giving up just yet. If we can't get out now, we'll use this time to think how we're going to save Careth during the tea party."

Nurse Rosetta spoke up. "Actually, I saw a new nurse move in just when I was forced out. I think she will be replacing me, so she will be the one doing the autopsy, which means I can't lie about Careth being dead even if I want to."

She then turned to Master Willdyer. "I've been meaning to ask this. When the grandmaster first returned, I heard about a servant saying he had a health report done on Careth. What's that about? How am I not informed when I'm the only person with a medical degree here?"

The master cleared his throat and confessed. "About that... I kept it highly confidential. I wasn't actually doing a health report. It was a report on the amount of antidote administered into Careth, so he won't die when he's poisoned during the party."

Rian gaped at him. Did his father just said he was trying to help Careth, for all this time?

"But I'm not sure if it'll work," he continued. "And the grandmaster may have already caught on to my actions. If he just switches the poison, Careth still dies."

"I don't think he'll do that," Nurse Rosetta intercepted. "From all the autopsies I've seen, they all died similarly and had the same poison inside them. I'm guessing it's also Tradition that they have to use the same poison."

"Can I just ask who is it that came up with this stupid Tradition?" Rian raised his voice, sounding irritated. "Was it our family? Because if that's the case, then the grandmaster has the most authority in this whole town, which means he can easily change the rules of the Tradition. Therefore, there is a possibility he can change the poison."

The adults went silent. Rian was about to question again when his father answered him.

"You're wrong, Rian. The grandmaster doesn't have authority over Hiraeth," he said solemnly. "The townspeople do, and they are the ones who came up with the Tradition."

—

The tea party will be held on the day after tomorrow.

As Careth lay on his bed, still as a corpse, this fact circulated around his mind, repeating his predicament over and over like a broken record.

Careth tried to move his left leg. It was wrapped in a cast that bulged like a cocoon, and whenever he exerted force, a stinging pain would shoot up his calf. Careth grimaced as he felt it again, and quickly gave up on trying to move.

He could feel his nose burning. How was he to escape now, when he could barely walk? The manor already knows he escaped twice, so he's sure they would be scrutinizing his every move now.

The door swung open without any notice, and as Careth turned his head over, he started jittering as Sir Felluor went closer and closer to his bed.

The grandmaster opened his cast effortlessly and took out a container from his pocket. Careth watched as he swiped a bit of medication from the container, and placed his finger near the bullet hole, saying playfully, "This will hurt a little."

Careth felt the pain of a white hot iron pressing against his skin and gripped the sheets, trying to kick him off. "Stop! Stop it! Enough!"

"Boy! Aren't you rude. I'm trying to help you!" Sir Felluor chuckled, and Careth couldn't believe those words just came out from his filthy mouth.

"You still need to dance during the tea party, so this is to help you recover quicker," his grandfather explained, putting the cap back on the container. "It's also your birthday. Wouldn't you want to run around and have a little fun?"

Careth scoffed. "Run around? So the things I'm always told not to do, I can do it during the party?"

"Oh God, no. That was just an exaggeration," Sir Felluor dismissed his words. "You still have a schedule to follow. First it would be the opening ceremony, then there would be a dance and time to mingle around. After that is when all of us will dine, and when the tea party will commence."

He stopped, and Careth raised an eyebrow. "Then? A closing ceremony?"

The grandmaster gave him an eerie smile. "What do you think? Maybe, but I don't know if you'll attend that."

"Why?"

Sir Felluor's smile faltered. "Why? Because... because you—"

Careth waited, but the man before him just fumbled with words, unable to express himself. Sir Felluor then caught on to his intention, and pinned the boy down on his bed.

"You know! You know what's going to happen! Stop acting foolish!" he bellowed, but Careth merely blinked.

"I don't understand, grandfather. Why won't I attend the closing ceremony?" He asked innocently.

Sir Felluor growled. "You knew you were going to die, that's why you kept running away! But now you can't run anymore, and no one can help you either. You've lost this game, Careth."

Careth gasped. "I will die? How? Why?"

He earned a slap for that. "STOP ACTING DUMB! IT'S BECAUSE OF YOU NOT BEING BORNED BLESSED, ALL OF THIS HAD TO HAPPEN! IF YOU WERE BLESSED, YOU WOULDN'T DIE WHEN YOU DRINK THE POISON, AND EVERYTHING WOULD'VE BEEN JUST FINE!"

The boy feigned guilt. "So... So it's my fault I'm not Blessed? Because I was born normal?"

Sir Felluor breathed heavily, and let go of his grip on Careth. "Yes. It's because you were born that way."

He got up to leave, but when he turned the doorknob, Sir Felluor had an uneasy feeling creeping up his back, as though he had did something he was not aware of. He glared at the boy one last time, who was sniffling and hugging his blankets, and slammed the door tightly.

Careth wiped his fake tears. "When I 'drink' the poison, huh?"