Chapter-XXIV
"The entire estate is laid out in such a way that it encloses the gardens and makes it impossible to jump walls or get lost in the shrubbery. We will have to go in and get out like all the other guests." Cadence explained pointing to the blueprints on the table. "This does not give us a lot of time to gather Intel on the Slums." Bren acknowledged.
"The gated ones?" Twyll asked, still confused as to why they are gated.
Bren glanced at her dismissively before saying, "We should plan out how we can each van-" "I asked you a question. Tell me why they are gated and why you need Intel about them." Twyll interrupted in a tight voice.
"No one knows why they were gated. It happened twenty years ago when The Dictator came into power. We need the Intel because Bren's husband disappeared in there on a mission from the Dictator. We have been suspicious of the going-ons of the area." Karsyn explained. "Why not scale the gates?"
"They are made of a blend of metals that is to hard to wield into something else and it is fitted with lava rock."
Twyll nodded in understanding. Any type of volcanic rock was a deterrent to any type of crystal wielding. She had learned it the hard way when she tried to wield near a hyalite deposit. The energies got trapped inside her and almost killed her.
"Are you satisfied with these answers?" Bren asked in sweet sarcasm. "Almost," Karsyn snorted, Ignoring her she continued, "Why let me stay here, why not give me up to The Dictator, why bring more attention on to you?"
"You are a Crystal Heir. You can be one of the most influential people in this city and having your favour would make people support us. We are doing all of this to escape The Dictator's rule. He is unjust and corrupt."
"He is also somehow connected to the appearance of the Tem in Stoechìa," Shalom added.
"Isn't he sending out patrols to raid and eliminate them?" Twyll countered.
"Exactly, he asks us to kill them off instead of capturing them and examining them. The minute we kill them they disintegrate into black dust." Trystan answered.
"The entire situation is suspicious and concerning. We all care about this city. It may not have been kind to us, but it is our home. We are all somehow connected to it." Karsyn sad in a small voice.
Twyll dipped her chin and blinked her eyes. "Alright, you may continue."
"As I was saying, We will have to take shifts in which one of us will explore and the others will keep attention off of us. Karsyn will misdirect the other guests' thoughts away from us and Cadence will keep The Dictator off our backs. Twyll will be accompanied everywhere with Trystan. Shalom and Kyan are with me." Bren explained.
"Why do I have babysitting duty?"
"Why do I have a babysitter?" Twyll and Trystan asked simultaneously.
They all laughed and Bren smirked at them.
"As I mentioned before, you and Trystan have compatible energies. I am sure you can feel it." She stated with a raised eyebrow.
"Actually no, I don't feel it." She grouched back.
"Then you are in denial Crystal Heir."
Twyll felt like stomping her feet like a disgruntled child. She composed herself and assumed a dignified expression and said, "I am very well capable of taking care of myself. I am also aware of basic stoechían etiquette. I can also converse on a vast area of topics. I do not need Price to stand guard beside me like I am some ignorant chit."
"I do not care if you can converse in a thousand topics, mind your P's and Q's and kiss ass with the attendees. What I care about is keeping you safe and out of the fucking spotlight so that I don't have to worry if you have been kidnapped or not by The Dictator." She ended in a stern voice that garnered no further argument.
Twyll growled deep in her throat and stalked off towards the water barrels and started forming daggers of ice and threw them at a target in quick succession. Her face was still in the same calm expression, but her insides were raging at Bren's orders. She was used to following her Aunt's directives, but it chafed to follow the commands of a person that is practically a stranger to her.
The rest of them just dispersed with whispers and murmurs of assent and went back to their training. Trystan followed Bren back to Twyll.
"Let's try illusioning, shall we?" She mocks requested with a smile and a clap.
...
Twyll groaned in exhaustion as Bren dismissed all of them. Trystan couldn't help but smile at her pouting face as she unlaced her boots. Her clothes were blackened in places where fire-wielding had burned them. Her hair had escaped from her braid and was hanging limply down her back. She looked miserable yet somehow revitalised. Her skin was glowing or it could just be sweat from the strain of wielding. She may not realise it, but her energies were twitching with... ecstasy. His own skin was tingling with it.
Twyll dragged her feet towards the door, her Bavmeč dangling from her fingertips. Trystan moved to follow her but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. "Where are you hurrying off to in such a hurry Tryssy?" Kyan asked teasingly.
"You mean who he is hurrying after Ky." Shalom corrected with a shit-eating grin. "Could it be our pretty little guest who bested him in wielding?" Cadence joined in on the fun. They had formed a sort of circle around him, caging him in. Karsyn had also come over to see what was happening.
"Kars, save me from these little gossips would you?" Trystan pleaded with big eyes.
"Now why would I do that? Spill the tea Tryssy, do you or do you not have a crush on Twyll Merrick?" She point-blank asked with a mischievous look in her eyes.
Trystan sighed at their blatant prying and jut shifted into a butterfly and flew away to find Twyll leaving behind the petulant little shits.
He willed the house to lead him to Twyll and smiled when he felt her energies writhing. He shifted back into his human form and opened the door. Twyll was sitting in the middle of what looked like the art room. In the minimum light that was all, he could see. She was perched on a low stool and was bent over a small piece of graphite that was slowly turning into a rose. Her hand moved the tool with practised ease and precision. Her face was scrunched in concentration and her tongue peeked out from the corner of her mouth as she chipped off a small speck. She must have heard him because she raised her head and turned her face to look at him. Her hands tensed and she exhaled.
"That is lovely. Do you like carving?"
Does she like carving? Of course, she likes carving doofus. What other reason would she have to carve?
Twyll tilted her lips in a small smile as if she knew exactly what he was thinking of.
"Yes." She didn't offer more and Trystan didn't ask for more. He just stood there silently, watching her shape the lead into a rose.
"She was right." Trystan looked at her with confusion. "Bren, she was right about my energies being compatible with yours. It feels like this euphoria, ecstasy if you will. It is almost similar to being on drugs." She said without looking up.
She set the tool and lead down and walked over to him. She grabbed his arm and slowly ran her fingertips up and down his bared forearms before grasping them in her hands. "You feel different, good." Then she lowered her arms and walked away from him.
His eyes followed her tilting form all the way to the end of the hallway, his hands still tingling with her touch.