Chapter 12

While the days seemed to flow as a swiftly coursing river while Aduil studied the journal with Kate by his side, the nights were another matter entirely. Every moment crawled past, and he could not seem to recall how he had filled them in the days before Kate's arrival, for nothing could hold his attention long before his mind inevitably found its way back to her. It was troubling, to say the least, for after speaking with her upon the balcony, he could no longer lay the blame on fear for Lindolir, nor even concern for his people.

More troubling still, this strange malady had begun to seep into the daylight hours, even as she sat next to him, aiding him in reading from the journal. His eyes would stray unbidden from the page to watch the charming way her mouth quirked up ever so slightly on one side when she made light of something the author had done, or the way her face lit when she laughed at one of the rare witticisms he had written. Or even just to watch the way her lips moved as she read aloud. The language was difficult to grasp as it was, and so much more so when he found it continually needful to remind himself to focus upon the words themselves and not the one reading them.

It grew easier once Aduil's studies had progressed enough that they could take it in turns to read aloud from the journal and he could hold the book before his face and block her from his view. For the most part, in any case.

The sun had long since gone to seek its rest and Kate, though yawning, had refused to do the same when Aduil had suggested it, insisting that they could not stop now as it was only just becoming interesting. He could not deny, it was intriguing—the author had just joined with an elf called Elriel and a pair of Creesa rangers to quest for an ancient relic—and so he had taken the journal in hand and begun to read as Kate settled herself, folding her arms upon the table to rest her head. She listened quietly, only drowsily piping up every now and then to make a correction or answer a question.

"I have never seen anything like it, it is hard to… Hmm. I do not know this word. Des…des-cri-be. What does this mean?" he asked, but was met with only silence.

"Kate?" When she still did not answer, he lowered the book just as a soft snore broke the stillness, and he could not help the fond smile that tugged at his lips. She looked so restful there, so lovely, awash in the glow of the starstone lamps as she slumbered. He quietly closed the journal, replaced it with his sketchbook and opened it up to a fresh page.

This was how Lindolir found him some time later, as he burst through the doors with a loud and cheery, "There you are! I have been searching all over!"

"Shush!" Aduil hissed.

"I have been gone a fortnight and more, facing perils untold, and this is how I am welcomed home?" Lindolir held a hand to his chest, stumbling back as if struck. "I am hurt, brother, truly I am!"

Aduil rolled his eyes. "You have been escorting caravans through the forest. The perils are hardly untold, nor so perilous, for that matter," he murmured, closing his sketchbook and laying it next to the journal as he rose. "Come, she sleeps." He nodded toward the far side of the room before moving away.

Lindolir took a long, curious look at Kate as he followed. "Such a strange creature. I only seem to see it sleep. Is it ill?"

"No, she sleeps each night. It is natural for her kind, I believe."

"And what is her kind, have you learned?" Lindolir asked as they settled on either side of a small table.

"Not that, no, though I have discovered how she knew of you."

Lindolir leaned forward. "Truly?"

Aduil hesitated before he nodded. It was Lindolir's right to know of course, but oh, he would be insufferable when he did.

"Well?"

Aduil let out a soft sigh. There was no getting around it, he supposed, and so he told his brother of the trader Malric, of his distant affections and fanciful tales, and when he was through, Lindolir was fairly beaming in triumph.

"You are jesting!" he said, the last word stretching into a laugh.

"Would that I were." Aduil sighed.

"Oh, this is lovely! Did I not say my prowess had spread far and wide, my valor and—"

"I should have told you she found your likeness on a wanted placard," Aduil grumbled, for he had considered it.

"You would lie to your dearest baby brother?" Lindolir gasped, affecting a scandalized expression.

"To save myself your prideful drivel? Between one breath and the next," Aduil said, earning another laugh.

"Still," Lindolir said once his laughter had been spent, his brow beginning to furrow as his focus drifted past Aduil. "Still, it is strange…"

Aduil followed his gaze to Kate before turning back to his brother. "What is?"

"I do not know any trader called Malric."

"Well, you would not, would you? Kate said he only admired you from afar."

"No, but I know of all traders with leave to pass our borders, even those with whom I do not speak. There is no Malric among them."

"She also said he had passed from these lands, some time ago. Perhaps you have simply forgotten."

Lindolir gave a slow shake of his head.

"Well then perhaps she misspoke, and he only passed near the Meadowood and glimpsed you on patrol."

Lindolir only arched an eyebrow to that.

"I believe her, Lindolir, she is not false," Aduil said, a sharpness in his tone he had not intended. He drew in a calming breath as Lindolir held up a hand.

"Peace, Aduil. I do not doubt your senses. Only, I worry the creature clouds your vision. You cannot defend against that which you cannot see. Tell me, what of her magics?"

"Ah." He waved the question away. "I am not convinced she commands any. None to worry over, in any case."

Lindolir closed his eyes. "This is my point, Aduil, you grow too close to the creature, you cannot see. She does have magic; I have seen it myself."

"When-? Oh, the darkness?" He shook his head. "That may not have been magic. Darkness at midday has been known to happen, when the sun rests beyond the moon."

"Were that the case, you would have seen it as well. No, this was nothing so natural," Lindolir denied. "It was—it was as a lightstrike in a storm, only in reverse; rather than light, it seemed crafted of the deepest night. And when I followed it, I found the creature, right at the point where the darkness struck. You cannot tell me that was not magic, and of an order most foul."

No, much as he may wish otherwise, he could not.

It was not the first he was hearing of this, of course, though they had not had much chance to discuss it before Kate had fallen that first day, and since then… Well, truth be told, the more Aduil had come to know Kate, the further it had slipped from his mind. The manner in which Lindolir spoke of it now, though, sounded far more insidious than he had ever imagined.

Yet all it took was a single glance at Kate, resting peacefully across the room, to dismiss the idea outright as the foolish nonsense it was. If she could truly call such fell magics to hand, he would have seen it by now, especially in the audience chamber when she had feared for her life.

"That was not Kate. I may not know what it was, but I know this. It was not her."

"How can you be so certain?"

"I…I cannot rightly say. But tell me," he turned back to his brother, forestalling any further questions, "if you believed her such a danger when first you found her, why did you heal her? Why bring her here for further relief?"

"She needed aid. What else would I do?"

Aduil could not but smile his pride. Kindness without question. "And that is my point, Lindolir. You would not have done so for an urut, nor a goblin nor any other fell beast. I think you sense as I do, that Kate bears us no ill will, and asks nothing more than aid."

Lindolir turned a considering gaze to the sleeping… well, Aduil was still not entirely certain what she was, and that was curious in and of itself, for he had long had the ability to ask. So why did he find himself so reluctant to do so?

"Perhaps you are right…" Lindolir murmured, though he still sounded somewhat dubious. He let his gaze linger a moment more before he gave a brief nod and returned focus to Aduil as he made to rise. "But come, let us share a drink and speak of brighter things. I have tales to tell."

"Such as…?" Aduil asked as he rose to follow his brother, though he was not certain he truly wished to know. Deniability was a useful weapon.

"Do you recall that odious prat, Aldemir?" Lindolir lowered his voice as they passed by Kate.

Aduil wrinkled his nose, a spark of long buried anger rising once more at the reminder of one of his brother's former tormentors. By all accounts, the wretch had not changed much over the decades, though he was no longer foolish enough to target Lindolir. "What of him?"

Lindolir began to reply but paused at Aduil's gesture and waited while he instructed the guards outside the door to ensure Kate was not disturbed until he could return for her, before he went on.

"Well, were you aware that he has just completed his apprenticeship?"

"And?" Aduil asked as they headed for the dining hall, wondering why he should care.

"And, he has filled a position within the palace. He has quite a lovely little workspace all to himself."

A slow smile tugged at Aduil's lips. "What have you done?"

Lindolir grinned.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

It wasn't until she had closed the library door behind her and Aduil greeted her with a cheery, "Good morning!" and an almost cheeky, "I trust you slept well?" that Kate remembered how she'd gotten back to her room the night before. Not that she remembered much, just a vague sensation of floating and brief flashes of ceiling-mounted crystal lamps flitting past her vision, but it only led to one conclusion.

"Did you… carry me back to my room last night?"

"I did."

"Why?"

"You were asleep." He shrugged.

"No, I get that. I mean why didn't you just wake me?" she asked as she made her way to the table.

"I did try. You…" He grinned. "You were not pleased with the idea."

"Aw, no," she moaned with a wince as she sank into her seat. "Did I hit you?"

"You had surprisingly good aim for one whose eyes did not open."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I should have warned you, I do that sometimes when I'm really tired. Look, if it happens again," though she was going to do her best to make sure it didn't, "just stand back and yell real loud. That usually does the trick."

"It is well," he said with a chuckle. "You did not harm me."

"Yeah, thank goodness for those superhero reflexes of yours, I guess."

"Superhero?"

Grateful for the change of subject, Kate launched into a—possibly more detailed than necessary—explanation of superheroes, citing examples and powers and even a few backstories. She had just finished when a messenger came in to call Aduil away. Though Kate's Elvish was coming along pretty well, it wasn't quite well enough to make out most of what was said in the quick and quiet back and forth. Still, she gathered Aduil was needed for some princely duty, one he didn't seem to care for much if his sigh was any indication, and he offered only a farewell and promise of a quick return before following the messenger out the door.

It was a bit disappointing, really. They hadn't even had a chance to open the journal yet, and the last thing Kate remembered, before she fell asleep, the author and his buddies had just tracked down some mysterious thief they needed for their quest, only to find him imprisoned. She was more than curious to find out how the jailbreak had gone.

Kate eyed the journal. She should probably wait for Aduil.

Then again, he'd probably read ahead while she was sleeping…

She glanced at the door, then tapped her nails on the table a few times before muttering, "screw it," and grabbed the book. She hadn't read more than two pages when she heard the door open.

"Hey, I hope you don't mind, I was just trying to catch up to—oh." She stopped short when she glanced up and realized, "You're not Aduil."