Chương 25: Chapter 24

Cal crouched down, gingerly placing the withered plant into its new home while injecting it with a sliver of magic. It had been overcrowded, being choked out by its larger neighbors. He'd done what he could for the little guy; the rest would be up to it.

"I asked you to not leave my side." Alice stood behind him. The irritation on her bled away as she peered down at him, not having missed what he'd done.

"You are able to use growth magic?"

"Able is a strong word to call it." Cal got up, rubbing his hands together to remove the dirt.

"I can give them a little boost, that's all."

"I tried to imitate mother when I was younger." Alice's lips upturned, recalling a fond memory.

"She was rather cross with me for ruining her dandelions."

"Took me a while to get this far with it. Had to be done though." Eating bland food every day was liable to drive him mad. Finding wild spices that wouldn't leave him convulsing on the ground had been a godsend in the Waste.

"Should we continue?" He could see the question on her face being swallowed down.

"We shall." They resumed their stroll on the dirt path, going deeper into the gardens. Cal had survived another week at the Academy, or the Academy survived another week with him. His peace offering had worked, if not better than he expected or wanted. In her infinite wisdom, Alice had decided they hadn't spent enough time together and had thus dedicated today to rectifying that. His arguments that they literally lived together fell on deaf ears.

Not that he misunderstood her point; he was simply trying to weasel out of this excursion. That's how he found himself at one of Postremo Lux's botanical gardens. They were at the edge of the city. Far enough out that they had to connect to another tram to reach it.

"It's smaller than I pictured," Cal commented as they walked together. The brisk wind blew into him. It heralded the beginning of winter.

"There are others in the city grander in appearance," Alice replied by his side. He could feel the heat radiate off her as she too battled the chill.

"However, this is Mother's favorite." Cal took a deep breath, taking in the cold air. They'd yet to travel very far. From what he had seen of the gardens, he guessed they'd seen better days. Not that there wasn't care put into them. He could see hints of it everywhere, from a carefully pruned tree to collecting the falling leaves so they don't suffocate those below. There just wasn't enough of that care to go around; case in point, the small plant from earlier. Overextended is what came to mind.

For their sake, he hoped they had solid plans for winter.

"Pity Lily couldn't come." Whatever he thought of the girl, she could fill empty space when she wanted to. Her presence today would have cut down on the many awkward silences he had to endure.

"She had other obligations." Alice lied to his face. Lily either wasn't great at keeping secrets or didn't think this one was worth it because she straight-up told him she'd been barred from attending today. He couldn't be that upset with Alice; he'd lied back countless times. That still left him in this uncomfortable position. The wind blew again, and he gave an aggravated grunt as he cleared the bangs from his eyes. His hair had grown too long; he'd need to find time to cut it.

"Is something the matter?" Alice turned her head, reacting to the noise. She saw him run a hand back to clear them again and gave a hum of understanding.

"I will speak to my stylist about getting an appointment."

"No need," Cal said gruffly. He wasn't about to let himself be signed up for an hour-long procedure. Probably longer, knowing nobles.

"I can do it myself." He'd do it here if she wouldn't throw a fit about it. It would take a matter of seconds to chop some off. As for how it looked after? That'd never concerned him. A giggle came from the side. Prompting him to turn to see Alice covering her mouth. She composed herself shortly after.

"I said something akin to that when I was younger." She ran a hand through her own locks, twirling one of them with her finger.

"I'll let you surmise the outcome." She laughed again, not bothering to hide it this time.

"Mother was absolutely furious; there was a gala we were meant to attend that evening. I remember Father intervening on my behalf, and his reward was a week in the guest wing." Cal was fairly certain most kids attempted to cut their hair at least once to a similar effect. He kept his thoughts to himself. As they navigated the gardens, they began to run into other visitors. The lack of their school jackets did little to hide their identity, and the other passersby shied away from them.

He watched as parents shooed their children along whenever they approached. It grated on him that their presence intruded on what should be pleasant family outings. If Alice noticed, she did a good job of hiding it. On second thought, she was probably used to it. Maybe even finding it the natural course of things. Should Cal ever be forced to pick a defining cultural difference between the Empire and the Federation, that would be it. The Empire saw their nobility as the chosen elect. All others beneath them.

In contrast, the Federation was empowered by the masses. Any man or woman could rise to the ultimate position of authority. That was the theory at least. There were good people involved, people who believed in those ideals, but the system had flaws. Cal knew that better than most. Power had a nasty habit of ending up in the hands of too few. And in his opinion, the wrong hands. Albert had tried warning him that his words would have an impact one day.

It was always a distant thought, something for future Cal to grapple with. He'd never expected to end up on that field, his march on headquarters barred by two of the strongest people on the planet, behind them the collective might of a nation. And he certainly never expected them to ask for terms. The absurdity of the situation wasn't lost on him, and he'd laughed for all to see. With his back against the metaphorical wall, he was prepared to cut his losses.

He'd flee to the Waste, confident in his ability to survive and rebuild. Instead, they negotiated. What would it take to get him to stand down? He'd made a reasonable request to unreasonable people. They'd kidnapped, drugged, and then attempted to find out what made him tick. He dealt with the ones holding the scalpel, but that wasn't near enough. He wanted anyone involved to be held accountable, regardless of their position. Somehow, Millie had secured their agreement.

Even now, a civilian-appointed committee, independent of the military apparatus, may be questioning and sentencing members of the Board. He'd managed to bluff a country before ever winning a game of poker. Granted, he was fairly certain Mask consistently cheated. He just hadn't figured out how yet. Alice stopped in front of a cypress and spoke up, regaining his attention.

"This one is Mother's favorite." She placed a hand on the bark.

"She said it told the best stories." Cal held back a snort. Growth mages could be weird about this stuff. The trees may have once had stories to tell, but that was before the Fall. Despite the hardships it caused, many considered it necessary. Cal included himself in that number. From the few accounts he knew, the gods had acted like capricious toddlers. Forget a world; he'd not trust them to run a sunglasses kiosk. Alice closed her eyes, maybe trying to see if she could hear what her mother claimed to.

Fuck it; he might as well check it out. Cal moved to place a hand beside hers when the sounds of panicked shrieks reached his ear. In an instant, time slowed to a crawl as magic flooded his system. His head shifted, locating the origin of the cry. He moved, each step sending him hurtling towards the source. It didn't take him long to find it. A mother sat on a bench and looked on with wide eyes, mouth hung open, as a child fell to the earth. She was rising ever so slowly.

The child's face showed they had yet to fully realize their situation; hands reached up for the branch they must have fallen from. Cal relaxed as he wound down his augmentation. Time transitioned to its normal speed. His arms barely shifted as the screaming child fell into them. The flailing caught him off guard, and he promptly deposited the little boy on the ground. Gently, feet first, that is. He wasn't mean enough to drop what he assumed was around a six-year-old kid onto the ground.

The kid, face covered in snot and tears, ran to his mom, who stood frozen, not yet able to come to grips with reality. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. Cal waited as she belatedly embraced her child, checking them all over for any sign of injuries. He could forgive her reaction. From her perspective, one second her child was falling to either death or serious injury, and in the next Cal appeared at the exact spot to catch the industrious tree climber.

What he'd have a harder time forgiving is the woman letting it get to this point in the first place. That tree was nearly seventy feet. He crossed his arms, putting a stern expression on.

"Hey." The woman jumped at his voice.

"Why'd you let the kid climb that high? Do you have any idea what would have happened if I hadn't been nearby?" The woman paled, shuffling her child behind her leg.

"Sorry, m-m'lord." She kept her head down, not daring to meet his eyes.

"It won't happen again, I-I swear on the Ancestors." Other visitors wandered in, attracted by the noise. Some of them had witnessed what occurred; others hadn't. The woman began to quietly sob under his glare. Whispers sprang up, beginning to propagate from one group to another. Cal saved a kid, so why did he feel like the asshole here? Ah right, the shaking woman in front of him. Hells. He uncrossed his arms, approaching the woman who lowered herself.

"Get up," Cal put a stop to that foolishness. He crouched near the child, who was poking his head around his mother's leg. Cal, in turn, poked the kid on the forehead.

"Don't scare your mom like that, got it?" The boy's head shook up and down furiously. Cal nodded to him, got back up, and made to leave the scene.

"Mister." A high-pitched voice called out. Cal looked behind himself to see the boy's mouth covered by his mother's hand.

"Sorry, M'lord." She spoke with her head still lowered.

"Nathan doe-""It's fine," Cal cut her off and addressed the boy.

"What do you want?"

"Are you a knight?" He asked, bright eyes seeming to forget the ordeal he'd just been through. Knight? Him? What a joke.

"Nothing like that; I'm only a student."

"I want to become a knight when I grow up! Mom says I can't but I know-" He wiggled out of his mother's grip, dashing forward.

"Do you think I can-" Her longer legs caught up quickly and she scooped him up.

"He's a child." Her eyes finally met Cal's. He knew that look of fear.

"He doesn't kno-""Don't ask me that," Cal interrupted her again.

"That's all up to you." That caught the pair flatfooted. Cal didn't wait for them to compose themselves and walked away. He passed by Alice, who had stayed on the sidelines, having caught up to him at one point.

"That was cruel." She fell into step beside him.

"To dangle false hope in front of one so young."

"Who said anything about false?" Cal said. The aggressiveness of his reply caused her to flinch back.

"Kid's got some latent magic in there. Untrained sure, but if he put the work in, I don't see how he'd be any worse than some of those sorry excuses of nobles I saw fight earlier this week."

"You tested him?" Her question was softly spoken, in danger of being overpowered by the breeze.

"I checked him over quickly for injuries; I noticed it then." It had pushed against his intrusion. However swiftly the resistance folded, it was there. Alice had been about to say something when someone hollered after them.

"I know you." A man called, ignoring his wife trying to usher him back.

"You're Callum, aren't you?" What in the hells?

"Yeah, I thought I recognized you," the man responded jovially, getting closer in spite of the visible distress of his wife. A pair of children curiously trailed them. Alice's eyes bore into Cal, who had no idea what was going on.

"I don't know you?" Cal raked his mind, coming up empty. There was no way this guy was from the Federation, which narrowed the number of places he could have met him.

"Sure you do. You're Emily's 'sorta little brother,'" the man said with a smile, and Cal short-circuited.

"Emily?" The wife gripped the man's arm, nails pressing against his skin.

"Isn't that the barmaid you are always raving about?"

"I, uh. Nevermind. Guess I don't know you after all." The man laughed as he tried in vain to prevent the ire of his wife. The family unit left. The adults were bickering while the children wondered why mommy was suddenly upset at daddy. That household's integrity was hardly a concern to Cal, who seriously began to consider whether or not he'd been cursed. Those odds... in a city of millions, to end up in the same place as a bar patron he'd seen once. This was bullshit.

Alice's stare threatened to burn a hole into him. These parts of his fake life weren't meant to be crossed. He took a breath, steadying himself. He couldn't pretend this was good, but they had a story in place for this exact scenario.

"Who's Emily?" Alice delivered with an impressive lack of inflection.

"No clue." That wasn't a satisfactory answer, and Cal was now cognizant that they were surrounded by potential kindling. Well, it was worth a shot.

"Someone I know from before." He made a vague gesture.

"All this." The anticipated follow-up came slower than he expected but arrived all the same.

"She resides in the city." Cal gave a reluctant nod.

"Shall we pay her a visit? I'd very much enjoy meeting her." Phrased as a question or not, Cal was not naive enough to consider it was one. Olivia was going to be pissed, so there was a silver lining in this mess.

"She's really not all that interesting." He made the obligatory attempt if only to say he did.

"I prefer to make my own judgment on that."

"When about are you thinking?" If he could promise something at a later time, maybe she'd forget.

"I believe our visit here has run its course." She checked her watch.

"We should be able to make the next tram. What district does she reside in?" Right. Impatient. Cal had been careful to avoid taking his phone when meeting with Olivia, wary of any tracking. He wasn't about to throw that away willy-nilly.

"I'm not sure what her hours are." Cal subtly reminded her that normal people worked for a living.

"Why don't we go eat lunch and send her a message? Then, if she's free, she can join us." That put the onus on Olivia to decide how to play this. Alice paused to evaluate his suggestion.

"That's acceptable; let's be off then." Cal contemplated retracting his earlier thought about Alice's patience. They'd sent a runner with the message two hours ago. Since then they've been nursing drinks, Alice having refused to order any food until Emily showed up. If she showed up. It seemed Alice couldn't envisage a future where her invitation was denied. Cal patted himself on the back for pushing against the private room she had wanted. Nominally, his reasoning was to prevent Emily from being intimidated.

Practically, being in public discouraged anyone from making a scene. Things like burning the menu. Or the restaurant.

"Hello!" The dreary, tense atmosphere was shattered by a bright voice.

"Sorry, sorry. I know I must have kept you two waiting." The false persona, Emily waltzed in.

"Callum!" She enveloped him in a bone-breaking hug. Lifting him from his chair.

"I was so worried when those soldiers walked in!" Cal kept his face neutral as he augmented himself to prevent anything from fracturing.

"I was thinking the worst." Okay, maybe letting Alice conscript a bunch of soldiers to deliver a message wasn't the wisest course of action. To be fair, he hadn't even realized that was an option until she went and did it. Seems to have worked out okay? He'd know for sure if he woke up tomorrow and there was a manhunt on for whoever disappeared an imperial squad. Emily released him. Turning to Alice and giving a clumsy curtsy.

"Great to meet you. I'm Emily." She sat down, patting his shoulder along the way.

"I hope this rascal hasn't given you too much trouble." Alice frowned, likely for a variety of reasons. No doubt the poor manners on display chief among them. It disappeared as quickly as it came and a polished smile replaced it.

"I am Alice Ardere, heir to House Ardere." She raised a hand, signaling the waiter.

"Do pardon my rudeness; we've been waiting quite a while." She spoke to Emily before rattling off orders for the table to the waiter. The man bowed and left to relay them. Alice's eyes swept up and down Emily, who slightly squirmed in her seat.

"I confess I'm intrigued as to the nature of your relationship with my dear brother." Dear?

"We grew up together." Emily took a sip of water, missing her lips and spilling some on herself.

"Oh no." She dabbed herself with a napkin and an apologetic look.

"Sorry about this, I'm just so nervous. Callum told me so much about you." Had he?

"Truly?" Alice looked as confused as he felt.

"Yep," Emily chirped. She pinched his cheek.

"It was so cute the way he spoke about his cool big sis." He swatted her hand away and she pouted.

"Don't be such a sour puss." She lightly tapped his arm.

"He's always been like this. Afraid of letting people in. Did you know it took months for me to learn his real name? I had to use a silly nickname for such a long time." That was a creative way of saying it took months for him to convince her NOT to use that damn code name.

"Wow." Emily made a show of blinking and moving her eyes back and forth from the duo.

"It's only now hitting me; you two really look alike!" A beat passed, and then Alice gave a measured response.

"The Ardere blood runs strong through him."

"Uh-huh." Emily nodded her head rapidly.

"I can totally see it. Callum was always the odd one out in our little village. Anyone could tell he was really special." He was the odd one out; he'd give her that.

"Naturally," Alice said dubiously and then hardened her expression.

"He was always destined to take his proper station in life. I trust you understand what that means for his future in relation to yours." The girls held each other's stares until Emily erupted in a fit of giggles.

"It's never been like that," Emily said between breaths. Taking a sip of water to calm herself.

"If I had to describe it, it's similar to feeding a neighborhood cat one day. You keep an eye out for it, and occasionally it follows you around, but that's it."

"I'm still here, you know," Cal spoke to the selectively deaf.

"He used to hunt small game around the village. When he was out there if he found anything interesting," she air-quoted the word.

"He'd bring it back to show off. It was almost always junk of some kind. And if you tried to take it away, he'd swipe at you." Some of that small game could level cities, and the junk was... well, okay, sometimes it was junk. Cultists couldn't always afford the nice stuff.

"A cat?" Alice eyed him, bringing a hand up to rub her chin.

"Has he done the disappearing thing on you yet? One moment he's following nicely, and the next time you turn around, poof." Emily waved her arms out, miming an explosion.

"No sign of him."

"That," Alice stopped herself, tempering her reply.

"Yes, I have experienced that."

"It's so annoying, right? He does it all the time. I swear he needs a bell on him."

"It is vexing." A smile crept on her face.

"A bell, you say? That may be a valid proposal." It wouldn't work. He'd trained with one à la Mr. Popo style for a laugh.

"Sometimes he does things for the sole purpose of irritating me. I can't count the amount of times I've considered strangling him." She punctuated it by twisting the napkin while wearing a disconcerting smile. That no longer felt like Olivia playing a part. He scooted his chair further away.

"I'd ask you not to; I have need of him now," Alice said with a sigh.

"Tell me, do others from your village reside in the city?" Emily's cheery demeanor died. A palpable weight fell over the table, and Cal caught himself from reaching out to comfort the girl. The seconds ticked by until her terse voice sounded.

"There's no one left." There were no tears shed. Anyone watching the scene would come to the same conclusion. It wasn't out of lack of emotion. There were simply none left. Shit, she'd missed her true calling as an actress.

"Apologies." Alice choked out the word.

"I had no intention of digging up painful memories." The appetizers arrived, easing the mood slightly.

"You couldn't have known," Emily shook her head, moving the small meatballs across her plate with a fork.

"He wouldn't have told you. It was hard on us both." What an excellent excuse to never bring up the past again, masterfully done, Olivia.

"Enough about that." Emily laid her arms on the table, leaning over slightly. A mischievous smile on her face.

"I check the paper every day, but thankfully nothing has made it on there. What type of trouble has Callum gotten into?" Alice opened her mouth, and Cal felt the hair on his neck stand up. The several hours that followed were soon counted among his most harrowing of experiences.