Chương 108: 107 - Enough

There is a seventh demon. I'm writing this in Iron Ink before the beast's power wipes the knowledge off my head. Pamphlet found on the last floor of the Iron Library. In front of Alexandra's room, Willow was waiting for her. She looked at Kam for a moment. For some reason, paranoia wasn't triggering with him. But it was making her wary of Willow. Why was she here? Why now?

"We need to talk," Willow repeated. She glanced at Kam.

"Alone. You don't want to get involved."

"How do you know?" Alexandra asked.

"How do you fucking know?"

"Not here." Alexandra hesitated. Then she looked at Kam.

"She's right. You don't want to get involved."

"I am involved now," he said, looking at the doors creaking open in the corridor. Alexandra exhaled and opened the door.

"Get in." The room was dark. Alexandra lit the lamp. She moved to the window, put her back to the wall beside it, and looked at them both. Kam stood near the door, which he'd pulled shut. Willow had positioned herself at the foot of the bed, hands clasped in front of her, not quite meeting Alexandra's eyes.

"How do you know?" Alexandra asked again.

"Know what, specifically?" Willow said.

"Don't." Willow's mouth closed. Alexandra waited. The silence stretched. Outside, wind moved along the wall, slipping through the gaps with a low sound.

"I was told," Willow said finally.

"By who?" Willow looked at the floor.

"Willow."

"Someone who knew it would happen before it did." The chill came back, settling at the base of Alexandra's neck. She'd thought it was paranoia. Maybe it wasn't.

"Before."

"Yes." Kam shifted his weight against the door. She felt him watching her.

"They didn't stop it," Alexandra said.

"They couldn't. Not from here. Not in time." Willow finally looked up. She braced. Like someone waiting for a blow.

"I'm sorry. I know that's not enough."

"No," Alexandra agreed.

"It isn't." She paused.

"Who?" Willow hesitated.

"Don't make me ask twice."

"My grandfather." She said it quietly.

"Well, far-removed ancestor. He wanted me to come to you. To tell you the truth before Raymond could shape what you know into something useful to him." Alexandra stared at her. The paranoia was still there, a low hum behind her eyes, but it wasn't screaming. Whatever Willow was doing, she believed it. That didn't mean she was right to.

"Your grandfather knew," Alexandra said.

"He watched Louis walk into Samarand and did nothing."

"He said he couldn't—""I heard you the first time." Alexandra's voice came out flat.

"He chose not to." Willow nodded.

"In his defence, he only found out earlier today."

"And now he wants something from me," Alexandra said. The silence that followed was answer enough. Alexandra turned to the window. The courtyard below was empty, the cloud cover still unbroken. Raymond's words circled back. People die every day. It is the nature of the system we inhabit. Two old men. Different factions. Same calculation.

"What does he want?" she asked.

"To talk," Willow said.

"He wants to meet you. On your terms."

"And if I say no?"

"He'll help you anyway." Willow hesitated. Kam spoke for the first time.

"Buying trust."

"It probably is," Willow said, looking at him. Then, back to Alexandra.

"He also said the Magus killed Louis on purpose. Not the Legate. The Magus."

"No. They both killed him." She paused.

"Why does your ancestor distinguish them?" Willow hesitated.

"He thinks the Legate didn't know in advance." Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. Alexandra wasn't sure yet what to do with it.

"I fucking hate them both," she said.

"But Lila more than Raymond." She already knew. She hadn't needed anyone to confirm it. But hearing it said plainly, in a quiet room, by someone who had no reason to lie about it— She closed her eyes. Opened them.

"Get out," she said.

"Both of you."

"Alexandra—""I need an hour." Her voice didn't waver.

"I'll find you after." Willow nodded. She moved to the door without another word. Kam looked at Alexandra for a moment, then followed. The door clicked shut. Alexandra didn't move from the window for a long time. Then she moved to her desk and pulled out the book she'd borrowed from the library. She needed Clarity of Mind. Now more than ever. She pushed down her grief. Louis was dead. There was nothing she could do about it. But she was alive, and she needed to find a way out of this. She summoned her journal.

Event Quests: Format Education: Graduate as a Keeper of the Iron Ink (0/1). Reward: Epic skill. Failure condition: Leave the Iron Library's academy before reaching Platinum rank. She was reconsidering everything. Raymond knew what he was doing. Was it a stretch to think he'd planted that quest on purpose? It wasn't the only goal he'd set out for her, but it was the only one that stuck. Maybe it was the sickness of paranoia talking, but she leaned into it. She had to. If he wanted her to stay, she would go. However.

Did he want her to stay? Raymond had been so open with his manipulations that it almost felt off. She grabbed her hair. I don't know. Then there were the Dumries. Willow was a friend. Even the paranoia wasn't trying to convince her otherwise. Her ancestor wasn't. He was a man who could perhaps rival Raymond. A dangerous man. She tapped her fingers on the desk. Her options were limited. She could do nothing. Keep living as she was. Lear. Grow. But she knew it was a dead end.

She'd always be at the mercy of the higher powers. Playing Raymond's game was out of the question, which left her with no choice but to deal with Willow's grandfather. She found Kam in the corridor outside his room, sitting on the floor with his back against the wall. He hadn't gone far. He looked up when he heard her approach. Didn't say anything.

"Come in." He stood up and followed her. For a moment, neither of them spoke.

"What do you think?" she asked. Kam thought for a moment. He had the habit of not speaking until he had something worth saying. She appreciated that.

"Alfred Dumries, Willow's ancestor. His reputation is clean," he said finally.

"Unusual for his rank. Straightforward. Fair." He paused.

"At odds with the Magus."

"He wants to use me."

"Recruit you." Kam glanced at her.

"I need to leave," she said.

"To a low-rank area."

"Meet with him. Then decide." He paused.

"And take me with you."

"Where to?" she asked.

"Wherever. I don't want to stay." She looked at him. He met her eyes without flinching.

"Alright," she said. She got to her feet. He rose beside her.

"She'll be in her room," he said. Willow answered the door before Alexandra finished knocking. She stepped aside without a word and let them both in. Her room was the same as Alexandra's.

"I'm sorry," Willow said.

"I… No, I have to tell you. I told them about your quests. Not in detail. Not the…" She looked at Kam.

"Not the new ones."

"What did you tell him, specifically?"

"That you have quests and can share them. Nothing more. I promise."

"Your grandfather," Alexandra said.

"I want to meet him." Willow let out a breath.

"Tonight?"

"Can it be arranged?"

"I'll have to ask," Willow said.

"Then ask. Kam is coming too." Alexandra moved toward the door.

"One more thing." Willow waited.

"Whatever he's planning to offer me. Tell him to be honest about what it costs. All of it." She paused at the threshold.

"I'm done being played." She didn't wait for an answer. She didn't go back to sleep. She sat at her desk with the borrowed book open in front of her. Her mind stayed in Raymond's office, in the silence. Kam was sitting on her bed. Silent, as usual. An hour passed. A knock at the door. Willow.

"He'll see you now." * A diamond-robed elder of Goodpeak led them through the Keepers' side of the library. He knocked on the door when he arrived.

"Come in." The room was lit by a single lamp on the desk. Shelves covered three walls from floor to ceiling. The window behind him looked out over the sea, invisible in the dark, but she could hear it. The old man looked up. He was smaller than she'd imagined. Slight-framed, white-haired. He looked at her, then at Kam.

"Sit," he said.

"All of you." They sat. Alfred folded his hands on the desk.

"I'm sorry about Louis Ombre." She said nothing.

"I mean that," he said.

"I know you have no reason to believe it."

"Tell me what you want," she said.

"Willow said you'd be honest."

"I will." He didn't rush it.

"I want your cooperation. Not your loyalty. I'm not asking you to join my faction or pledge yourself to anything. I want to work with you on specific tasks, with specific agreements, for specific compensation."

"And what are these tasks?"

"Spread knowledge. The Goodpeak way." He looked at her.

"I know what you can do, in general terms. And I know that Raymond is positioning you as a resource he intends to cultivate over a long period. I would like to offer you an alternative."

"Why?" Kam asked. Alfred looked at him.

"Because the Magus has too much influence already, and because your friend has abilities that are genuinely rare." He turned back to Alexandra.

"Take your pick."

"The cost," Alexandra said.

"Willow said there would be one."

"There always is." Alfred reached into a drawer and produced a small vial, setting it on the desk between them. The liquid inside was colourless.

"That's the first payment. Full cleanse. All sicknesses." Alexandra frowned.

"How?"

"It will wipe out your mana. All your mana," the old man said.

"You'll need a few weeks to recover." She pocketed the potion.

"I want passage," she said instead.

"To the low-rank zone. Safe passage. When I decide I need it." Alfred nodded slowly.

"That can be arranged."

"And I want Kam included in whatever arrangement we make." Kam looked at her. She didn't look back.

"Fine. But Willow will also come with you. She'll serve as a link between us." Alexandra looked at Willow and nodded.

"I'm agreeable. For now."

"Great." Alfred extended his hand. She shook it.