Chapter Fifteen: Marked | Part 3
As if in response to some cosmic cue, an itch in Thirtyx’s head preceded Rhea’s voice. Are you two lovebirds decent? We have an idea we want to run by you.
Instead of assembling a reply out of words, he showed her the out-of-focus pages in his field of vision and floated his general miasma of exhaustion in her direction.
She made the mental equivalent of a scoff. I really want this test to be over, because you’re no fun anymore.
“Benn and Rhea are coming back,” he mumbled into the pages. “Rhea said they have an idea.”
The doorknob rattled, startling Thirtyx and Seerla to rapt attention. “Yeah, it’s about the Selkies,” Benn said as he pushed through the door.
Rhea trailed behind with an exasperated look. She closed and began soundproofing the door while Benn continued.
“Okay, so I was meditating on that defensive sigil that should have marked the Selkies.”
“Meditating?” Seerla said. “You said you were going for a walk.”
Rhea jabbed a thumb in Benn’s direction. “This one said it was too cold outside, and he doesn’t want his magic skills to get rusty now that he’s done studying for the Comp, or something.” Thirtyx still couldn’t tell if it was a cover, and he was too tired to parse through her energy for clues.
“Anyway,” Benn snapped. “I compared the components to other spells that leave indelible marks, which was hard, because most of those are first- or second-order spells, and the one we used was—”
“Benn, they don’t need a magic theory lesson. Get to the point!”
“I think it marked their seal forms and only their seal forms.”
He clearly expected a bigger reaction, because when Seerla and Thirtyx merely blinked at him, he seemed to deflate. “Oh, that makes so much sense!” Seerla said quickly. “And I’m glad you figured out the mechanics, because I know it’s been driving you crazy. It’s just… aren’t we still assuming Azirenne won’t care that they tried to kill Thirtyx? Unless we take this straight to law enforcement…”
“Oh I don’t think we need to involve the law quite yet.” Rhea looked suddenly very unsure of herself, despite the mischievous glint in her eye. “See, I may have recently realized that our dear headmistress has a vested interest in keeping Thirtyx alive. So if we were to very gently remind her that… that perhaps Thirtyx is her best shot at learning protected information—”
“You want to encourage her to torture him again?” Seerla spluttered.
For an almost imperceptible moment, Rhea gaped at her like she’d been slapped, before she wrangled her diplomatic mask back onto her face. Her eventual majesty had been slow to adjust to having an additional friend familiar enough to speak to her like that. Thirtyx might have laughed if they weren’t discussing how his utility as a torture subject might spare his life. He inhaled to protest in a more respectful way, but Rhea continued, “She wants to torture him again, regardless. We’d just be pointing out how impossible that will be if he’s dead.”
Much as he wanted to, Thirtyx couldn’t argue with that logic.
“At the end of the day, Azirenne can’t physically hurt him, but our classmates can,” Benn said. “From a tactical standpoint, we need to prioritize his life over his comfort.”
“But we won’t let her near Thirtyx anyway,” Rhea said with a sly grin. “You’ll help, won’t you, Seerla? You’ve become quite protective of him lately yourself.”
Thirtyx hoped he quashed his grimace before Seerla saw. What in the twin hells are you doing?
If we’re close enough pals that she can yell at her future queen, we’re close enough pals for me to call out how helplessly enamored she’s acting—
“Of course I’ll help how I can.” Seerla’s response kept Thirtyx from spiraling about what Rhea meant by ‘helplessly enamored.’ “I just want to make sure Thirtyx is fine with you using him as torture bait.”
“Well, when you put it that way,” Thirtyx grumbled. He released a heavy sigh and rubbed his eyes with his palms. “No, really, it’s fine. I don’t have the energy to care. I don’t even feel like a person right now, just a collection of stupid facts.”
“Give yourself more credit. You’re a delightful collection of stupid facts,” Seerla said with a wry grin.
In Thirtyx’s mind, Rhea raised an eyebrow. You really expect me to leave that one alone?
He didn’t dignify her comment with a response.
***
REMINDER: Traitor to the Throne is switching to a Tuesday/Thursday schedule, effective next week. Same Lamiakk shenanigans. Slightly slower posting schedule.
Calley Jones 