"On the bright side," Flint continued, "he seems harmless enough. Whatever fried his brain and fixed his body has made him so that I don't think he could hurt a flea. I could have broken his neck like a twig, and he never would have known until it was too late:"
"That's a bit morbid, don't you think?" Aether scratched his nose with a wince.
"You think those things all the time, and you know it." Flint arched his brow.
Aether pursed his lips. It wasn't polite to admit such things aloud.
"Harmless or not…something is going on." Noble had a sinking feeling.
What Flint had said about Drusus was true: he was different. And it was due to more than just the trauma of losing the one he loved.
People did not go from devastated to indifferent in a matter of days.
While Roan, Helie, and Aether had never met the man, Noble and Flint had spent one of the worst moments of the man's life with him.
Drusus not associating them with that trauma was something Noble had registered before, but it was even more pronounced when she entered the room just moments ago.
"Drusus didn't even seem to recognize me at all. At the very least, he should have said something about the last time we parted." Noble watched Flint throw up his hands.
"I was trying to tell you that before, but you all silenced me!"
"Your intuition was right, but your timing was terrible," Helie clicked her tongue.
"Agreed," Roan chewed his lip. "But now that we are all on the same page, we need to find out what is happening in that mirror. If it made Drusus docile, it could have made Lady Mae act out of character as well."
Noble nodded. "That would make some sense. I would hope killing off her competition is not her default move."
"What?" Flint blinked. "The Polar Bear Queen murdered someone?"
"Lady Mae tried to kill me by sending four assassins after me. She kept her hands clean enough to get away with it, though. The attackers escaped, and the evidence vanished. Thanks to Mae, Syrce now believes the Imperialists did it." Noble summarized the afternoon's events.
She was still kicking herself for revealing her hand too soon, but what was done was done.
"Mae is a crafty one, I'll give her that. So I guess it is your turn to hide out while I get to go in public again?" Flint smirked.
"About that, I am pretty sure Mae is after you, too." The floating Master felt Flint's emotions spike.
"Me?! What did I do? Wait, don't answer that. We don't have enough time for that..." Flint placed his face in his palm.
"I am less worried about Lady Mae right now as long as we stay together. Unless she comes for us directly, I think we can fight off anything she can throw at us." Noble twisted a stray strand of hair around her finger. "But this advisor, he seems to be pulling unseen strings."
"Advisor? What advisor?" Flint grumbled. "How much have you done without me?"
"A lot," Helie rolled her shoulders. She had been working hard between seeing her cohort members, and she wasn't ashamed of it. "I was moving mountains."
"And there was an Advisor in the mountain?" Flint's eyes grew wider.
"What? No!" Noble rubbed her forehead. "Syrce mentioned that an advisor has guided her and that he has met me. However, I have no idea who he is, and that concerns me."
"What does that have to do with a mountain?" The surly Master pressed.
"Nothing, Master Flint," Aether bowed. "You began two different lines of inquiry. Helie answered the second while Noble answered the first."
"Ah, I see." Flint ignored his companion's formal tone. "Do you think this mysterious advisor is behind Mae's attempt on your life?"
"The thought had crossed my mind. He could even be partially responsible for the assassination plot." Noble sighed.
"You think he might have done it in his Mae's name without her knowledge?" Aether suggested.
"As convenient as that would be, I cannot believe that is true. If Maelys were truly innocent, then her emotions would have registered shock and hurt. All I felt from her was surprise that I knew. Even if her advisor sent the people, she had some hand in it." Noble was happy to see that her cohort trusted her.
She wouldn't have lied, but Mae had made a compelling enough case to cast some doubt on Noble's claims.
"Whoever this person is, they have been too good at staying anonymous," Flint scowled. "They are even better than I am at remaining unnoticed."
Roan graciously ignored Flint's hiding abilities. "I would take a Nightmate Creature for an enemy over a human any day. At least with those monsters, you know where you stand."
Flint's eyes opened wide. "Maybe this advisor is a monster. Are we sure those Pink Ones cannot speak? Or maybe a Violet One. They don't look trustworthy."
"Be nice about those birds," Helie took offense. "Cyrus saved your life."
"If Delia can talk, then a lot of people are in trouble. I have caught more than one person talking idly to those creatures when they think no one is looking." Noble was pretty sure that the beings could understand but not communicate.
Now that the thought was in her head, though, she would be more mindful not to have any more private conversations in the stables.
"So, you came to find me to let me know that a Saint is out to get us and she has some mysterious advisor that has been watching us this whole time?" Flint clicked his tongue.
"Maybe not this whole time, but likely for a large portion of it." Noble rubbed the back of her neck.
"I leave all of you unsupervised for one afternoon…" Flint shook his head.
"You took up a good portion of it with your antics," Helie pointed out.
Flint turned up his nose. "That's a bit of an exaggeration, don't you think?" He turned to Roan and asked, "Is there anything else I need to know?"
"Well…" Roan glanced at Noble.
"The people who attacked me were not terribly strong, but they were able to avoid my emotional detection and escape my levitation." Noble winced as she could feel Flint about to explode.
If she couldn't use her Abilities, then neither could he through the belt. Somehow, the man barely contained his outrage. Taking a deep breath, Flint puffed out his cheeks.
"That is…unfortunate." He managed.
Noble relaxed. "It is, so we can't let down our guard even for a moment."
The surly Master blew out his cheeks. "What's our next move? I suppose we need to find out who this Advisor is before Lady Mae makes another rash play?"
Noble nodded.
"That is my goal this evening. Syrce was going to explain earlier, but we were interrupted."
"Let me guess, you were interrupted by Lady Mae," Flint rolled his eyes.
Pursing her lips, Noble hummed softly. "I don't intend on letting it happen again. If she wants to stop me this time, she will have to do more than just tell me to leave…she'll have to make me."