Kai Low was oddly quiet the two days following their talk in the bath. He'd spent both nights in Yuze's bed, oddly intense and silent. It was a relief and not at the same time, but Yuze didn't feel comfortable trying to bring it up again. They weren't like…that. They might be doing something physical, but emotionally…they were not one another's responsibility and Yuze was not ready or willing to care for someone else like that again.
Still…it bothered him that Kai Low was upset. And it upset him that he was upset about Kai Low being upset.
It wasn't what he'd wanted, but he couldn't stop. Which was strange and annoying and oddly exhilarating at the same time.
They'd mapped the rest of the tunnels, most of which had collapsed at some point before they reached the origin point. There were three more that were still fully functional, and they'd made it all the way through, but all three had ended in the waste system that ran underneath the castles.
They'd mutually agreed to investigate the Wens before they tried investigating those.
Yuze had decided to wait until nightfall before they tried again, and they'd timed it to arrive at the Wen's end of the tunnel just shy of midnight. When there wasn't a war on, most of the Camelia's residents kept to regular sleep schedules religiously. They knew too well what it felt like when they had to go days without sleep, and they didn't play around when they got the chance.
As such, Yuze expected most of the occupants of Wen Manor to be asleep, and that was the only reason he'd even entertained trying to sneak into the Wen Manor. He'd expected Kai Low to make some sarcastic remark when he told him the plan, but he'd barely reacted.
That, more than anything, told Yuze how upset he was about the other night.
Wen Manor supposedly housed nearly two hundred people. The main family, select extended family members, and their staff. Like all noble families, they had constant rotating guards at the entrances and roaming guards that generally patrolled the perimeter, but the guards' presence was much smaller inside the manor itself. Unlike the main castle, where Chenzhou had twice as many guards inside for the Vault and the family apartments.
And even that hadn't been enough…
The door to the Wen basement seemed to be unchanged from when they'd left, and Yuze couldn't spot any new footprints. Kai Low put out the torch and stowed it in a corner as Yuze listened at the door.
After a few minutes of silence, he decided it was as safe as it was going to get and carefully opened the door. Kai Low went first, sword at the ready, footsteps careful and silent as he stepped into the carpeted hallway.
The hallway was dark and empty, and it took a moment for Yuze's eyes to adjust. He pulled the door shut behind them, pausing to identify the lock, as Kai Low made his way down the hallway one way and came back.
"Dead end." He whispered, his eyes practically glowed in the dark.
Yuze nodded. "Let's try the doors."
They made their way along one side of the hall and then the next, checking each door. Some were locked, and some were not, but they found little of value. It was all storage, though some of it was definitely stolen from the Vault, and Chenzhou made a mental note to talk to Chenzhou about how they were going to go about getting all of it back at some point.
They found the stairs at the opposite end and quietly made their way up. Yuze led the way, with the steady heat of Kai Low at his back.
Every once in a while, the manor creaked and shifted, making Yuze's heart rate jump.
The manor was quiet, making Yuze hyperaware of his breath as they moved through the dark hallways. The second floor looked the same and was more of the same, but halfway down the second hall, they found a room that caught Yuze's attention.
It was full of books, but they weren't the kind of books you could buy from the travelling peddlers and the book stores on the shopping streets.
They were arcane, he recognized instantly. Bound in leather from all manner of creatures, including humans, and encrusted with stones, gems, and all manner of metals. They were the kind of books nobles paid pounds of gold for, and the wizards of the Illuminated City hunted and locked away like jealous dragons guarding virginal princesses.
Books about magic and omens and beasts long gone from the world.
The Wen's collection wasn't small by any means, so they'd clearly been working on it for years.
"Close the door," Yuze whispered.
Kai Low did and then managed to find a candle on a small table and lit it with a flint. "What are these?"
"Books about magic," Yuze explained. "I recognize a few. They're supposed to be locked away in the Illuminated City. The wizards don't allow them to circulate."
Kai Low blinked slowly. "Who the fuck are the wizards and why do you care?"
Yuze turned him and stared, shocked. "You don't know who the wizards are?"
"Does anybody besides you?" Kai Low sniffed, defensive.
Yes, Yuze thought, most of the rock knows who they are, except apparently the isolated tribes of the borderlands, who could barely read or write the most common language on the rock. But he kept that to himself. "They are people capable of magic."
Kai Low frowned. "Like the Wildfire?"
It took Yuze a moment to realize he meant Eirian, not the fire itself. His answer was still the same. "Yes. They are…very secretive. They think they control all magic on the rock. And they're powerful enough that most of the rock lets them."
Kai Low raised an eyebrow. "That's surprising."
"There was a war long ago." Yuze shrugged. It was a long and tangled history that they didn't have time to get into. "These books are basically instructions on how to use magic. Most noble families have one or two that are handed down generation to generation, but to have this many…" One caught his eye.
A large brown leather volume with a vial stitched to the front. There was lettering burned into the side from some language no one could speak anymore, but Yuze recognized it from its description alone.
"What's wrong?" Kai Low appeared at his shoulder as he pulled it down.
"This." The book was heavy, nearly as thick as Yuze's palm. "This is Magreiet's Poisons. It's an ancient text about creating magical poisons."
Just like the one that had plagued the Camelia for so long.
"If it's here, that would mean they did it. Right?" Kai Low looked at the grotesque book curiously.
"It would…" Yuze trailed off. "Except the family crest here isn't the Wens."
The gold crest pressed into the leather cover was a sword and a blooming ruby flower.
The family crest of the Ye bloodline.
~ tbc