The next day was bright. Its skies were clear. Aureum had as little idea of what she should do as there was rain.
She sat in bed, with a headache that felt like it would become chronic at this point.
"Bruaghhh!"
Gemmo tried to "speak" again.
Aureum nodded as if he had spoken intelligibly. She had decided. Best to start with simple things like breakfast, changing clothes, and cleaning those clothes.
The simple things ran out too quickly.
Soon enough she sat back on the bed, her face in her hands. The room was as colorful and ornate as the rest of the city. The wind shook shadowed leaves across the floor. Aureum looked up and saw light glittering across the green foliage.
She was reminded of a view with lanterns. That seemed like a lifetime ago.
She remembered a hint of what she'd felt. Wonder, alongside trepidation.
How did I end up here?
Step by step. If it had been told to her instead of experiences she lived through, she still wouldn't understand it. She shook her head.
In some ways, she felt better. Mostly she felt worse.
I haven't gotten a single chance to prove… anything.
She'd just gotten lost in life and the living of it.
Aureum rubbed her eyes. Gemmo yawned.
That was a good sign. For it was a peaceful sign.
"Yeah, we should just sleep while we can."
Why get up early when everything could go wrong in a moment?
They'd need their rest if they had to run again. Before Aureum could truly rest, though, she checked that everything she needed was in quick order to go. The spear was the only thing left out.
As much as she was worried Gemmo might get in trouble with it, he couldn't crawl. And if she needed it, she might only have a moment to grasp it.
Sleep solved almost nothing for her.
When she woke up, it was with a clearer mind, but there were no clear answers to the questions that plagued her. No obvious right answers.
How long should I wait here before it's a lost cause?
How do I get into contact with Spesavia?
If I do leave, where would I even go? Home…?
These three simple questions ate at her. She didn't even dare to step out of the inn. While it might have been better to move each night, it would only be better if she could figure out how not to be traced. She had no idea how to do that.
"If he were here…"
Aureum just let herself sit in the loneliness for a bit.
Yes, if the man who was sent to kill me was here, I'd be fine. Just fine!
What was the worst problem was that she almost believed it. She pulled herself up. It felt like disturbing herself in her own grave.
Gemmo was still curled up. He plopped onto his face, with his butt sticking out. It still didn't wake him up. He'd been sleepy for days. Maybe the growth spurt was hitting him.
From what she could remember, it seemed best to stay out of sight and out of mind. But.
First she needed to make sure she had everything.
To make sure she had everything, she needed to decide on how long she would be waiting. And that was difficult.
Spesavia might need a week to get here…?
Probably longer. Then the really uncomfortable question reared its head.
How long would Mors take?
Aureum had no idea. Probably faster than Spesavia.
I'll wait the week. If nothing happens, I'll leave. Anything suspicious, I'll leave. I'll have to get anything I need now, when he's least likely to be in the city.
But there wasn't any point in waiting if Spesavia couldn't find her. Aureum snapped her fingers.
From the ring she pulled the necklace and the beast's pearl. The barrier was still around it.
These… might work.
The pearl had Spesavia's mana around it, and the necklace was the crone's little light source. She might already have a way to track it. Aureum put them in the scarf and hung them outside her window.
Maybe they would work. Maybe they wouldn't. At least they put her mind at ease.
Then she needed to get a few things for the week. Luckily she had most of what she needed.
Getting a week's worth of goat's milk and shoving it into the ring wouldn't have been the most inconspicuous thing to do. For the same reason, getting a box's worth of iron needles from the blacksmith was also off the table.
Maybe one day.
What she got was food for herself, a few wooden toys, and children's clothes. A few different sizes of clothes were bought just in case. She found it too difficult to find many good books for children but managed to grab one on fairy tales.
That was enough.
After that she and Gemmo hunkered down inside the inn's room. Not knowing how to effectively hide, she figured the best thing was to move as little as possible. Besides, Gemmo gave enough excitement for entertainment. It wasn't like she was in a sightseeing mood.
The week passed uneventfully but with slow terror. Despite her decision, everyday Aureum felt her insides screaming for her to go. But she didn't.
On the sixth day, a knock came for her at the door.
Aureum felt her heart stop. Before she could clear away the little horse and wagon Gemmo was playing with, the door opened.
"Well, what do you have to say for yourself?"
It was Spesavia. Aureum sagged with relief. Then she tensed up again as Spesavia stormed towards her.
"It was a foolish decision to stay here, girl!" Spesavia said. "But never mind! I can lecture later. We still need to get out of the city."
Everything was packed up quickly.
"Should we wait for night?" Aureum said.
"It wouldn't make a difference," Spesavia said.
Their hurried steps left almost no time for conversation. Aureum saw Spesavia's ruined state and found herself swallowing any questions she had.
Yet.
All the precautions made little difference. When they left the gates, Mors stepped out from behind the guards like a ghost.
Spesavia looked like she'd just swallowed a lemon.
"Mercy ever occur to you as a concept?" She said.
"No," Mors said. "Now that your student is here, would you be more open to the idea of joining me? I'd like you to at least verify what you told me to Maledic."
"You wish," she said.
But she didn't move to attack.
"I'll take you to Maledic," Mors continued. "You will speak to him, and he will decide what to do with you."
"And if I don' t? You'll use this child against me? You have such originality, Mors."
Mors didn't shrug, twitch, or reply in any discernible way. He waited.
It must have been what he'd been doing for the past few days. Aureum's decision to stay had been utterly foolish.
Did I make the wrong move from the moment I entered the city?
Mors would have his ways of finding her. He was an assassin first before he was a sorcerer. If he didn't want to cause trouble in the city, he could just wait. He wasn't the one pressed for time.
Her decision was wrong from the moment she stopped running. From the moment she started running from Mors, she had lost.
Aureum felt weak and sick. It didn't do to dwell on anything now. Despite everything, she tried to focus on what she could see and hear.
It wasn't her failure alone. Spesavia looked ahead like one might face a storm.
It wasn't over until they were dead.
Spesavia turned to her and whispered in her ears.
"Speak of nothing, from now on. Even less on him."
By "him" she meant Gemmo, of course.
Aureum nodded.
With Spesavia on her left and Mors on her right, Aureum began a new journey with Gemmo in her arms. A slow journey that led up the mountains behind Lapis.
Each step was weighed with tension. No one was in any rush. The crone was waiting for an opportunity, and Mors was watching for any escape.
Aureum simply sank into silence. She wanted the pleasure of being as completely distinguished as moss under a tree.
The first night she found herself crying, silently. Despite her terror, there was little in Mors' day-to-day demeanor to cause it.
An example of the whole affair was the meals they shared.
Spesavia and Aureum were not allowed to cook. In fact, all of their rings and bracelets for objects had been handed over to Mors. Instead, they had what Mors ate.
Which was cold and hard food. There was a biscuit of some kind alongside twisted pieces of meat. One day was almost a treat, but the same thing for each meal for the foreseeable future made eating a burden.
Mealtimes were almost dead silent. Aureum and Spesavia weren't allowed to sit immediately beside each other. Mors would watch them like a jailer.
Gemmo would cry. He spent most of this time bawling his eyes out. Probably a combination of boredom and the tension.
"Please, just give me something to distract him with," Aureum said on the third day.
"No."
That was the entirety of Mors' reply.
So they continued on with drab and tired spirits alongside the frequent wails of a baby.
The days passed.
Their real status was never explained to Aureum. Hardly a word was spoken other than what was required. To be jailed, she would have to be a criminal. Perhaps Gemmo was a crime, but this seemed too hasty for the judgement. There was too much authority behind the affair to feel like she was kidnapped.
Despite her expectations and the stoicness of the whole affair, being illegally absconded with was a kidnapping.
The days passed with the tension of a dry field next to a small flame.
In the end, the fire was put out, and the field remained intact. Spesavia had tried nothing, so Mors had nothing to respond to.
In a few weeks the Hidden Manor of Maledic stood before them.
The walls of it was enough to hold a little village, forget a mansion.
It had similarities to Lapis but also differences. The walls were more functional, yet the gates were more beautiful. Fine silver engravings on the heavy pine greeted any guests of Maledic, as if they had made certain to put forth their best.
Inside, there did lie a small village. Aureum heard a blacksmith's hammer ringing out, the braying of horses, and people passed by living their daily lives. There was even a well in the center of the small buildings. Everything needed for common life was there.
It all felt a little bit out of time. Everything was in good repair, but the sense of beauty was antique. The doors were without metal handles, despite the luxury of materials seen everywhere else, for one.
Quickly they passed through the little village. People hurried by them without looking them in the eye.
With two ascended sorcerers next to her, Aureum couldn't blame them.
Then another small wall rose up before them. This was the real mansion of the place. A few guards parted the way for Mors.
Just from their stance alone, they looked much more serious than any guard Aureum had seen on the street before.
How much does one man need?
Yet, the true glory of the Hidden Manor lay yet before her.
A small garden that offered a bit of color before they came to the main building greeted them. It wasn't of loud flowers or flatly cut grass. It had many different gently colored shrubs and trees that drew a few butterflies. Little man-made streams to either side added to the calming ambience.
The view did not calm the manor's two newest guests.
The main building, which was already set inside the mountains, sat on raised foundations. Everything except the doors and windows was stone, but it was an understated sort of stone.
Not a castle, or a palace, or a house of bricks. It was something in between. A blue-gray stone manor peeking out from amongst the fall-colored leaves of red and yellow.
As Aureum took a step towards it, Mors stopped her.
"Not you," he said. "Wait here."
Aureum two weeks ago might have mouthed off. Today, she just nodded.
A guard stepped out. She hadn't noticed him among the foliage, which was probably the intent of his position.
"Watch her and the child," Mors said. "Make certain they cannot leave and no harm comes to either of them."
The guard nodded but didn't salute.
"Have faith, girl," Spesavia said as she left, gripping Aureum's arm.
In what?
That was Aureum's thought as she watched the old woman leave.
Was she supposed to believe in goodness? In Spesavia's cleverness? In evil's joy at suffering?
Aureum watched the old woman leave feeling hollow. If she believed in anything in that moment, it was her own failure.
"Let me take you somewhere to wait," the guard said.
He at least spoke respectfully, compared to those that had spoken to her in Nix's house. Aureum's back ached. Gemmo had continued growing, and he was almost big enough to toddle now.
"I'd rather not," Aureum said.
She didn't move, and the man made no move to make her. He nodded, and both of the two stood there, waiting.