Who was Maledic?
The name, despite meaning ill, came from a time when naming children cursed things was meant to trick evil from entering their lives. Perhaps it was a fact that when so many do something for so long, eventually one of them will get lucky. Whether by providence or luck, for Maledic it seemed to have worked. His achievements in history were numerous.
He was one of the few ascended sorcerers behind the formation of the Council of City-States, the former head of the Lapis bloodline, and a man of countless stories and legends. If one had to choose a figure to represent all of Aeternitus, Aeternitus would not choose him.
Simply because each child of Aeternitus would much rather each choose their closest city-state ruler, of course.
But of all the lands outside of Aeternitus, the people there would point to Maledic as Aeternitus' figurehead. Which is simply to say he was one of the most well-known men of his culture and generation, and nothing of his current involvement in any municipal affairs. Since he stepped down from his rule as Lapis' leader, he had done little and been heard of less.
Spesavia entered the sitting room. It was abundant in space and taste. It had its choice of scrolls and tomes beside large windows and cushioned chairs. But Spesavia ignored all this. She spotted an old wooden wheelchair. When she walked around it to face it, there was the little shriveled man himself, older than the antique chair he sat upon.
Mors waited outside. It was likely his attempt at respect, but Spesavia knew he could hear everything that was said.
"Spesavia, hello," Maledic said.
He could no more lift himself from the chair than the chair could move itself. Nearly all of his left leg was gone to the hip, and only a bit of the right thigh remained. All of this was covered artfully with a stuffed blanket.
Maledic had not always been this way, no. Even now, a faint memory lived on in Spesavia's mind of a strong and firm middle-aged man on a horse with a sword in handas he led his men through the streets for parade. That memory was so old she couldn't tell you where reality even started with it.
Maledic was a survivor of many things and one of the first sorcerers to ascend since the death of the Sorcerer King. Although there was debate if that evil's achievements were the same as the sorcerers of this time. Even Maledic had never seen the Sorcerer King in the flesh after all. That had been his grandfather's honor. There was no true way of knowing if their paths followed this ancient's or not.
Spesavia bent her head towards the old man with a hand over her heart before standing up again before him.
"How are the years treating you, Maledic?" She said.
"Better," he said with a smile. "You came? I thought I would see the egg only, at best."
"Mors was very convincing," Spesavia said. "Did you put him up to threatening my pupil?"
Maledic frowned, a bony hand curling and uncurling.
"I wasn't aware you would take someone with you on this trip," he said. "That was my mistake. Was there irreparable harm done?"
Spesavia shook her head.
"He brought me here to explain why he can't find the egg, bring it to you, or tell you it's been destroyed."
"Why hasn't it been destroyed, Spesavia?" Mors said. "The egg created a monster that devoured and slew hundreds if not thousands in the past. It is not a creature of nature worthy of your respect."
Anything you cannot understand is worthy of respect.
Spesavia kept that thought to herself.
"Maybe it has been destroyed," Spesavia said. "I could not tell you where the thing is now. But I told Mors whether the egg is whole or not, he need not worry. The pool created by the curse in the ruins of that bygone palace is gone. Nobody could hatch the egg now."
"I find myself still concerned, Spesavia," Maledic said. "Perhaps because of your assurances. We do not need to agree on what to do with the egg to agree that it needs to be found. I find your lack of concern over that unprecedented."
Spesavia huffed.
"Must I explain myself repeatedly to everyone?! Without the pool of mana, the egg cannot be hatched; without that, the egg is just a worthless rock. Don't concern yourself with it."
"Kuh, keh he heh..."
Maledic, diminished Maledic, let out a grating chuckle.
"Now I know that you are lying," he said. "Anyone with a hundred sorcerers could easily hatch that egg. It must have been wisdom that separated you from politics...."
Spesavia wasn't a young girl, but she turned away to hide her expression.
"You get so twisted in your lies, Maledic, that you think everyone does. I am committed to research, not the study of atrocities. I did not foresee what people might do to hatch it. And even if they did, that much movement should be easy enough to spot. I will not concern myself with what could be! My time is a luxury I won't waste."
Maledic didn't respond immediately to her words. Sorting through them at his own pace and ordering them.
It made Spesavia sweat. What would look more like a lie? Should she speak again? But as if she were truly insulted, she clamped her mouth shut.
"Are you implying I waste my time?" Maledic said. "How?"
Spesavia clenched the hand that was crossed under her arms. She glanced over at him before fully turning to face him.
"Your city is the best example," Spesavia said.
"My city? This little mansion is a quaint hamlet at best."
Spesavia openly rolled her eyes.
"Yes, yes, yes! Because this place that doesn't even bear your name is the city I was talking about! Lapis! Lapis is where your concerns should lie!"
"Lapis is wealthy."
"Half of Lapis is wealthy," Spesavia said. "The other half is starving. And what do your grandchildren do? They feast! They make their own grave by robbing from the people."
Maledic Lapis shook his head.
"My descendants, I have found recently, have had many flaws. But I did not leave the future of Lapis only to them. I also left the people with the law. The people of Lapis have each other best in heart, this I still believe in. As long as the guards and the officials of the city stay true, the city will right itself in time."
Spesavia's wrinkled face twisted down towards his in abhorrent disgust.
"And what do you do while 'the city rights itself' into civil war and rioting before your eyes? Ah, but it's not before your eyes, is it? You are far away on a hill, and they are down there. Suffering. Straining. And you don't even know—
"ENOugh—
Maledic's forceful shout ended in coughing.
"Enough..." he whispered. "I have not been so blind to their pains... I help those who seek me out... but it would not be right to trespass upon a jurisdiction I have put down... especially since I put it down to end tyranny... I will not pick it up again. Let another rise from this generation."
Spesavia leaned into his face, fury shining in her eyes. Her hand gripped his chair.
"I never told you to be a king," she said. "But stop acting like you're dead in front of me till you stop breathing. The pain is there to remind us we're still alive. It's not for us to sink into."
Maledic grinned up at her. She let go and backed off.
"...I have missed your forthright humor, Spesavia," he said. "And I may yet respect your advice... but until you answer my questions about the dragon egg to my satisfaction, or it is found, I cannot let you leave."
His breathing slowly recovered.
"As you wish, but you won't find anything in the wreckage," Spesavia said. "The fight caused by Mors made sure of that."
"...Was this why you were willing to destroy one of our few chances of learning history left?" Maledic said, slowly tapping his knuckles against the arm of his wheelchair.
"Well, if I was hiding something, that would be one reason in your mind, wouldn't it? But no. My main point was to assuredly bury that which our forebearers may have already destroyed. Besides, the tyrant's cellar was mostly filled with his own sickness. Not our people's forgotten past."
Maledic looked away from Spesavia. He knew immediately of what object she spoke of, and ignored the part about the Sorcerer King's past.
What Spesavia lacked in politics, she more than made up with by distraction tactics.
"Were you looking for it?"
"Damn right I was," Spesavia said. "The future ahead is tumultuous from what we already know. Now that it has become our past, how much more will it be thrown into chaos? As someone of no bloodline or even a clan, I need every advantage."
"For someone who lost twice, you seem pleased."
"It might have been best to gain something twice," Spesavia said, shrugging. "But making sure nobody else can have it is also to my gain. I've at least won twice by that way of looking at things. And even more, I have all the notes on the ruins from my time there. How have I lost? Except for your hired hand threatening my pupil's life... I've gained everything."
Spesavia directed these last words to the door Mors stood behind. But he didn't take the bait.
"Hm. Be careful, Spesavia. You might find yourself destroying your own hands at this rate. You should try joining hands instead of severing them."
"Is that bit of advice your last words for me?" Spesavia said.
Maledic held up a curled hand to get her to stop.
"Just one more thing," he said. "A question. Do you know how time's flow reversed? For me, much of that period is a blur..."
"How would I know a thing like that?" Spesavia said. "I make potions. Not deep sigils of any significance."
Maledic kept his eyes on her for a very long moment. Spesavia stared back callously.
"To downplay your talents like this..." Maledic began. "Makes considerable sense no matter what the truth is. Spesavia, tell me your thoughts on this strange time we find ourselves in."
"It's a great chance to make a lot of gains."
Maledic laughed.
"Kahahahahah! Fine. I've already held you up more than I said. I'll send someone to bring you to your rooms. Return to your student for now. I can feel her and that child's distress in the stones."
"Tsk."
And who does she have to blame for that distress in the first place?
Spesavia left without looking back.
Mors entered. Maledic grabbed a bell and rang it. A servant entered.
"Give them rooms next to each other. With views of the eastern garden."
The servant nodded and left.
Mors waited.
"Is there anything we can use?" Maledic said to the other sorcerer.
———————————————————
Aureum stood straight as she could, but she swayed despite herself.
Gemmo occasionally struggled to leave her arms. She barely looked at him.
"Ahh! WAAAAAAHHHH!"
He cried his little heart out, but she still refused to bend an inch.
"Do you need anything?"
The guard asked this for his own sake as much as for the baby's. Aureum didn't bother to respond.
She was waiting, and trying to do her best not to break anything that might harm their chances while she waited.
So she stood.
Spesavia came.
"Let me carry him for a bit," the old woman said.
Aureum let her. Neither woman explained anything to the guard, nor the servant that was quick behind Spesavia. They entered the new room. Spesavia shut the door behind them in the servant's face.
Water was drawn from some unseen source outside the window. The old sorceress created a mist that quieted even Aureum's hearing.
"We can speak now," Spesavia said.
Aureum, so long quiet, felt the words come to her slowly.
"What happens now? Are we going to die?"
"Not today, and not tomorrow if I have anything to say about it. Did the guard ask you anything about the boy?"
"Nothing, except to help him when he cried."
"Good, but we can't expect that to last. Maledic and Mors are suspicious. They'll be looking at everything."
"How can we hide Gemmo? You already said he's growing up too fast! Mors might have already noticed."
"Let's hope he's not familiar with children," Spesavia said. "And as long as nobody comments on it, it might go unnoticed. It'll be best to keep him out of sight and out of mind though... I'll try and distract him. We'll maintain the story that he's your son, but let's get our idea of the father straight."
Quickly, they assembled together a rascal with blue eyes who was probably a deserter of some kind and left Aureum just as easily as his station.
"Let's call him Ursus. No clan name."
"Right."
"It'll be alright, Aureum. As long as Mors isn't the only contender, I'm too valuable to kill off. And Maledic has a sense of justice Mors never had. They might kill Gemmo if they discover us, but not you."
How reassuring.
Aureum thought with vitriol.