Yes. To watch over her. There was little Hiems wanted more, if one could rip his heart out and give it voice.
But that is not what Maledic meant. He wanted Hiems to watch her. Like a snake watches a mouse. And if that mouse would ever trip up and show where its home was, he would have to loyally slither back and give it all up.
Everything.
The consequences of what that might be would be unknown, but it would still be caused by Hiems' hands.
"No," Hiems said.
Maledic blinked. Hiems was still looking at the ground. He didn't notice.
"You think you have a choice? In your situation?"
These words weren't spoken with hostility. Maledic had them carry his amazement instead.
"I always have a choice," Hiems said.
"This one could kill you?" Maledic said.
Hiems looked up. Servility and politeness had run their course.
"Then I'll die," he said.
Maledic looked at Hiems with confusion.
"…aren't you afraid?"
"…"
Despite any wishes of death he had expressed, Hiems was afraid.
His stomach held a stormy sea in too tiny a spot. The sweat was cold on his back and neck. He felt his heart thud against his chest.
He was terrified, actually.
"I can allow a change in your mind," Maledic said. "As long as you do it quickly. As soon as you leave, I cannot be sure that your decision wasn't influenced."
But even with the fear like a wave inside pushing Hiems to recant his words, he couldn't do it. It was like two serpents coiled around his soul.
One was the fear of death, and the other, the fear of living as he had.
This was why he was effectively immobilized. Unable even to speak.
"Come," Maledic said, putting the weight of his centuries of mana into the word. "Make a reasonable decision. I have not treated you unfairly."
"No," Mendax gasped. "I can't."
"I would not ask this of anyone," Maledic said. "Or in any situation. There are things that may cause much harm if left unchecked."
This was still not a question. Hiems waited.
"It was a mercy to spare your life," Maledic said.
Hiems looked up at him. He felt the sweat roll down his back. Even staying kneeled had cost him with Maledic's pressure.
What was going on in Maledic's head was beyond him. Why the man felt it necessary to play games like this.
"My lord," he said, straining to get the words out, "please, keep your word."
His word.
The sentence he spoke when Hiems entered the room.
"I would not be the one to kill you."
Maledic froze, realizing, perhaps, what it was that he was doing. He controlled himself. The weight crushing Hiems eased.
Hiems gasped and finally, finally shifted his position from the pain of kneeling.
"Go," Maledic said.
Hiems scrambled to his feet and left.
Outside the room he was lost.
It was only force of will that kept him walking until he was in one of the yards. He sought out a little-seen corner and fell to the ground.
His body was wracked with pain, but that wasn't unusual. There were times when he hurt less and times he hurt more.
The book he had been reading offered some insight as to why.
The stronger the favoritism towards an element of mana, the stronger the detriment to forming a pearl of the opposing element.
In many cases this only causes mild discomfort or light pain to begin with, but the body may eventually acclimatize to it. The most known effect is slowing down the rate of forming the pearl, and even in these mild and common cases, the layering always takes more time.
In the modern trend of marrying for mana favoritism over wealth, it seems that more children are occurring with this favoritism. And in most cases this is a good thing, as they can take their bloodline's techniques to the fullest.
However, the old case of the adopted lordling of Fluentem shows the warnings against such couplings as a trend. The boy was innocently trained to form a pearl with which he had great elemental DISFAVOR and suffered such pains until his own layering weakened and ultimately killed him.
I would like to offer a few basic tests for mana favoritism for the populace at large, to impede this tragedy from spreading…
And so on it went. As per the introduction to that chapter, the doctor who wrote it wished to inform and warn others of this "new" trend. New being relative.
What he was reading was obviously a transcribed copy, but it must have been originally from a century ago at least. Hiems understood, even if these fads the book spoke of were closer to tradition at this point.
It explained much. The gift of his birthright was a strong disfavor of ice mana, thanks to his mother. This was only a thorn in his foot. He had lived with it all his life until it became unnoticeable.
Not that it didn't come to mind in a moment of weakness now.
Perhaps his months of relying on mana instead of sleep had worsened it, for it felt sharper than before. Or perhaps it was simply his new awareness that caused him to notice it.
The greater concern was still the immediate situation of Maledic. With heavy breaths, he stood up again.
Will he send someone to kill me tomorrow? Or tonight?
Hiems didn't expect Maledic to truly keep the original intent of his word. He had done the opposite of what an ascended sorcerer had wanted. One didn't just get away with that, in his experience.
He found himself wandering towards one of the gates.
It would probably be best to leave now. And not go back for anything.
Although Hiems' bracelet of void was originally confiscated, it was also returned. Once much of anything that could be potentially harmful was taken out.
He had lost his two blades from the moment he'd entered this place.
The gate neared. It loomed over him.
The guards before him nodded at him.
Apparently, if there was going to be intent to harm him, these two hadn't been given the message. Yet.
Hiems was allowed to wander about the walled village. This hadn't been the case the first month he was here, but he had won some trust. From there, it wouldn't be very difficult to get out.
…to where?
There weren't many places in Aeternitus he would be able to hide from Nix. As long as Lord Caducus reigned, he would hold a grudge.
And Lord Caducus planned on being eternal.
There were lands beyond Aeternitus.
But he couldn't even tell them his own name in those lands, and he would be an ugly foreigner wherever he went.
Where do I want to go?
He tried to motivate himself.
In the end, he turned away from the gate.
His steps led him to the training grounds. He'd known where they were from his second day of free rein. He just hadn't been comfortable enough to use them.
What if he had to fight them? He wanted his tricks hidden, and… it wasn't convenient for the lowest of the servants to be a warrior. They knew, but Hiems wanted to allow them to forget.
It would be easier. At least, that had been the plan.
Now there was no point.
Despite the later hour, he saw someone still swinging away in the twilight.
It was the training grounds for the guards. It wasn't unexpected for one of them to get enthusiastic. He didn't recognize the figure at first. As he got closer, he realized why.
The size of the lady was an obvious ringer for Aureum, but the smoothness of her movements didn't overlap with what he remembered. It wasn't until he got close enough that he couldn't deny it. It was her.
He stopped and watched for a bit.
It still wasn't the movements of any master of the spear, but it was a world away from when she had begun.
There were differences from what he'd taught her, and he might have called them mistakes. Further observation proved many of those observations wrong. Many were the simple necessity of having a different center of balance. She'd likely made adjustments to get a similar result.
I wonder if she even notices it.
He kept watching past the point where he was noticing anything new about her technique.
She lost the flower… and the ribbon.
And, he almost left again.
He got halfway through turning before he stopped.
Why do I have to give up on everything?
Why is it always me, me, me.
He wasn't the heir to his father, his skin made him look deformed, and his pearl might be killing him.
Why can't I just try to talk to her… Would that be so wrong?
He was still afraid.
What more could she possibly do to me?
So he turned in the other direction and approached her. He saw her notice him, but she didn't deign to say anything. Let alone pause.
He waited, feeling his heartbeat slow as a sick feeling came over him again.
The swings and stabs of the spear echoed out. Her footsteps pounded and slid against the sands of the grounds. Her robe rustled quietly behind all of that.
It seemed as if she would never stop.
When he couldn't take anymore, he picked up a spear for himself. He didn't bother to take a practice swing to test its weight.
He countered one of her stabs.
Clang!
The quick strikes thudded against each other. Her stance was broken, and she took a few steps back.
"What do you want?" She asked.
"Nothing," Hiems said.
Everything.
But he didn't know if that thought was for her or every other problem he was dealing with.
"Be honest, Mendax," Aureum said, raising her spear.
She said it like an insult.
"My real name is Hiems," he said. "Hiems Nix."
"What do I care?"
Aureum didn't attack. Just circled him with the spear raised.
This wouldn't be a long battle if they went through with it. She'd spent hours training, and Mendax was relatively fresh.
Queasiness aside, which Aureum didn't know about, it was unfair.
Aureum didn't seem to care about it, either.
"I don't know whether you care or not," Hiems said, turning as she circled. "I just thought I should greet you."
"You 'should'? Since when did you start caring about what should be done?!"
She stabbed him, and he deflected it. Her stance wasn't broken this time.
She backed off anyways.
"I wanted to," Hiems said. "If I'm being honest."
"And what makes you suddenly want to talk to me?"
Hiems didn't answer that.
"Why did you approach Spesavia?"
Instead of stabbing him, she swung her spear. Hiems ducked. Aureum got back into position with it pointed at him.
"I know you two are… being kept here," Hiems said. "I wanted to learn why."
"Why?"
"Why? I just. I wanted to know."
"There's no other ulterior motive?"
Hiems felt a regretful smile pull at his mouth. It would be stupid to let it show.
He was happy she was suspicious of him instead of just loathing his guts.
"I was the only one who wanted to know," he said. "The only one who was asking was me. I swear. It's a bit over for me to be in those games now."
Aureum narrowed her eyes at him. Then she let the spear fall.
"You left," she said. "I had so many questions, and you left."
"I thought you wanted me to go," Hiems said. "You ran away from me."
"I did," she said.
She didn't have much to pack up, but she was done. She dusted her robe a bit and strode out.
Hiems was close behind.
"Do you still have questions?"
Aureum thought for a quick moment.
"Not really."
"But I have questions," Hiems said.
He probably would have said anything.
"I don't have answers," Aureum said, stopping. "I can't talk to you about what's going on. I don't think it would help anyone."
Hiems stopped a little in front of her.
"What if it's an easy question?"
Aureum sighed.
"If it's something I can answer, I'll tell you."
"Do you want me?" He said.
"What?"
"Do you like me?"
"…"
Aureum couldn't even form the words.
"Did you ever like me? Even for a moment?"
His last few questions were very quiet. Aureum finally felt the strain in his words. She crossed her arms.
"I did like you," she said. "A little."
"Really?"
She could hear the smile in his voice, even if she couldn't see his face clearly. It was all a deep blue dusk, and she wasn't exactly looking him in the eye.
"I thought you knew," Aureum said.
"I did know for a moment, but I doubted it. Do you not like me anymore?"
Does he want me to break him right here? Aureum thought. Or is this his way of making me die from awkwardness and embarrassment?!
"I don't know!" She said. "I don't even know who you are anymore! Most of what you told me was lies, so how am I supposed to know if I like you or not?! Don't we have bigger things to focus on here?"