Category: story

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Isla slowly regains consciousness some unknown amount of time later. Her head feels clearer, and she’s not aching anymore. She’s still on the sofa, and someone’s put a light blanket on top of her. It’s warm enough in the room that she doesn’t really think she needs it.

“Miss Isla, are you awake?” a servant asks from the door. “Are you feeling better now?”

Isla takes a moment to drink from a glass of water on a nearby end table, then says, “Yes, I’m feeling a lot better now. What time is it?”

“It is two o’clock in the afternoon. You have slept for an hour and a half,” the servant says. “If you are feeling better, the master would like to see you at your earliest convenience.”

Continue reading “03.13 – Mechanics and Knowledge”

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Voices.

“–at me, Isla! It’s me, Lucian!”

…Lucian’s voice. Where is it coming from?

“–have to get out of here, Isla, get me out of here, don’t–“

“–look at me like that, it’s me, you know me, please, don’t–“

Lucian grabs her by the shoulders and holds her against something hard. A wall? A table? Where is she?

Lucian isn’t smiling, isn’t doing anything, really. There’s no hint of recognition in her eyes as Isla pushes back, tries to move, and can’t. She tries to open her mouth to scream, but she can’t seem to–

There’s a knife. Lucian stares down at her with blank eyes and there’s voices all around that Isla can’t understand, words she can’t hear. The tip of the knife touches the hollow of her throat, just between her collarbones, and–

Darkness.

Continue reading “03.12 – The Palace Toll”

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Isla stumbles her way out of the building, her whole body shaking. Her head hurts, and she aches all over. She more collapses than walks through the door, and Aurel catches her by the arms.

“Are you okay?” he asks. “You are not injured?”

Isla shakes her head and takes a shuddering breath. “Lucian–Lucian’s been captured by someone. I saw her, she was in some kind of prison cell, I don’t know if she’s okay, she might be in danger right now–”

“Isla. Isla, please. Take a deep breath,” Aurel says, carefully guiding Isla to a seat. “Take a few deep breaths, then tell me what you saw.”

Continue reading “03.11 – Nightfall”

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If it was a long walk from the infirmary to the library, it’s a positively enormous distance from the library to Aurel’s workshop. The servant leads her down several corridors and paths of the palace, including a long glass walkway that she takes care not to look down in. At the end of the hallway is one of the palace’s great spires, and the servant takes her up a glass lift to yet another hallway filled with more tapestries and mosaic floors. It smells vaguely acidic.

Even going slowly, Isla is out of breath after all that walking.

“This is the master’s workshop,” the servant says. They pull the door open, and Isla goes in.

Aurel is at the back, working at a drafting table. He’s wearing a set of magnifying artificer’s lenses, which he carefully removes as he glances up at the door. “Isla. I hope you were well in my absence. Was your stay in our library informative?”

“You could say that,” Isla says.

Continue reading “03.10 – Visions From Afar”

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There are shelves. Rows and rows and rows of bookshelves. There’s a tinted glass wall at the back that lets in blue sunlight, and servants bustling back and forth with books gathered in their arms. Between the many shelves, there are tables and chairs placed at regular intervals for patron use.

“This is the section where we keep our translated texts,” Aurel says. “We have servants translate texts as needed, which are then archived here. Of course, since we have had these texts for so long, some of these translated texts are yet again unintelligible to all extant human societies. You will likely find the most use in sections over here.” He gestures to a set of bookshelves to the right. “As I said, we take the safety and preservation of our texts very seriously. One of the servants will supervise you whenever you are here alone to ensure you do not steal or damage any of the texts. You may make copies as you please, however.”

Continue reading “03.09 – The Artificer’s Library”