Chapter 31 - Broken Promise

  After the meeting, Daniel returned to Quill's office, finding him and the two sisters sitting quietly as the secret passage opened behind the bookshelf.

  All three were staring at him—or in Felicia's case, tracking him with her mana perception.

  Quill had a strange expression, like he was trying very hard not to appear too curious while being desperately, frantically curious.

  Lily also had an expression of curiosity, but far less intense than her superior. Her eyes tracked Daniel as he emerged from the passage.

  And Felicia simply looked at peace. Her posture was relaxed, shoulders loose, and a small smile at the corners of her lips. Whatever conversation she'd had with Lily had clearly gone well.

  Thank god. One less thing to worry about.

  “Did you have a nice talk, Fillie?”

  She nodded, putting a hand on top of Lily's where it rested on the armrest of her chair. "It turns out we sisters have more in common than we thought.”

  Daniel caught a suppressed joy on Lily’s face as Felicia spoke—a quick tremble of her lips, and a soundless deep breath. She seemed genuine, at the very least.

  “How about your talk?" Felicia continued, and the attention on Daniel intensified.

  “It was… nice. Very nice. And instructive. We might be staying here at the academy for a while.”

  “I would be happy to make arrangements, sir.” Quill stood from his desk with such abruptness that his chair scraped loudly against the floor.

  Almost the exact same reaction as Franz had… Eager to please, and terribly nervous.

  “That would be great, Quill. We have some other business to take care of before the day ends, but having a room ready by then would be nice.”

  Daniel tried to inject warmth into his voice, to be reassuring rather than intimidating. But judging by the way Quill's shoulders tensed even further, it wasn't entirely working.

  Felicia took a deep breath. “We’re going to the tower?”

  “Might as well get it out of the way. Plus, I have one more thing I need to attend to in the city. Near the port, specifically.”

  “To see your other family?” Lily asked, turning to Felicia. “You’ve never met them before, right?”

  “I never had the chance, no. I hope they’ll be welcoming…”

  The uncertainty in Felicia's voice was painful to hear. She was preparing herself for rejection.

  “I’m sure they will be! You’re the granddaughter of the patriarch, after all.”

  Lily's reassurance was well-meaning, but Daniel could see Felicia's mana signature flicker with doubt. She was the daughter of the Harrowbloom patriarch, and that hadn’t helped her much.

  “How many of them showed up to Mother’s funeral?”

  Lily's expression shifted, becoming more thoughtful. "Mmh, I think there were two. The patriarch was one of them, and I think one of your uncles was the other."

  Two. Out of an entire family.

  Daniel felt his jaw tighten. Not exactly a warm showing of familial support.

  But Felicia seemed pleasantly surprised. "Oh. I didn't think any of them came."

  “Well, you were still in the hospital at that time, right?”

  “...That makes me feel a bit better, actually. At least they cared.”

  Did they, though? The fact that they didn’t visit you at the hospital makes me think they only cared about appearances.

  Daniel wanted to believe it was genuine concern rather than political obligation. But he'd seen too much of how noble families operated to be entirely optimistic. And these were ones he had written himself.

  Lily put a hand over Felicia’s, leaning in closer. "You'll be fine, Felicia."

  "Of course she will be," Daniel echoed, putting as much certainty as he could into his words. "I'll be there, after all."

  It came out more arrogant than he'd intended, but it was also true. Anyone who tried to hurt Felicia while he was present would learn very quickly why that was a catastrophically bad idea.

  "Right, the teacher no one knows anything about will be there as well," Lily replied, keeping her eyes on Felicia even as her words were clearly directed at Daniel.

  Her voice was sharp, carrying an edge that made him chuckle. She still didn't trust him. Still saw him as a potential threat to her sister.

  I’m starting to get used to people being suspicious of me for Felicia’s sake. It only means they care, I guess.

  "Lily."

  Quill's voice carried a warning note, sharp enough to cut through the tension building in the room.

  “You are talking about an honored guest of the academy. I understand you are worried about your sister, but don’t go too far.”

  Lily stood from her chair, bowing in Quill’s direction. "Of course. My apologies." The words were correct, but her tone suggested the opposite.

  Quill seemed to get the same impression, staring at her in silence for a moment. “Could you go and tell Quartermaster Lorraine to get one of the best rooms ready?”

  He was seemingly trying to defuse the situation, getting her out of the room before her protective instincts could cause a diplomatic incident.

  It wasn’t like Daniel would give her much trouble for it, being the one real sibling Felicia could actually lean on for support. But Quill didn’t know that.

  "Yes, Master Quill. Right away." She turned and moved through the door, closing it gently behind her.

  "Please be nice to her, Danny," Felicia said quietly. He could hear the plea underneath the words. "I would have told her who you are if I thought she would believe me."

  Fair enough.

  "I understand her suspicion. I just hope we don't need another kidnapping to happen for her to trust me. That worked on Elizabeth."

  Felicia chuckled, on board with the dark joke. “Let’s hope that won’t be necessary… I never thought I’d see her worry for my sake.”

  A sister who actually cared. It must have seemed like an impossible concept before now.

  Yet another person who seems to care only after you needed it. First Franz, now Lily. Not a peep of support before you show up on her doorstep. Elizabeth at least had the excuse of being kept away.

  If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  He kept those thoughts to himself.

  “I understand her well.”

  That much was true, at least. Lily's protective suspicion made perfect sense from her perspective. Some stranger appears with her blind sister, claims to be her teacher, makes the head of the academy sweat, and refuses to explain who he really is.

  If I were in her position, I'd be suspicious too. Probably more so.

  "Ready to go?"

  Felicia's question pulled Daniel from his thoughts. It sounded confident, nearly covering the slight tremble in her hands. But of course she was nervous.

  "Are you looking forward to it?" He asked.

  "A little. Nervous, mostly."

  "Then let's get it over with."

  Daniel turned to Quill, offering what he hoped was a reassuring smile rather than something that looked vaguely threatening.

  "Thank you for the hospitality, Quill."

  "It would be my honor to host you, sir. I assume you know the way to the quarters?"

  The layout from a thousand years ago was perfectly clear in his mind, but a thousand years had changed even this place.

  "If it hasn’t been moved in a while, I’ll find it. I'm sure we'll meet again."

  "I look forward to it."

  Whatever conclusions Quill had drawn about his identity, he was handling it with admirable professionalism.

  Daniel moved to Felicia's side, offering his arm out of habit. She took it without hesitation.

  Then they walked out, and the door closed behind them.

  They took a carriage down to the tower. A ground carriage this time, after Felicia asked nicely.

  Daniel had seen the relief on her face when he'd agreed without argument. No flying, no heights, just solid wheels on solid ground. It didn't make much of a difference anyway, and might even have been faster with the lack of general traffic.

  Daniel watched the city pass by through the carriage window. Novanny had grown, expanded in ways he'd never imagined when he'd walked these streets as a young man. But the fundamental structure that made it recognizable remained.

  The winding main street from the academy to the central city has the same shape as before. But I don’t recognize a single building other than the academy.

  The great tower of the Grifantes was too tall, forcing Daniel to crane his neck to see the top long before they got close to it.

  Jesus.

  The thing had to be a kilometer high at least, maybe more. The elevators would have to be incredible for anyone not to lose patience, he figured.

  “How are you planning to do this, exactly?” Felicia asked, watching him look out of the window. “You didn’t want to reveal yourself, right?”

  Daniel turned to her, already having a plan in mind. “I figured we could play it straight, with you visiting family because your teacher dragged you along to Novanny, while I stand in the back. That way, I can observe them properly before making any decisions. And seeing how they treat you will be a perfect opportunity to judge their character.”

  “...That’s what I figured. It’s a good plan, but I’m afraid of how they’ll react to me.”

  He paused, only now realizing he was taking advantage of her for his own purpose. She wanted her other family to like her, not to put on an act for his sake.

  “I’m sorry. I should have been more considerate.”

  “No, it’s fine. I do want to visit them. And I would have been too scared to do so alone, so I’m glad you’re with me. Besides, this gives me a chance to see their real nature as well.”

  “Hmm, good. Just remember that I’m with you all the way, and the nerves should calm down a bit.”

  “Are you not nervous? You’re returning home, aren’t you?”

  “A home is made of people, not walls. And the walls that once held those people are only a hollow shell… Besides, that tower was built after my time.”

  After I sealed myself away. After everyone I knew grew old and died. After the world moved on without me.

  “...Do you have any idea how sad you sounded just now?”

  Daniel blinked, looking back at her. Felicia's expression was gentle but concerned, and he realized with some shock that there were tears forming in her eyes.

  Damn it.

  He hadn't thought his emotions were that apparent. But apparently they were, because his thirteen-year-old student was looking at him like he'd just lost a puppy.

  “I’m fine. Both of the people I hoped to see again are alive, so I can’t complain.”

  “You’re downplaying your loss too much, Danny. You hoped to see them all again, but you knew only two were possible.”

  When did she get so perceptive?

  She had once told him she was able to separate a lie from the truth by voice alone. And although he doubted that to be true, she could perhaps detect things most people couldn’t.

  “Stop being so sharp, will you? We’re here.”

  The carriage rolled to a stop with perfect timing, saving Daniel from having to respond further. He stepped out first, then turned to catch Felicia as she climbed down.

  The grounds were immaculate. Manicured gardens stretched in careful symmetry, fountains bubbled with crystalline water, and gravel paths wound through flower beds that probably cost more to maintain than most families earned in a year. Everything spoke of wealth and careful management.

  Everything except the small house.

  Daniel's feet stopped moving.

  It stood apart from the tower's base, separated by perhaps fifty meters of open lawn. Where the tower itself gleamed with fresh white stone and modern magical formations that hummed with contemporary power, the house looked...

  Unchanged.

  Frozen.

  The cottage was exactly as he remembered it—as Artorias remembered it. Modest compared to everything around it, two stories of warm stone and dark wood, with blue shutters that Lyra had painted herself when she was eight. She'd gotten more paint on herself than the wood, laughing as their mother had scolded her gently.

  The garden boxes beneath the windows still held the same arrangement of flowers—or at least, descendants of those flowers, carefully maintained across centuries.

  How is it still here?

  A shimmering barrier surrounded it, barely visible except where sunlight caught its edge at just the right angle. The formation was so subtle that most people wouldn’t even notice.

  But Daniel recognized it instantly.

  One of his own formations. Perhaps his greatest formation. The one he'd created to protect his family in his absence, preventing anyone unfamiliar from entering, keeping everything carefully intact.

  He remembered making adjustments right before the final journey, strengthening the power draw, improving the efficiency, ensuring it would last. Just for a few months, he'd thought. Maybe a year at most, until the corrupted spirit was dealt with and he could return.

  Just until I come home.

  It had been a thousand years.

  "Danny?"

  Felicia's voice seemed to come from very far away, muffled as if through water.

  "What's wrong?"

  What's wrong? What's wrong?!

  Everything. Nothing. The fact that his greatest technical achievement had been to create a perfect monument to his own cruelty. A formation so flawless it had preserved his sister's home across a millennium, frozen in time, waiting for someone who would never return.

  Not while she was alive to see it.

  "That house," he managed, just barely. "It shouldn't still be there."

  But of course it was. The formation had done exactly what he'd designed it to do. Preserving the home his sister had lived in, waited in, grown old in, and died in.

  All while he slept in a seal of his own making.

  His legs gave out. Daniel sank to the grass without any conscious decision to do so, unable to look away.

  I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to leave you for so long.

  He didn't know if the thought was his or Artorias's. It didn't matter. The grief was the same.

  Felicia knelt beside him, then moved behind him without a word. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders, and she pressed her cheek against his back.

  She didn't ask questions. Didn't try to fix anything. Didn't tell him it would be okay or that he shouldn't feel this way.

  Just held him.

  Time passed—he didn't know how long. Could have been minutes or hours.

  And Daniel sat there, staring at the old house in silence, drowning in a grief that belonged to two people who'd lost their sisters in very different ways.

  The door opened.

  A young girl with dark blonde hair stepped out, dropping the basket in her hands as she spotted him. Her face lit up with joy.

  'Art! You're back!'

  Daniel blinked, and she was gone.

  The door was closed. The basket had never been there. The lawn stretched empty between him and the house, undisturbed.

  Just a memory. Just Artorias' memory.

  But it didn't feel like just a memory. It felt like loss—fresh and raw, as if his sister had died yesterday instead of centuries ago. The grief of being separated from those you cared for most, of being unable to protect them.

  Of failing in the one promise you'd made that mattered.

  His own doing.

  No—their own doing. Daniel's and Artorias's both. Daniel had written the story that demanded the sacrifice. Artorias had made the choice to seal himself. Two different kinds of guilt, bleeding together until he couldn't tell where one ended and the other began.

  He squeezed Felicia's arm where it crossed his chest. She said nothing, just held him tighter.

  Daniel sat in the grass, held by Felicia, and let himself feel the full weight of a thousand years of grief.