193 - Lunch at the Wesley's (Patreon)

Lord Wesley led them indoors to a spacious and elaborate parlor, where Maus’ parents were waiting. They were both sitting tentatively on a leather couch accented with animal fur that matched the rugs. A grandfather clock was stamped above the fireplace next to them, with a low flickering flame emitting a pleasant warmth. The room smelled of lilacs and amber.

Maus’ mother was wearing a simple white dress that flowed elegantly; his father was in a well-tailored suit and had what seemed like several dollops of gel glazing his hair and slicking it to his scalp.

It was obvious they put effort into appearing their best, but they both looked wholly out of place, not for their appearance necessarily, but from the way they gazed around at everything wondrously but also fearfully, as though any moment now someone would come out of nowhere to tell them they were doing something wrong. 

They rose when Lord Wesley led the group into the room, and they must have already been here since Maus went right to them and Lord Wesley said, “Your tea did not arrive yet?”

“Ah yes, it did.” Maus’ father gestured, and a blush filled his face. "I just…I was on my way to the b-b-bathroom and opened the door at the wrong t-t-time, and I didn't, you know, I didn't see them, and everything went–": He thrust his hands into the air dramatically and gave an awkward laugh. "I’m so sorry, my Lord."

“Nonsense,” Lord Wesley said calmly. “Accidents happen. Did they not bring you another?” 

“Right here, sir,” Montfort said, gesturing to one of the open doors through which servants rolled in teacups, a teapot, and desserts artfully placed on a gilded ascending tray.

The servants gave Arielle and Elric warm smiles, bowing deeply when they stopped.

Elric nodded in response.

In the meantime, Maus’ mother zeroed in on Arielle, and she smiled too. “Hello. Nice to see you again.”

“Hello.” Arielle bowed, with her hand on her chest in a sign of respect. “Thank you for the dress, Ms. Jaybalm.”

“Oh my dear, don’t mention it,” Maus’ mother let out a nervous laugh. “I’m glad that you like it and it suited your needs.”

"Ah, you made the dress," Lord Wesley said. "I remember Arielle mentioning that."

“Yes," Arielle said. "It was very pretty."

"Oh no," Ms. Jaybalm said, gripping a napkin in her hand, with the corners torn off. "You're too kind."

"Well, I know my opinion doesn't count as much, seeing as how I don't have quite the figure for dresses," Lord Wesley chuckled. "But I agree, I thought it looked beautiful. I will remember to add you to the list of dressmakers I often recommend.”

"Oh no." Her face turned the color of a tomato. “You don’t have to do that. My skills aren’t quite to that level yet."

“You're too modest. Why, even Lady Wesley herself complimented the dress."

"That I did.” Lady Wesley drifted gracefully through the open doors.  Unlike the last time Arielle had seen her, the Lady, today, was immaculately dressed, her hair in a perfect bun at the nape of her neck. Her face was unmarred, not a single bruise on her skin, although that could be powder she'd generously coated on her neck.

Arielle, Maus, and his parents all bowed when she approached, but Lord Wesley frowned.

“You’re supposed to be resting.”

“I’ve rested enough,” she said, and although she still looked a little pale, she stood straight, her settled on Arielle. “If we have guests, I must attend to them.”

“My Lady.” Lord Wesley’s tone was warning.

"My Lord." Lady Wesley’s tone had a similar tenor, and they both stared at each other in a silent standoff until Lord Wesley let out a resigned and amused sigh. 

“How can I hope to deny you?” he said under his breath. "As powerful and wealthy as I am, I have never won an argument against my lady even once.”

“Neither have I,” Maus’ father said, and his wife jabbed him in the side, but it made Lord Wesley laugh uproariously. 

After that, they settled into the seats with Lord and Lady Wesley facilitating conversation with the Jaybalms, asking about their interests and the possibility of them moving out of their sect compound and into the city. The two were reluctant, claiming they had a significant debt to pay, but the Lord was all too happy to pay it off for them, despite their protests. It was fascinating how naturally the conversation flowed given the vast chasm between their standings. Though the Jaybalms were still tentative with their words and effusive with their gratitude, the conversation never seemed stilted and the imbalance in their station barely showed.

The conversation also turned to Arielle and how she was coping with everything that happened. Lady Wesley seemed to watch Arielle carefully through her answer, and she wondered if Lord Wesley had told his wife the secret.  

Eventually it was lunchtime, and they were told that Lyra and her family–consisting of her parents–had arrived and were waiting in the dining hall. 

“Arielle!” Lyra ran to Arielle and squeezed her tightly when she saw her, before promptly bursting into tears.

The sudden emotionality startled Arielle, and she stared bewildered at the rest of Lyra's family, who all looked strained while giving her kind, pitying looks. None of them came to her rescue, though, and the room fell quiet as Lyra sobbed and Arielle patted her back awkwardly, wondering what she was crying about.

“Are you still injured?” Arielle asked. “Are you sick?”

"No." She choked and finally pulled back, dabbing her face. "Are you?"

Arielle shook her head.

"Where were you? During...everything?"

"I was with Elric and Lord Camhanach," Arielle said, sticking to the story Elric had given them. "We got separated at one point, but Gio Li found me and rescued me." The best thing about the story was that it wasn't technically a lie, so Arielle could tell it with a straight face.

"Did you have to fight off the demons?" Lyra asked. "Maus and I did."

Arielle nodded. "It was horrible."

"Yeah," Lyra said, her voice getting shaky again. "Worse than horrible. I'm going to have nightmares for months, probably."

"The mind healer will help," Lord Wesley said gently. "I have provided access to a mind healer of your choice to everyone impacted by what happened. The cost covered by us, of course. And once again, I'm so sorry that you came to harm within my premises while under my care."

"It's not your fault, Lord Wesley," Lyra said, bowing and hiccuping at the same time. "I know stuff like this happens to mages all the time. I just...I wasn't prepared for it, and I have to be."

"Of course. No one expects you to be prepared for that at your age," Lady Wesley said. "But I concur with what my husband said. You should remain consistent with the mindhealer, even if you feel you don't have need for it.  It will help you in the future too."

"I also agree with that as someone who has lots of experience with the matter," Elric said, and Lyra nodded.

She stared at Arielle again. “I’m just glad you’re okay."

Arielle felt a pang in her chest and attempted a smile. "Me too."

Edward and Wulfric were summoned for lunch, although Lady Borjas was notably absent. Trays of food were reeled in. Arielle noticed immediately that the food was arranged artfully, with the center-piece dessert in the same sparkling silver as her dress at the ball. The food on her plate was also arranged in a smiling face, which made her smile too.

"This is really good," Arielle said to the servers standing at the sides of the room. "Thank you."

They beamed at her and bowed.  

As they ate and conversation followed, Ari knew that she would have to tell her friends that she wouldn’t go back to school, but there was no place to comfortably interject in the conversation. 

That was until Lord Wesley said, “Oh, and just to mention it, Elric, Arielle's induction is scheduled for two days from now.”

“So soon?” Elric asked. 

“Of course. We don’t want to give them a chance to change their mind. Already, there’s been some discourse...”

“Let me guess, it’s being headed by Lord Antigones.”

Wesley raised his wine glass in acceptance. 

Elric sighed. 

“It’s already a done deal,” Lord Wesley said. “We have the votes, and it's being ratified. However…” His eyes drifted to Arielle, and she blinked at him. 

“However, what?”

“How would you feel, Arielle, about a possible friendly duel with some of the more talented adepts who will ascend to master status with you?”

Arielle frowned. “I don’t understand.”

“You certainly don’t have to do it,” he said. “We have the votes, but as I said, Lord Antigones has been stirring up a lot of dispute about your ability and fitness for the role, especially when it comes to dealing with demons. They're particularly concerned about your physicality and battle readiness.”

“That’s ridiculous. Physical strength and fighting skill isn’t all there is to it," Elric said.

"Yes, but it does matter at the end of the day. And it would go a long way in calming the dissidence at the council. Just something to think about. Don’t forget, she could be challenged at any point, just as an Archmage can receive a challenge. Showing her aptitude ahead of time will reduce the amount of challenges she needs to deal with.”

“I don’t mind,” Arielle said, and Elric glanced at her. She shrugged. “It makes sense that they would want to know if I’m physically capable of doing the job. And I’d rather take care of that at the start than have to deal with people annoying me with endless challenges.”

“What job? What are you talking about?” Lyra asked, and the eyebrow ruffle when she looked at Arielle was enough prompting. This was a good way to break the news, and this was as good a time as any to tell her she would not be returning to school for the meantime. 

Arielle heaved a deep sigh. She felt something leaden in her stomach. 

“Lyra,” she said. “I don’t think I can go back to school."

“What?”

"At least not for a month. Something happened…” she trailed off, and Lyra's eyes widened. Sudden tears filled them again.

“Oh my heavens. You're hurt, aren’t you? Is it really bad? Are you…” She couldn’t complete it. 

Elric answered regardless. “She’s not hurt. She's simply ascended."

“What?”

“To make a long story short, we discovered that Arielle has a core that makes her particularly sensitive to essences," Lord Wesley continued. "And she was able to sense demonic essences before they attacked. That's how we knew they were here."

"I thought it was Elric who sensed it," Edward spoke up.

"So did I, until recently. Anyway, Arielle's actions triggered a system review. The system reanalyzed her cores and realized that due to her sensitivity, she was actually at a Master tier.”

Lyra's jaw dropped, and so did several other people at the table except for Lord and Lady Wesley, and Elric.

"Are you serious?" Edward exclaimed. "From apprentice to master just like that?"

"Is that allowed?" Wulfric said.

"It's extremely rare," Lord Wesley said. "So rare that it has never happened before. But Arielle is a...special case." He once again gave her that piercing stare that made her a tad uncomfortable. "Thanks to that, and her skills detecting the demonic orbs, she's going to help us hunt demons down."

“You’re going to be fighting demons?” Maus paled, his eyes horrified as he looked at Lord Wesley. “That can’t be right. She’s still young.”

“So were you when you battled them," Lord Wesley said.

“Yes, but we didn’t have a choice, sir,” Lyra pointed out. “Arielle is skilled, but she doesn't really fight much. Well, maybe in duelling class, but demons are a whole other thing."

“She’ll be with Gio and me,” Elric spoke up. “So she will be safe. We do, unfortunately, need her insight for this."

Lyra pursed her lips. She looked doubtful, but she didn't argue with Elric.

"So you got tested again?" she asked Arielle.

Arielle nodded. "My cores were more advanced than what they'd thought initially."

Lyra did not look surprised. “Yeah, I could have told you that .”

“It was fairly obvious,” Maus said.

“Even to me,” Edward chimed in, catching Arielle's attention. Wulfric was seated beside him, but he said nothing as he focused on his meal. 

“I’m going to have to miss school for a month or so," Arielle told Lyra. "To help capture demons and also for my mental health, maybe.” She took a bite of her duck after saying it, chewing slowly and savoring the taste. 

Lyra deflated a little, and she chewed her lips. Maus also looked similarly dismayed.

“You’re coming back,” she said. “Right?”

Arielle nodded firmly. “I’ll definitely come back.” No matter what Vittoria said. 

Lyra needed her. And so did Maus.

And Arielle needed them too.

After dinner, the three friends went for a walk in the gardens and talked about everything that had happened. Lyra explained that she couldn't sleep well, and her mother had taken to sleeping with her in the same bed. Maus was coping slightly better, but he thought that might be because he'd spent most of his time at the Wesley estate meeting tutors, and planning for the future and that kept him distracted enough that he didn’t have to think about someone’s heart bursting out of their chest in front of him.

Arielle herself hadn't had much time to think about how she felt about anything, not just the demon attack but everything that followed. But that was normal for her. She tended to process things slow, and she had also been pretty busy. 

She explained the system testing and how everything was decided, minus the discomfort associated with it. Lyra and Maus were fascinated, although they didn’t ask too many questions. They seemed sad. 

"Are you going to visit?" Lyra asked again.

"Yes," Arielle responded. "I promise. And I promise to still help you with your spells. I even have some lined up to teach you."

"Yeah, but that wasn't what I was worried about," Lyra said, as she bit her lip. "I'll just...I'll miss you. I wasn't expecting this, to be honest. I was really looking forward to being your roommate again after the break."

Arielle nodded. She understood how Lyra felt. She too was looking forward to being her roommate again.

"It's going to be so different without you," Lyra said. "Not to mention you'll be out fighting demons, which is terrifying."

"Do you have to do it?" Maus asked, and he stepped forward, his eyes brimming with worry. "Arielle, those demons...they're really strong and vicious. We saw someone die in front of us. We almost died ourselves."

"It was awful," Lyra said, her eyes growing haunted before she squeezed them shut. "I don't think I'll forget it for a while."

Arielle rubbed her eye that felt dry. "Mossbornes go to battle a lot. People die in battle."

"I don't want those people to be you."

"I know," Arielle said. "I will probably be fine."

"Probably?"

"I'll be paired with Gio and Elric, so there is a seventy percent chance of survival, I think. So you should only be thirty percent concerned."

Lyra smirked. "That's so like you to try to quantify our worry."

"I'd rather you be zero percent concerned, but I understand that might be too much to ask," Arielle said. "I'll visit often. And I'll be fine. Trust me." And the rigorous training Vittoria was about to put her through. 

"I'm sure you will," Lyra said and embraced Arielle tightly. "I'll miss you so much."

She sounded like she was about to cry again, and this time, Ari's eyes got teary as well, although it could have been the dryness causing it. "Me too."

There was something that seemed final about the goodbye, even though Arielle told herself it would not be the end. She would see them again. Definitely.

Still, she held on to Lyra and then Maus seconds longer than her usual five-second limit.

Once they were done, and on the way back indoors, Lyra surreptitiously asked Arielle if she had seen Lady Vittoria or knew how to reach her.

"Yes," Arielle answered. "I have."

"Good. I wanted to give her this." She materialized a card with flowers drawn on it and a single pearl woven at the top. "To thank her for saving my life."

Arielle took the card, staring down at it, and nodded.

"Of course. I'll make sure she gets it."

"You know what I realized?" Lyra said. "I didn't notice before how similar your mannerisms were, but when she saved us and the way she looked at me and spoke to me, for a second there, I thought she was you. Isn’t that crazy?”

Lyra chuckled but Arielle didn't answer, simply nodding stiffly, while her conscience stabbed her with the knowledge of the secret that she was keeping from her best friends.

Lyra and Maus left soon after and Arielle left the adults to their discussion, deciding to take a solo walk around the premises. There were a lot of manalings left over after the battle, and she wanted to heal them before she left with Elric.

She went to her usual spot and sat down, drawing them closer to her and putting the pieces back together.

After she was done, they were happy and bouncing again. She sighed in satisfaction, got up and turned around, halting when she noticed someone was standing there.

"Hey." It was Wulfric who was watching her with his hands in his pockets. "You look different from the last time we met."

Arielle blinked, having no idea why he was here or referring to something so obvious. "Yes. I was at a ball, so I was wearing a gown and had my hair up and–"

"That's not what I'm talking about," he said, raising his eyebrow. "I know it was you."

"What do you mean?"

"The masked woman who saved us. The one with the black hood. I know it was you."

Arielle froze. Her entire body stilled, her blood running cold. She blinked about twenty times in a single second.

"N-no," she stammered. Her eyes strayed to the sky. "That was Lady Vittoria."

"No, it wasn't," Wulfric said. "And you're a terrible liar."

How did he know? 

She had been so careful. She wracked her brain and tried to choke out more words of denial. She tried insisting that it was Vittoria, and even executed a laugh to show how ridiculous Wulfric's statement was. The Dean said that often worked. 

It didn't work.

Wulfric simply kept staring at her measuredly. He seemed extremely convinced. 

"Did your father tell you?"

"My father knows?"

Arielle fused her lips. Drat.

"No," she said, but even to her own ears, she didn't sound very convincing.

Wulfric grinned and waited for her to fail to think of a sufficient excuse to get out of this.

"I'm guessing you don't want me to tell anyone," Wulfric said.

Arielle narrowed her eyes. His tone was light, his expression amused.

"I won't," he said. "I mean, you saved my life; it would be kind of shitty of me to pay you back by revealing your secret. However, there is something I want you to do for me."

"What?" Arielle said warily.

"Let me write you letters," he said.

"Letters? About what?"

He shrugged. "Nothing, in particular. Just about anything I might be thinking. And I would like you to send some back, with your thoughts too, although you don't have to. I don't want to be pushy and use up your time. But I would like to hear from you from time to time."

Arielle cocked her head. "Why?"

"Because I like you."

That didn't clear it up. "Why?"

Wulfric laughed. "Is saving my life not enough of a reason?"

"I suppose. Although I only saved your life incidentally. You were on the way to saving Lyra and Maus."

His smile didn't drop. "Wow. Thanks for letting me know that; you're really good for my self-esteem." He sighed. "I'm not really sure why I like you. Maybe because you're clever and funny in your own way. Or maybe it's your brutal honesty. That's hard to come by in my world. Either way, I really enjoy talking to you. I would like to continue. But if you don't want to, I would understand, and your secret will remain safe with me."

Arielle eyed him for some time, trying to read if there was a hidden message or emotion behind his words.

But no. He seemed sincere. And he had been helpful to her.

"Alright," she said. "I will do it if I have time. But note that I will be very busy so I might not.”

He grinned. "Good." He gestured. "Can I walk you back?"

"Okay." She shrugged and walked ahead of him, thinking that maybe she did have space for a new friend after all.