VG - Chapter 5 (Rewrite) - Brotherly Love (Patreon)

“Are you sure you don’t want me to grab you a book?” I asked as I dug into my satchel, fishing around for the small leather-bound journal I’d tucked away earlier.

“No, I’m fine. I want to keep an eye on the entrance anyways,” Kathrine muttered. When I finally pulled out the book she glanced over. 

“What is that anyways?” she asked, nodding towards the book. “You’ve barely let it out of your sight all week.”

“It’s one of my mother’s expedition journals, from when she went to the Antar wastes,” I explained. “I’ve been reading through it to see if she discovered any herbs the family frequently use, or even know about.”

“Really? Do you honestly think that’s possible?” Kathrine asked, raising an eyebrow. “You know my mother scoured both the estate and all your mother’s writings looking for any hints to her formulas and the location of her grimoires.” 

“Yeah, and after all that effort, what did she end up with? Absolutely nothing,” I replied with a small, self-satisfied smile. “I’m sure she came up with the same conclusion that I did. My mother kept all her grimoires at her estate, and they were destroyed in the same fire that took my mother’s life. I’m actually glad. Even though they were lost, I’d hate to see my mother’s formulas get exploited by this rotted corpse of a family.”

“If you know the effort that my mother put into scouring those journals, why are you reviewing them again?” Kathrine asked.

“Because while my mother mentioned where she found certain plants, and her observations about the environment surrounding them, she doesn’t mention what tests she performed, or what the results were; Those would have been in her grimoires. Your mother would never waste the family’s resources tracking down a bunch of plants that might not have medicinal properties,” I explained. “She might make some inquiries in the local towns, but she’s not going to send a bunch of agents out to the middle of the wastes for some random flower.”

“While you, on the other hand, will?” Kathrine asked skeptically.

“Why not? That’s how my mother became the family’s top alchemist. If you don’t explore and experiment, you’ll never make a major breakthrough,” I said, quoting one of my mother’s journals.

“You know, I prefer it when you’re raging at someone, sounding hopeful and wistful doesn’t suit you very well,” Kathrine said.

“Don’t worry, it won’t happen too often,” I said. “There aren’t many things around here worth my appreciation, and a whole lot that deserve my disdain."

“Far too many,” Kathrine muttered despondently. She sat there quietly for a moment, just staring at her hands before finally shaking her head, sitting up straight, and giving me a small smile. “Speaking of Alchemy… are you planning on stopping by the greenhouses before we leave? You might not get another chance for a while.”

“I wasn’t… but now that I know Marielle is here I may stop in. She’s one of the very few people worth talking to around here. Not only will she be able to fill me in on the newest alchemy developments around here, but she’ll also be able to fill me in on what’s been happening around here since we left,” I said. 

“Thinking about getting involved in family politics?” Kathrine snorted.

“No, quite the opposite,” I said. “I’m hoping that Marielle will be able to give me a general idea of what everyone’s been focusing on lately, so I can figure out the best way to stay out of their way.”

“The best way for us to avoid getting involved in family drama is to figure out what my mother wants and to get out of here as quickly as possible,” Kathrine grumbled before digging into her jacket and pulling out her pocket watch. “I wonder how long we’ll have to wait until my mother calls for us?”

“Hopefully not long,” I replied, sinking into the seat next to her. “You know, something about this whole situation feels… off. I can understand your mother not wanting to inform us about what’s going on by crystal, but placing a gag order over the staff of the mansion?” I shook my head. “She’s not typically so cautious.”

“She can be when she wants to be,” Kathrine said. “During the inter-faction conflict, she was the one who investigated the different council members and led the raids against the rebelling families.”

“She also hung those same council members from the second-floor balcony in the foyer, so everyone could see the consequences of defying her,” I said, glancing over at her. “I may have only been a kid at the time, but stepping into the manor for the first time and finding a dozen people hanging from the railings is burned into my memory.”

“Okay, I admit, she hasn’t show that subtlety that often. She’s more a ‘make an example of you’ sort of person,” Kathrine muttered.

“And that’s entirely my point, what could be so important that she’d feel the need to silence all the employees, and call us back to the estate?” I asked.

“I don’t know. It would have to be something that she couldn’t take care of herself,” Kathrine replied. “Maybe our house has finally been kicked off the council,” she suggested.

I turned and stared at Kathrine for a second. “Don’t even joke about something like that.”

“What? You know that she’s been aggravating the other great houses for years now; It’s a miracle that with all the little skirmishes we’ve engaged in over the years that things never escalated into a full blown inter-house conflict,” Kathrine said.

“That’s the whole point of the council though, to discuss potential issues before they become real problems,” I said. “Besides, if we’d been thrown off the council it wouldn’t be a secret, it would have been all over the news papers even before we left Brighthome.”

“Don’t snap at me,” Kathrine growled. “You asked what I thought would be important enough for my mother to want to keep secret, and I told you the first thing that came to mind. I admit it wasn’t exactly a pleasant thought, but like you said, my mother doesn’t really keep secrets that often.”

“Sorry, you’re right,” I muttered, holding up one hand in defeat and rubbing my forehead with the other. “All I did was ask your opinion, and even though I didn’t like the answer, I shouldn’t have snapped at you. I just…”

“Dahlia,” Kathrine exclaimed, reaching out and grabbing my hand. “Your eyes are flickering.”

“What?” I exclaimed, dumbfounded for a moment until I realized that the feeling behind my eyes, which I’d originally dismissed as nothing more than a stress headache, was quickly ramping up and becoming a far sharper pain. “Put the mask on,” I hissed. 

“What is it?” Kathrine asked through the heavy brass and leather mask.

“Something that’s colorless, nearly oderless, and which is slow acting,” I replied glancing around. “I didn’t even notice until you pointed out my eyes.”

“I think I’m good… I feel fine anyways,” Kathrine said. “Do you think we managed to avoid getting a lethal dose?” 

Rising to my feet I carefully sniffed the area. Whatever we just inhaled had the faintest scent imaginable, but it was there. It smelled like a smooth woodsy incense, with just a hint of spice. I slowly followed the smell, trying to locate the source, and place exactly what it was I was smelling.

“Ahhh…. That swamp scum,” I hissed as I approached the side wall, my eyes focused on a small brass grate mounted high on the wall.

“What is it? Hey! Dahlia!” Kathrine yelled as I bolted past her towards the front of the room, drawing my hatchet. 

“It’s not a poison,” I reported as I carefully counted the bookcases so I could identify the one that hid the secret door.

“It’s not?” Kathrine asked, confused. “Then what is it?” 

“Nephilem’s grace,” I hissed, taking a couple steps back.

“You don’t mean…” Kathrine started.

“Your brother’s always been a terrible alchemist, but if there’s one thing he knows better than anyone else, it’s street drugs,” I snarled. “And of course he’d want to expose us to the absolute worst one of the lot. Well, if that’s the way that he wants to play, fine. It’s time for him to face the consequences.”

As soon as I bumped into the table in the middle of the room, signalling I was as far back as I could go, I sprinted forward and kicked the edge of the bookcase right at chest level. There was a loud metallic clang as the hidden latch holding the secret door closed snapped, causing the bookcase to swing outwards, spewing books across the floor. 

Before the secret door had reached the end of it’s swing I stepped over the threshold and turned towards the back of the room where there were a handful of men clustered around a ladder at the back of the room. The well dressed one perched on the ladder jumped, flailed around for a moment, and just barely managed to avoid from toppling to the floor. As he ran a hand through his greesy black curls, I noted that he was the only one wearing a gasmask, and that his haggard associates weren’t looking so good. 

“Impressive, I thought I’d at least get a chance to get off this ladder before you noticed what was happening,” he chuckled. “Did you enjoy my present? You always called me a filthy drug adled looser, so I thought it would be appropriate for you two to experience what that lifestyle is really like. Maybe, if you’re good, I’ll let you follow me around and I’ll give you an occational taste going forward, just like the rest of my friends here.”

“Dimitri, you just never learn, do you?,” Kathrine asked as she strolled into the room after me. “You know, you made two major, I would go as far as say fatal errors here today.”

“Kathrine, how nice to see you still on your feet,” Dimitri growled. “Tell me, what did I do wrong THIS time.”

“Well, first of all, you assumed that Dahlia and I hadn’t expected someone to attempt to poison us, and we weren’t carrying a mask on us,” she said. “You’ve seen us work, terrible assumption.”

“And the second?” Dimitri snarled. “The second was sitting around long enough for Dahlia from catching you, because I have no intention of stopping her this time.” I felt Kathrine pat me on the back lightly. “Go on, do what you need to do.”

I smiled. “Gladly.”