Leila rose to leave. She glanced back one more time with her usual flippant smile and disappeared into the tower. Ace stood up and inhaled deeply. Time to go back.
At the foot of the stairs, Ace heard the door shut. When he reached the office, he found only Bird and Lord Clover.
"Where's the wizard?" he asked immediately on entry.
Bird looked up to answer, but Clover got there first.
"He's gone to the library and left this little one to babysit me," the Demon Lord glanced at Bird who quickly looked away.
"How brazen," Clover tutted, "I guess some things never changed," they added with a smile.
Ace gave a brief nod of acknowledgement but took himself straight back to the windowsill. He reopened his book and studied it intently. However, the Demon Lord followed him.
"Come on, Ace. What should we do while the wizard's gone?"
Ace didn't look up, "I think I'm just going to keep researching,"
"Researching what?" came a cool and slightly annoyed answer.
Ace shrugged, "These items. I never knew my necklace was Daelven. I want to learn more about it,"
"And where is your necklace?"
"The wizard has it,"
"Well then, it's probably in this office. Don't you want to find it?" Clover grinned.
Ace stared down at the book in front of him. In truth, he wasn't even reading it. It took all of his concentration just to keep himself composed. He did want the necklace back. Sena's necklace was irreplaceable and he regretted it immensely. Nonetheless, one step too close and ...
"I don't think that's a good idea," Ace said quietly.
Clover sat crossed legged in front of Ace and stared up at his face. As soon as the Demon Lord met his eyes, Ace threw his eyes out the window.
Clover's brow furrowed. "Ace?"
"Yeah?" Ace answered, still not meeting their gaze.
"Didn't you hear me before? We're not going to find anything useful in these books," Clover stated flatly.
"I heard you, but since I don't know much about it in the first place, it will still be helpful for me," Ace replied at length.
"So you're interested in the necklace enough to study it but not enough to get it back?"
Ace didn't answer. Clover abruptly stood up and grabbed the book from Ace's hand. Ace bit down on his lip but still didn't look up. The demon Lord held the book out of his reach.
"What's wrong?" Clover challenged.
"Nothing," Ace said slowly. He glanced across the room.
Bird was still standing beside the bookshelf tidying some of the scrolls away. Ace was considering calling out to him under some pretence when Clover suddenly blocked his view. The Demon Lord was staring at him with wide unwavering pink eyes.
The long pale eyelashes batted impatiently. Ace was forced to glance down again.
"Are you sick?" Clover asked straight out.
This time, Bird looked over. Ace felt his face grow red.
"It's not...I'm not..." Ace swallowed hard, "I'm fine,"
.
There were footsteps in the hall. For the first time, Ace was relieved to see the Grand wizard. He brusquely returned to his desk and began to question Bird about some documents. Clover glanced down at Ace once more, still unsatisfied. To Ace's relief, they strolled back to the desk. The wizard glanced up with a frown.
"What?"
"Ace is sick. Let him go back to his room," Clover announced.
The wizard looked past Clover. Ace looked back startled. Bird's eyes widened as he looked over too.
"You're sick, Ace?" Bird chimed in.
Ace felt terrible for lying but the truth was he needed a reprieve. He gave a solemn nod. Thankfully the wizard seemed convinced.
"Go then," he instructed, "But you better return tomorrow,"
Ace sighed and left the room. He could still feel Clover's eyes on him. He felt shaky as he descended the stairs. His heart was pounding. What was wrong with him? He was still lost in his thoughts when reached the student halls. Luckily the student's were still in lessons.
Ace fell on his bed with another sigh. He stared up at the ceiling of the little box room. It was small and plain, but the light from outside filtered in pleasantly. It was a surprisingly cheerful room.
Why couldn't he focus? His life was on the line. It wasn't just Clover that kept derailing the train of his thoughts. The Emperor's words kept bringing in his ears. What village to the East?
Even now, as he lay in bed now, he kept thinking about that moment. What did he mean? Ace hadn't thought about trying to find where had come from. Even after returning to the human world, it didn't occur to him.
Though Sena had believed it so fervently to be a real place, for Ace it was little more than a comforting fiction. He had disposed of the idea as another one of lord Sol's lies. If it was real, then why had Sena never come back for him. No. Ace felt certain Lord Sol probably killed him with the others. It was all too much to imagine anything else. Ace shook his head and closed his eyes tightly. Within the hour he fell into a restless sleep.
---------
"Ace?"
Looking up, Ace saw Sena walking towards him. He sat up and looked around. A dark enclosed room was lit up by candlelight. Ace could faintly make out the soiled papered walls. It was sprawled with childish drawings, scratching back to the bare brick. On the floor, a dozen other children were sleeping. It was the nursery. This was a dream.
The small flame approached and a little hand wrapped around his.
"What's wrong? Aren't you coming?" Sena whispered.
Ace nodded. They both crept to the door. Sena led them down the hall. Two demons were hunched over a table, passed out drunk. They continued down the stairwell until they reached the throne room.
It was an eerie sight at night. The gaudy gilded column led up the processions to a golden throne. The light of the candle made the metal shine but the splash of blood across it dulled its glitter. The two boys continued out of the hall until they came to what could loosely be called a library. It was sparsely shelved with only a few books, worn and battered.
Ace sat down at the table as Sena took one from the shelf. It's what they did every night. They read the book for some time. Sena encouraged Ace with the meaning of some words.
"You know so many words, Sena," Ace sighed, "I wish I could read as well as you,"
"You will," Sena smiled.
"I don't know. All of this stuff about wizards and princesses, will I ever even see this stuff? I mean what's the point of reading about it," Ace stared down glumly.
"Don't say that. I told you before. We're all going to go back one day. Lord Sol promised..."
"Sena! He doesn't keep his promises," Ace exclaimed.
"Keep your voice down," Sena admonished, "You're too harsh, Ace. Lord Sol will send us back when it's time. Some of the others have already gone back. If we keep helping him, eventually it will be our turn.."
"How can you be so sure he really sends them back? Why don't they come looking for us if they know the way home?"
"Maybe they don't know how?"
"I don't believe..."
"Shhhh," Sena raised a finger. He quickly blew out the candle.
-----
Ace woke up with a start. Not that night again. He was covered in sweat. He rose from the bed still trembling and let out an uneasy breath. It was still dark out. He hadn't meant to sleep for so long. Ace got out of bed. He soundlessly dressed and peeked his head out of the door.
The hallway was quiet. Ace decided to take a walk to clear his head. He didn't have anywhere in mind, but by chance, he found himself in the palace gardens again. The summer flowers had long since wilted.
The trees were dark silhouettes waving in the wind. Ace started walking. The tall hedges appeared almost sinister and maze-like in the dark. Still, Ace kept walking. The stars didn't shine that night. They were hidden behind clouds. Only the moon cast an inauspicious glow.
Finally, feeling lost, Ace stopped. He had no idea where he had wandered to. Footsteps falling from behind gave him a start. He spun around startled. A tall familiar figure blockaded his line of sight. He looked up at the face.
Wild dark eyes were enmeshed under a raven black hair. The porcelain chiselled features could only be one person. Ace didn't know how to react. Instinctively, he doubled over in a bow.
"Your majesty?" he queried.
"It's you," came the flat answer, "What are you doing here?"
"I couldn't sleep," Ace confessed.
There was no reply. Ace slowly rose and met the piercing gaze of the Emperor. He seemed different than usual. He was more restless than how he appeared in court. At length, he began a brisque interrogation on the progress of the mission. Ace answered as well as he could. In the end, the Emperor seemed satisfied.
As the conversation lulled, Ace, put forward the question that had been on his mind.
"Your majesty, what you said about the village to the East..." he began.
"Yes, I'm sure you have many questions," the Emperor interrupted, "but I don't intend to answer them,"
Ace blinked confused.
"I know about your peculiar relationship with that demon. Call this insurance. If you at some point decide to take off together, your questions will never have answers. I will burn every record and I will ensure you never discover what happened there. Do we understand each other?"