Eizan traced the bricks on the walls of Lord Goto's study. He had noticed the unusualness of the bricks the first time he cleaned the study but had no chance to examine them closely as the lord banned him from entering the study. Now, a week later, access was granted to him. He would have to offer Councilman Maverick thanks for consistently tormenting Lord Goto with his presence. Eizan knocked on a few of the bricks and found the hollow one. As he was about to put it out, the door into the study creaked open. He pushed the brick back into place and instinctively entered the mist, concealing his presence effectively. A girl wearing a black velvet cloak slipped inside and pressed the door gently closed. She went straight for the hollow brick, pulled it out, retrieved the contents behind it, and placed it back. As she hurried to leave, the tip of her hood caught on the edge of a candle holder and fell off. Eizan caught a glimpse of the rings and beads adorning her hair before she pulled on her hood and disappeared into the corridors. The mist dissipated, and Eizan was out in the open once again. He touched the brick with a little bit of regret. If he had come a little earlier, this wasn't the time to give into regrets; he just had to catch the little thief. Also, he had yet to finish cleaning, and there was still time before the councilman arrived. Who knows? He might find something interesting during that time. With this refreshing thought, he set to work.
Eizan fumbled his way through the study while cleaning. He subconsciously rubbed at his thumb ring at any chance he got, and after a while, he gave up. From his understanding of Lord Goto, he wasn't one to stash secret documents or incriminating evidence somewhere. Eizan was even beginning to think Lord Goto didn't hide whatever was hidden behind that brick. As he stepped out of the study, a strong scent of roses assailed his nose, and he descended into violent fits of cough. Not long after, the doors to the corridors opened, and councilman Maverick walked in with Lord Goto hanging on to his every word, quite literally. Behind them was a blonde teenage girl clothed in a simple but elegant forest green dress that accentuated her features. However, there was something about her that negated the earthiness of the color but yet embraced it. Eizan immediately lost interest in them; nothing could hold his attention for long except for his little sister.
...
Three days earlier, a nondescript carriage which still gave off an air of authority slowly made its way into Subarii Raito, the city Lord Goto's mansion was located. People scurried to make way immediately as they noticed the carriage passing. This was the majesty of the Tower, the larger association of mages in the four kingdoms. Inside the carriage was a young lady with a head full of curly golden hair that somehow managed to fall gracefully on her shoulders. She wore the sapphire robe that identified her as an apprentice of the Tower. Her head was bent over a piece of paper that she burned after she was done with it.
"We are at the mansion, my lady," the coachman announced and she stepped out of the carriage with her things. Although she loved to watch her uncle squirm, going into the premises with the carriage wasn't a wise choice. The guards at the gates saluted her and a servant was called to bring in her luggage as she entered the premises.
The coachman turned around and rode off the moment he saw the gates close behind her. The lady always made things difficult for him every time she went home—which thankfully wasn't often—by refusing to go into her uncle's mansion with the Tower's carriage, who told her to attract the attention of a big shot master from the Tower? He would have to face the wrath of the moody master now. Tsk tsk, the woes of being a coachman!
"Welcome back, cousin Meredith," a small voice greeted and she felt the urge to smile but stopped in time, the voice belonged to her youngest cousin, Esumi. She gave her coat to a servant to hang it for her, "where is uncle?"
"In his study, shall I see you there?" she offered.
"There will be no need for that," she replied and left for her uncle's study. To her surprise, the study was sparkling clean and organised, she found her letters neatly on the table, unopened.
"Lord Goto," Meredith curtsied, "why didn't you send for me, uncle?"
Lord Goto drummed his fingers on the table, "Lord Maverick has been visiting a lot these days, and I figured you must want to see him. After all, this is the first time you will be seeing your betrothed."
Thinking of Councilman Maverick, Her heart constricted. The man had popped out of nowhere two years after her aunt passed on and rode all the way to the upper echelons of the Council on a whirlwind. Deeming it beneficial to a nameless merchant family fighting for nobility her uncle betrothed her to the man. This was despite her 'mother's repudiation of the union.
"The Tower is recruiting, my lord," Meredith said to him in an attempt to deviate from the original course of discussion.
Her uncle looked up to her for the first time that morning, "my girls have no talent for magical arts."
"That is for the Tower to decide" she replied and thought of the instructions she was given after she got the letter demanding for her presence at home. This would be difficult, she presumed.
"I'll have to decline" he dismissed her. When she got to the door, she paused and turned to him wanting to say something but thought better of it. It wouldn't be too late to tell him later.
Today:
Meredith felt a stabbing pain in her right eye as it held the little boy's glassy gray ones for a split second. Although she returned three days ago, she could more or less tell whom the boy was and the treatment he was facing. However, he hasn't once shed a tear or lamented his fate; even a word of protest was not to be heard from his lips. This attitude was truly unbefitting of a child. Slightly ignoring the fawning conversation going on between the councilman and her uncle, she saw a curious glint flash through the little boy's eyes, which vanished as quickly as it came.
"That much is true, isn't that so, my lady?" the councilman said, drawing her attention back to them. A smile blossomed on her face. "Of course, councilman, who would dare to think differently?" she replied, deftly evading his wandering hands. Although the counselor was quite easy on the eyes, she wasn't one who liked to be touched without permission. Meredith understood that her uncle asked for her swift return from the tower to save her youngest niece from being molested by this sleazy councilman. His plan seemed to be without flaws, but she wasn't back for just that. With the excuse of being under the weather, she retired to her rooms, sighing and saying how exhausting playing hostess all day was. Although the tower was cruel and unforgiving, she would choose it ten times over the Goto mansion.
In front of Meredith's door stood her twin nieces. Their faces and features are so identical that one would mistake them for each other if one disregards the obvious disparity in character and personality. The older twin, Bachiko, had her hair in a messy but practical braid, wore riding clothes and a bow on her back, and her face, devoid of the slightest hint of makeup, held an indifferent expression that was cracking at its ends. Meredith's eyes then slid to the younger twin named Esumi, who stood one step behind; she seemed very in tune with her surroundings, and she wore a simple brocade dress, her hair unbound and free. There was a hint of make-up on her face, and the only piece of jewelry on her was an unadorned silver necklace that had belonged to their mother, her aunt. Her head was held high, but her eyes were down. This was the bearing of an upper-class lady: simple but elegant, demure but refined, gentle but firm. Meredith couldn't help but sneer; the contract between the twins was too glaring.
"Meredith, don't you think it's time you left? You are not welcome here." Bachiko spoke first, but Esumi held her back and curtsied in apology. "Forgive her, cousin sister; she spoke out of turn. Esumi apologizes on her behalf."
Meredith walked up to her door and pushed it open. "I don't know how long you will get to live like this, but you must cherish it. Training one in the way of nobility does not make one a noblewoman."
"I understand." Esumi curtsied again and left swiftly, dragging her sister with her. Meredith closed the door when she was sure they had left. She lit some candles at certain positions in the room, and they came together to form a pentagram. Then she brought out a carefully wrapped straw doll and placed it before her. In a fit of anger, she stabbed the doll several times, but when she realized she was going too far, she stopped, lest she ends up seeing the trees for the forest. She tied a piece of cloth to it and caught her finger, allowing her blood to drip on it, all the while chanting in a foreign language. The straw doll caught fire from an unknown source, consuming it so completely that no ashes were left. At the same time, a cut on her shoulder healed, granting her much-needed relief. There was still much work left to do and so little time.
In the corridor of the Goto mansion, two girls could be seen conversing; one was venting her emotions on a dummy while the other was drinking from her teacup gracefully. "I wasn't even done talking; why did you stop me?" Bachiko asked after she had had her fill of hitting the dummy. Her younger twin, Esumi, had one more sip from her teacup before gently placing it in its saucer, then she proceeded to dab her mouth dry with her embroidered handkerchief. Bachiko frowned at Esumi's actions; it was all too slow and perfunctory, and to this very minute, she couldn't understand why their father insisted on training them to live like nobility years after their mother passed. What was even more puzzling was why her younger twin hung on to their father's every word, not daring to put a toe out of line. But her younger twin was not a fool and neither was she.
"Her presence is father's wish" Esumi replied after putting away her handkerchief, 'going against her equals going against father. You must exercise caution."
Bachiko sneered, "father wouldn't scold me"
"But he would scold me" Esumi answered without missing a beat and Bachiko's resolve weakened. Their father's mistreatment of Esumi was because she was the most like their late mother. They stared at each other, the unspoken words hanging between them until Esumi broke the silence by asking about the new servant boy Bachiko was currently bullying. Every time she thought of the boy, she remembered his cold gray eyes that disregarded around him and the rage in her heart grew insurmountable. She channeled all her rage into her punches and she unwittingly blew the dummy soldier into pieces and the silence once again descended in the courtyard.
Esumi spared her a smile and picked up her teacup although it was cold now, "congratulations sister, I will have to depend on you in the future."
"When have you not depended on your sister?" a person said behind them and Bachiko turned back in surprise as she recognized the voice. In her happiness to see Agnes, Bachiko missed the slight trembling of Esumi's hands as she tried to keep her teacup steady. But all these didn't escape Agnes's eyes, she swallowed her revulsion and allowed Bachiko to hug her and drag her away, after all, she must be polite to the young lady of the house. When Agnes disappeared from sight, the teacup fell from Esumi's hands and scattered into many pieces on the ground, a servant rushed in to clean up the mess lest she hurts herself and noticed Esumi's normally pale complexion was even paler and the whites in her eyes were more pronounced. The servant didn't want to interfere in their matter, everyone in the mansion knew lady Agnes loved to bully lady Esumi but only lady Bachiko remained oblivious, she probably couldn't accept her 'best' friend bullies her sister and decided to turn a blind eye to it. By the time the servant was done clearing of the broken china, Esumi had gone back to normal. The smile she graced the servant with was gentle and thankful, not in the least betraying her earlier anxiety and fear. Esumi looked up from the ground as the servant left and coincidentally locked eyes with Eizan. His gaze was so indifferent that she had to look away first and when she looked back, he was gone. She sat there till the snow covered her, the cold her body was feeling could not be compared to the coldness in her heart.
...
The moon rose up high in the sky that night nine years ago, and the breeze had a bit of warmth to it when it skimmed the skin. One would hardly believe they were deep into the winter season then. Now that Meredith thought about it, it was probably due to the activities of some over adventurous sorcerers seeking for a thrill. Thanks to them, the winter didn't hit them as hard as other times. The villagers had long gone to sleep so the road to the city's outskirts was lonely and scary. But she didn't have to worry about that because her caretaker had her little hand wrapped tightly in her.
A little distance in front was the towering gates of the Goto mansion. She hadn't known it then but the events that occurred after they entered the mansion changed her life forever. A servant came to receive them and led them inside in a roundabout way to a small house that no longer stands behind all the buildings on the grounds. It was sparsely furnished but tastefully so. An elegant woman, with flowing brown hair, sat at the only table in the house nursing a cup of tea.
"Is this the girl?" a melodic voice came out of that little body dangling on that weak looking chair she sat on. Her caretaker immediately fell on her knees to avoid the woman's eyes and pulled her along, "yes my lady" answered she in a shaky voice.
"Hmm…" the woman placed her tea cup gently onto the saucer but it still made a scratching sound. She started at it in displeasure, servants suddenly grabbed her caretaker and stuffed her mouth before she could scream. "I shall make sure to take this up with your master, her upbringing leaves much to desire," the woman resumed.
Meredith screamed and held onto her caretaker as she was dragged away kicking, one of the servants landed a hot slap on her cheek and pried her fingers off her caretaker. Another lady barged into the small house angrily has her caretaker was take away but cooled off when faced with the elegant lady
"What are you waiting for? Take your daughter with you" the elegant lady pointed at Meredith.
"You can't do this to me. I'll never accept her!" the other lady screamed.
The elegant lady was unfazed, "If you were a little competent I wouldn't have to do this." She waved for a servant to refill her cup, "Not only will you accept her, you will treat her like a mother would a biological child, understand?"
The other lady stomped away angrily, and the servant who came with her moved to take Meredith but was halted. "Be good," the elegant lady said to her, "that is the only way you'll survive in this place."
Meredith blinked away the memories as she returned to the present. Remembering them made the cuts on her back hurt more than usual but they weren't related in any way. She got the cuts after she was taken to the Tower. A knock sounded on her door and she immediately pushed open her windows, the scent of those candles hadn't dissipated and there was that burnt smell…
With a flourish of her hand the soft breeze blowing in through the window grew strong and took with it most of the smell, only then did she open the door. The little boy she saw earlier today came into her room soundlessly, behind him was Bachiko's friend; Agnes. She noticed the little girl was always hanging around the twins every time she came back from the Tower. Agnes was a child and what could a child possibly do? It was because of this thought that she relaxed her guard around her but if she knew the real identify of the little girl then she wouldn't have let her anywhere near her twin nieces. The boy placed her breakfast on the little table by the window while the girl leaned against the open door.
"I can do it myself, you may leave," Meredith dismissed him as he started setting up the table. "Don't be so stubborn and accept his service, that is what he is here for," Agnes snorted out loud. Meredith turned a gentle gaze onto Agnes and she shrunk back in fear. "Get. Out."