Bachiko was halfway through the hallway when her master's study door creaked open on the other end of the hallway. She didn't know how she could hear that soft sound; maybe it was because the night was so silent. She paused, regulated her breathing, and was about to tiptoe when she caught herself. This was her dorm, and she was no thief, but she was sneaking out!
The door on the end she was trying to get to was about thirty to forty steps away. And so was her master's door to where she was.
The wooden door protested audibly against its frame as it was pushed open, or was it closed? Bachiko couldn't hear past the sound of her raging heart. Esumi thought she was good at things like this; she didn't know she was always a breath away from getting caught. But then, that was what made it so exciting!
She got to the door in time to be pulled in before Master came out of his room.
"What took you so long?" Agnes whispered angrily against the low light of the oil-lit lantern in her hands. The light barely illuminated her face, but it caught onto the pearls in her braids, giving off this otherworldly look that demanded worship.
She shook her head, effectively destroying the illusion, and reached past her and unhung her bow and quiver of arrows in one smooth move.
Agnes rolled her eyes again, her braids' pearls softly rubbing against each other. How could she carry all those things on her small head? She couldn't comprehend carrying a load on your head because you're an 'heir'.
"Remind me to keep them so far apart that you don't have a chance to look cool."
"Oh, you wish," Bachiko chuckled lightly.
They walked out of the building, and she glanced for a moment at her sister's room. She wished she could bring her along, but she would only be a burden.
Duobing, the boy who hung out with Agnes, was leaning on the walls of their high-as-f**k fence when they closed the gates. It was little wonder why they could get out unhindered; he had poisoned the guards.
"It's not poison but a sleeping draught!" he protested when he saw the accusing look they gave him. "I can't believe you guys are acting like saints when you are sneaking out."
Bachiko glanced at Agnes, and they had a tacit agreement to ignore the boy. "Why did you call us out?" her eyes flickered in the low light of the lantern she carried. After a while, she snuffed it out and hid it somewhere.
"How are your lessons going? I hear the young master of the Hunter clan is your elder. Agnes suddenly started another topic, purposely brushing aside the question she had asked. She may trust this friend of hers, but she refuses to be led by the nose.
"I asked you a question, Agnes."
"Lady"
"What?"
Her dark-skinned friend stopped, and her beads caught all the random lights in the atmosphere. "Lady Agnes, you will call me that."
While Bachiko tried to decipher the meaning behind the sudden change in attitude, the other girl had resumed walking, so she could only follow.
"You must keep your wits around you; we were carted away to the Tower for a reason. Alas! It is taking too long to reveal itself."
Bachiko thought back to the reluctance she had seen on Elder Hunter's face when he declared his intention to take them under his tutelage. Esumi, her younger twin, was carefree and conceited; she believed they had enough talent to be accepted by such a high-end elder. But she had always been practical, and she knew their aptitude wasn't good enough to warrant such attention.
"How did the boy come to work at your mansion? Agnes asked, and it felt as if they would walk forever. "His father entrusted him to our butler," she answered, thinking it would be better to avoid having any issues with the girl for now.
"Did you see his father? Where did he say he came from?"
They stopped in front of a cave and looked so out of place, illuminated by fireflies. Agnes knocked three times on different areas at the entrance of the cave. A wooden door materialized, which she opened and beckoned to her to follow. Once they passed through, the door disappeared, leaving a purely brick wall in its place. A middle-aged man came to take their coats while asking who they were there to meet.
"I am here to have mooncakes and red wine," Agnes patted the man's arm, "have it delivered."
The man bowed deeply as they walked past him onto a nearby staircase. "How do you open a door with no keyhole?" Agnes asked as she stopped her in front of a wall, "You smash it open."
She lifted her foot and kicked the wall. The bricks shattered but didn't crash; instead, they returned to the wall as if pulled by a magnet and rearranged themselves, leaving the place where she kicked a doorway. A man was already sitting in the room when they kicked their way in. Seeing the man's face, Bachiko wondered if her eyes were failing her.
"The farmer is sick; how do you plan on compensating?" Agnes grabbed the wine glass out of the man's hand and sipped from it.
"I see you brought my student along with you," the man clicked his tongue, "you are dauntless."
"You wouldn't want the head to know the rest of the body is rotten," she shot back, and the man took the cup back from her, saying, "You are still a child; stop acting as an adult."
"Is the snow still falling?" Cant asked.
Bachiko subconsciously looked for a window to look out of. She counted her fingers, trying to remember what month they were in, and realized the summer solstice was close. In her moment of deliberation, she missed everything else they talked about, and Agnes was suddenly ready to return. On their way back, they used a different route to go back to the tower. She pondered the reason behind this trip, but she knew one thing, and that was Agnes's identity. When they got to their rooms, she paused and asked, "Where is Duobing?"