Shadow was waiting for Kora on her balcony facing the gardens. She hugged the massive canine fiercely. Hiding her face in his fur, He simply curled his massive head around her, and his tail curled around them both. Ever patient with her, he waited. She finally let go and wiped the tears from her eyes. Looking up at Shadow, his one green eye and one blue eye were solemn. He seemed to understand, already knew.
"We have work to do Shadow. Let us get to the library, and no slobbering on the books, ok?" Shadow sighed, as if to say - Mom I cannot help the drool it just happens. They began to walk through the gates of the garden, intent on taking the long way around, so Shadow could handle his dog business-when Ludis caught up with them. Kora shrunk in on herself. She was embarrassed at her earlier outburst, but her pride kept her from stopping and acknowledging Ludis. She needed some time. Ludis did not have that courtesy in mind, however.
"Kora, we need to talk about this. You know as well as I do that you are still the only one who can kill him. It was evident in the magic we used when we captured Amelia. She would have escaped eventually. We do not have the recourses to end a stragoi." Ludis was walking fast, trying to keep up with Kora and Shadow, sensing Kora's reluctance, and Ludis's insistence, stepped in front of Kora and stopped, forcing Kora to stop as well. Ludis gave the dog a grateful look.
"Kora, please. I am sorry I upset you. I need you to try and put your feelings aside for now, though. Winter is almost here, and we need a plan." Kora knew that, again- Ludis was right. She sighed and turned to Ludis, who smiled weakly.
"What do you want to know Ludis? The way I killed Amelia was just to be cruel, I did not know that would be the only way. I just got lucky." Kora began to walk again, slower so Ludis could keep up on her short legs. They made for the library, and Ludis began to talk in earnest.
"Well, we need an alarm system of some sort. We cannot leave to hunt him. Winter is almost here. But that will not stop him from coming here. We need to know when he arrives. Do you have any ideas?" Kora shook her head, then stopped. She looked up at Shadow.
"He can do it. He can smell him. He found him over hundreds of miles to deliver a message for me." Kora looked Shadow over, the daunting task she had asked of Shadow dawning on her. He had traveled hundreds of miles to Sinclair fief and back, with no directions and never having been there before. And he made it there and back within a day. Her dog had been holding back on her. She smiled and scratched his head-standing on tip toe to do so. Ludis was stunned.
"A message? Whatever for?" Ludis was curious, and Kora looked her in the eyes, level.
"I sent him Amelia's heart." Ludis paled slightly at the statement and swallowed hard. Kora was fae, their brutality against those who had betrayed them is shown in legends. So, why did it always surprise her when she looked at her sweet friend and knew she could do such things? Ludis spoke, and she tried to keep the shaking out of her voice.
"You wanted to anger him. To call him out." It was not a question. Kora looked at her again, that pride and defiance she had seen on Malik and Stella's faces coming out. They were related, she thought.
"For the good of the people, and to revenge those I have lost, the end goal is the same Ludis. I must kill Drew. I sent him the message, so he knew that his time is coming, that I know how to kill him. Even if I did not know he was stragoi at the time, now that he has seen Amelia's heart, he is alone. Those who are alone often act out of desperation. He is over a billion-year-old Ludis. It is time someone shook his tree. He has been too confident for too long." Ludis fumed at Kora's words.
"You are a fool, Koraline! Why not just write a letter and tell him that you know?" Give him every advantage to prepare some ancient mastery to protect his heart from us!" They continued to walk and reached the library doors. Kora pushed them open.
"I know my history does not support the claim, but I am not stupid. And I did know Drew some. You cannot spend day after day for years with someone like that and not learn something about their personality. He still thinks he holds all the pieces. I may have scared him- but he will never think we know the truth. He expects me to react how you did, to come storming after him in all hate to run him through." Kora began to select the oldest of the scrolls. Ludis looked at her selection and saw where she was going with the texts. She began to search the shelves as well. The library door opened, and Stella had arrived.
"Need help?" Stella was the peacemaker, now more than ever. She walked over and began to organize the scrolls and textbooks they had pulled from the shelves by year.
"I still think we should have a back-up watch. Shadow must sleep, eat, and do dog stuff. He will not be happy to be away from you, and he makes the city nervous when he is out alone." Ludis muttered aloud, looking over a scroll for the detection of ancient magic. Stella looked at Ludis, and her face lit up.
"I have an idea! Kora, trees can conduct magic well, yes? They handle yours like a champion." Kora nodded, waiting to see where Stella was going with this.
"Could you grow a network of the roots around the city border?" Kora nodded, it would take a day or two at least, since it would be underground, she would have to work carefully. There was the river to considered as well. Stella turned to Ludis.
"Ancient magic tracing, in the roots. We can structure the spell to live off the roots' life force, and with Kora to enforce it, it will not die out. It will be a 24/7 alarm bell for anything touched by tainted ancient magic. Ludis jumped up, ecstatic.
"You're a genius! Do you really think it could work? Using the roots for a conduit?" Stella nodded, and even Kora was impressed. Combining their skills in such a way took imagination.
"Way to go Stella, that's brilliant!" Pulling out parchment and coal sticks, they began to sketch the patterns and different formulas, looking over a map of the capital as they discussed. A maidservant eventually arrived to advise of lunch, clearly disgruntled that it had taken her so long to find the Ladies of the castle. They asked her to serve them there in the library, and she was off. By the time dinner was served they had a sizable plan in place. Showing Malik, Ben, and Royce over dinner, they too were impressed by Stella. She blushed and fed bits of beef to a poorly disguised Shadow, who was stretched across the floor inching his way slower and slower towards the table, and Stella's hands.
"And this will work for all ancient magic, not just the Stragoi?" Malik looked over the parchment, Ben and Royce looking over his shoulder. Turning, Royce asked a maidservant to fetch Ian. Ben spoke next.
"I am not a mage, but the work here seems solid. It is even better than the one Ludis created to detect men of the gray in the city walls, no offense." Ludis grinned and held her hands up, laughing.
"None taken, it's truly a pleasure when the student surpasses the master." Ludis beamed at Stella with pride, and she blushed again. Kora smiled at her sister's embarrassment. Patting Stella on the shoulder, Royce was beaming with pride in his soon-to-be wife.
"So, can we take a minute here, and discuss weddings? When are we all getting to the knot tying?" Royce asked and they all laughed.
"Well, I think you and Stella should have a spring wedding. A perfect close to the winter." Kora said, and Stella nodded, eyes glazing over as she imagined soft flowers and pastel colors.
"Ludis and Malik should marry in the Summer. It is the anniversary for the kingdom, as it was reclaimed and separated from the empire on the 27th of Rose." Stella said and Ludis agreed, she loved summer. Malik nodded. Ben looked into Kora's eyes, and he smiled.
"A fall wedding would suit us best, don't you think, Kora?" Kora, who was about to suggest it herself, smiled.
"Yes, roses and sunflowers." The topic of weddings now had the group visibly relaxed while they waited for Ian's arrival.
Ian walked into talks of dresses and flowers, looking at the other men perplexed. They shrugged, and each one held up a hand with a ring on it. Ian laughed.
"Gods am I glad not to be tied up in this blather. I think I will remain a bachelor for life. Wives sound expensive." Everyone laughed at this, and Ian sat down, helping himself to some bacon. Malik briefly explained Stella's idea and Ian leaned back thoughtfully.
"This could work. And buy us some time over the winter. We also need to prepare for if he indeed brings the fight to us." Ian sat up, and asked Malik for a map. Laying one out on the open end of the table, Ian began to point out different areas around the city.
"These are the areas where I have 24/7 mage surveillance. If we could make sure these areas here-" He indicated several other locations- "We can cover all the blind spots. Birds will not be able to shit without us knowing." Royce laughed at the crude analogy.
"The real question here, is how are we going to go about it, so no one notices? Alarms do not work when others know they are there." Royce pointed out, and the others looked at each other stumped.
"Your crew is obvious. But I think I can help." Ian said and smiled.