“Well,” said Mal, closing the book in his lap, which Maeve recognized as one they had nicked from The Restricted Area of the Library. “I caught you before you smashed your head on the stone floor, Hummingdoor and the rest of the class rushed to your side, and I administered my antidote as your face and hands were turning a palish green color.” Mal crossed his legs and continued. “You came to for a moment when I was carrying you here, and then you became unconscious once more. And now here we are.”
“But your antidote worked.”
“Of course it did. You knew it would.”
Maeve sat silently with Mal studying her.
“Why did you do that, Maeve?”
Though Maeve could only see a glimmer of his face, she was certain he was completely satisfied and knew quite well what her motive was.
His approval consumed her.
The desire for his fixation, his attention, for his dark eyes to be on her alone was enough.
“Does my father know?”
“Oh yes,” said Mal. “I’ve never seen those Magical Militia move so quickly. As soon as they saw you, they bolted into action. He was here before I laid you on this bed.”
“You met him?”
“Yes,” said Mal.
“Was he mad?”
“At you?” Asked Mal. “Of course. Cursed up a storm.” He smirked into a cocky grin. “Thrilled to meet me, though. Already knew my name and everything.”
Maeve’s cheeks turned hot.
“His position is more powerful than I realized. The world seemed to stop when he arrived.”
Maeve leaned back against the soft headboard, her eyes tired once more. “He didn’t stay.”
“Kimmerance assured him you were perfectly fine.”
But Maeve wasn’t concerned with that. She knew her father well enough to know that under the normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have left her side, entrusting no one with her well being except himself.
But Mal was there. And her father had.
Once her strength returned, Maeve found herself sitting in the Headmaster’s office, explaining to them that she merely made a mistake and thought the assignment was to ingest the potion. Headmaster Elgin was delighted that she was alright, and they laughed off the entire situation. Rowan frowned at her as said that Hummingdoor nearly had a heart attack at her actions.
One afternoon the following week, Maeve informed Mal she was finished with her stolen library books and had no valuable information to share.
“I have a bit more of one to look through,” said Mal, still desperate to find answers in his quest for immortality.
The week dragged on, and Maeve’s school workload was endless. She promised Abraxas she would attend the fencing match Saturday with him and immensely regretted that decision.
She was the last to leave the common room for bed, finally satisfied with her History of Magicals essay.
Spinel was happy to see her climb into bed. She was almost asleep when she noticed the pulsation of a faint green light coming from the pocket of her cloak. She was careful not to disturb Spinel, got out of bed, and made her way to the wall where her coat hung. She reached in the pocket and pulled out the small scrap of enchanted paper she and Mal used to communicate.
There on the parchment was one unfamiliar word scribbled out:
Vexkari.
Chapter 15
The library was completely abandoned save for Mal and Maeve, who were spread out across a table in the back corner. Madam Florence, the Librarian, went to bed an hour ago and allowed them to stay past hours. This was primarily due to the dazzling smile Mal flashed her.
