I wiped my nose and mouth, first on my fingers, then on a handkerchief Alaric handed me. I squeezed my eyes shut, forced my mind and emotions behind shields.
I willed the images away, the smells, the sounds of harsh breaths, that crushing grief and despair and pain that felt devastating and endless. Breathing slowly and deeply, I fought to bring my heart under control, then my mind, and my magic. I felt guilty for shoving away the rest, but it was all I could do. I couldn’t handle anything else.
Slowly, I opened my eyes a second time.
Clenching my jaw, I pulled myself upright with Alaric’s help, and leaned against the velvet back of the blue couch. I focused on the coffee table, but I already knew what I’d see.
It was over. The radio’s light had dimmed.
The hooded figure was gone.
“I’m not sure we should continue doing this,” Alaric said, watching me worriedly. “Leda, you went into a trance. Your eyes went totally white. You looked like––”
I cut him off, not really wanting to know what I’d looked like, or watch him struggle to describe it to either of us.
“Alaric, I’m fine. Honestly.” I smiled, and hoped it was convincing. “I’m sorry I scared you. I don’t think anyone saw me. It didn’t feel like they did.” I fought to think, to remember how it felt. “I saw something this time. More than before.”
I felt him hesitate, wanting to ask. I felt his guilt again, too.
“Did you see who he was?” he asked.
I shook my head, maybe a little too quickly. “No. But I might have seen where they were.”
I spent the next however-long describing the place I’d seen. I tried to remember every detail, even inconsequential things. I could tell it wasn’t enough, even before I’d finished speaking. Alaric hadn’t said a word while I described what I’d seen, not even to ask any questions, but I could feel the disappointment on his aura.
“Did your chimaera record it?” he asked, only after I’d finished.
I hesitated, then nodded. “It should have, yes.” I hesitated a second time. “You don’t recognize it, then? The place I saw?”
Alaric sighed. “Unfortunately, it could be just about any castle owned by one of the royal families, Leda. Just about all of them own a stone manor of one kind or another, even the poorer ones, even the lineages scarcely touching the line of succession. Most have towers, hidden dark altars, libraries, and even dungeons, as they’ve been passed down for generations. I tried to see it in your aura while you spoke about it, but nothing really leapt out.”
Probably feeling my disappointment, he added encouragingly, “But we’re getting closer, yeah? If you can, look for crests next time… animals, gods on shields, that kind of thing. Or even rings,” he added, as if the thought just occurred to him. “Many of these old heads of lineages wear family rings. Especially some of the oldest families.”
I nodded, thinking about that.
Hands. Clothes. Shields on walls. I could do that. It had never occurred to me to look down at the hands of whoever it was, or to try and see what they might be wearing.
“Next time,” I promised.
Alaric nodded, but I felt the disappointment on him again. “Next time.”
I knew Alaric felt we were running out of “next times.”
I wished I could disagree, but I felt it, too.
I looked back towards the coffee table, and the greenish-silver receiver that stood on the lacquer tray. A second tray with a full tea service perched next to it, along with a now-familiar flask belonging to Alaric. He’d already poured me a few dollops of the cognac inside, mixing it with the tea he’d made me.
Sighing, realizing I was letting myself fall down the rabbit hole of defeat for no reason, I tugged a few strands of curls behind my ear. Since I was usually the one trying to dig Alaric out of that pit of despair, I took that role again, almost out of habit.
“We’ll figure it out,” I assured him, patting his leg. “Your father hasn’t said anything to you recently, has he? Not since early summer? And you’ve already told me he’s not seeming inclined to do anything crazy, like pull you out of school, or even cut off your accounts, so we’ll have all of next year to work on this. We may not have found the Priestyet,but we’re learning more about him. Every time we do this, we get closer––”
“Him?” Alaric broke in.
I looked at him, startled.
“Figure of speech,” I said.
“Is it?”
