“That so,” he replied, his voice quieter now, though somehow that only made it more dangerous. Especially when he said,
“I suggest you get to the part where I care.” This time, Bo didn’t hesitate. His hand moved to his side, rolling his wrist around and summoning the relic to his hand like he had done in the bathroom. The moment the mirror caught the light, the air around us seemed to change. Even from where I stood, I felt it, that same strange pull and unnatural weight that seemed to hum beneath its surface as though it didn’t belong in this world any more than I did.
Walder went completely still.
The shift was immediate and impossible to miss. As if something had locked into place behind his expression, the irritation was gone in an instant, replaced by something far more focused, far more intent.
Kiki straightened slightly beside us, the playful ease in him faltering just enough to show that even he hadn’t expected this.
“Well, that’s certainly one way to get his attention,” Kiki murmured, softer now, his tone threading with something that almost sounded like surprise.
Walder rose then and stepped forward with purpose. His gaze did not leave the mirror as he moved, his focus absolute, as though the rest of the room had ceased to exist entirely. For a moment, he said nothing, and somehow that silence felt heavier than anything else.
Then, finally,
“The Mirror of Veritas,”he said quietly, not as a question or a guess, but with awed recognition. His eyes lifted sharply to Bo, the shift in focus cutting through the space between them.
“And should I ask how something like that came to be in your possession?” he asked, his voice dropping further, each word measured, as if he was holding himself back. Bo’s jaw tightened slightly, but he didn’t back down, not even as Walder came to a stop right in front of him. His intimidating height and size giving me more than enough cause to take a few steps back, something Kiki smirked at.
“I have my uses,” Bo replied, not quite answering the question, but not avoiding it either. Another pause followed, the kind that stretched just long enough to make it clear that everything hung on what came next.
Walder exhaled slowly, his gaze dropping once more to the mirror before returning to us, something calculated settling into his expression.
“Luckily for you, for the both of you, that what you hold there is something I have been searching for, for a very long time,” he said at last, his tone shifting to one far more accommodating. My breath caught slightly at that, the weight of his words settling in just enough to make me realize how close we had come to this going very differently.
“You want sanctuary,” he continued, his gaze flicking briefly to me before returning to Bo,
“You have it.” The decision was immediate and completely without ceremony. Even I felt the shift in the air around us, the tension easing just enough to breathe again, as though something told me that didn’t mean we were safe, not really.
“Both of you,” he added, almost as an afterthought, though his eyes lingered on me just a fraction longer this time,
“And the human will remain under my protection while she is here,” he stated, and I got the distinct impression the words were meant more for those around us than for us. The words should have felt like relief. And they did, if only for a second. As my mind instantly went to Oblivion, questioning what would happen should he ever find out where I was hiding.
Walder’s gaze shifted again, not back to Bo this time, but to me, and there was something different in it now. As though I had now become a detail worth noting rather than dismissing.
“You look exhausted,” he said, his tone matter of fact, though not unkind. His attention flicked briefly over me in a way that made me suddenly aware of just how drained I felt. And then, just as quickly, that attention moved on.
“Kiki,” he added, without looking away from us,
“See that she’s settled. Food, something suitable to wear, and a room where she won’t be disturbed.” Kiki inclined his head smoothly, already slipping back into that effortless charm as though the earlier tension had never existed.
“With pleasure, my Lord,” Kiki replied, though the faint glint in his eyes suggested he was far more interested in the situation than he was letting on. But who wasn’t interested was Walder, as he informed us abruptly,
“The story that brought you here doesn’t interest me,” Walder said, his tone flattening as his attention settled fully on Bo.
“What does interest me… is how you came into possession of that. You and I will discuss it…now.”Bo nodded once, clearly not about to argue with that. Then he opened his large palm, holding it out as a clear indication of what he wanted. Bo looked down at it, released a sigh, and placed the relic in his hand, as if sealing our fate.
Walder’s fingers curled around it, his grip firm as he drew it closer, his gaze lowering as he studied it properly for the first time since it had been presented. And just like that… we were no longer the most important thing in the room. His thumb brushed lightly across the surface of the mirror, almost thoughtfully, before his attention snapped back up again.
“Kiki.” That single word was enough.
“Take the human to the Enforcer wing,” he instructed, his gaze settling on me again, lingering just long enough to make something uneasy stir low in my chest.
“It’s the most secure part of the Vault. She’ll be safe there.” Bo frowned beside me, his attention snapping back to Walder.
“I’ll go with her,” he said quickly, the words leaving him before I even had time to process what was happening. But Walder didn’t even look at him.
“No,” he said simply. Just a single word that landed with enough finality to shut the idea down completely. Bo hesitated, and for the first time since we had walked in here, I saw something close to uncertainty flicker across his expression.
