The land of the Gods (Complete)

Chapter 9 - Edan

Edan had estimated correctly. The service had taken about five hours in total, and by the end, Edan had heard enough about how great Death was and how they provided inspiration for those living and how the willow tree was significant and other similar rubbish.

After the service had ended, Edan had pulled on the strings that now linked him to the royal advisor, directing him out of the palace, out of the courtyard, and through the City. Edan stalked in front of him, straightening his suit as he went, and leading the royal advisor through the backstreets to avoid attention.

They had barely stepped a foot in the poor district when two figures came out from the shadows silently. Edan didn't need to look to know that Thaleara was one of them. The other was too short to be Declyn. Perhaps it was female Declyn.

Thaleara sped up the pace to Edan's left, and he didn't turn to look at her as she murmured in a low voice, "is that him trailing us?"

Edan only smirked, still looking ahead and led all four of them into an abandoned side alley.

The small street had a crumbling cobblestone ground like the rest of the poor district, with random pebbles and bits of rock scattered along the floor. The cracks on the surface of the ground were a tripping hazard for all, and the dim light coming from one single sconce along the street didn't help. Edan didn't waver as he followed the small path to a path of darkness, hoping to avoid being seen by any prying eyes.

The royal advisor, who had been following Edan mindlessly at the small pull of their link, approached the group, coming to a halt in front of them all.

Thaleara didn't didn't hesitate in starting the interrogation.

"What are the king's plans for the winter solstice?"

Her tone was serious, full of authority, and took the royal advisor's attention despite his lack of emotion in the past hour. He looked at Edan, and for a moment there was something in his brown eyes and a small tug on the thread between them.

Edan internally chuckled. The advisor didn't want to answer. He was fighting for control back. Edan pulled the thread harder, and the royal advisor turned his head back to Thaleara once more, answering her question in a gravelly voice.

"He's planning a celebration for the most prestigious families in the city."

Thaleara was relentless in her questioning, and probed further. "What will this celebration look like?"

The questions went on for about an hour, Thaleara gathering as much information as she could, and the advisor answering them all. Only once did Edan have to yank the thread to get him to answer, and that was when Thaleara had asked where the King was to be during this celebration.

Finally satisfied with the answers, Thaleara nodded at Edan. "That's it for now. I have some people to talk to, but I want to see you at my apartment in three days. We have less than a week before the winter solstice and it's about time you each know the plan."

Female Declyn nodded, obviously used to the no-nonsense tone, however, Edan wanted to know more.

"Who else do you have to talk to," he questioned, feigning innocent curiosity.

Thaleara didn't bat an eye and responded quickly, shutting him down. "People. You'll find out in three days."

Edan almost huffed aloud in annoyance, but instead changed his approach. "Maybe I could help?"

"Nope. I can manage."

He scowled.

There was a sharp jerk on the thread between him and the royal advisor once more, him obviously trying to sever their connection, and Edan's scowl deepened. He yanked the thread back before responding to Thaleara. "Fine, but when you need help, come crawling back to me."

Female Declyn's brows furrowed and she responded hesitantly, the first time she'd spoken since Thaleara and her had found him, "Isn't it, 'don't come crawling back to me'?"

Edan lifted his chin. "I know what I said."

Thaleara shook her head, and glanced back at female Declyn, urging her with a tilt of her head. They had to leave.

"Three days. This time at my apartment. Don't be late."

Edan sent them both a wink, "Wouldn't dream of it." He also waved at the both, shouting out a farewell. "Goodbye, Thaleara. Goodbye female Declyn."

"What did he just call me?" Female Declyn asked Thaleara as they stalked away, practically blending into the shadows.

For a moment, Edan smiled. Then the royal advisor tugged at him again and the smile fell. He rounded on the advisor, and contemplated for a few moments.

Enchanting was a fickle thing. Of course, while the royal advisor had answered all of Thaleara's questions (as obscure as some of them were, who planned a heist where they needed to know what the invitations looked like?) the advisor was still conscious of the decisions he was making under Edan's influence.

The even more fickle thing, however, was making someone lose all memory of their time enchanted. Edan couldn't have the advisor running off to the guards, or worse, the King and having them know a heist was being undertaken at the winter solstice.

No, that probably wouldn't go over very smoothly. But rather, Edan had to dive into thoughts. The fourth layer of the world. One wrong pull on memories meant that the royal advisor would die, with his blood on Edan's hands, and as much petty theft and trickery Edan was a part of, he drew the line at murder.

Shutting his eyes for a moment, Edan took the time to peel away the next layer of the World, and when his eyes reopened, he could barely see the first layer.

There was too much. Thoughts rose above everything, echoing in and out of his ears. Where there wasn't somehow noise in the air, strings overlapped, each reaching to everything and everyone in a complicated, rainbow web. Marching through the threads like it was nothing were the orange figures, draped in smoke.

It was pure chaos, but Edan managed.

He waded his way through the layered world, swimming in the orange smoke and getting tangled in the web of thread and finally found the cloud of the royal advisors memories. His memories were caught in what appeared to be a bubble of blue, and the thoughts swam, some jutting out of their confines, and others blurry. With a final steadying breath, Edan plunged his hands into the Royal advisors memories, pulling them apart one by one.

Afterwards, he left the royal advisor standing in the middle of the deserted street. After a few moments of still, the royal advisor shook his head, clearly confused and disoriented. Edan watched from the shadows as he left the street, frowning as he went.