Empire of Shadows

Chapter 10: Desmond

Time slipped like sand through fingers. Beast hunt event ended, everybody moved on and were now concentrated on other problems, except three restless children.

Des, Haylee, and Harvey from the moment of getting Dark Clan's seal hadn't found peace. They wanted answers to their multiple questions, and the library was a bad choice for their research. Prowling in the archives gave them zero information. Troubling elders of the clan would be too suspicious, because otherwise Edlyn and Keyon would catch them and take away the seal with no explanation whatsoever. So, the only way to inquire was to sneak into Clan Leader's chambers. There all important documents and papers were kept, plus a private book collection would be a great help.

Out of three children, Desmond liked this idea the least. He was refusing to do it until the very end. "I'm not getting involved in this idiocy," snorted the youth with crossed arms.

They were outside, in the inner garden, trying to sneak inside Keyon's room from the ajar window.

"And no one asked you. If you don't want to participate, then stand guard and if anything, unexpected, detain them," retorted Haylee and waved to her twin. "Harvey, you go first. Try to climb quietly, there are wards behind the doors. Talking only in whispers, we cannot be caught."

"Do we even know where to look?" put in a reasonable question the younger one.

"Let's start from the table, and then we'll see," suggested the silver-haired maiden.

Two mages exchanged glances and Harvey stepped out closer to the building. Taking out his small dagger, he made a quaint movement with the blade and touched the sash with two fingers, drawing a line down. A slight click sound was heard, and the window opened.

Haylee nodded and her twin noiseless climbed inside the chambers. She followed right after him, leaving Desmond alone. The lad pondered over the situation once again. All right, screw this. If they get caught, I can pretend I followed them to hold accountable. They will believe me more because I'm not such a slob.

And with such thoughts, the young master hooked his hands on the windowsill and pushing off, climbed up too. He was greeted with confused looks on his sibling's faces. "Don't be so surprised," hissed the mage, "I'm here to see that you don't get in trouble."

"Great observer, you better find us some records about the seal," Harvey derisively replied with a hidden smile in his eyes.

"And not even a word of gratitude," nagged the older one with a shake of his head.

Twins smirked but did not comment anything. The three of them will manage the search much faster, that's for sure. Desmond looked around the room. The furniture was mostly made of carved wood and ivory: square table with many inkpots, reports and writing supplies, a highchair with armrests, a huge bookcase full of literature. Just above it hung long canvas with a painting of Light Clan family. There was also a fireplace, located opposite the table. And next to the windows dangled the drapes.

Sorting through the papers on the desk and searching the drawers, Haylee insisted Harvey and Desmond to look elsewhere, so not to waste much time in one spot. They walked up to the bookshelf and started inspecting the titles, trying to find the ones with "history", "chronicles" or "ancient artifacts".

After some time of page shuffling and document rustling, Haylee broke the silence first, her voice not hiding the disappointment. "I have nothing. Apart from letters and invoices for income and expenses, I did not find anything interesting."

"We are in the process, so far of course unsuccessfully," struggled Harvey, trying to quickly skim through the text.

"There is a lot of information about the lost relics, but no word of the seal," fumed Desmond and irritably turned over a page.