A Tale Of Shadows (Wattys 2023) - REPLACED BY DIVINE ASCENSION

Chapter 11 - The Obscurian Field For Magic

There seemed to be no end to Jeffrey's staying in the royal palace after a week, which he was slightly thankful for, but not quite. The place was beautiful, the people helpful, the weather lovely, there were so many rooms he could explore, he talked to Douglas regularly in between small sips of tea and bites of biscuits, and his bed was immensely comfortable as well. If nothing had been going on at the time, it would've been perfect, which was exactly the problem. He was constantly being reminded of the helplessness of his situation, and he couldn't keep his thoughts away from it.

On the eighth day of his visit, while he was drinking tea and eating biscuits in the courtyard with Douglas once again, things changed. At first, they engaged in small talk, as usual, and everything seemed to go normally. After some time, however, Douglas started to get uncomfortable and look everywhere around himself as if someone would jump out of the bushes at any moment, which Jeffrey couldn't help but notice. It was clear that Douglas didn't want that at all, but he couldn't prevent Jeffrey from reacting, so he got to the point with a deep sigh:

"Maria Thorne's being a real liability, as you may have expected. No one has any idea where she is or what she is doing, therefore we all now have to meet and discuss further plans, including you. We will also discuss other things, all of which are very important, and I apologise if this inconveniences you, but I believe it would be really useful for you to come, and I suppose that there will be no time for boredom when everything is so frenetic. So, what do you say? Are you willing to come with me or not?"

Jeffrey smiled weakly. "Yes, I'd love to go. I appreciate your offer very much. Thank you, friend."

"You are very welcome," Douglas said just as they were finishing their tea, after which they both stood up almost immediately, rushing to do their preparations.

They were there in less than an hour, for the building where the Obscurian Field For Magic was stationed was rather close to the palace, separated only by a forest that wasn't too large. Jeffrey noticed that it was a forest full of pine trees, all lined up like soldiers, resembling them ever so slightly with their tallness and might. Not too many sounds could be heard, not only because it was day, but also because there were few who dared to walk through the woods in these times.

Jeffrey was surprised that there weren't any corpses of helpless victims to be seen at the moment, but because there sure were monsters everywhere, he assumed that the crows and the worms and the soil beneath his feet must've taken them all. He didn't know if any were present at the time, but he had no concern, for this didn't seem like an occasion for a monster to arrive and kill them, and even if there were any, he was completely certain that Destiny hadn't brought them here to die such a pointless death. Himself not knowing why he'd thought such futile and worrisome thoughts, he blithely followed Douglas into the building.

The building itself was a prime example of order and organisation. Along its tall, white walls were lined dozens of birch doors, perfectly straight and distant in their positions. The floors and the ceiling, from which hung a huge shiny chandelier with tons of white candles, were polished with the utmost care. The rooms were most convenient to find, and in the anteroom that led directly to them all, there were no objects to be seen except for several lianas with pink flowers that lay neatly in their white clay pots, which themselves lay neatly in freed corners of the anteroom. 

The room in which the meeting was to be held was on Jeffrey and Douglas's left, and, because the door was open, they could observe that it was much the same in there as well, except that there was also a large, ellipse-shaped birch table in the middle, around which countless chairs carved from the same wood were positioned precisely. All but two were occupied, filled with people from the Royal Council of Obscuria, who were all wearing their trademark heavy black robes, but mostly with mentors, who wore anything even remotely professional. Carefully positioning themselves in the sole empty chairs, which were located right next to the door, Jeffrey and Douglas joined the conversation, enabling the meeting to begin at last.