Mystic - EN version

Chapter 12 : Reunion

Clave woke up for the second time that day. She was a little lost, I have to admit. Griselda had come to see her in the morning and now the sun was starting to set. Clave had slept through the whole thing. In her defence, she couldn't do anything else and ever since she'd generated that storm, she'd been feeling torpid. On the other hand, she no longer felt any pain, apart from the dreadful headache that hadn't left her for ten minutes or so.

But the young girl could still go and find Griselda, and she wouldn't mind if she finally answered all her questions.

As she reached for the door handle, Clave remembered that she was still wearing her servant's clothes. She thought about it. She didn't feel comfortable in these battered clothes, but at least they would prevent her from being too conspicuous in the corridors of the building.

"Besides, I haven't got any more," she concluded.

Before leaving the room, Clave put on her blue pendant, which gleamed in the twilight, as if beckoning her. She walked slowly to the door and opened it without making a sound. Strangely enough, the corridor was empty... But that suited Clave just fine; she didn't want to come face to face with an inhabitant of Duke Arthur's manor, knowing the affection they had for servants, and who had to be in the negative.

The further the young girl went down the corridor, the more she sensed that something was wrong. It didn't take her long to work out what was different: she didn't recognise the corridors. Could it be that she was somewhere other than Duke Arthur's manor? If so, Clave would have liked to know exactly where, but she could probably ask Griselda later. For the moment, the main thing was to get to her... and fortunately the young woman had come up with a plan for that.

Clave quickly took it out of the pocket of her old apron and unfolded it. Unfortunately, and the young girl quickly paid the price for this, Griselda was not the greatest artist the world had ever seen...

– That's very helpful, ironised Clave. I'll be sure to thank you, Griselda!

She was so focused on her plan that Clave almost bumped into someone, incidentally the first person she had come across in this place. None other than Noah, the son of the man who had made her his servant. Clave had to restrain herself from running away, but Noah grabbed her arm. To her horror, he had recognised her.

– I thought you looked familiar... You're Arthur's new servant, he remarked, removing the white mask he was wearing.

"As if I didn't know..."

– And you're his son, aren't you? Why do you call him by his first name and not father or even dad?

Noah pretended he hadn't heard. There was a glint of anger in his beautiful golden eyes. He turned his head, apparently annoyed by Clave who didn't know what.

– I didn't think I'd see you here again, he said after a long moment. I thought you worked for him?

– Not any more... Your aunt, Griselda, told me that I was no longer in Duke Arthur's service.

– In that case, there's no need to call him by his title.

The young man's harsh tone surprised Clave, who took a step back. Noah realised this and ran his hand over the back of his neck, biting his lip. A tense silence fell between them, which neither of them knew how to break.

– I need to tell you something... Er..., began the young man.

– It's Clave, she interrupted.

– What? asked Noah, surprised.

– My name's Clave. You seemed to have forgotten it.

– Ah... Right.

Clave sighed, and prevented the umpteenth silence from intruding on their conversation.

- I'm sorry to have interrupted you.

– You can be familiar with me, there's no problem.

It was Noah's turn to sigh, crossing his arms over his chest.

– I'm a telepath, he murmured. That's it... I'd better warn you.