The Veiled One

Chapter Twenty-Seven: I hatch an insidious plot

The first few days of the next month aren't so bad. I spend every day in the library, reading books on magic and gaining a little more understanding. Sometimes, I even share my findings with Sibyl, and she and I have discussions about magic over a glass of wine or while we lie together in bed. Sometimes, I'd come home and see her wearing that same negligee. She'd smile at me and ask me to come and mingle with her, but as the days turned into weeks that ground on at an agonizing pace, I grew more and more exhausted. Soon, she stopped trying at all.

It's a hard tradeoff to make, knowing that I'm seeing my family less but gaining a stronger understanding of my magic. I'm making a sacrifice in terms of time, but how much will that sacrifice be worth when I'm able to tell them that they'll never have to worry again a day in their lives?

As for Endor, he returned to school with Argus on The Summit. The various gods gathered to teach him lessons, and he grew smart—or so I presume. I rarely spoke to him because I went to bed earlier and earlier and rose earlier too, and when I did stop to talk to him, he was all too eager to dart away again with Argus.

A few months after my ascendance to immortality, I sit alone in the library, munching my way through an apple I've brought with me. The book open on my lap is about the ethics of magic. It's a fascinating read, really. It discusses the use of magic, like when it's appropriate to use magic to right wrongs and when magic can only make a situation worse.

If I'd known when I was younger about the powers I possessed, the king would never have been able to push Endor and me out of our home. We wouldn't have had to flee in the middle of the night, wouldn't have had to wander to the edge of the kingdom just for a hope of safety. My parents wouldn't have had to die.

But maybe it's not too late. Maybe there's still a chance for me after all. If the nobles wronged me by stealing my house, why should I have to suffer the consequences of their actions? Why not take back what was only ever mine by right? The House of Agramina has passed through my family for generations. It was my grandfather's before it was my mothers, and now it's mine.

I know what I'm going to do with all this newfound power: I'm going to get my house back.

***

The days immediately following my decision were tense ones. I found myself searching out Endor to explain, but then drawing away again in fear. What if he didn't understand? What if he disapproved? As little time as I'd been spending with him, I know if he said no, I'd have to give up on my plans.

Instead, I continue plotting, planning. Despite having combed through at least the entire first tier of books, I've only found a few words in magic. They're copied down in a leather-bound journal, one written by Lisentia herself. A lot of the writing is mere gibberish, but in a few sections, she was smart enough to write down the approximate pronunciations. When I'm not in the library, I practice those magic words on my own as I walk through the gardens on The Summit.

As I sit on a bench outside Mor's palace, Sibyl makes her way up to me. Her white chiton swishes in the gentle breeze gusting through the air, and she settles gently on the other side of the bench.

"I haven't seen you, Sylas," she murmurs quietly.

"I've been busy, Sibyl," I reply automatically.

"Yes, doing research. I know. You say that every time I see you. What are you really up to? Let me in, please."

I almost give in and tell her the entire story. But what good would that do? She'd get angry at me for keeping such an enormous secret, and then we'd be fighting for the better half of a century. I'm trying to do my best to better than the other gods on The Summit, but until I get there, I only have to deceive her a little more. Just until I get my house back. And then I can tell her everything.