The White Sheep's Disguise ✓

Chapter 20

The Raven Queen has a complicated and very secretive schedule. I haven't seen her around the palace, nor does anyone of importance speak of her existence. It's as if she doesn't live amongst her children, or everyone is too afraid to admit they're sharing a roof with the leader of Rivian.

I have come to the simple conclusion that she spends most of her time behind closed doors, hidden away in her private chambers. They expand much larger than other rooms in the palace and include everything she'll ever need. Until the servants stop bringing her meals, she'll have no reason to venture into the remaining halls of her large home.

The thoughts to her ghost-like ways distract me from the pile of notes in my lap. Kernels of information given to me from Cloak aren't enough to find a sure-fire way to heal him, but if I can expand on those notes through my own power and craft a treatment from scratch, I'll get out of here sooner than four intervals.

My room, smaller than Cloak's closet, has become stuffy in recent days. Venturing out doesn't help much; coming face to face with Cloak always ends in one argument or another and after he failed to capture the Luminary in the capital, his cold shoulder is impenetrable. Not through any fault of my own, but he kicks himself for failing.

That's another note I made. Part of his condition stems from a job that, if ending in failure, results in personal hatred. Or discipline from his mother. I don't know if she screamed at him, or warned him that a job that goes unfinished is a great way to end his reputation, but Cloak hasn't been the same since that day. Always unpleasant and difficult to please, the creeping of hatred has slipped through the cracks of his scars and seeps into every room he stomps through.

Due to the sense of the walls closing in on me, I strolled to the gardens hoping to clear my head. Amongst the carved hedges and the echo of a trickling fountain, I look to find a bright spot in my notes. The scribbled handwriting over the page belongs to me, but staring at the words for too long has led me to believe that the truths make little sense at all. Are they mine? Or did Cloak lead me to believe there's something else going on?

Too many questions for the peaceful gardens. My mind wanders between the queen, Cloak, Castiel, and just how long my life will last if this doesn't work out. Another fault of my focus is the rough stone bench I sit on. The carved ornamental swirls along the legs travel to border the edge of the white stone seat, ending in the long tail of a dragon's body. Two beasts meet in the middle, hidden by my thighs, but I ran my fingers over the rough bumps of their edge before sitting down.

I didn't find this spot immediately. The maze of hedges took me through many turns before I discovered the remnants of a stone statue. My knowledge of its history is little to none; I recognize the remains to belong to the Raven Queen's former husband, the last king of Rivian, but the pieces have long been cleaned up. She ordered it demolished once he died at the hands of a jealous kitchen servant that poisoned his stew. As the story goes.

All that matters is the peacefulness of the area. Silence forms thick walls on my mind, making concentration even harder to achieve, but the notes haven't changed. I hope something comes out of what I've written so carefully in full detail. After facing my own complications due to the Void Queen's force of power, and understanding Castiel's silent rage with an inability to walk, Cloak's condition isn't the first I've tried to treat.

I hope I don't fail like I did with Castiel.

Following my analysis on Cloak, there isn't enough to gather about the Panjandrum Corps. They dispersed after searching for the Luminary—and failing—so Gav and Keaya were more focused on doing their jobs than introducing themselves further to me. If I can understand who they are, maybe it'll give me a better outlook on Cloak.