Forgotten Embers

26. The Inquisitor

She looked at him, scared and nervous, her face only inches away for his own. He stared into her beautiful blue-green eyes, now shaded with fearful shock, and he felt a sudden cutting conviction.

'What am I doing?'

He stopped himself, easing off and pulling himself back from the table. "Sorry," he mumbled, placing his hand on the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Quince..." she began, her eyes watching him.

"No, it's okay," he told her, looking away. "You... don't owe me an explanation. I'm sorry," he said again quickly. "Look, I have a meeting about my apprenticeship. So, I'll... have to get going." He tilted his head back towards the door, letting out short nervous chuckle.

"Sure, Quince," she said with a soft smile, twisting her hair around her finger. "Thank you again for this," she added, tapping the book's cover.

He offered a small grin. "I've enjoyed this. If I didn't have this meeting today, I'd stay and learn some history with you."

She smiled. "Next time, then."

"Definitely," he assured her with a smile and a friendly wave as he departed.

He walked down the streets of Pyre, the rain still gently falling.

'Stephan... how does she know? Outside of the academy, we are forbidden to speak of him. Who would tell her? Mr. Ibori? No. He wouldn't involve her in this, but... she does remember him. So, then, there is something... she isn't telling me, and she isn't using the KLP, either!'

"Gah!" he cried out in frustration.

A few more steps and he stopped for a time. Caught up in his thoughts, he stared into his reflection in a puddle down below.

'Should I have said something? Should I have pushed her or been more forthright? Should I... turn her in to the men at High Palace? No...'

He kicked the puddle as he turned away, distorting his image as he sent the water flying in all directions.

'No, I need to get my mind off this. I have this meeting to go to. I'll be assigned to a member of the King's Court. I need to get my head together.'

He looked on to High Palace, setting his sights on the castle.

'Come on, Quince, destiny's calling!'

One of the guards met him at the gate and escorted him to a solitary waiting room deep within the fortress of High Palace. The room was a compact cube, which he estimated was about nine feet in any given direction. The door was easily recognizable from the outside, but it opened into the wall and was nearly invisible from the inside.

"Lord Kallida will he in shortly," the guardsman assured him.

He nodded an acknowledgement and watched the man as he left, paying careful attention to the door as it slid open, then shut again, noting its positioning.

'Just in case. Someone checking for it blindly would expect it to appear dead center, but it's about a foot to the left of that.'

The room was dark. Terribly dark. So dark, in fact, that he could not delineate between the floor, walls, and ceiling. Everything was swallowed up in complete blackness. Yet, there was light coming from somewhere, because he could still see his hand, though vaguely, and had some idea of depth.

'Still... I hate it when they pull things like this. It feels like I'm imprisoned. Ha! Maybe I would've been better to stay with Avera at the library, after all. Oh well...' he ran his fingers through his hair and brushed the tips of his fingers against his thumb nervously as he waited, 'too late now.'