Varian of the Northern Isles

Caelix

Varian's POV
It had only been a couple hours since I'd gotten settled in with my equipment, but things were running smoothly. I had about five solutions prepared and I was just getting the burner ready when I heard footsteps.
"Hello?" I said.
I turned and saw Caelix leaning heavily against the door frame.
"Um hi," I watched him, "are you alright?"
Caelix stumbled over to the stable where my projects were laid out. He did not acknowledge my questions but took to poking around my material.
"Hey! Stop that! Don't touch th-" I shouted and tried to swat Caelix's hand away from my table. "Alchemy is a very delicate process witch requires focu-." I stopped. Caelix had withdrawn his hand and was slowly shambling around the room; bumping into tables and chairs. He didn't respond when I tried to get his attention.
"Caelix. Do you hear me?" I asked. The weapons master appeared to be in a trance like state, empty eyes staring holes through the floor.
I grabbed my notebook and began jotting down notes.
•Eyes had lost focus look and had no sense of space or depth.
•Does not react to outside Stimulus.
•What is causing this? A form of hypnosis?

When I looked up, Caelix's face was a hair's breath from my own. I screamed and stumbled backwards and tripped over my chair. I quickly righted myself and scooted myself back to a safe distance. Caelix remained stationary but his head twisted as if in a question. I gulp. Something was off about him from this morning and I didn't know what could have caused it.
Then Caelix strengthened his back and some light returned to his posture. "Ah, you're Varian, right?"
He picked up the chair setting it down gently on the floor. I nodded, not sure what to say.
"Well, "he brushed his hand over the hot plate, "I hope you are adjusting here. Her Highness needs all the support she can get." with that he left the room leaving me feeling cold and clammy. I shivered to myself and made sure I locked the door once her left.
There were no other incidents until dinner.

The woman Catherine had returned and escorted me back to the common area. My eyes were drawn directly to Hypatia conducting a meeting with the leaders here. She was focused on her speech but inclined her head to me. I stayed to the back of the room listening. Leanna had devised a plan for Hypatia to usurp the crown from the Duke currently in charge. Jaclyn spies had discovered possible evidence of Helen's possible alliance with the Duke to get Hypatia out of the picture along with the fall out between the Duke and her subsequent murder. There was a ripple of murmurs around the room as people absorbed this new information.
"I'm afraid we have other concerning news." announced Jaclyn," we have seen evidence of animal testing on palace guard dogs.  The facilities look old so we don't think who ever was in charge of the project is still around. With that in mind, please consider avoiding the palace dogs until further notice."

     Hypatia glanced towards me. We both remembered the monster in the mountains with the dog collar around it's neck. Hypatia had told me of its hypnotizing howl and its scars from what she believed to be incisions. Hypatia raised her voice to call attention when someone shouted from the entrance way.
     "HIDE! THE GUARDS ARE DOING AN INSPECTION."

People jumped into action, Hypatia's words immediately forgotten. The candles went out as people dove into secret doors and cubby holes hidden in clever wood working. Hypatia  ran to me and grabbed my hand. She bolted down the opposite hallway and into her room. She grabbed a floor board and easily pried it open. She shoved me down and crawled in behind me. The door closed on surprisingly quiet hinged as we crouched in the dark.
     We were quiet, not a word spoken; only slightly raised pulses from running.
     "Listen, Hypatia, there's something I need to tell you about Caelix. I saw hi-" Hypatia covered my mouth with her hand. I felt her shake her head. Not now. I nodded and we fell back into silence.
In the dark I let my mind wander.
So much had changed since Hypatia had swept me up on her offer. It felt like ages since I'd last seen my father. We had parted on a stupid argument and I wondered when I would get to see him again. Corona felt like a distant dream of sunshine in this winter palace . I'd hardly seen Hypatia since she had become engrossed on helping run her own forces.
There! Footsteps! Heavy boots thudded across the floor and I felt my throat constrict. Hypatia tensed, her arms uncoiled from around the door handle to her front, ready to attack or defend. I knew she would do either in a heartbeat. The footsteps marched right over our hiding spot and paused. I held my breath, not daring to look. The boots might feel my eyes looking at them through the floor. The boots meandered around the room opening drawers and rummaging through books. Satisfied, the footsteps left. I could feel hypatia slowly uncoil, tension easing from her pose. In the darkness, I found her hand and gave it a small squeeze. She squeezed it back.