Tale of Four

Cillian looked around the room with a bored expression, leaning against his hand as guests happily mingled with one another, eating. ’I wish I were with them.’ Although he understood why he had to sit by his father’s side, he couldn’t help but lament over the fact that by doing so, he was being taken away from the actual banquet and wished he could be like his sisters, who could happily chat away without care. Watching the guest, he saw a familiar face, in a place he shouldn’t have been, staring ahead with a shocked look, taking peeking glances towards Lady Blackwell, the bird on his shoulder, its beak opening and closing slightly.

Keeping watch, he saw Tristan look around for a moment before secretly getting up and walking backwards, vanishing into the dimly lit area of the hall before leaving through a side exit. "Father." Cillian quietly spoke, getting Brandon’s attention away from his food. "Tristan just left. He should have noticed me watching under normal circumstances, but he didn’t."

Looking at his father, he saw him narrow his gaze towards where Tristan had just sat, then tap the table multiple times. "Azikial will watch. If anyone noticed, pretend you didn’t." Cillian nodded and let out a deep sigh, having hoped his father would have sent him to investigate. With nothing better to do, he closed his eyes and quietly hummed along to the music being played, sipping his wine every few seconds.

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Closing the door behind him, Tristan looked around, making sure no one was hiding in the room for whatever reason, before taking a seat and looking at Annabell. "You can’t sense anyone." Annabell shook her head. With that final confirmation, Tristan nodded, "Then talk."

"That woman. She didn’t have..." Annabell stopped and shot a glare at the bottom of the door, "I know you’re there, lizard." Her voice was angry as she looked at an empty spot. Azikial disabled his invisibility and shook, showing his teeth towards Annabell in annoyance.

"I am a Chameleon. Get it right." Tristan looked at the creature, its old voice unlike Annabell’s, truly sounding like a being with ancient wisdom. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"It’s still a lizard." Annabell snapped, "Go away, we’re having a private conversation." Tristan sighed.

"It’s fine, Annabell." Looking down at the silver chameleon, he smiled, "Bradon sent you, I’m assuming. He noticed me leaving?"

"Cillian did. Brandon simply acted." Looking between the two, the chameleon climbed the wall and turned invisible. "Pretend I’m not here and talk." With its final words, it closed its eyes, tricking Tristan into believing it had left, leaving Annabell to fiercely glare at the wall.

"It’s fine, Annabell. If Brandon learns of this, at least someone can act." Annabell huffed, angry that she and Tristan weren’t the ones to solve it alone, but did as told.

"Like I was saying before, a rude, uninvited, and slimy guest came." Rolling his eyes, he suppressed a laugh, "That woman, she didn’t carry the bloodline powers like the others. It’s strange, her body definitely has it connected to her, but it’s in a different way."

"Maybe it’s how the Blackwells’ power is held within them." Tristan sighed, "I’m more interested in what you said about her. Why did you say she didn’t feel alive?"

"Tristan, I know I don’t need to ask, but do you trust that falsehood before me is irrelevant?" Tristan nodded, "Her body, it can move, talk, eat and act on its own, but compared to normal humans, it’s missing soemthing." Annabell flapped her wings in annoyance. "I can’t be sure. I need to get closer to know or merge with you, but it felt like her soul was missing."

"What?" Tristan leaned forward, "Her... soul. That’s real?"

"You know it is, where do you think I stay when I’m not summoned. The Cosmaton blood simply is the vessel that holds it and allows me to come to the physical world." Annabell casually said, as if the knowledge wasn’t completely new to Tristan. "Anyway, her body is strange. Other than not having a soul." Annabell paused, falling into thought, "I sense arcane arts throughout her body. It’s strange. It’s like it’s woven in with another power, but they are inherently separate."

Tristan took a deep breath, "This other power. What did it feel like to you?"

"Disgusting. The most revolting thing I have ever felt, but also strangely familiar." Annabell tried to think, "I don’t know why it is." Giving up, she slumped into her body. "Anyway, that woman, I don’t think she’s human. If she is human, then she isn’t alive. But it also could be that it isn’t her real body." Flapping her wings, mad at herself, she stared into Tristan’s eyes, "Let me go out later. I’ll go to her tent and get a closer look."

"Absolutely not." Tristan flat-out refused.

"Tristan."

"Annabell, are you crazy. Not only is it dangerous, but she is a great Lord, whatever she is. You aren’t exactly subtle. If you’re spotted and don’t face harm, the King could potentially face trouble becuase someone tried to spy on her."

"But Tristan."

"No." Shaking his head, he sighed, "It’s not safe, Annabell." Tristan sighed, leaving the room silent. From the wall, Azikial became visible once more.

"This lady. Is it the Blackwell lady?" Tristan nodded. The Chameleon nodded and jumped off the wall. "Don’t sleep tonight. I may be back."

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Under the table, Bradon felt the familiar feel of Azikial’s cold body climbing up him. Peeking downwards, the Lizards started to blink, retelling everything Tristan and Annabell spoke about. Silently listening, Bradon hid his feelings but struggled to hide his cold gaze. Only when Azikial finished did he rest a hand on the lizard’s back.

’Do you trust the words of this bird?’

Azikial paused for a moment and began blinking. ’I know the nature of that bird. What you learned is true. It cannot lie; it struggles to scheme. Most importantly, falsehood before it is revealed. Unmerged, it isn’t as effective, but if it were merged with the boy and trained, they would likely be able to read people’s true intentions without them saying or doing anything.’

Brandon’s body tensed up, releasing the horror of the matter. Peeking out from behind his monocle, he looked at Lady Blackwell and watched as she ate, her movements refined and elegant, unmistakably those of a living person who had spent decades perfecting them.

’The Blackwells have been quiet. Cillian feared they may have found a way to keep their power. Blood Magic is unlike any other power. It is evil and defies the laws of the world.’ Fiddling with his monocle, he ignored the look Anton gave him when he knew he was thinking about soemthing.

’Inbreeding led to early death, but if you were to bypass inbreeding and still get the same results of an early death, what would it be?’ His mind raced as he tried to think of soemthing. Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself down and stood up, walking to Anton. Leaning over, he quietly whispered, "Later, I need to talk. In private. There may be a big problem." Anton slowly nodded and lifted his head.

"You’re letting your worries slip. Hide it." Whispering back, Brandon chuckled and put his fake thin smile on, retaking his seat and turning to Mary to talk to her.