FOURTH BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES OF FANTASILIA SERIES
𝘈 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭. 𝘈 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘈 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵. 𝘈 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦.
Xanthiene Vivenca, a fairy with a bounty for her soul, is caught between...
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Elred rocked back in her chair. Her hair snagged on the chair's back made of woven stalks. She clicked her tongue as she plucked strands off. She gathered her hair in a hasty bun and rested her head against the top rail. Then, her hair exploded from the bun and fell like a curtain. She rubbed her face. Ah, holy Hexen, she's tired.
Reeca sat cross-legged a few paces away from Elred's chair. The varichria had her eyes closed and her hands propped atop her knees. She hasn't moved for an hour since they entered this room. They still needed to plan. Why was Reeca sleeping?
Elred cursed as she brought up the layout of the Synketros in her memory. They're currently in the servants' quarters where most of the chunk of the space was dedicated to. This was where the servants lived. By servants, Elred meant her and Reeca's glamours.
Her thoughts strayed to the more private room given to her by the Sovereign because of her position as a general. As much as Elred wanted to hole up there, the servants quarters were what's fit for Kalida, an identity Elred created inside Synketros as a fallback plan. Kalida wasn't supposed to be used as it was a character Elred created out of boredom but now...it might be the only thing that could help them pull their plan off.
Funny, how fate and circumstance play with her.
There's also the fact that Elred gave Kalida a northern drawl and a limp. That only made it harder for her to stay in character when she needed to run. What's up with the lame backstory of being a vorkee herder before ending up here?
Another problem would be where to slot Reeca in. Kalida was made to be shy and already had two established friends that think she was being sent to missions as the reason she wasn't in the mess hall with them every day. Those servants would surely notice if Kalida suddenly gained a friend overnight.
Reeca couldn't stray far from Elred since she couldn't maintain a glamour on a fairy from great distances. Lately, she had noticed a drastic decrease in her magic after that stunt she pulled with the Glass Mountain's well of power. As a last precaution, they both wore cloakers in case Elred's magic failed. Should they employ physical disguises? Just to be safe?
Elred chewed on her nails—a habit she recently developed from nowhere. The restriction against magic also posed a problem. Only five spells per person were allowed to be used everyday so they needed to strategize which spells to execute. Punishment awaited those who exceed five and Elred knew from experience that they're not pleasant at all.
The next thing Elred knew, she was pacing with a third of her nails already bitten off their nail beds. "I'm getting headaches just by looking at you do that," Reeca's voice speared through Elred's thoughts. She stopped and turned to find the varichria propping one eye open. "Sit down."
"Well, I'm sorry," Elred snorted and plopped down the chair once more. "I still have to figure out how to get out of this room without being tracked but by all means, I'll sit down while you continue your beauty sleep."
