Kai Low stopped in surprise. "Ran Orlo?"
"Uncle!" Finally, someone he knew. Ran had been surprised at how uncomfortable he'd felt once he'd finally reached the Camelia. He'd spent two days sleeping by the road before the sisters had stumbled upon him. He hadn't really been ready to enter the Camelia, but he couldn't figure out how to say no to the two strangers. And they wouldn't stop asking him questions.
So many questions.
Among the Bandri, it was rude to ask after a stranger like that, but Ran Orlo was painfully aware he wasn't at home anymore. These weren't his people. They didn't care about him or his ways.
At least his uncle was here now, but that relief was short-lived.
Ran Orlo didn't even get a minute to speak with him before the man with him was demanding to know who Ran Orlo and the women were, and then Lord Ye was introducing everyone to each other again.
Ran Orlo didn't really pay attention; he tried to catch his uncle's eye and communicate that he wanted to talk privately, but there were too many people talking from too many different directions.
It was overwhelming for Ran Orlo, who'd never been locked in such a small, immovable room. He'd never been surrounded completely by stone before. The windows were tiny. He could probably squeeze through, but it wouldn't be comfortable, and he had the feeling they were high enough that jumping wouldn't be wise.
"Enough!" His uncle's voice cut through the confused chatter, silencing the room. He stomped over to the table and dropped the armful of strange books on it. They were so heavy that the table started to buckle.
Kai Low shook his arms out and sighed in relief. Ran Orlo took advantage of everyone else's surprise and slipped to his uncle's side. "How long have you been here?" Kai Low seemed confused, but he still hugged Ran tightly.
"Just got here," Ran muttered into his shoulder, relieved at the familiarity and comfort of Kai Low's arms. He was the only family member from his mother's side that had truly been present in Ran Orlo's life. The one who'd taught Ran to ride and how to hold a sword, while his father tried to build a better life for their people and occasionally taught Ran how to read between the lines of whatever the Elders or traders were saying.
The safety of his uncle made the stone room bigger, made it easier to breathe.
Ran Orlo decided not to move from his side as long as he had to stay in the stone city. "What are those, Uncle?"
His uncle turned a glare on the man he'd come in with. Rong Yuze, according to Lord Ye.
Yuze didn't seem bothered by it. He gave Kai Low a flat look and then glanced warily at the sisters.
"It's fine," Lord Ye decided after a moment of debate. "It's unlikely they're involved."
"Not impossible." Yuze returned.
The brash sister, Mela, scoffed. "Please. We've never even set foot on this estate before. Whatever you're struggling with here is all yours."
Yuze didn't look convinced, but he followed Lord Ye's order. "We found these in Wen Manor. Locked in a secret library on one of the basement levels."
Princess Soliel sat up at that. "That's where the tunnel led?"
"One of them." Kai Low muttered. Not pleased with the reminder of crawling through the damp, dark tunnels for hours.
Princess Soliel kneeled next to the table and started looking through the pile.
"Do you recognize them?" Lord Ye and Lord Zhao peered over her shoulders.
"Why would the Wen have these?" Lord Zhao muttered.
Princess Soliel frowned at the book with a vial decoration on the cover. "These are old magic." She poked at a few others, flipping them open and examining a few pages. "And they're originals."
"I didn't think the Wen's had the funds to afford books like that?" Yuze frowned, arms crossed.
"Who are the Wens?" Mela demanded as Tayla looked curiously at the books.
"A minor noble family." Lord Ye answered. "They ascended a few generations ago. They should not be able to have these."
"How did they even find them?" Princess Soliel muttered. "Some of these have been missing for decades. And these two," she motioned to two volumes she'd set aside. "Are supposedly locked away in the City of Illumination."
"I knew it," Yuze muttered.
Kai Low rolled his eyes. "Yes. Yes. This means they are the ones behind everything." He seemed satisfied with that conclusion, though Ran Orlo was still a little confused about what they were supposed to have done.
"I mean…" Lord Ye and Yuze shared a confused look. "This does suggest…"
Princess Soliel frowned. "I don't remember reading about any magic in their line?"
"I don't think there has been any." Lord Zhao answered. "This doesn't make sense…" He trailed off, lost in his thoughts.
There was something off about him that Ran Orlo couldn't put his finger on, but it seemed to go unnoticed by everyone else.
"That's probably why they needed the books?" Tayla pointed out. "Or do you need magic to use them?"
"You can read them without, but most of these potions would require magic to be really effective." Princess Soliel studied the pages. "And paying for magic like that would be even more expensive than these books."
"There's no way the Wens could afford that." Yuze huffed. "Unless they're sitting on a vault we don't know about."
"Maybe that's why they were stealing the artifacts?" Lord Ye suggested.
"Or using them for some of these." Princess Soliel flipped a few pages. "I think this is the miasma."
Lord Ye flinched. "The poison?"
Princess Soliel nodded, so distracted by the book that she seemed to miss the pained look on her husband's face.
"Wait," Lord Zhao shook his head. "The Wens weren't even part of the Camelia during the time frame we think the poison started."
"Part of the Camelia or part of the nobility?" Mela asked to clarify. Because there were common families outside the nobility that had been in Aontacht far longer than most of the noble families could claim.
Lord Zhao frowned. "That means we can't rule them out. It's too perfect." He added under his breath.
Ran Orlo's eyes moved between them all, trying to keep up. Things back home were much more straightforward, but it seemed a great deal was happening in the stone city.
Was that why his aunt had sent him?
~ tbc