In a distance one could hear gallops. They were drawing closer fast with every minute getting louder. Behind them was a series of rattles of the wheels of the carriage they pulled that rose over the rocky bumpy path they were on. Faster and faster they spun getting closer to a sole building just at the border of Laptove's two laps, the higher Lap and the lower Lap.
The wheels finally stopped at the doorsteps of the dark ominous building. Outside its gates, a ferry of crates were being loaded into the back of a cart. Standing guard close to the cart were four figures, invisible in the dim moonlight.
The night was ever pitch black even with the dim light from a street lamp across the gated wall. No matter how much one tried all they could make out of the building was nothing but its dark outline that ran across its front walls. Its windows were closed except for one on the second floor.
The doors of the carriage opened and with them the shinning light inside the carriage cast a shadow of the person inside. The person rose from her seat and walked out of the carriage with a little help from the man holding the door. She flipped the fan in her hand open revealing its white and black flowers patterns on it.
As she stepped on the first row of stairs the light of the front porch lit. It illuminated the short layers of stairs that she was ascending. At the top a lady in a maid's uniform waited.
" Lady Belhe, " she greeted her with a bow.
" Is he awake? " Lady Belhe asked not slowing down for a second.
The maid followed quickly matching her pace as the walked through the halls of the building.
" Yes. But he hasn't talked to anyone other than Lisa. She's currently with him. "
" Hmm… Tell Lisa to meet me in my office. " With that the maid split off into the corridor, leaving her walking along the main hall.
There was a lit room at the end of the corridor she was in. The corridor was quiet, every creaking footstep audible from end to end. In the room there were hardly any movements other than of a moving shadow that peered through the small gap between the door and the floor. The maid approached and opened the door without a knock as she abruptly entered the room.
" Pardon me, " she said shifting her eyes across the room.
Inside the room was a single wooden bed with a small drawer to the side. On top of the drawer was a bowl of steaming water and cloth half dipped into it. There was some low groaning coming from the turning sheets of the bed. The groans had dialed down compared to the last time she was in the room. They had descended down from a pain filled cry to a slowly fading sting.
Around the room four lamps were perched onto the four walls of the room numbing the moonlight from the open window across the room. The maid's eyes first settled on the bed. She had previously left Lisa there attending to the mysterious boy sleeping on it. But now she was currently standing next to the window her blue eyes gazing at the carriage as it left the small compound.
" The lady has summoned you. " the maid said.
Lisa turned her eyes to the door, where the maid stood with her head meekly facing down.
" Watch him please. " she said as she made her way to the door.
The maid gave a slight nod then made her way towards the bed.
…
Her office still had that creaky noise every time someone entered. It was sharp, screechy and most of all annoying. She had order for it to be fixed but the woodsman working on it had left of for a vacation.
Tch! She clicked.
A vacation.
Something she had not enjoyed in a while, all because she had an empire to run.
As the doors hinges grinded against each other, a brown haired lady stepped in. She was in her maid's uniform, perfectly ironed exiling any possible wrinkle. Her steps were graceful as she moved to the front of her desk greeting her with a bow.
" Milady, "
" How is he? " Lady Belhe asked.
" He's just gone back to sleep. His condition is stable now. " Lisa answered.
Behind her desk lady Belhe sat on a honey oak chair. Her fan was set on top her desk as her stern eyes watched the flickering lamp at the edge. Behind her was a large framed picture. On it were three girls. One was a grown up while the other two were two little girls each with a uniquely colored bow holding up their hair.
" So what was his diagnosis. Did the healers find anything? " she queried.
" No. Nothing specific. His physical condition was fine with just a few cuts here and there. Nothing was wrong with his arc nor his arcane. Or that's what they saw." Lisa answered.
" The healers huh? " lady Belhe said.
" And what do you think the problem was? " she asked shifting her gaze to Lisa.
Lisa hesitated.
" After they left I was able to 'examine' him… and I found something alarming. " Lisa began.
" The arcane in his body was normal except for one oddly specific place. It was latent like someone was trying to hide it… even from him. "
" And what was it? " Lady Belhe asked.
" The stream of arcane around his brain was contaminated. There was a large mass of foreign arcane residing close to his brain arcane stream and was slowly suppressing his memories and consequently suppressing his will and replacing it with another's. "
" I call it suggestive mind control. "
" Was there anything else? " lady Belhe asked in a serious tone.
" Yes. The suggestive part. "
" The mass had some properties similar to conditional instructions."
" They were already prebaked into the mass. And judging by the extend of their reach the instructions only lit up when certain conditions were met and gradually sipped into his brain making him think that they are his own. "
Lady Belhe's grew more stern.
" So he's a spy. " She asked.
" Possibly but it's too early to judge. " Lisa added.
" And what of the boy? Is he going to recover? "
" In a few days, yes. His fever has dropped and dizziness gone but he still can't see people's faces clearly… apart from mine apparently. "
" That's good. Once he fully recovers bring him to me and as for the arcane mass… "
" I'll have a look at it and report back to you. " Lisa answered.
Lady Belhe let out a sigh. She swung back onto her chair, turned to face the giant frame picture behind her. Her brows narrowed when her eyes met the blue eyes of the grown lady in the picture. She was quiet for a while as she stared at her face with flat eyes.
Then she spoke.
" Looks like past is coming back to haunt us, isn't Lisa? "
Lisa schemed through the frame. She understood it too well.
" Well we don't really have a choice, milady"