The Week of Waiting

A week had passed since I woke up in Sapientia. The white ceiling of my room had become a familiar sight but it still brought me no comfort.

 

I was able to walk properly now. The stiffness in my legs had faded and the wounds from the frost vultures had closed into plain unbroken skin.

 

I had asked Sebastian and Lucas to gather every scrap of information they could find on the Archmage Merlin while I was recovering. I told them to look in the taverns and the smaller research circles where the official records didn't reach.

 

Merlin was a myth even in his own city. He only appeared when the city faced a crisis or when he felt like speaking. He was not a man who could be found by looking.

 

I spent my afternoons in the Great Library of Sapientia. I ignored the healers who told me to rest. I sat in the dusty stacks and scanned through books for hours. I was looking for anything that explained my condition.

 

I was also looking for any mentions of the spell "Blessing of the Stars" along the way. But it was all in vain. I couldn't find a single mention of the spell in the public archives. Even the rare grimoires on stellar magic spoke only of its divination abilities. They didn't mention the power I had seen Elara use on the mountain.

 

Neither Sebastian nor Lucas had better luck. They couldn’t find anything useful to find merlin either. Even the higher-ups of Sapientia that I had talked with had no idea how to find the Archmage. It was as if the world was conspiring to keep me in the dark.

 

A message had arrived from the capital this morning. The Emperor was losing his patience. As Elara’s condition had not become any better, she was to be brought back to the capital for the imperial physicians to examine.

 

 We were leaving in two days.

 

I left my room and started walking toward the Great Library again.

 

It was my last chance to find a lead. The streets were bustling again with scholars and students.

 

I moved quietly through the crowd.

 

I reached the library gates. The white stray cat was still there. It had been sitting near the entrance since the first day I started visiting. It was a scruffy thing with patches of grey fur and eyes that were too bright. It seems no one had picked it up yet.

 

It meowed and tried approaching me again. It rubbed its head against my boot and looked up at me with a demanding stare. I just ignored it and stepped over the creature to enter the library.

 

"Here again Lord Julius," the librarian asked me.

 

"Yeah. Today is the last day," I said.

 

I went to my usual table. I started continuing where I had left off.

 

I had scanned through every book that could have potentially explained my condition and the blessing she used.

 

From all my research till now I had come to an hypothesis that her affinity magic was a variant of stellar magic which usually appears white and is mainly used in divination but is golden and a different kind of power in her case.

Her affinity had always been of a unique kind like mine so we never had much information on it. 

She had told me when we were children that it was a holy affinity. I had believed in her words as holy magic also appears golden and is just as potent as her abilities but the power she had used to save me told a different story. It didn't feel holy. It felt ancient and heavy. I was no fool. I had started connecting the dots.

 

Was my return to the past also somehow related to her power?

 

The golden star mark on chest looked just like how the surrounding mana appeared when she used the blessing.

 

I shook my head to clear the thought. No. If it was somehow her doing, why did she have to kill me and everyone close to me? Why will she burn the dutchy if she wanted to save me? I was letting emotions cloud my judgment again.

 

The Elara I knew in the past was a murderer. The Elara lying in the mansion right now was a mystery.

 

I completed going through the remaining books on the shelf. There was nothing. No "Blessing of the Stars" and no cure for someone who’s magic is being rejected by space itself. I closed the final book and felt the weight of failure in my chest.

 

I left the library. It was almost evening now. The sun had begun to set and the magical lamps of the city were beginning to flicker to life. The stray cat was still there at the gate. It was staring at me. It started rubbing against my leg and meowing with a persistent tone.

 

"Fine. I will take you," I muttered.

 

I didn't know why I said it. Maybe I just didn't want to leave Sapientia with nothing. I picked the cat up. It was surprisingly light. It stopped meowing and settled into my arms as if it had been waiting for this all along.

 

I reached the mansion we were staying at. Sebastian saw me as I entered. He greeted me and then his eyes travelled down to the ball of white fur in my arms.

 

"Master Julius. What are you carrying?"

 

"It’s a cat I found. It was pestering me every day on my way to the library."

 

Sebastian blinked. "I didn't know you liked cats Master Julius."

 

"Guess I was influenced," I said.

 

I remembered Elara talking about her pet cats at the Aurelian Palace when we were traveling. She had spoken about them with a warmth I hadn't understood at the time. I handed the cat over to Sebastian.

 

"Feed it and take care of it."

 

"As you wish my lord."

 

I went back to my room to bath and change my clothes. After I was done, I prepared to visit Elara. I wanted to see if her condition had improved.

 

I opened my door and the cat came running to me. It almost tripped me as it darted between my legs. Sebastian followed behind it with a frustrated look.

 

"Sorry Master Julius. I will take it back to the kitchens."

 

The cat hissed at him and hid behind my heel. It looked up at me with those piercing blue eyes.

 

"It’s fine. Let it be," I said.

 

It followed me everywhere. It walked at my side with a strange grace as I made my way to Elara’s room. The guards bowed and let me inside.

 

I sat on the chair beside her bed. The room was silent except for the sound of her steady breathing. I stared at her for a long time. I wondered if she would ever wake up again.

 

I wondered if she was trapped in the same void I had seen before I returned to the past.

 

The cat was sitting on the side of the bed. It took glances at us both as if it were judging us. It was getting late so I eventually stood up and left.

 

I was tired. The week of searching had drained what little energy I had left.

 

I went back to my room and fell into a deep sleep.

 

I woke up to something scratching me. It was sharp and persistent. I opened my eyes and saw the cat sitting on my chest. It was staring toward the door.

 

I noticed the door was open. I always locked it. I looked toward the hallway and realized all the lights outside were gone. The magical lamps were dead. The silence was absolute. It was the kind of silence that only exists when life has been snuffed out.

 

Something is wrong.

 

I grabbed my sword from the nightstand. I didn't have magic but the weight of the steel was enough. I slowly went outside. I stepped into the corridor and saw it.

 

All the guards were lying on the floor. I checked the nearest one. He was alive but he was in a sleep so deep that he didn't even twitch when I kicked his boot. It was a high level sleep spell.

 

I heard a sound coming from Elara’s room across the quiet corridor. It was a soft rustle of fabric. Was someone here to finish her off while she was defenseless?

 

I didn't think about the risk. I ran. I reached her room and slammed open the door.

 

I saw her.

 

She was awake. She wasn't lying in the bed anymore.

 

She was standing in the balcony with her back to me. She was wearing a thin white gown and her hair fell down her back in golden waves. She turned toward me as the door hit the wall.

 

The moon in the background was huge and bright. It reflected on her face and her hair. She looked ethereal. She looked like the stars she had summoned on the mountain.

 

"Julius," she said. Her voice was clear and steady.

 

The cat walked into the room and sat on the bed. It looked at Elara and then at me and let out a soft purr that echoed in the silent room.

 

The week of waiting was over.