Her heart hammered hard and fast, anxious and lost for a moment before. She felt slightly confused, even disoriented. She shook her head, established her feet on the ground and collected herself before walking on. What she felt was nothing but calm and focused and yet, there was a constant undercurrent of anxiousness. No. It wasn't anxiousness. It was something more, something less like- worry. Was she worrying for Vance? No. She knew he could handle himself. More than handle himself. He had proved it in the backwaters.
At the top of the stairs, she watched carefully for any signs of the fairy. In quick motion, she descended the stairs and found a fairy, still tied up, had been moved to the chancellor's office, her back facing the stairs while the warden sat before her, eyes two balls of fire, sweat matted her brows and forehead while a harsh red complexion filled her skin. The fairy was pushing the warden to look around. There was no other fairy around. Ash suspected they were looking for her in other rooms. The anxiousness in her chest spiked suddenly. What was this? Was she worried? This was not herself. It felt a lot like someone else's emotions. It felt just like when she put her hands on Vance, covering him in her resistance.
She moved sideways, her eyes on the warden until they were out of the sight. Right besides the staircase was another room, often connected with much smaller rooms that led to the side door. This is where Vance had entered. If he had not moved to the main room, not taken care of the bound fairy, it meant he was still in this side of the house.
Past the first guest parlor, were two other rooms that looked like a place to display collectibles. Two fairies, in each room, lay unconcious and one of them was knifed into the wall by her wing. She followed the lead and came around to the side parlor which was never used except the entrance and saw two more fairies trapped in a glass jar, banging their fists on the glass. Further from them lay two twigs, broken and tossed, leaving the fairies unable to channel their magic.
Ash passed more rooms through a back hallway that led to guestrooms. None of the rooms were touched. When she reached the last door, she paused. Everything in her body screamed not to open that door. Everything in her bones felt reluctant. If these were Vance's feelings, he was in danger. Instead of opening the door, she leaned forward and put her ear on it. It someone was holding him hostage, she knew better than to barge in. Inside, she heard murmuring, slow and steady, a calm person was talking. A person, not a fairy. The priestess. She stepped back, put her hand on the door knob and closed her eyes, calling darkness from every corner of the house to this room.
Then she felt it, a light twitch in her hand, as she felt the person on the other side trying to turn the knob. Ash had occupied this room previously and some of her possessions still lay in there. She knew where everything was even in utter darkness. She turned the knob slowly and swung it quickly. But the other end was ready. As soon as she opened, a fist came straight for her face. She felt its movements in the darkness rather than saw it come. She leaned back and caught the wrist, digging her nails in with great disregard. And she felt it again- a spike in her emotions. However, the hand opened and light poured out of the cut in the palm. Ash sidestepped the single ray and saw her opponent. The darkness was slow to crawl into the room but she could already start feeling where everything was. The dresser on the side, her things still on top of it, her bag, still open on the side and the small box in the corner of the bed, still untouched. Most of all, she half saw and half felt Vance, laying on the floor, stiff, eyes wide looking straight at her.
She felt his eyes flash with anger as the darkness between them stiffened. The high priestess raised her other hand and caught her wrist, pulling her close. Ash ducked despite the sudden tug and rammed her head into the tall woman's abdomen.
She staggered back but Ash did not give her a chance to gather herself. She lowered and swept the woman off her feet, letting her fall backwards, her head hitting the side of Vance's leg.
And she passed out. Vance sprang up, and in a blur of motion she couldn't feel even in the darkness that was now thicker, she felt his hand on her shoulder, sliding down her arms. She couldn't see his face clearly anymore but she felt the worry radiating off of him.
"I am fine." his hands on her elbows paused, curving around them slowly, softly. Everywhere his fingers grazed buzzed with goosebumps. Her heart picked up but in a very different way and she felt his too- aware. Very much aware of himself and her. Aware of their surrounding and the darkness, and the heat that buzzed between their bodies.
She felt h priestess body move a little.
Then she moved quickly and felt his disappointment burried under the urgency.
Ash sat besides the high priestess' head and put her hands around like she had seen her mentor do for the old madame. And like that she began to pull the hypnosis. She felt it again, the deeper darkness, a layering she had felt in Karn's head.
She pulled and pulled and pulled. There was a lot of hypnosis. It must have taken a number of fairies to put the high priestess under.
Vance said, "We need to contact the investigators who are coming down tomorrow and ask for them to bring a larger group of people."
Ash nodded, "that, and we need to send a message back to Kalai to send a few moderators in that party too. The rebellion of the fairies is no small matter. We don't know the fairies numbers or their allies. Or the people they have put under hypnosis."
"Pulling in moderators into the mix will complicate the investigation. No offenece." Vance said.
"It is complicated already. We need backup, we need fighters, not just investigators. We don't even know if we will survive until morning." Ash reasoned.
Vance released a frustrated breath. She could feel that he was conflicted. She was right and he was right. They were both trying to handle the sutuation.
"We need a middle ground." The high priestess groaned.
Ash removed her hands and felt the darkness around in the woman's mind. It was still there, lingering like physical object, like a part of her brain itself. It was entwined in her mind in a way, Ash didn't know could be achieved. However, she could feel the that darkness was resisting, as if it had a mind of its own, as if the high priestess herself, of her own was protecting that thread of darkness.
Ash did not speak of it. She asked, "what should we do?"
"Vance, send a signal to the nearest Sanguine Knight outpost. We need backup, or a large force that can suppress a rebellion before the investigators arrive."
"I... I didn't think it would go to such lengths. The light is in my room."
Silence. Ash felt it, felt him and his emotions. She put a hand to his arm, "none of us knew it would be this big. Better get ready."
"You go with him. I will see to their leader in the front room."
Ash shook her head. "No. They might hypnotize you again."
The high priestess moved fast. Ash caught her hand again but Vance leaned back and Ash felt the knick on his shoulder. Ash snapped, "What are you doing?"
The high priestess did not answer but Ash felt her hand move slowly through the darkness and put her blood splattered hand on her eyes.
"Blood magic is banned." Vance spoke gravely and the high priestess responded, "desperate time call for desperate measures."
"Will not be hypnotised now."
Ash didn't like it, the way the high priestess used blood magic, as if it was common for her, the knowledge came easily and the actions easier.
She said nothing. Instead she stood up. "We better go to your room. I want to drop by Sven's room and see if we can help his hypnosis."
Vance took Ash by the waist, and she felt his happiness and worry intermingle. He didn't approve of blood magic still as they ran out. Ash did not try to justify it either. She asked, "will you report her?"
"After everything is over. Yes."
If they were really mates, he could feel her approval of it too. If they didn't report it, the high priestess wouldn't stop. There will be more excuses later.
While Vance ran, Ash flew beside him. For the first time she noticed how she leaned into him, wrapped her arm around his shoulder, neither too broad, nor narrow, but straight and lean just how she liked it.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, just as their feet touched the ground. She didn't want him to find out she was marveling at his shoulders. Vance turned to her with a slight smile. Ash knew she had been caught. She walked straight, hoping to look as readable as ever and walked down the stairs, "where is your room?"
Vance followed her. "Wait here. I will retrieve it."
And Vance ran to his room. Ash was back where she had stood when everything started, when she had caught the fairy. She walked over, still unsure why the fairy tried to look into the room if she could just have Akiye or someone else spy in on their conversations. Inside, the room's things had been shifted. The table was against the far wall and the chairs were absent. Ash heard a soft sound of cracks coming from the side room where the council stacked its paperwork.
She stepped forward and found her foot unable to go move forward. There was something stopping it. Something cushiony and palpable blocked the open doorway. Ash put her hand to it and felt the tangiable thickness of the air wrapped around her hand, sucking all the blood out of her hand, making it immovable.
Ash snatched her hand back, stepped back, pulled her foot back and kicked. Yet, the unseen wall remained thick and tangiable. someone had blocked the doorway. There were other two entrances.
Vance ran back, besides her. "Let's go," and wrapped a hand around her waist, this time from front to back, looping around her stomach.
"Wait."
Vance turned around and stopped. "what the... who? What happened to the room?"
She felt his surprise. Ash looked back. What could he see?
Vance turned to her and turned back. He must have felt her confusion. "There is a large circular sign on the floor, with broken chair parts standing at poles at the end of the circle."
Ash looked at the side door. "I can here the sound of breaking from the store room but I can't see anything."
Vance stepped forward and felt the force of the blockage himself.
"Let's go around." he suggested and took her flying once again. sure enough the sound through the side corridor was louder.
Then a fairy flew out, carrying pieces of the spinter into the council room. In fact, a line of them carried the splinters. Ash still couldn't see past the palpable wall as they disappeared inside.
She looked to Vance who pulled her away from the corridor. "They are preparing for some ritual. The preparation is till not complete. They are now piling up a sage of broken wood in the middle of their circle."
Ash was reminded of Akiye, eyes bleeding as she saw them in her dream in the middle of the circle. Her heart picked up. She had bad dreams recently, of fairies, of darkness and hypnotized people, with Vance in the back of them and Akiye in the front. What was happening now was not too far from those dreams.
"Let's head out and send the signal. Drop me in Sven's room and be aware."
Vance nodded. They rushed up the stairs together and parted ways. She opened Sven's door slowly and found Karlene sitting there with Vance's clothes around her shoulder. His slight jacket that barely covered her past her thighs and Sven's short, she must have pulled from his room. The room was empty.
Karlene looked up, slightly exhausted, perhaps from restraining him.
"Are you alright?"
Karlene nodded, swayed and fell. Passed out. Ash saw the long wolf marks on the side of her neck the torn part of the jacket with claw marks running down her arm. Ash knew she needed to be taken to the high pristess or someone to heal her before it left any marks but she knew none except the high priestess. Sven would have to do it.
Sven was lying not far from Karlene, half naked and passed out. Karlene must have dressed him clumsily, as blood mattered the top of the shorts. Her heart shook at the devotion they each had for each other. Piled of bloodied clothes were discarded far from Sven in every side of the room too. Ash tried not to see, not to look.
She sat by Sven's head and pulled at the darkness. It took just as long as it took for the high priestess and in the end, Sven opened his eyes but Ash felt a thread if darkness clinging on with its entire might. Ash grit her teeth and pulled. Sven groaned. Karlene stirred. Ash stopped.
The darkness was, as if the part of Sven now. Ash's heart quivered.
Sven sat up slowly and froze at her condition. Ash didn't let him ponder. "the high pristess is in danger. Take her to some healer. Someone. She needs help."
Sven scrambled, looked at his hands once and scooped her up and ran out of the room. Ash looked at the cloth that was discarded by the door and left the room after them.
Karlene had wiped Sven's hands off blood before he woke up but did not bother for herself. She could never be that. Being mates was no different, no better, superior or inferior to any other love, she felt in that moment.
For the first time since finding out the possibility of Vance being her mate, she relaxed. Her heart, felt nothing but her own emotions and for that, she was grateful.