Chapter 17: Somnium: Chapter 3

Mr. Filius, in his last letter to me, had advised me to suspend my studies while at St. Blanc. Despite- or perhaps because of- my desire to join the guild, I didn’t heed his advice.

I woke early each morning, before the prayer-bells chimed, to follow Mercy at a distance as she crept from the servant’s quarters and into the woods. If she saw me, she never gave any indication. She went purposefully off the path, through the forest thicket behind the Library, and into a far clearing. There she stretched, did simple exercises, and then worked her way through intricate martial forms.

Dressed in my traveling skirt and loose stays, I was able to perform most of the stretches, and I followed the forms as best I could while hidden in a little grove of trees. Most of her moves were too quick or complex for me to follow. I picked a few of the simpler moves and practiced them over and over, trying to match her graceful stance as I performed the short pattern of punches and kicks. I was met with a greater challenge in avoiding the dry leaves underfoot, the sound of which would give me away. Their pattern was masked by spots of sunlight that danced with me across the forest floor.

The ritual ended early enough for me to go back into my room, clean myself, and dress before going to attend Lady Fairfax. Hope never questioned where I had been, and if I met anyone on the path back, I merely explained I had been taking my morning constitutional.

After prayer, I would spend as much of the day as possible in the library. I was generally left alone to study until the afternoon, when I was obliged to join the other court ladies in the salon. Sometimes, however, I would suffer an interruption. Though the library was an isolated place, I quickly gained a reputation for being studious, so when anyone wanted to find me, they would check the library first.

In the library, I scoured the history books, looking for clues to the oculist guild’s past. I also kept books on natural science near at hand. After one instance where Lady Fairfax had cast my books a look of surprise and commented that she knew very few women so interested in the sciences, I added books of poetry to the pile. Once, when Lady Innocence had mistaken my studiousness for piety, I decided to add the litany, as well.

No matter how many books I added to my table, however, I always returned to the strange storybook printed with the picture of an eye. It was presented as a set of morality tales, but I could not tell how much was fiction and how much was suppressed history.

The Tale of the Lost King

And the Fallen Six

In the dark ages, when the beast-men called Ancients roamed the land, the Gods created mankind to bear the light of the Gods into the world.

Among the first men, thirty were honored as the best and brightest of their race. They were given swords to fight the Ancients, and titles to rule the land they conquered. The strongest, bravest, and most beautiful of the honored thirty was Asmodeus, whom Order decreed would one day be High King

The soulless Ancients cowered before the might of the Gods, and rather than fighting with honor, they disguised themselves and infiltrated the ranks of men, sowing whispers of discontent against the Gods.

These whispers reached the ears of six of the honored thirty, corrupting their hearts. They defied the Gods and refused to raise their swords against the Ancients any longer.

The Gods met in council to decide the punishment of the fallen six. Reverence suggested that they strip the six lords of their titles, and Chastity suggested they take the six lords’ souls. Order, in his wisdom, ruled that the fallen six and their children be cursed to wander hell for all eternity.

Order had been saddened to discover that the man he had honored among all others, Asmodeus, had conspired with the fallen six. After Asmodeus’s fall, Order granted the kingship to Asmodeus’s younger brother, Uriel, who dispatched the remaining Ancients with all swiftness and without mercy.

Asmodeus envied his brother, and hated all of the men who would one day enter heaven. In his anger, he swore vengeance against man and God alike. Reverence sent an eagle to circle the sky above Asmodeus as he wandered the earth to warn mankind against Asmodeus’s coming vengeance.

As I finished reading the tale, the library door swung open, and a clatter of footsteps echoed throughout the cavernous room.

Startled, I shut my book and shoved it to the bottom of my pile. I looked up to see Lady Willoughby walking across the room, surrounded by a gaggle of court ladies.

Lady Willoughby seemed truly in her element. Her hair was powdered and curled and poufed into a magnificent pompadour, decorated with pearls and flowers. She wore a light cotton summer gown embroidered with fairy roses, but made up for its seeming simplicity with a pannier so wide it seemed hardly able to pass through the library doors.

She stopped walking while still some distance away and curtsied deeply. The ladies all stopped at once and curtsied in unison as though they were all her puppets on a single string. She remained quite still, blinking up at me expectantly, and it took me some time to realize that she could not approach me first at court.

I almost laughed at the realization that I outranked Lady Willoughby, but I managed to keep a straight face as I stood.

“Lady Willoughby,” I said, moving around my table and walking toward the gaggle of ladies. “It is good to see you again.”

She smiled and curtsied again, and then rushed forward to meet me.

“How good it is to find you here! My serious friend- I knew I would find you in the library. But you mustn’t spend all of your time at St. Blanc studying. Come with us, and taste the pleasures of court.”

The ladies behind Lady Willoughby all giggled.

“It is a fine day,” I said. “What do you propose?”

“Lady Fairfax has ordered all manner of cakes and sweets to be served in the rose garden, and there will be music, as well. You must come along, and…” Lady Willoughby leaned close to me and whispered, “who is the young lady hiding in the corner?”

“It must be Miss Taris- Lord Taris’s daughter,” I said.

Lady Willoughby turned back to the ladies. “Please excuse us for just one moment- our party needs one more.”

Lady Willoughby took my arm and led me down the row of bookshelves, behind which Miss Taris hid.

When she saw us, Miss Taris started like a frightened deer and dropped her book to the ground. Lady Willoughby stooped down to pick it up, and remained kneeling by Miss Taris’s chair.

“Miss Taris,” Lady Willoughby said gently. “I am Lady Willoughby. We have met before, at your coming out.”

“Yes- I remember,” Miss Taris said.

“You must come with Lady Frey and me. Lady Fairfax has arranged a delightful picnic among the roses in the courtyard. I daresay a change of scene and society will do you good.”

Miss Taris looked up at me in supplication.

“If you would rather not-” I began.

“No, she must come.” Lady Willoughby said with quiet firmness. Then she took Miss Taris’s hand.

“I know of your troubles, Miss Taris. Your father is forcing you into marriage against your will. How I know doesn’t matter- please rest assured that this is not general knowledge.”

“Well-” Miss Taris began, and then faltered, looking down at her hands.

“Despite what you think, I can understand how you feel. At one time, my own father tried to force me into such a marriage. I resisted him, and fortunately I was able to marry my true love.”

Miss Taris looked up. Hope seemed briefly to flash in her eyes before they dulled again.

“But you could present your father with an alternative- the honorable Lord Willoughby. I have no-one.”

Lady Willoughby laughed a little. “My task might have been a bit simpler if I’d had no one. My family despised Lord Willoughby’s family. My great-grandfather was killed by the late Lord Willoughby in a duel. Still, I was able to prevail against my father. If you come with me, I will give you what advice I can.”

Lady Willoughby offered her arm to Miss Taris and Miss Taris took, it, standing with her and walking beside her as though they were old friends.

“First of all, I think you should be around others of your own sex,” Lady Willoughby said. “Many of us have suffered as you have.”

Miss Taris stopped walking. “None of them like me. I’d rather just listen to your advice.”

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Lady Willoughby sighed. “You need allies, Miss Taris, if you are serious in resisting your father. With my help, you can gain many allies.”

Miss Taris looked at Lady Willoughby with an expression of open mistrust. “Do you really mean to help me?”

“I do. I promise.”

Miss Taris nodded and took Lady Willoughby’s arm once more.

#

“You are a miracle worker,” I said later that evening as Lady Willoughby and I returned from the garden. “How did you break through Miss Taris’s reserve? Lady Fairax has been trying for weeks to no avail.”

Lady Willoughby laughed and then turned us off of the main path and toward the library.

“Come with me- I will tell you when we are alone.”

Lady Willoughby led me in a wide circle around the fountains, away from the sun, which was setting in the scarlet west, and into the cool woods behind the library.

“We are alone now, so we may speak quite freely.”

“Are we?” I said, gazing around the woods, which were thick with young pine.

“You can be quite certain we are. I hear people’s thoughts, so if anyone were nearby, listening, I would know.”

“Oh! So that is your power.”

“Yes, and it is the secret to my success. If not for my ability to hear thoughts, along with help from your husband in restraining my tongue, I would have been hanged long ago.

“Of course, my ability is far more useful than simply evading difficulties. I can listen to the doubts in people’s minds and find the one thing that will put them at ease. I found Miss Taris’s weakness, and now I shall help her with her troubles and gain her trust.”

“I’ve been trying to find some way to be of assistance, but I can’t get near her. Do you really think you can help her?”

“I shall try, as I promised. I cannot lie, as you know. Still, it may be possible for Miss Taris to help herself. She’s stronger than she seems, and if she joins our coven, then she will have even more strength.”

“Then- you wish to recruit her? Oh! I wish you hadn’t told me.”

“Why?”

“Lord Frey is trying to limit my knowledge of the coven members I haven’t already discovered.”

Lady Willoughby sighed and fluttered her fan. “I struggle every day to hold my tongue. I must misdirect and speak half-truths to others. The magic of our coven contracts prevents me from revealing the names of my fellow initiates, but in some cases, I must submit myself to your husband, so he can hypnotize me not to reveal anything else damning. I can lie to you, of course, but I would rather speak openly when I can.”

I nodded. “I understand. Even so, I believe this is a particular point Lord Frey has been trying to keep a secret from me. Every time I mention Miss Taris, he either dismisses or disparages her character.”

“Ah,” Lady Willoughby adjusted a rose in her hair and smiled conspiratorially. “As to that- Lord Frey does not wish for Miss Taris to join us. He thinks that she is too timid, and likely to betray us at the slightest threat from authority. Brother Lux, however, swears that he’s seen a promising magical ability within her. He believes she can overcome her fears with our help.”

“Do you agree?’

“I believe that Brother Lux is correct. Miss Taris has the innate ability to sense the emotional states of others. She can even tell when someone is being deceitful, no matter how skillfully they act. It’s no wonder she avoids everyone at court. If Miss Taris wishes to join us, I will help her. If she does not join, I will help her, anyway.

“And now that you know about my power,” Lady Willoughby said, “I’m ready for your questions. You must be curious what kinds of secrets I know.”

“Your secrets are safe from my prying, I assure you,” I said.

“Are you certain? You must want to know someone’s secrets.”

I thought of Monsignor Pius, and then of my father, but I bit my tongue before I could ask.

“Lord Frey has fallen for you, you know.”

“Yes- I do believe he has.”

An expectant smile graced Lady Willoughby’s painted lips.

“I can’t! Lady Willoughby, please let us speak of something else.”

“I see. Very well,” she said gently. She took my arm, and we walked together from the forest.

“There is one more thing,” she said as we parted. “I have something for your husband from Mrs. Auber. Will you take it to him?”

“Of course. What is it?”

Lady Willoughby reached into her voluminous sleeve and drew forth a playing card- the Ace of Swords.

“He will know the meaning,” she whispered. “Thank you.”

#

“This card may mean nothing,” Hope said later that evening, pacing in front of the hearth in our rooms. “Mrs. Auber doesn’t really see the future. She sees probabilities.”

“What does the card mean?”

“In fortune-telling, this is the card of death and war. It is an ill omen.”

“Superstition,” I said quickly. “Even Monsignor Pius admitted to me that omens only hold power because we believe.”

I paused and took a breath.

“Hope- I have another concern that I’ve been meaning to speak to you about. Monsignor Pius may suspect that I know something about your coven. I think it would be best if we reveal our blood oath to him.”

Hope spun to face me, letting the card he was holding drop to his side. “But this is good news. You needn’t fear the Monsignor- not as long as he sees you as an ally.”

I did not argue, but pressed forward. “Since his coronation is tomorrow, we have very little time.”

“I know where we may find him. I was going to see him tonight, anyway.” He put the card in his pocket, and offered his hand to me.

“Will you come with me now?”

I hesitated for only a moment, and then took his hand.

“I will,” I said.

#

Hope and I walked hand in hand onto the starlit lawn, past the glittering fountains and past benches where couples sat huddled together in the early fall wind.

“The weather has been so warm that one forgets it’s so late in the year. You were right to bring your shawl,” Hope said. He slowed his pace and slipped his arm under my shawl and around my waist.

“Hope, please…”

“We must blend in with the other couples,” he said, his mouth twitching into a smile.

I turned away from his maddening smirk but allowed him to continue to hold me. We walked slowly, our feet crunching the gravel path in syncopation. Hope seemed to draw closer and closer with each step, enveloping me in his warmth against the chilly breeze.

I looked up to the stars, which shone bright and sharp as we walked away from the lighted path. I traced the cat’s tail, the pyramid, and the maiden’s bow, which was just rising in the east, but I could not distract myself from my pounding heart.

After a moment, Hope paused in his walk and leaned over to whisper in my ear.

“I must gaze at you just once more before we leave the garden. You look bewitching in the lamplight.”

He turned to face me and gazed at me for a few moments, holding so still it was as though we were frozen in time. Then he leaned down to kiss me, and I had no resistance left. I kissed him back as fiercely as he kissed me, drinking in his warmth.

When he pulled away he wore a triumphant smile on his crimson lips. Then his smile faltered.

“Grace- what is the matter? You’re looking at me as though you’re frightened.”

“I- I don’t know,” I said.

He reached out to touch my cheek, but I flinched away.

“You don’t understand,” I began.

“No, but I’m beginning to understand. When you told me you didn’t know how you felt, I thought you were simply young and naive. I was going to court you, and draw out the budding desires of your heart.”

“I am naive,” I said.

“A little, perhaps, but you are no longer shy. I can see in your eyes the conflict in your heart. You feel something, but you are holding back. Why?”

I began to speak, but little more than a croak left my lips.

“Never mind- I won’t press the matter. I will allow you time to reflect. In the meantime, I will endeavor to deserve you.”

He took a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the smeared rouge from my lips. Then he took my hand and we walked together once more into the darkness beyond the park path.

There is a lawn at the palace, which separates the gardens from the park. The lawn is carpeted in lush, green grass, which is so rarely trod upon that I felt almost as though I were trespassing when Hope and I left the garden and stepped onto it.

After walking for some time, we found Monsignor Pius at the center of the empty expanse. He stood behind a quadrant made of gleaming copper, which was placed upon a tripod. The quadrant appeared to be pointed toward the cat’s tail.

He looked up from the quadrant as we approached him, and though it was too dark to see the expression on his face, I could see a faint reflection in his eyes.

“Good Evening,” he said cordially.

Hope dropped my hand and walked toward Monsignor Pius.

“My priest, I have come to confess.”

“Why? You are a free man,” Monsignor Pius said.

“I have kept a secret from you. I have unintentionally revealed our coven to an outsider. I should have told you before.”

“Not to worry, Lord Frey. You are forgiven. I assume that your wife has discovered us, and that you have used your powers to bind her to secrecy.”

“As you may have heard, she is resistant to all of our magic. This resistance is one of the reasons I could not conceal our coven from her. Instead, I have bound her to secrecy through a blood oath.”

I stepped forward. Monsignor Pius’s quick and easy forgiveness, combined with his seeming importance within the coven, caused alarm bells to ring in my mind.

“I must speak on my husband’s behalf,” I said hastily. “The reason he has kept our pact a secret is that I also bound him though our blood oath. I was afraid, and I wanted to confine the knowledge of my discovery as much as possible.”

“Are you no longer afraid?” Monsignor Pius said.

“Getting less so, but I beseech you to keep this secret for me, as well.

Monsignor Pius smiled, his white teeth gleaming in the starlight. “I have no reason to betray you. To do so would only betray myself. But, if it will put your mind at ease, I will submit to Lord Frey’s hypnosis.”

It was all too easy, and Monsignor Pius too ready to comply. My breath quickened as Monsignor Pius and Hope both knelt on the lawn, and Hope put his hands on Monsignor Pius’s shoulders, staring into his eyes. Hope spoke slowly, taking long, deliberate breaths much as he had done when he’d tried to hypnotize me.

“You are safe here- you can relax- relax. Trust me, and trust my wife, who has all of my love and respect.”

Monsignor Pius sat very still, breathing in time with Hope.

“You will trust my wife to keep our coven’s secrets, you will not tell anyone else that Lady Frey has discovered our coven, and you will tell no one of the blood oath Lady Frey and I have taken. When I snap my fingers, that is my command. You will rise and obey.”

Hope snapped his fingers, and Monsignor Pius stood. My eyes had adjusted to the light enough to see Monsignor Pius’s face better, and as soon as I saw his eyes, I knew.

The hypnosis hadn’t worked.

“Well, there now,” Monsignor Pius said. “I hope you feel safe, Lady Frey. I am glad that the two of you have entrusted me with this secret. There must be trust among us, for the world is hostile to our cause.”

Monsignor Pius turned to me. “I hope you are not angry with me for destroying your heretical treatise, but I do have a delicate position to maintain.”

I attempted to swallow, but my mouth was dry.

“I understand,” I finally said in as strong a voice as I could muster.

“If you wouldn’t mind-” Monsignor Pius turned back to Hope. “May I try a small experiment?”

Hope nodded.

Monsignor Pius raised his hand toward me, and I was seized by a sudden, excruciating sensation. I felt as though I were being dragged forward- compelled to go and kiss the hem of Monsignor Pius’s robes, but my muscles all seized up in protest. The tension between my will and the compulsion grew so strong that I felt as though I were being torn apart. I wanted to scream, but I could not.

After a time, the sensation ceased, and I fell to the grass in relief.

“Wonderful!” Monsignor Pius said. “Do you see how she resists even my power? I was compelling her to come forward, but she did not budge an inch.”

Hope took my hands to help me to my feet. I trembled, but I stood.

“So,” Monsignor Pius said. “It is all true.”

“Yes,” I said. I dropped Hope’s hands and stood a little taller. Never let them see your weakness.

“Grace, are you alright?” Hope asked.

“Of course,” I said in a stronger voice. “I believe you had another matter to discuss with the Monsignor, so if you will excuse me, I will retire.”

“Will you be safe alone?” Monsignor Pius asked.

“I will keep to the lighted path as much as I can. I am wise enough to avoid danger.”

“Yes,” Monsignor Pius said with a grin. “I am sure you are.”