“I love mankind", he said, "but I find to my amazement that the more I love mankind as a whole, the less I love man in particular.”

- Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov

The spider raised its small head and the view shifted with it. Distortions from the imperfections of the crystalline lenses caused rainbow reflections on the border of her vision. Alea sighed again. She was cold. They had given her water and some bread half an hour ago but did not answer a single question. She wiped at a tear her treacherous jeweled eyes were still able to shed. How about Alyssa. She had seen the gazes she drew after the amulet had been removed and feared the worst.

She had been sheltered, at least after her ‘death’ but even she had been educated in the underhanded methods of the nobility. And after recovering her memories the breadth of her knowledge only grew.

She gestured, aligned the glyphs, and light blossomed from her palm bringing with it a palpable warmth. ‘It’s not fire but close to the next best thing for heat.’ Some runes glowed over the doorway.

She heard hurried steps coming to her door and then said door was opened. “What are you doing?! No spellwork!” A harried-looking female guard shouted angrily.

Alea shrunk back then forced her back straight again and lifted her head. “You drag me all over the city. You don’t tell me what you are accusing me of. The room is cold and there is no blanket. I simply try to preserve my life. This is disgraceful!” She was astounded by her courage but it seemed as if she was finally pushed too far.

The guard looked torn between being apologetic and furious and then settled for a conciliatory shrug. “It shouldn’t be too long now. Please bear with it. I could perhaps bring you some tea?”

“Yes please.” Alea cursed her soft voice at the moment.

The guard nodded, “Could you please extinguish that?”

“When I get the tea.”

Making an unpleasant face the guard closed the door.

“Being a noble has its perks.” Alea intensified the light, the crystal lenses of Cecily had no problems with that. Another rune began to glow and the small girl showed a slight smile as she heard muted cursing from outside.

There was a slight tremor and her light dimmed a bit before surging back to its former strength. “Oh no, Alyssa!” Alea suddenly had that thought and jumped up. “Please open the door!” She hammered her small fists against the door but the noise was drowned by clanging alarm bells and shouted orders.

Some time went by and the commotion seemed to gain some semblance of order.

The door was opened and Maximilian stood inside the doorframe before hugging Alea tightly. “Gesserach be praised! Does anything hurt, did they harm you?”

Alea weakly pressed against his arm and as he lessened the pressure gasped once for air and then answered, “I am only a bit tired, cold, and hungry. But Alyssa! They took her and it was all too suspicious. They did not tell us what they even held us for!”

Maximilian's eyes darkened. “They will rue this day. I have already informed the princess and uncle. Let us see about Alyssa.”

Behind her brother stood Mr. Brache, stoic as always, and two guardsmen who looked highly uncomfortable.

Exiting the cell they walked down the corridors that seemed purpose-made to confuse visitors.

Maximilian knocked at a door and then opened it without waiting for an acknowledgment. One of the guards raised a hand then let it drop again radiating dissatisfaction.

“Where is Alyssa.” Maximilian addressed the man sitting behind the desk.

A sergeant stood between them and directed a questioning look at the elderly captain. “Captain?”

“At ease sergeant." Turning to the newcomers he wearily continued, "We still have no news. She was no longer in her cell and there was no notice that she was transferred. This is highly irregular and does not speak well for our fortress but please wait we have men and women searching for her and the origin of the disturbance…”

“It’s been nearly half an hour, how can someone vanish inside the guard fortress!?” Maximilian looked livid.

Running steps neared the office and a breathless guard looked inside. “Captain! Alyssa Miner has been found. Claire’s patrol was it that did it.”

“Claire, mh?” The captain looked thoughtful. “That is a lucky break. Have her brought here.”

“She was described as wounded so they took her to the infirmary, there were…” the guard swallowed, “...casualties.”

“Who?”

“Trevor Petersen and Ulf Brucker.”

The captain looked as if he had a headache.

“Is she badly wounded? I can help!” Alea looked at the guard, hands clenched against her sides.

“I heard it was mostly scrapes, but there were other...things. I don’t know.”

“That does nothing to reassure us.” Maximilian looked stern.

The captain stood up. “I will come with you to the infirmary. That will speed our progress and I must have a closer look at that mess.”

They walked briskly through the still busy corridors and soon arrived at the infirmary. The ward was bustling with nurses and some mages there also stood some additional guards.

“Claire, good to see you! What happened can you give me a preliminary report?”

Claire looked at him with relief. “Found Alyssa Miner and three guards in an unused interrogation room in the western wing. Two guards are dead of void exposure and...bite wounds. One of them was a mage guard. The third is still not able to talk but is no longer in immediate danger. I don’t have the names, sorry! The prisoner is in the infirmary being treated.”

“How did they die and was it this Ms. Miner?”

“She told me so personally. She was apparently defending herself- her words- when the trio tried to force her to imbibe Blood-Dust. Which we secured- it was lying on the ground with a filled applicator. It’s in this evidence box.” She pointed at a small metal chest.

“Blood Dust.” The captain's brows drew together and his expression turned darker still. “That is bad. We had some missing from the secure rooms and there are hints that it could be Petersen’s doing it was still inconclusive but there was some evidence. We will have to investigate thoroughly. This reeks to high heaven.”

He took a short moment to think over his decision. Both girls and Mrs. Jangres were detained on probably fabricated evidence and compounding that Alyssa was hurt and everything pointed toward self-defense even if she had killed. The political ramifications alone made him shed cold sweat. He turned towards Maximilian. “I will release Alyssa Miner into your care she is required to not leave the academy until further notice. Once we have a clear picture of what has happened we will contact you.” He ground his teeth. “May Gesserach burn them with his holy light and Meloris deny them shelter. If I find the culprits for this disaster I will not be lenient. And just when we got back on our feet.”

The group entered a room with two beds, one occupied. Alyssa was lying there her right eye was closed the left looked like a cutout to some dark space swallowing all light.

“Alyssa!” Alea ran towards her friend and hugged her close.

Maximilian sighed “I regret that I did not bring Mireille but there was not much time to lose and I hoped that speed would help us more in the short term.”

Alyssa stirred and opened her right eye and then she hugged Alea while tears streamed down her face.

“What happened?” Alea rubbed her face against Alyssa’s cheek.

“They tried to drug me. They wanted to blame me, Mrs. Jangres, all of us for the Bluestone scandal and to further cement their ‘truth’.” She coughed and her voice was still hoarse. “I did not want to fight and then I was trapped and the only thing I could do was to use everything at my disposal. I called the third seal and I had no control.” She shuddered.

“Don’t talk anymore. I think we can imagine the rest having seen your duel.” Maximilian pinched the bridge of his nose. “We will take you to the Wisteria Dorm. You are not to leave the academy grounds. That is the parole we agreed upon.”

Alyssa nodded weakly. “Then let’s leave. I don’t want to remain here another moment.”

The captain looked at them with a complicated expression as the group filed out of the infirmary. Turning towards a healer he said, “If the last one wakes up notify me immediately.” He thought for a moment, “And set two guards. There might be interest in silencing him.” Getting a nod in return he left for his office it was going to be a sleepless night.

In a room in the palace.

Carl Askander, the second prince, grimaced golden hair fell into his face and was swept away with one hand. It had only been a small bit of influence he had exerted but for it to be so...useless. He tipped the pawn he had been playing with over and let it slowly roll in a circle near the center of the board. To unravel a fabric one best took a loose thread and to present one to an enemy was...unwise. He pondered and then rang a bell near the small table. The first light of dawn filtered through richly embroidered golden curtains into the study. And as the door opened and a servant bowed deeply he gave his order.

Wisteria Dorm

Alea walked in and was nearly bowled over when Mireille jumped clear from her seat on the edge of her bed to where she was standing. Sparks of lightning clearly showed the means used for that feat.

“Ah!” Alea gave an undignified scream and hung onto the culprit for dear life.

“Alea, Alyssa! What happened to you?!”

Alyssa who was leaning on Iseret took a step away from her and softly hugged both with her right arm, the left she held carefully away from them. The left eye had regained a bit of its normal contours and was no longer just a black space.

Seeing no answers forthcoming Mireille grabbed both and hugged them close.

Maximilian stood behind Iseret and looked at all of that with a complicated expression before turning to Lorelle. “If they need something tell me, I have to report to my uncle and grandmother.”

“It will be as you wish.” Lorelle bowed.

The door closed softly and the room fell into silence. On the horizon, the first rays of light traced along the outlines of high flying clouds. The wind shook the glass in the window frames.

Maximilian exited the dorm and sighed before adjusting his coat. His breath misted in the low temperature. Mr. Brache patiently waited behind him. A group of royal guards led by Jera accompanied Lieseleta as she walked up to them. Without any attempt at courtesies, the princess shook her golden curls and looked sharply at the young man. “Are they alright?”

“It seemed that way though Alyssa…I am not completely sure.”

Lieseleta sighed in relief.

Maximilian continued. “They just arrived and are most likely still very tired. I would recommend you see them when they had some time to sleep. I would be grateful for a guard or two though.”

“That can be arranged.” The princess nodded. “I will return by midday. Today is not a school day so we have time.”

Jera gave a grudging nod at a look from her charge carrying an unspoken command. She motioned for two guards and swiftly gave some orders before both went towards the dorm.

Lieseleta and Maximilian walked together in the direction of the main building before the girl said quietly, “This can’t go on, something has to give. The master of the tower of time has been ordered by my father to investigate the crown prince's murder. I think I see the same touch on tonight's happenings and the assassination attempt on me.”

“You might be correct but I don’t think that HE would be stupid enough to do it on his own he will use a deniable cat’s paw. And we did not even find that.”

“He did not have as much time to arrange the situation this time. He had to react. That is always more difficult to coordinate. We should not lose any time. I will speak with my father. If he still sees me as his daughter he has to help me.”

“I will mobilize my uncle's friends and hopefully the commandant remembers him fondly.”

The dawn broke and brilliant reds and golds lit the sky.

They say that the most beautiful colors denote the worst storms to come.