Erica stood before a mirror, intricately carved with stately designs that meandered around it; swirling runic symbols that represented the messenger Spirits, Hermes and Iris, carved into the varnished wood. Dragon Claws acted as feet, allowing the mirror to stand. Within the mirror"s reflection, a woman other than herself stared back at her.
While she had been expecting this encounter to occur, that did not mean she was prepared for it. With everything that had happened in the past few days, and with her having only just arrived home, Erica was about as prepared for this meeting as Derek was close to getting his full strength back.
"I hear you"ve replaced Derek with another Knight," the woman on the other side of the mirror said calmly, her voice placid and even. A lesser woman might have missed it, but Erica heard the underlying current of disapproval beneath that peaceful facade.
"It is merely a temporary arrangement, I a.s.sure you," Erica spoke with nonchalance, even though she felt anything but. "Derek has not left this world. He merely needs some time to recover. I requested Arcadia"s Knight Academy to loan me one of their Knights-in-training."
"So I"ve heard." Eyes the color of silver bore into her like stakes. "I also know who the academy sent you."
Ah, Erica barely contained her glee, I see where this is going.
"Oh, yes, Caspian Ignis del Sol... I must admit, he is quite the admirable young man. Strong. Skilled with a blade. Not to mention handsome. Why, if Derek wasn"t currently my Knight, I might try taking this boy for myself."
And there it was. The twitch. It was just her left hand, but Erica could see it clear as day.
It looks like I struck a nerve.
"I suggest you not try anything with that boy, Erica Demonica de Angelo."
Oh my, she just used my full name. It took everything Erica had not to grin.
"You"re awfully protective of this young man, though I suppose I can understand why. Are you worried that I might seduce him?" The woman on the other side shifted. Erica almost giggled like a teenage girl. "Worried that he might fall for my charms? That he"ll desire comfort in my arms instead of your own?"
The woman frowned.
"You are making implications that I do not appreciate. Need I remind you that you are already on thin ice as it is?"
"Yes, yes," Erica waved the words away with the airiness of a woman who had naught a care in the world, "I am well aware that the council does not like me. That is why I was not given a seat, wasn"t it? Because none of you approved of me."
"We do not approve of what you are doing to your Knights," the words were still spoken calmly, but Erica could sense the annoyance lacing them. "A Knight is a protector, a confidante, not a plaything to satiate your s.e.xual desires with."
"Perhaps that is how you see your Knight," Erica"s smile was diametrically opposed to the other Sorceress"s frown, "but that is not how I see mine."
"Your habit of going through a Knight every decade is going to be the death of you."
"Perhaps I shall welcome death when it comes." Erica knew she had caught the woman off guard when the other Sorceress blinked. Her smile could not have been wider. "But you did not call to chastise me for my behavior, did you?"
"I came here to warn you," the woman on the other end snapped out of her stupor and got down to business.
"Oh?" Erica raised an eyebrow. "A warning, is it? Well then, I am all ears."
"There have been many rumors as of late, of elven bandits attacking caravans and trains."
"You"re warning has come a little late," Erica said shortly. "I already had a run-in with the elf you are speaking of."
"I heard about that," the woman allowed, "I am not here to speak of the elf, but of the one funding him."
Erica blinked.
"I beg your pardon?"
"We are unaware of just who is backing this elf, but we do know that someone with a lot of money and power is pulling the strings behind these attacks. This elf has, until his or her ill-fated attempt to kill you, only ever attacked caravans and trains carrying refined Spirit Crystals."
"That would explain why these attacks have been happening within my province." Erica resisted the temptation to bite her nails. It was a habit that she couldn"t afford to show, not in front of this woman.
"Indeed. We believe that a n.o.ble has hired the elf to steal Spirit Crystals, though we do not know who or for what purpose. They have thus far managed to evade our efforts at ascertaining their ident.i.ty."
"Oh my, has not even your vast network of spies and informants managed to uncover who is behind this?"
"We have captured a few n.o.bles who had hired members of the Thieves Guild to commit similar thefts, mostly for MagiTech blueprints. They broke into Karen"s workshop and would have escaped had it not been for Karen staying late to work on a project of some kind."
"I take it the Thieves Guild members have been interrogated."
"No, they killed themselves before the interrogation could commence."
Eric crossed her arms under her bust. "Tch. I"ll never understand how those idiots can just kill themselves like that. And for what? So they don"t reveal the secrets of their guild? How lame."
"It is their way." The Sorceress on the other end shrugged. "That being said, we did discover who hired the Guild members at a tavern and apprehended them."
"Of course," Erica rolled her eyes, "n.o.bles are a stupid lot of braggarts and fools. They were probably bragging about how they were going to be rich selling those blueprints on the black market or something."
"Something like that. We managed to question them, but none of them had any information that could prove useful in our investigation."
"You suspect someone is using the n.o.bles" greed against them for their own gain?"
"No, I suspect someone is merely being careful enough that we cannot trace these thefts back to him or her."
Erica paused to gather her wits. Someone was having people try and steal blueprints to the latest Magical Technology currently in the works. At the same time, an elf had been hired to attack trains carrying Spirit Crystals. It was not possible that these two events were just a coincidence.
"Do you suspect there is discontent within the n.o.bility?" Erica asked at last.
"There is always discontent within the n.o.bility," was the answer.
"And what is it that you want from me?"
"I want you to keep your ears to the ground for any rumors you might hear. I also want you to pay a visit to the mines. Inspect them and see what you can uncover."
"You suspect they might be aiding whoever hired the elf?"
"I am unsure, and that is what concerns me."
Now there was something that Erica never thought she would hear. This woman had never spoken with anything but absolute surety. For her to admit that she was unsure of something was unheard of.
"You are unsure?"
"Yes."
"You? You are unsure?"
Annoyance flashed across the woman"s face. "Yes, I am unsure. I do not know who is behind all this, or why."
"Then who"s to say anyone is behind it?" Erica resisted a smile. "Perhaps you are merely being paranoid."
"Keep your ears to the ground, Erica, and inform me of anything you discover," the woman refused to be baited. Disappointing, but not unexpected.
Erica almost, almost, chuckled. "Of course. I"ll let you know if I discover any sinister plots in the works."
The woman frowned at her, but didn"t say anything about that.
"Very well. And Erica."
"Yes?"
"If you do anything to Caspian while he is in your care, anything at all, then I will personally hunt you down and kill you. Remember that."
As the woman"s image wavered and vanished within the intricately carved mirror, Erica allowed herself a wide smile.
"Sylvia de Floresca, it looks like I have finally discovered a c.h.i.n.k in your armor." With a happy sigh, Erica allowed herself to fall backwards onto her bed. "Now I really do need to find some way to thank the headmaster for sending Caspian to me."
***
"Did something happen between you and my maid?"
That was the first thing to come out of Erica"s mouth when she met back up with Caspian and Ca.s.sidy after their tour had ended prematurely. The reason for the question may have had something to do with the large red hand print on Caspian"s right cheek. It could have also had something to do with the way they refused to look at each other, avoiding eye contact like the plague. Regardless of the reasons, the raven-haired beauty obviously knew that something was up.
"No," Caspian muttered, looking away.
"O-of course not, Mistress Erica." Ca.s.sidy waved her hands wildly in front of his face. "Nothing weird happened, nothing at all. It"s not like we fell down a flight of stairs and he fell on top of me and... and... kya!"
Erica and Caspian watched as Ca.s.sidy placed her hands over her pink cheeks and squirmed in place, seemingly embarra.s.sed.
Erica turned back to Caspian.
"So, you fell on top of my maid?" she sounded amused.
"It was an accident," Caspian mumbled softly.
"Right, right, an accident. I believe you." Erica grinned.
Caspian narrowed his eyes. "It was."
"And I just said that I believe you."
"You would be more convincing if you weren"t smiling like that."
"Oh?" Erica"s cat that ate the canary smile widened. "Smiling like what?"
"Like that." Caspian pointed at her. "That weird smile of yours that says "I don"t believe a single word coming out of your mouth." How can I believe what you say when you"re smiling like that?"
"Hm," Erica hummed and looked away, "it appears I need to work on making my smiles more convincing."
"Don"t say that like it"s something to be proud of."
"So," Erica chuckled at him, "how was it? Being on top of my maid, I mean. Did you enjoy pushing her down to the floor and pressing your hard, masculine body against her?"
"M-M-M-Mistress Erica!" A scandalized Ca.s.sidy swayed in place, looking light headed. The redness on her cheeks spread to the rest of her face, all the way down her neck. It was a wonder she hadn"t fainted yet.
"I told you, it was an accident!" a red-faced Caspian spat harshly.
Erica spent a good two minutes giggling at the reaction he and her maid were giving. Caspian ground his teeth together. He barely knew this woman, but she already p.i.s.sed him off more than Christo ever had.
I"m actually beginning to miss that idiot. He sighed. What a depressing thought.
Apparently deciding that she had teased him and Ca.s.sidy enough, Erica got down to business. "Now that you know where you"re going to be living for the next few weeks?"
"Next few weeks?! I thought I was only staying for a few days!"
"I"ll tell you what some of your responsibilities are going to be," she finished, a thin and perfectly shaped eyebrow twitching, "and don"t interrupt me when I"m talking."
Caspian had the decency to look chagrined. "Sorry."
"You don"t sound all that sorry," Erica huffed, crossing her arms under her chest. "Anyway, as the replacement to my poor Derek, your job is going to be protecting me from harm twenty-four hours a day, seven-days a week. It"s a full-time job, so I hope you"re prepared to... are you even listening to me?"
"Huh?" Caspian looked up at Erica"s face, blinking. "I"m sorry. I must have gotten distracted by something. You were saying?"
"Ho? You were distracted, you say?" Erica"s smile turned downright devious. "And just what was it that distracted you so, hm?" As she said this, the Sorceress squeezed her arms together, causing her bosoms to nearly pop out of her dress. Caspian felt his eyes nearly pop out of his head, which caused Erica"s saccharine smile to take on a vicious quality. "It must be something very interesting to keep your attention while I"m speaking to you. I wonder what it could be..."
The sight before him rendered Caspian all but speechless. His eyes remained fixated on a point below Erica"s face. He blinked rapidly several times, but nothing came of it. He continued staring at the notorious gap in Erica"s dress.
"Stop staring at my Mistress, Master Caspian!" a voice suddenly shouted behind him, knocking Caspian out of his stupor.
"What the?o-oi! What in the Spirit"s name do you think you"re doing?!"
"What"s it look like I"m doing? Y-y-you shouldn"t be staring at Mistress Erica like that! I-it"s not right!"
"S-staring at... I wasn"t staring at Erica!"
"Liar! I saw you ogling her chest!"
"T-t-t-that"s?I was not! Let me go! Let! Me! Go!"
"No!"
Erica watched in amused silence as Ca.s.sidy pounced on Caspian"s back, wrapping her legs around his waist and using her hands to cover his eyes. Caspian struggled against her, flailing his arms and trying to pull her off with little success. It was like watching two children wrestle-only a lot more erotic because both were more or less adults, or at least entering adulthood. The fact that Ca.s.sidy"s dress had hiked up around her thighs, revealing black garters as she used her legs to squeeze Caspian"s waist was just the icing on the cake.
"Fu fu fu. I must send Headmaster Strattelo a gift for sending Caspie to me. This is the most entertainment I"ve had in years."
She could only hope that Caspian would stick around for a good long while, in order to provide her with even more entertainment.