Omega spent most of that day and the following night nurturing me back to health. He kept a steady flow of energy coming my way and even helped guide it toward my ailing core. I didn"t know how he did it, but his energy never felt hostile to me. When I was finally able to move, Omega let out a sigh of relief. "I never thought you"d make it," he admitted with a genuine smile. "Take the rest of the day off," he said. "We"ll begin your new training in the morning."
"Can I at least meditate?" I asked.
"I expect you to," Omega said. "Your core is still weak. Nurture it. Do what you did before to strengthen your core if you can afford it. Just don"t overdo it. I won"t be able to save you a second time."
"Did you find him?" I asked.
Omega raised an eyebrow. "You"re alive, aren"t you?" he asked back.
I wanted to ask what would happen to my grandfather, but I couldn"t utter the words. Something about the way my master looked at me warned me not to do it. Instead, I asked about the psychotic woman who tried to kill me. "What will happen to the maid?"
"That"s for you to decide," Omega answered. "You"re past the line of critical danger, but you"re not out of the woods yet. Focus on recovering. We"ll speak about the maid tomorrow."
When he left, I opened the windows and let some fresh air in. Cicero"s invisible castle was so high that cool winds reached my room. I was so grateful for that. Yanoku was known for its scorching hot temperatures, especially during the day.
I sat beneath the window and regulated my breathing. I had a breakthrough before my major setback. I could actually absorb time energy, as long as it wasn"t too strong to kill me. When I thought back on the risk I took the other day, I shuddered.
What if I had let the energy overcome me? I would be long broken before Omega came to my rescue. No, scratch that. Omega wouldn"t have rescued me since I wouldn"t have been able to give him grandfather"s location.
I gulped loudly as I directed my attention toward the chest I used before. It was the easiest thing to draw from. Hinges were small, thus their time energy was broken into smaller increments. I activated my third eye then s.n.a.t.c.hed a nugget of time energy.
I spent the entire day and night converting what little time energy I could into mine. When morning finally came, I was back at having a core the size of a marble. I stood, stretched my limbs then shot a short glance at the chest"s hinges. Small rust particles had already formed around the polished iron.
I smiled. I had only managed to absorb and a.s.similate two nuggets of time energy, and they were enough to put me back on track.
I headed for the dining hall then. I had to pa.s.s through Skippy, a painting portraying a knight playing skip rope. Then I had to turn left and through a long, dark corridor. Different suits of armor were displayed against the corridor"s gray walls. Tapestries hung in between each. I felt like a king strolling through his own castle.
The strangest part is, if one were to leave the castle and look back from the street, they"d only see a small house. Magic was frightening, and I was just beginning to understand it. I went through the hollow knights and into the winding stairs.
I found myself in a tower. Serpentine stairs hugged the walls. Looking at them from where I stood, I got a sinking feeling, as though the darkness below beckoned me over. Those spiralling stairs were the most dangerous part of my daily walk, and the most dizzying. One misstep and I"d find myself falling through the huge gap in the middle of the tower.
The fall wouldn"t be pretty. As the maid who tried to kill me explained, it"s like falling from a cliff on a high mountain. Only the fall would seem endless, and only when I"d think I"d never reach the bottom would I meet my end. I shook my head and looked elsewhere. Staring too much below me gave me vertigo.
I had to look for another painting, a portrait of a fat lady with curly hair that extended to her hips. It had to be the one sitting on a mahogany chair though, not the one on the marble throne. Sometimes I felt like Cicero deliberately wanted people to get lost in here.
When I reached the painting, I had to look for the red door with the golden handle. It was hidden between the painting of the old lady, and that of a bear dancing on a unicycle. To make matters worse, the door and the paintings changed location every day. This time, I"d found them fast enough.
When I finally reached the dining hall, Omega and Cicero were engaged in a heated argument. I heard Cicero"s begging voice first.
"The girl was scared. She wasn"t going to go through with it."
"That is beside the point," Omega retorted with a wave of his hand. "Where were you the other night? Why did you leave him alone in there?"
Cicero was obviously struggling to come up with a plausible answer. I could see it in his eyes. They were the same I make when I try to avoid a difficult subject. I"d look all around me, trying to find something to distract the other. Sure enough, Cicero"s panicked eyes landed on me.
He smiled; a smile of great relief. "Thank the heavens you"re alive. Master told me about the maid. I a.s.sure you she shall be severely punished."
"She tried to kill me," I said, frowning. "She even begged me to let her do it."
"See? She was scared, that"s all." Cicero jumped on what I"d said and twisted my words.
"Where were you that night?" Omega asked with a tone that warned Cicero not to change the subject again.
"I –" the old man stammered. "I w-went to see Stalwart. T-t-the son, I mean."
Omega"s eyes narrowed. "You leave his dying son here, and you leave your duty, all to check on a fallen, deranged man?!"
"I m-m-made a promise to his father long ago," Cicero said. His eyes had watered. "When I saw Myles in that state... It reminded me of his poor mother. Then I remembered the father... and the state he was in..." He covered his head and sobbed.
Something was not right in the old man"s story. I don"t remember him visiting us. I remember everybody who came to check on my father after his accident. Garland was the only one. Every other hunter had turned his back on him, especially after Viraldo was named master of the guild.
Omega"s eyes softened. "You"re a fool with a big heart Cicero. I"ll deal with your defiance later. Bring us the girl now. Let us decide her fate."
"As you command, master," Cicero said then bowed.
He turned on his heels and headed for the kitchens. Before he left, however, and as Omega had his head turned, Cicero shook my hand. I felt something crisp brush against my palm. "It"s good to see you alive, son," Cicero said then closed my hand for me.
He shot one last glance at Omega, made sure he was still not looking, then turned to me. His lips moved, but no voice came out. I managed to get the gist of what he said though.
"Hide it. Read it."