"This is new," Claudia said, holding the scroll up to the light streaming in through the solitary window in Cytherea's private library. Which was more of a small, dark room, tucked off the main wing of the royal family. Estia had said it was because the king wanted to keep these texts close, and that thought made Takayoshi even more uncomfortable.
"What?" Estia croaked. Takayoshi tilted his head, trying to see what Claudia saw as she peered through the parchment with the glare of winter sunshine behind it. "It's not new! It's ancient. I'll have you know that scroll has been in my family for generations."
"Not possible. It can't be more than a decade old, if that." Claudia shook her head. She lowered the scroll to the heavy wooden table in the middle of the room, her fingers running around the edges. Takayoshi leaned in closer, noting how instead of the soft worn edges one would expect from a scroll of this age, these were strangely crisp. "The parchment it's on has been artificially aged. But it's still fresh. Listen."
She ran the tip of her finger across one edge, flicking it almost, producing a soft sound as the paper brushed against the ridges of her fingertip.
"She is right. This is new." Takayoshi nodded firmly. He was no expert, but he had handled enough ancient scrolls to know that the parchment ought to be softer than that. It should make a fuzzy sound when Claudia ran her finger over it, not the strange soft tap as it jumped from one ridge to another.
"Oh. Well. It must be one of the things we copied over. There was a fire in the library a few years back, and several things were damaged. They had to be copied onto new materials." Estia shrugged.
"Then why go through the trouble of making it look old?" Claudia tilted her head, narrowing her dark eyes down at the burnished ink. "And whoever did your antiquing work was a novice. Seriously, I could do better when I was six."
Takayoshi looked over at her, and his face must have done something because she laughed lightly.
"Maybe not six. Stop giving me that look, Yoshi. Point stands, why bother?"
"For the aesthetic, of course!" Estia threw zir hands out and did a little spin as if that explained everything. It did not.
"Of course."
Takayoshi resisted the urge to roll his eyes. It would be rude, and unbecoming, but the urge was there.
"Why would you have a scroll with instructions on how to find pieces of a map that gives you directions to an ancient archive?" Claudia had narrowed her eyes on the scroll. Takayoshi was not sure what she was seeing, but she seemed to be trying to piece something together. "Why not just get the map?"
"No one believes it really exists. So, they never bothered to go after it."
"How do we know the pieces to the map will still be there?" Takayoshi moved to stand beside Claudia so that he could get a better look at the instructions. "Some of these locations are exposed to the elements. Perhaps it will have disintegrated over time."
"It's not paper." Estia scoffed, rolling zir eyes.
Takayoshi bit his tongue on the impulse to explain how rude that gesture was.
"It's some kind of ancient glass. Look." Estia moved to point to a section of the text on the scroll in front of them, which did in fact clearly state that the item they were searching for was made from something other than paper. "It won't corrode. And they magicked it to be shatterproof. So it should still be intact by the time we get to it."
"And what if someone else got to it first?" Claudia frowned, leaning back on her heels. "These instructions have been sitting here for how long? Anyone could have gone and found the map and already discovered the archive?"
"And you don't think if someone had discovered it, they wouldn't have shouted that from the rooftops? That they wouldn't have wanted credit for that discovery?" Estia's head tilted, light-colored hair falling across dark eyes to hide whatever expression flitted across them.
"Fair point," Claudia conceded, her gaze lowering to the parchment again as she bit at her lower lip.
"Why is the archive in Cytherea? Why is it not in Helio, or Lunette, or Hermes?" Takayoshi frowned a little. It did not make any logical sense for such an important store of information to be in the kingdom with the biggest reputation for unrest, and frivolity.
Mind your prejudices, he could almost hear Cricket say in the back of his mind.
"It's not really anywhere, as far as I know." Estia leaned heavily against the table, completely relaxed. "It seems to exist in a space outside of all borders, at least that's what I've read anyways."
"An unknown piece of land, sits outside of the borders of all the kingdoms, and has never been discovered," Claudia said the words slowly, as if sounding them out.
Even as she said them, Takayoshi was not sure that they made sense. It did not sound logical. None of this did. But then, neither did the fact that his soulmate was turning into a dragon, so he supposed logic ought to be abandoned in this case.
"It's magic, it doesn't need to make sense," Estia said, as if ze had read their minds. "Now, do you want to go off and find this thing or not? Because if you do, we should get going."
"What's the rush?" Claudia's fingers were stroking the edges of the scroll. Takayoshi wanted to snatch it away from her, and scold her for the action. To tell her that she may ruin the small precious thing that could lead him to a solution for Cricket. He did not.
"I'm bored."
"So you want to go on a potentially dangerous mission to try to find a lost artifact that may or may not lead to a store of ancient knowledge because you're bored? I just want to be sure I'm getting this right." Claudia sounded amused, the corner of her lips turning up. Takayoshi was suddenly very glad he had brought her along.
"That's about it. Yup." Estia nodded.
"What's in it for you?"
"Has anyone ever told you, you're really suspicious? You should try trusting people, Lady Durante."
"Answer the question."
"Maybe I just want a little adventure."
Takayoshi and Claudia eyed zir skeptically.
Estia's gaze narrowed for a split second, and in that moment, Takayoshi thought perhaps he saw Estia for what ze really was. But then it was gone in a flash. "My reasons are my own. Either you want my help, or you don't."
"And if we say we do not?" Takayoshi asked.
"Then you can't take the scroll. Simple as that. It's Cytherea property, if you want to use it, I have to be with you."
"We may be gone for many months, possibly years," Takayoshi said. A warning.
"Then it's a good thing I'm not the eldest, isn't it?" Estia smiled, sharp and pointed.
"It will be dangerous."
Estia barked a laugh, the sound like diamonds on glass. "Honey, if you want to see danger, try hanging out in the court of Cytherea. I can handle anything. So." Estia held one ringed hand out to Takayoshi. "Do we have a deal?"
Takayoshi looked down at the extended hand thoughtfully for a moment, before taking it and giving it a firm shake. "You should pack your things. I expect we will leave within the week."
"Of course. Of course. Till then, why don't I hold onto that scroll?"
"Are you afraid we will leave without you?"
"I'd never assume such a thing of the prince of Helio, you're much too honorable for all that. But it pays to be careful, does it not?"
Takayoshi turned to Claudia who had rolled up the scroll and was clutching it to herself as if it were something precious and sacred. She shot him a questioning look, and he nodded, before she handed it over.
"I look forward to getting to know the both of you better while on the road." Estia winked, zir fingers wrapping tightly around the scroll. Then ze trotted out of the room without a backward glance.
"I don't trust them," Claudia said once ze had gone.
"There is not much we can do about that. But we will keep an eye on zir."
Claudia nodded.
"No," a voice growled through the door. Takayoshi did not eavesdrop. Eavesdropping was against the rules, he reminded himself. He took one step, and then another, trying to put some distance between himself and whatever conversation was occurring.
"No?" Estia's voice stopped Takayoshi. His hands clenching at his sides as he fought with himself to stay or go. It was against the rules in Helio to eavesdrop, but they were not in Helio. And it might be helpful to know more about Estia and zir state of mind before they set out with zir on this quest. Surely, even Uncle could not fault Takayoshi for that.
"No," the voice repeated. Takayoshi was not sure who it belonged to, but if he were to hazard a guess, he would guess it was the king of Cytherea. Estia's elder brother, Crevan.
Estia laughed, the sound high and full of false cheer, like ze was pushing it out passed some other feeling, letting the sound silence whatever that emotion was. "I thought you would want me gone, big brother. Out of your hair for who knows how long. Somewhere I can't run off at the mouth, maybe. Maybe somewhere that would silence me forever."
Takayoshi tensed at the words, confused by the lightness with which Estia talked about zir possible death. Was that what Estia wanted? Did ze plan to use this quest as a suicide mission? And why would Crevan want that? The thought made something run cold in Takayoshi.
"You're not going to run off at the mouth, Estia. You're too smart for that," Crevan said, all the confidence of a king. "You know what'll happen to you... to the others... if you tell anyone anything."
"Yes. I do." Estia's tone became sharp, cold, a knife's edge running across skin, but not cutting, just warning. "And you know what will happen if you hurt any of them."
A long silence stretched between them. The urge to lean in closer, to peek around the cracked door to see them, itched at the back of Takayoshi's neck. It would be so easy just to take a quick peek, but the door might creak. They might hear him. And if he were discovered, then what? Would Estia even be allowed to come with them? Or would they be banned from Cytherea, and seeing the scroll ever again? It was a chance he could not take. Not with Cricket's life on the line.
"You're as stubborn as your father was," Crevan said at last, on a deep chuckle. "Fine. Go off. Get yourself killed. See if I care."
"Always so magnanimous, big brother." There was some rustling of fabric, perhaps Estia was bowing. Then the sound of footsteps toward the door. Takayoshi rushed to be further down the hall by the time Estia exited.
"And Estia," Crevan called. "Don't forget what happened to Lionel."
"Of course not, Your Highness." Estia exited into the hallway before adding under zir breath, "how could I ever forget?"
Dark eyes fell upon Takayoshi, and he froze, caught. Estia sighed, shoulders sinking, and shook zir head. Then with one gesture led Takayoshi further down the hall, and down several other corridors, seeming to want to put as much distance between zirself and zir brother as possible.
Once there, Estia dragged Takayoshi into a room, and ducked out to look either way down the hall before returning to lean against the door.
"How much of that did you hear?" Estia asked, eyes narrowed on Takayoshi.
Takayoshi did not respond, he just looked at Estia steadily. He would not lie, but he supposed in this instance, it might be best not to answer at all.
"Quite a bit of it then." Estia nodded, zir light colored hair falling into zir dark eyes. Ze blew it away with a heavy exhale and then used a hand to brush it back from zir face.
"Your brother does not seem keen on your accompanying us on this quest. Perhaps you should stay home." Takayoshi hoped his words would be enough to keep Estia from realizing that he had also heard the vague threat about Lionel.
He knew what had become of Lionel, the previous king and queen's most trusted knight. The young man who at not more than sixteen had made a place for himself at their side, and then been sent off on a suicide mission when King Crevan was crowned. What it meant for Crevan to be waving Lionel about as a threat, Takayoshi was not sure. Perhaps it was just a warning of what could happen to even the strongest fighters when they went off on missions with little hope of success.
"Oh, don't worry about that. Crevan is just grumpy about..." Estia drifted off, zir dark eyes going distant before ze shook zirself. "Well, something else. Anyway, don't worry about that. Crevan has agreed to provide us with everything we could need. Except for an escort, of course, but I imagine you didn't want one of those anyway."
Takayoshi's lips twitched into an expression that on anyone else what might have been a scowl. "No. We do not want a Cytherean escort."
"I didn't think so." Estia shook zir head, letting out a chuckle on a breath. "Anyway, as you heard, he agreed to it. Everything will be ready for us to leave in two days. I hope you're ready by then."
"We will be."
"Good. Good. As for the rest..." Estia's eyes grew distant again, a sadness crossing zir features that Takayoshi hoped to never understand. "I miss him. I miss him a lot."
"Lionel?"
Estia nodded, expression turning rueful. "Yes. Lionel. Have you ever been in love, Prince Takayoshi?"
"Yes. I have."
"I hope whoever they are, they always come home to you," Estia said softly, a glassy sheen taking over zir eyes. Ze cleared zir throat, swallowing down that emotion, and smiled. "Let's go finish up preparations, shall we? There is much to do before we leave."
"Yes. Let us go." Takayoshi nodded stiffly. He did not know how to make Estia feel better about missing Lionel. He did not know what to say. Cricket would have known what to say. Cricket always seemed to know what to say.
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