Strange Object
POV: Lucien
Derek and Ashton had come to me with the fact that they had found something that the assassin possibly dropped. I sighed, “Did you take this item to the General?” Ashton shook his head, “We figured it would be worth it to come here to see if my sister was awake. Derek has a theory that only Alexandra could identify it.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a black bag in which the citadel would put any evidence. He handed it to her, “It had a weird stone in there that no one on the team had ever seen.” Alexandra opened the bag and then reached into it to pull out a necklace. She stared at the charm on the necklace for a while, “This is what the humans call onyx that is inlaid into blue titanium steel.” She held up the necklace and it was a lower-case “t” that was blue with black shiny stones inlaid into the blue metal. I looked at her confused, “So does that mean your assassin’s name starts with a ‘t’?” She giggled a little then held her side and winced in pain, “Ugh! Don’t make me laugh. No this isn’t a ‘t’. It’s what the humans call a cross, they use this as a symbolism of their God.” Derek chimed in, “Does that mean your attacker is human?” Ashton shook his head, “I’ve seen the assassin with my own eyes, he’s definitely not human.” He looked at Alexandra, “Unless you know any blue humans with ice blue eyes.” She shook her head, “Humans look a lot like witches or pyrios in their evolved form. Do we know of any race that is blue?” She looked up at me, “I think the Seely Realm have a race of elves that are blue.” She looked over at Ashton, “Do you think it’s an elf then?” He shrugged, “Hard to say, I didn’t get close enough to look at his ears. He was a rather large man.” She asked, “Did he have hair?” Ashton nodded, “It was white and his fingertips were black. He also had a tattoo of a Toxzi on his forearm.”
Derek, Alexandra, Malinus, and I all looked at each other confused, Toxzis weren’t a usual thing to put on someone’s body as a tattoo since these creatures weren’t seen as any sort of symbolism in Vellum. I would have to talk to Sylphia or Nystasia about elves and if they saw Toxzis as a valid symbol in Seely. In Vellum, a person would only get an animal tattooed on them as a sense of symbolism and pride. It was usually one’s house’s animal. Mine would have been a lion, Derek’s would have been a horse, Alexandra and Ashton’s would have been a panther. I knew of no house or commoner sect that had a Toxzi as a symbol. Derek asked, “Would he maybe have gotten the tattoo to symbolize his job?” Ashton shrugged, “It’s worth a shot to ask around the riders to see if they have ever heard of someone who had blue skin and a Toxzi tattoo.” I sighed, “Perhaps you should both go talk to the General like you were supposed to when you found such objects at a crime scene.” Derek inhaled sharply, “I suppose you are right, Your Majesty.” Alexandra rebagged the necklace and handed it to Ashton, “I am not sure how someone in Seely would come by a cross necklace. It’s very human.” Sylphia had walked in that door at that very moment, “Oh Seely residents frequently travel between our realm and Terre. It wouldn’t be unheard of for a fae to pick up a few trinkets there, especially ones of religious significance. Why? Did you figure the assassin is Seely in origin?” Alexandra looked up at her, “We had a theory he was since Ashton had seen him and said he had blue skin.” She nodded once, “Could be a night elf. Any other traits?” She turned to look at Ashton who nodded, “White hair, ice-blue eyes, and Toxzi tattoo.” She rubbed her chin, “Night elves usually have black eyes so I’m not so sure it is a night elf. They have the white hair, perhaps he is a hybrid. Did you get to see his ears?” Ashton shook his head, “He was wearing a hood. I could only see the white hair because it was draped over his shoulders.” She hummed, “What is odd is the Toxzi tattoo, we don’t have those in Seely. We do have similar creatures called a griffin.”
Alexandra gasped, “I can’t believe I didn’t remember griffins. They are mythical creatures in Terre. He could be part human and that would make more sense.” Sylphia nodded, “Likely, Seely citizens are very fond of mating with humans. We find many of them to be beautiful in their innocence. Very possible. I will ask around when we get back to our realm. Speaking of and not to change the subject but…” She turned to me, “Your Majesty, would Alexandra be able to invoke her fire powers to seal the Delnaros powers? Given that I’ve heard that she’s lost a whole lot of blood?” I placed my hands on my hips and sighed, “We won’t know until either the doctor or Theodore come by again. They were waiting for Alexandra to wake up to make the assessment. It would need proficient water magic to diagnose a very awake patient.” Sylphia shrugged, “Is that all? I will go fetch him then.” Malinus rose from his seat next to Alexandra’s bed, “No need, Your Highness. I will go fetch him.” He walked towards the door and Derek opened it, “I think Ash and I need to get back to the Citadel too.” Ashton kissed his sister’s head, “I’m sorry that I can’t stay for your diagnosis, sis. I hope you won’t have a long recovery.” She stroked his cheek and smiled weakly, “It’s okay, brother. You are doing me a great service by investigating this. It does me better for the Citadel to catch this one. I just have one question for you though before you leave.” He looked at her confused, “What’s that?” She looked him in the eye, “Did you catch his name when you met him?” He cocked his head to the side, “You know? I was told but I forgot. That’s odd because he had a unique name. Weird. I will send you a message if I remember though.” She sighed, “That’s okay, brother. You should go.” He nodded at her sadly, “Okay, sis. I hope you feel better soon. I will visit when I can if that’s okay with His Majesty.” He looked up at me and I nodded, “Of course. Just be careful.”
The three men left the room and Sylphia took the seat where Malinus had been sitting. She looked at the book on the bed and picked it up, “Pride and Prejudice? That’s a human book, is it not?” Alexandra nodded, “It’s one of my favorites. Jane Austen was so brilliant and created strong women characters long before any of these modern authors.” Sylphia opened the book to read a little, “It’s very eloquent. I gather this isn’t anywhere close to being modern. Humans are rather crude with their speech nowadays.” Alexandra giggled, winced, and grabbed her side, “Ouch! You aren’t wrong, Your Highness.” Sylphia’s eyes widened, “My apologies for making you laugh, Alexandra.” She shook her head, “No, no. You’re fine. There’s nothing to apologize for. It was interesting to wake up to Lucien reading this book to me. He gave it a certain flair when he was reading it that added to its eloquence. I just imagined a human guy reading this to me and it made me chuckle. It wouldn’t happen first of all unless he was a sensitive type of man and secondly, as you said, humans aren’t nearly as eloquent as a pyrio King. Lucien is now my measure of all men be they pyrio, lycan, human or fae.” I could feel the heat creep up through my face and Sylphia laughed, “Your Majesty is as red as his family crest. You have succeeded in making a King blush, Alexandra. You are really are an interesting person.”
Just then there was a knock on the door and I thanked whoever it was silently for saving me from the teasing that was sure to continue from Sylphia. I cleared my throat, “You may enter.” Theodore poked his head in the door pushing a cart with him that contained a basin, pitcher, a towel, and magic parchment. He looked at me, “Your Majesty, Lord Malinus has informed me that The Batiste is awake.” It wasn’t known that Alexandra was no longer The Batiste so I didn’t want to correct him. I nodded, “She is. Alexandra, please meet The Befent, Theodore Befent.” She looked over to him and smiled weakly, “My apologies, Your Grace. I would stand and greet you properly but I am unable to as of now.” He smiled at her, “You’re okay, my lady. I just need to conduct an examination on you that may be uncomfortable for a few minutes. Understandably, we have to conduct it while you are awake so we will know you aren’t drowning.” She widened her eyes and looked over at me with trepidation in her eyes. I stepped forward and kneeled at her bedside then grabbed her hand, “It’s okay, Alexandra, I will be with you every step of the way. Squeeze my hand when you’re uncomfortable. Theodore is the most proficient water element mage in all of Vellum. You needn’t fear anything.” Theodore nodded at her gently, “I’m sorry to have scared you, Your Grace. I just figured that I would need to give you a warning that this will not be a simple examination. This will determine how much you will need to revert should we go the blood consumption route.” She looked back at him, “What if I don’t want to take blood? Would I still need this examination?” He sighed then nodded, “Unfortunately, Your Grace, this test is required for either route if you want to determine recovery time. Water magic can heal but it takes a whole lot more time than blood consumption.” She squeezed my hand and nodded, “Okay, I’m ready then.”
He walked over to the cart that he had pushed in and wheeled it to her bedside opposite of Sylphia and me. He poured the water into the basin and he chanted something and some sort of writing had glowed blue around the rim of the basin. He picked up the towel and placed it gently on Alexandra’s lap. He looked up at her, “Now I will direct the water into your face. Would you like it to go through your nostril or your mouth?” She sheepishly said, “Mouth please.” He nodded, “Wise choice, it’ll hurt less.” He pulled the towel up from her lap and tucked it under her chin like a bib. He took the magic parchment and placed it on her lap. He walked over to the basin and chanted something else quietly, I couldn’t hear him chant his magic so I couldn’t determine what he was saying. The water lifted out of the basin and Alexandra opened her mouth. It flew into her mouth and plunged itself down her throat. She gagged and gurgled a little then squeezed my hand and I placed my hand over hers. A short while later the water emerged slightly tinted pink and glided over the parchment to write the diagnosis on the paper. As it did so the letters glowed blue then when the water was done gliding over the paper, it returned to the basin. He picked up the paper and read it then hummed. I looked up at him, “What is the diagnosis?”
