Kayden had carefully laid Arianna’s unconscious body on one of the beds in the room. Then he turned toward Aiden and asked, "Shouldn’t we be taking the body with us if we want the Grand Magus to get the soul of this Liandrin out?"
"So we carry an unconscious body with us right through the corridors and out of the room until we get to the chambers of the Grand Magus?" Aiden gave Kayden a look of disappointment.
"What do you suggest then?" Kayden asked, raising both hands in exasperation.
"Leave it to me," Aiden said, sounding rather confident
"I’m sorry—I didn’t intend to cause this situation," Laela apologized. She had been so enraged listening to Liandrin that she simply had to act.
Aiden understood her frustration and spoke in a calming voice. "It’s fine, don’t worry. Let’s go see the Grand Magus first." He turned to Laela. "How long is she supposed to be out for?"
"I can’t say," she replied uncertainly. "I haven’t used the spell on a human before."
"Alright, let’s just go," he said.
One by one, they stepped out of the room. Laela first, then Kayden behind her.
However, just before Aiden left, he used his self-duplicating skill, and an Avatar materialized in the room.
The both nodded at each other before the real Aiden departed. The Avatar remained behind, bolting the door and settling down to watch over Liandrin’s unconscious form.
They walked through the corridors and across the guild’s main room. The Captain and most mages were still absent, except for Rick and Bernard, who were doing something or other in the kitchen.
...
Not long after leaving the guild’s wing, the trio arrived at the Grand Magus’s chambers.
Without knocking, Kayden opened her doors and led the way inside. Thamoryn was writing on a piece of paper while different books and documents lay scattered across her table.
She glanced up once to acknowledge their entrance, then continued writing. However, she spoke up once Aiden had walked in and closed the door behind him.
"Lord Kayden, regardless of your status as son of Lord Oberon, I still expect simple courtesy from you."
Kayden’s face darkened with anger, but he said nothing in reply.
She set down her pen and shifted her attention from the papers to the three mages standing before her, all looking disturbed.
"Yes? Get on with it. Why are you three here?" she questioned with an expressionless face.
Aiden stepped forward and asked bluntly, "Are you the one who put Liandrin up to this task?"
He didn’t make assumptions or beat around the bush, he simply laid it out there straightforwardly.
She studied them for a few moments, then leaned forward slightly. "Tell me, how did you find out?"
Their eyes widened in shocked disbelief. The Grand Magus hadn’t even bothered to deny it.
Kayden immediately stepped closer to her. "Do you know what my father will do to you if he finds out that this is how you treat the life of a mage?"
Thamoryn smiled briefly. "Your father is not in the dark about the methods I employ in the best interests of the Academy and his Kingdom."
Kayden looked even more disheartened upon hearing this. "My father is aware of these practices?" He stepped back, uncertain what to think.
"More importantly, where is she?" Thamoryn asked, referring to Liandrin.
"Where is who? Liandrin?" Aiden said. "She’s unconscious in our room, but only because we need you to undo whatever you did that trapped her in Arianna’s body."
Thamoryn laughed for a moment. "The boldness of you mages. You come into my chambers and dare make demands?"
"From what she told us, we new initiates are of particular interest to you," Aiden replied fearlessly. "You either undo whatever you did to Arianna, or I’m leaving the Academy right now, and I don’t think Laela would want to stay in a place where she could be a victim of your vile machinations." He spoke as though he held all the cards.
Laela nodded in agreement and a firm expression to back him up.
"You speak as though whatever was done wasn’t for your benefit," Thamoryn said, maintaining her relaxed expression.
"It sounds like we’re being used instead," Aiden shot back.
"Maybe, but I think this may be of particular interest to you, Aiden, especially seeing as you ran away from Dragonhold to this Kingdom." That familiar smile crossed Thamoryn’s face as she revealed this information.
Kayden immediately looked up at Aiden with a startled expression. He’s from Dragonhold?
Laela had never really wondered about Aiden’s origins, but it was intriguing to learn he was from Dragonhold, the Capital Kingdom of the continent.
Aiden fell silent for a moment as thoughts raced through his mind.
He wondered how she knew this, and whether she also knew he was King Jarius’s son.
Though to be honest, he wasn’t exactly keeping this information secret, but he wasn’t keen on just telling anyone about it either.
"So what if I’m from Dragonhold?" Aiden finally replied. "What does that have to do with anything?"
Thamoryn sighed, then whispered "Sleep" and snapped her fingers. Both Laela and Kayden collapsed to the ground, instantly unconscious.
The situation looked like it had taken a dangerous turn as Aiden stared at his fallen teammates who were now fast asleep.
"Good, now we can discuss this, just the two of us," she said with a devious smirk, locking eyes with Aiden.
...
Thamoryn told Aiden everything she knew about him, starting from how he’d met Alaric and his party, and the story of his journey to Xathia with them. She even knew about his use of multiple spells in the dungeon to save his friends.
"How do you know all this?" Aiden asked, trying to piece it together.
"That’s not important. The point is, after discovering these things, I realized you’re not a threat. If anything, you could be our most important ally."
Aiden realized that everything Thamoryn knew was limited to his experiences with Alaric and his party. She didn’t know him as Crowley’s bastard son.
"Ally?" Aiden asked. "Against whom? To what end?"
She replied, "An ally in a war against Dragonhold."