Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

White, white, white. Although Briar valley was covered in thorns and a pleasant darkness year-round, this room alone in the castle held a white canopy, a bone white candle holder, a white geometric rug. The white tapestries were embroidered with white thread, so that only the distant idea of the image of a castle surrounded by blooms could be made out. In truth, Sebek strongly disliked the thing, but it was a gift commissioned by the queen of Briar Valley herself, and according to hearsay the man holding a sword at the edge of the tapestry was modeled after Sebek’s grandfather, so this feeling became just one more thing Sebek had to keep locked in his heart. 

As he walked past the tapestry, Sebek felt thousands of eyes staring out from it, watching and judging him. Sebek’s master had taught him to look every danger he came across in the eye so that even without thinking about whether it was a wise thing to do or not Sebek found himself glancing at the tapestry. His grandfather, sown in so that his savage eyes swept out across the land, gazed back. His lips moved and an echo of a voice whispered in Sebek’s mind.

‘None of us can help being what we are.’

Sebek hurried on towards the center of the room. He paused just as his fingers brushed the gauzy canopy and fumbled to readjust his collar. As if this were a signal, black rose petals started gently floating down from the ceiling. Sebek smirked. Perfect. At once, he pushed the canopy aside.

“You’ve befuddled my mind and bamboozled my heart!” Sebek declared, staring down at the figure sleeping on the bed. He paused for a moment, but the figure didn’t stir. Perhaps his mouth opened slightly wider. “In short, Silver, I love—”

Sebek woke up screaming. He screamed as his legs caught in his bedsheet and he stumbled to the floor. Screamed as he raced out of his bedroom and towards the nearest bathroom. Screamed as he shoved a confused dorm-mate aside. He leaned over the first toilet he could reach and proceeded to gag.

The other student, bereft of any basic manners (and oblivious to Sebek’s obvious need for solitude), tip-toed over to his side. “Ah, are you alright?” 

“Quiet, human!”

“If you’re not actually puking, that toilet kind of smells.”

“I said quiet!” Of course Sebek didn’t actually puke—he wasn’t a weak-stomached human, after all—but the thought that his dream could inspire such a reaction oddly comforted him. The next retching noise he made sounded so authentic that the student beside him grimaced. In another world, Sebek would have made an excellent actor. 

Vaguely, he could make out the sound of Lilia’s laughter in the distance.

The news that Malleus had already gone to breakfast unaccompanied almost brought Sebek to tears. When he reached the dining hall he grabbed the first plate of food available and immediately made his way to his lord’s side. Sebek grinned when he saw that while Lilia sat to one side of Malleus, the other side was empty. He swooped in before that dastardly Silver could ruin his morning further. 

“Good morning, my Lord!” Shamefully, he could only give 85% of his attention to Malleus’s response; his eyes roved the cafeteria.

“Silver has not yet arrived,” Malleus said.

“How utterly disgraceful,” Sebek responded instinctively. 

Lilia swallowed an orange slice. “You didn’t wake him this morning?”

“That’s not my responsibility! Silver should be more diligent.” Idly, Sebek started bouncing his knee, but froze when he caught the human-like tell.

“I suppose you didn’t have the time. But, my, my, how odd of you to be late,” Lilia said. Lord Malleus’s impeccable posture was inspiring, but it made it easy for Lilia to lean around him and watch Sebek. His crescent eyes seemed to tell a story that Sebek probably didn’t want to know. Sebek gulped. “Did you sleep in because you had a good dream last night?”

“Not at all, Lord Lilia!” Sebek fumbled for a moment, but couldn’t think of anything more to say without incriminating himself. He shoved a bite of food into his mouth and cringed. What decent eatery served spaghetti for breakfast? It was much too heavy. He continued eating, but with Lilia’s constant wry gaze on him, it wasn’t a pleasant meal. He only lasted one minute before he broke. “If, hypothetically speaking, one were cursed—”

“Cursed?” 

“Sorry I’m late.” Silver clattered into the seat opposite of Malleus, his customary black coffee almost spilling in his haste. Flyaway hairs littered his head. A weaker man than Sebek might call the look ‘cute’. Sebek imagined running his hand over them, and idly wondered if the strands would stick to his fingers. 

Sebek slammed a hand on the table. “Why must you look like that?!”

Silver jumped, and then quickly rubbed the side of his mouth with his sleeve. 

“Why is your immediate thought that you were drooling?” Sebek demanded. “Didn’t you wash your face properly this morning?”

“I didn’t want to be late.”

“You already were.”

“I didn’t want to be even later.”

Throughout the conversation, Sebek’s grip on his fork grew tighter and tighter. Silver looked tired, but not the way he usually did, as if even after ten hours of sleep he still hadn’t slept enough. Why are you looking at me with those eyes? Sebek wanted to scream. “If you don’t start eating you’ll have to go to class without breakfast.” Bizarrely, this made Silver smile. It was the first time that week that Sebek saw that smile. “As Lord Malleus’s guards, we must have strength enough to fight at a moment’s notice.” Sebek rushed to add. “You’re already weak because you’re a human, don’t let yourself get any weaker.”

“Of course.”

Sebek twirled another mouthful of spaghetti on his fork, but paused when he felt eyes on him. Malleus and Lilia watched him, Lilia with a wide grin on his face. Slowly, Sebek felt his face heat up.

“So Sebek,” Lilia said, “what was that about curses you were asking?”

“A curse?” Silver looked up. Sebek’s face grew even hotter.

“It is nothing to concern yourself with, Lord Lilia.” And, seeing the skepticism of his audience, hastened to add, “I was merely curious.” It had been a whim that led to the question, similar to what led Sebek to run to the toilet that morning and pretend to puke. It didn’t change reality or the situation in the least, yet somehow these fancies eased Sebek’s mind. While Sebek was tempted to call that dream he saw the result of a curse, in his heart wouldn’t let him lie to himself.

“Making morning conversation, are we?” Lilia chuckled.

“There are curses where—” Malleus’s eyes flashed to a yawning Silver for a moment, “—where a person is transformed to a miniscule size.”

“And the opposite, where they transform to an enormous size,” Lilia added. 

“To be too small or too large can indeed be called a curse, but in the Queendom of Roses there’s a story where these curses are used to counteract one another. Sometimes, the curse itself is a cure.”

“My Lord!” Tears rose in Sebek’s eyes. To think, his Lord would be so generous as to answer his foolish inquiries! “Thank you for your wise words!”

“He hardly told you anything.”

“Be quiet, Silver!”

“By the way, Sebek, any plans for your day off?” Lilia directed the question at Sebek, but it was Silver he was grinning at.

“I’m going out later, if you want to join me,” Silver said. His half-lidded eyes, gazing up at Sebek, for a moment looked closed and surrounded by white. Sebek looked away.

“Today I complete work most vital to my Lord’s continued educational well-being,” Sebek said sharply. With a final forkful he finished his breakfast and got up to put his tray away. Before anyone could ask anymore questions, he hurried out of the lunch room, not noticing the three confused gazes that trailed after him. 

“At this point you’ve been a loyal customer for so long that you feel almost like family. We’re pleased to sell at half-price as always.” 

Sebek exchanged fifteen thaumarks for a small bottle of detergent that he held up to the cool ceiling light. It wasn’t that he thought that the solution was contaminated or fraudulent, he simply felt the urge to see the murky world beyond the dark glass, and to examine clever work. With a start he recognized the childishness of this sentiment and rushed to put the bottle away. The residents of the Octavinelle Dorm watched him with their usual expressions—sly, bored, and suspiciously cheerful—pasted to their faces.

“I hope you’re pleased with your purchase?” Azul asked.

Sebek harrumphed. “It’s serviceable.” He rose from the plush couch, but before he could take a step, a thought struck him. “Lilia and Lord Malleus claim that you’re a slither of snakes, but you’ve provided only the finest services so far.”

“Yes?” Azul’s smile widened. The scent of further profit interested him more than any insult.

“Well—” Sebek paused. He worked his jaw as if chewing on the words. A silence fell over the room.

Floyd sighed. “Yeash, is this gonna take a while, Crocodile?” 

“I’m getting to it!”

“Do you require some assistance?” Jade asked, smiling. “We could bring out a board covered in letters and point—”

“Do you work in curses?” Sebek blurted.

Azul blinked once, his smile still pasted on. “A curse?”

Floyd scratched his hair under his hat. “Something like sleeping a hundred years?” 

“There’s a curse like that?!” The thought oddly panicked Sebek. Likely because if Silver were cursed with such a thing, he would become even more of a burden. Instead of just waking him up whenever he drifted off, Sebek would have to carry him everywhere.

“Although such a story exists, as your dorm already has a similar issue, I assume you’re interested in another.” Azul leaned forward in his seat, resting his elbows on the table before him and steepling his fingers. “Why don’t we start with this? In all confidentiality please do tell, who are you interested in cursing?”

“I never said I was interested in such stuff!”

“Pardon the presumption,” Azul smoothly replied. “What sort of curse are you interested in?”

What was he interested in? Sebek hadn’t thought before asking his question, but maybe there was some instinct inside him that knew it needed to be asked. Lord Mallus himself had said it; a curse, when used right, can also be a cure. Medicine finds nothing wrong with someone born too short, but a curse to make one taller would fix them all the same. Sebek had something wrong with him that medicine and healing magic, focused on treating the constitution, could not understand or fix. 

“Strange dreams.” Azul raised an eyebrow, and the twins behind him grinned. Sebek’s face grew heated. He couldn’t tell what they were thinking, but somehow he knew it was something he didn’t want. “Bad! Bad dreams. Nightmares, the likes of which make your skin crawl from your flesh.”

“Your skin crawling off doesn’t have to be so bad,” Floyd said. 

“Some might call such dreams worth living in forever,” Jade added.

To remain in that dream, gazing upon Silver’s peaceful, sleeping face forever. Undoubtedly he would grow bored and reach out a hand to—

A sweet taste spread in Sebek’s mouth, just behind his teeth, and instinctively he rushed to lap it up. It was blood; his fairy teeth had pierced his fleshy human tongue.

“I want it gone.” The three stared at Sebek with blank, uncomprehending eyes. Sebek had spoken without thinking, but as he considered the impulsive thought, he realized how right it was, so he clarified. “My heart.” 

As a child, Sebek would look into the vanity mirror in his room and classify each of his features. His green eyes that could see far in the dark were a fairy’s eyes. His curved ears that couldn’t hear as well as his sister’s were human ears. And his heart that loved Silver was a human’s heart. It was the crowning disappointment of everything in Sebek that made him weak and unworthy of Malleus’s regard.

Azul raised one eyebrow. “That is unfortunately against school regulations.”

Sebek looked up from where he had already re-opened his wallet. He expected that removing a heart would be an expensive procedure, so he’d started digging out the emergency funds his mother had entrusted him. “You can’t do it?” In his confusion, he’d lowered his wallet. The chandelier’s light glinted off the Briar Valley gold and shined in the Octavinelle students’ eyes, and for once the three wore identical expressions.

“Absolutely we can, we just need to be discreet about it!” Azul rushed to say.

“Holy mackerel—” 

Jade quickly covered Floyd’s mouth. “We of course have only the deepest sympathy for your situation.”

Floyd made some muffled moaning that we will imagine was generally positive.

“Of course!” Azul said. “A curse is a terrible and wonderful thing! And what with the—” For some baffling reason, Azul gestured in abstract motions above his head. 

For a long moment, Sebek just watched him, unsure of what Azul wanted to tell him. Then, the image of Silver’s hair that morning flashed through his mind and his entire body grew red. “You know?!”

“We have ears,” Jade said.

“Quite.” And, before Sebek could burst out once more, Azul continued, “We should move on to the specifics of how we will make this work.” Azul brought one hand beside him and opened his palm. When nothing happened, he glanced at Jade, who was still covering Floyd’s mouth, realized the problem, and jumped to grab a piece of blank parchment, a jar of black ink, and a quill pen from the stack on the antique table in the back of the room. “As for precedence, I’ve heard a story about a goddess whose heart was removed, but I don’t imagine that even a fairy would live through that process.”

“Do you think I’m weak?!” Sebek slammed his hands on the table. 

Floyd shoved his brother’s hand away. “But how’d the thing get ripped out?”

“I believe it was just that, ripped out.” Azul set out the items on the table and tapped the paper a few times with his quill pen. “Supposedly some fiend disguised himself to do the job.”

“We’ll first need a rather sharp knife,” Jade said.

“Yeah, cutting’s my jam!” Floyd leaned over the back of the couch and pushed Azul aside. He plucked the quill pen from Azul’s hand and wrote an almost illegible ‘Snip, snip! - Floyd’ in the middle of the page.

“Absolutely not!” Azul moved to shoo him away but was easily rebuffed. “Stop writing on that, I’ll need a new one now!”

“We’ll write it down now and re-write after,” Floyd said, but didn’t protest when Azul snatched the quill back.

“Of course, we can’t cut it out just like that,” Jade said. “We need to administer a numbing agent first.” He leaned over on Azul’s other side. Despite the earlier occurrence, Azul’s grip hadn’t tightened at all, and the quill was easily plucked away again. In impeccable cursive, he wrote ‘Zzzz, zzzz - Jade’ right under Floyd’s contribution.

“He’ll die,” Azul said. “Or worse, he’ll sue!”

“As if a minor stab wound could kill me!” Sebek scoffed.

“To your heart !”

“How are your grades?” Sebek asked Floyd. While surgery, knifework, swordsmanship, and other related talents weren’t taught at school, Sebek strongly preferred someone diligent enough to score well, like himself. If Floyd were like Silver and carelessly fell asleep half-way, Sebek might lose something actually valuable.

“Why, my brother only scores hundreds and zeroes. Either you’ll leave your operation perfectly fine, or you’ll die. Either way, your little problem will be over.” Jade smiled serenely.

Overall, that didn’t sound like such a poor deal, especially when Sebek remembered his dream. The only thing to consider was, “How often does he get each?”

“Fifty-fifty.”

“Snip, snip!” Floyd’s hands made scissoring motions aimed at Azul’s hair. On Azul’s other side, Jade mimed an injection.

Azul batted the two away. “Why are you two in this sort of mood! And Jade, don’t just go along with Floyd, we’re in front of a customer.”

“Why, Azul,” Jade said, “this isn't just any customer! It’s a customer so loyal he’s almost like family!”

“You know I only said that because of the book,” Azul whispered furiously.

Sebek narrowed his eyes. “What book?”

“Nevermind,” Azul said. “The nitty-gritty of it is, no one can live through having their heart cut out. It must have been some sort of magical knife that did the deed in the story, and we won’t find one of those just lying on the ground.”

Floyd shook Azul back and forth, whining, and Jade patted his brother on the shoulder consolingly. But Sebek thought. A magical knife. Something about that tickled something in the back of his mind. Perhaps something he read in a book. 

“There’s a story associated with the Fairest Queen, where her hunter cut out a young girl’s heart. But the girl didn’t die.”

“Are you suggesting that we ask him for help?” Azul raised one eyebrow.

“Nah man, he’s crazy,” Floyd said. “And snippin’s my job.”

Sebek tapped his thigh. “Well, do you clownfish have any better ideas?”

“Well,” Azul fumbled. “It’s true that I have also heard of that story.” Azul pondered a few moments more before suddenly looking back up at Sebek. “You know that you’ll lose other things too, don’t you? Not just the parts you want gone?”

Memories flashed through Sebek’s mind. Lilia’s teasing grin as he changed out Silver and Sebek’s bedsheets on Halloween night as Sebek cried from fear. The pride he felt as Lord Malleus commended his improvement using fire magic. His grandfather’s warm palm, heavy on his head. Silver’s sleeping head resting on his shoulder, his expression more peaceful than Sebek could remember ever seeing before. A pang shot through the heart he didn’t want. “I can still serve Lord Malleus. Nothing else matters.”

The three gazed at him with an emotion Sebek couldn’t recognize. In their unity, they looked like some sort of six-eyed creature. The cool, blue lights of the lounge illuminated them from above, and for the first time, Sebek noticed how in that light the three appeared pale like corpses. Sebek had forgotten, but these three from Octavinelle were not human. Coming from the depths of the sea, they were probably just as far from, if not farther from, humanity as fairies were. Should the fairy part of Sebek feel camaraderie for them? Should the human part of him feel fear? Sebek didn’t know but he didn’t feel either; looking at these three he didn’t feel a thing at all.

The group huddled together within the gated area behind the bushes surrounding the castle walls of the Pomefiore dorm. Although the three from the Octavinelle dorm had shown great aplomb when threatening (“It isn’t threatening; his payment is simply overdue and this fact inspired him to help us”) one of the student into guiding the group through the Dark Mirror and towards the outer gate, their courage seemed to abandon them there.

“Is there some reason we’re hiding like cowards?” Sebek grumbled. He snapped a twig that kept stabbing him in a sensitive part of his abdomen.

“Shh! He might hear us!”

“He?”

“We need to find Vil before that happens.” Azul leaned forward, adjusting his glasses. Floyd leaned next to him, laughing dully. “And why are you here? What did you pay us for if you were going to tag along after us?”

“As if I could just watch you sally off to who knows where!” Sebek whispered fiercely. “This is important!”

“We signed a contract!”

“He can hear our heartbeats,” Jade said. He was smiling, but it held a strained edge.

“ Oui .”

Azul screamed with terror and Floyd with joy. Sebek, who after that day would likely never scream again, could admit he may have made a sound.

“ Bonjour !” Rook cried out from just a step behind them, spreading his arms so that the long sleeves of his dorm uniform billowed. “Welcome to our Joli Dortoir , Monsieur Crocodile, Monsieur Mastermind, Roi d’Effort, and Monsieur Malfeasant!”

A voice called out from within the castle. “Rook, don’t run off! We need to get—oh.” Oddly, it was Trey who stepped out of the building. He adjusted his glasses. “Hello Sebek, Everyone.” 

“What are you doing here?” Sebek shrieked. Trey’s resemblance to Sebek’s father left goosebumps rising on his arms whenever the two met, though the resemblance faded day by day. The last time Sebek saw his father, he had noticed grooves starting to cut deep into his father’s face, around his eyes and the ends of his mouth. At first, Sebek didn’t know what they were, and was a little afraid that he might be sick and not telling his family because he didn’t want to worry them. He had seen a similar illness among a few of the humans when he visited the port town. The progression was terrible; many of the afflicted couldn’t even walk without canes. It inspired Sebek to agree to take a day to spend with his parents, and the three went shopping for groceries together, something they never did when Sebek was a child.

‘Oh, don’t be silly,’ his mother had later said, when prompted. ‘He isn’t sick, he’s just old. That’s how humans look when they get old. It happens a little at a time, every day, you just never noticed.’ Trey’s face was still unlined, but in his father’s changing features Sebek thought he could see Trey’s future. Ever since that visit home, Sebek hated to run into Trey like this without advance warning to prepare himself.

“Yeesh, I’d know that voice if I was blind and standing three miles away.” Ace came out of the same door as Trey, finger shoved in one ear, followed by Ruggie.

Ruggie casually leaned against the castle wall. “We’re doing one of those tourist events.”

“What?”

“You know,” Ace made a rolling motion with his hand. “Someone invites us somewhere, we meet maybe Rook’s brother or dog, we walk around talking about the town's history and eating food, and some kind of disaster or competition happens. Nobody dies. The usual.”

“They can scent even the smallest prick of blood a hundred miles away,” Rook said, not clarifying if he spoke of his brother, his dog, or both.

“So can Lilia!” Sebek countered, loyal as always.

“Are you leaving immediately?” Azul asked with a politeness bellied by the anxious rubbing of his hands. Rook’s eyes caught on the motion and he paused.

“Sooner the better,” Ruggie said. “We need to skedaddle if we want to make lunch at Rook’s stupid huge mansion.”

“Mansion?” A strange gleam came to Azul’s eyes.

“A merely large house,” Rook said.

“Dude, that’s literally a mansion,” Ace said.

“Mansion?” Azul repeated. His keen intellect, useful in most situations, seemed to have abandoned him.

“You cannot leave!” Sebek said.

Trey raised one eyebrow. “Why not?”

Jade quickly intervened. “We’ve come to speak to Vil,” he paused. “And you as well, Rook.”

Ace waved him away. “Just do it tomorrow, man. We got a mansion to get to.”

“Food to scarf down!” Ruggie smacked the side of what looked like a large purse. A crinkling sound came from it, as if perhaps he had lined it with plastic.

“Man, let’s just do it tomorrow,” Floyd said. “I kinda lost my motivation for it anyway.”

Azul sighed. “It sounds like it can’t be helped. One day won’t hurt.”

“It has to be today!” Everyone stared at Sebek, uncomprehending, as if Sebek were some foreign creature they just couldn’t understand. Somehow, it was much worse than when fairies looked at him strangely.

Sebek’s skin buzzed at the thought, but he couldn’t back down. The only reason he could acknowledge in his mind was that he didn’t know what would happen tomorrow, anything could stop him from going through with his quest. But as for what these things that could happen were, the truth was too embarrassing, too frightening. Sebek couldn’t admit that he was afraid that fear of the operation might overcome him, paralyzing him from choosing the obviously right choice.

“ Mon dieu , what passion!” Rook exclaimed, spreading his fingers out as if miming fireworks. “Surely I must assist in whatever has inspired Monsieur Crocodile to such heights!”

Ace and Ruggie groaned.

“Now, now,” Trey said, “It isn’t a big deal to head out next week instead. We took so long getting everything together that we’ve lost most the morning anyway. This way, we can prepare to leave at an earlier time. Say, the crack of dawn?”

Ace groaned louder. He started his usual whining, but Trey ignored him. Although Trey’s face and demeanor strongly resembled Sebek’s father, it was that look he sometimes turned on Sebek, the same one that he turned on him now, as if he saw something that Sebek wasn’t sure he wanted to show him, that reminded Sebek of his father the most. It wasn’t a look that judged, but it unnerved Sebek all the same. 

And now another resemblance: after Sebek ruined his day, Trey simply wished him good luck and left with Ace and Ruggie, no sign that Sebek irritated him or betrayed him.

“We need a knife sharp enough to cut out a man’s heart without killing him.”

“And why are you asking me this?” Vil asked. The group glanced at the grinning Rook who stood behind where Vil sat on the plush couch in Pomefiore’s luxurious receiving room. Vil sighed. “I understand, but that’s clearly a request that I can’t fulfill.”

Sebek opened his mouth, but stopped when Jade placed a hand on his shoulder and gripped tightly.

Beside him, Azil re-crossed his legs. “Although I understand how suspicious our request may seem, I promise our purpose in procuring this item is nothing but sincere.” And upon seeing Vil’s dubious face, lied, “And legal.”

Luckily, Floyd’s sudden lack of inspiration for the project meant that he was lying face-down on an out-of-the-way couch, barely listening to their talk and uninterested in correcting this statement.

“ Monsieur ,” Rook said, “a heart is a beautiful thing, and a heavy burden.”

“None of this is the issue,” Vil said. “It isn’t possible to cut out someone’s heart and they’ll still live afterwards.”

Rook shook his head. “Not at all, naturally it can be done. I can do it myself.”

Only the sound of the fancy clock ticking could be heard in the room. Vil rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed. “I really shouldn’t be surprised by this point.”

“You can do it?” Sebek shouted. 

“Is that not what you expected when you came here?” Rook said.

“Of course! I just didn’t think you had the skill for it.” Sebek realized the absurdity of the statement before it even left his mouth. Rook, who could hear a man’s heartbeat from yards away, who had strength not natural to a human, who Sebek once saw jump from a five story building and continue on as normal. If Rook couldn’t do it, the task was impossible. And why embark on an impossible task? And yet the moment Sebek admitted this folly, he knew he would lose. As to what it was he would lose, he didn’t know, only that the shame of it might overwhelm him.

“We need a sedative though, correct?” While visions of gold spurred Azul to this point, now that the possibility of carrying out their promise loomed before him, he became meek and uncertain.

“ Non ,” Rook said. “Just as the legendary swordsman can cut an unseen thing, a true cut won’t even be felt.”

“Then we can begin immediately,” Azul said. A dull pang of anxiety shot through Sebek but he quashed it immediately. It wasn’t appropriate for a guard of Malleus, and soon it would be gone anyway.

“Well,” interrupted Vil, slowly standing. “As fascinating and suspicious as this conversation is becoming, I have work to finish and I don’t want anything to do with whatever disaster this ends in.”

“Not yet, stay just a little longer,” Rook said, taking hold of his hand. “Since the day we met, I have dreamed of sharing all the beautiful things in the world with you. And this is something beautiful.”

However unimpressed Sebek felt by those flowery words, it paled in comparison to how unimpressed Vil looked. He raised one eyebrow. “Cutting out a man’s heart is beautiful?” But Rook just kept his enigmatic smile, and Vil sighed and returned to his seat.

“It is not the pain that’s the problem,” Rook said, returning to the conversation. “It is ever waking again. It is finding a way to breathe and move and work, even without a heart to spur one.”

“Yes,” Jade said, “the lack of any way to move the body’s blood will be quite a challenge to make up for.”

Rook leaned forward in his seat, an eager gleam to his eye. “Monsieur Mastermind, why do you leave your bed in the morning?”

Jade laughed, a slight jitter to the noise. It seemed even the strange, ever-unflappable Jade could only hold out so long against the hunter. “Why, because my alarm goes off.”

“Why not turn the alarm off?”

“I would be late.”

“Why can you not be late? Why not abandon all duties and ties and lay in bed forever?”

Jade paused. 

“He would die,” Azul said.

“What of it?” Rook retorted. “He would die one day anyway. People die, it is the condition.” An uneasy feeling rose in Sebek, but before he could protest, Rook’s eyes pinned him to his seat. “But not Roi des Dragons, is that what you think? But one day, he too—”

“Not while I live,” Sebek said, sounding almost desperate. After speaking, he realized she should have added ‘and guard him.’ Rook’s wide smile didn’t waver, but somehow Sebek knew he’d caught the slip. Because Rook caught everything. Sebek dreaded what bizarre thing he would say about it but they were thankfully interrupted.

“I’d jump on his bed to get him up,” Floyd said, his voice muffled by the upholstery his face was still mushed against. 

Although the act, when it happened, undoubtedly irritated Jade endlessly, at that moment the recollection made Jade smile. “Indeed.”

“Yes, work and life and amour fraternel inspire you to get up, but when your heart is gone, poof . Those things no longer exist.”

Sebek’s eyebrows furrowed. “Lord Malleus—”

“Will be as any other creature,” Rook finished. His eyes twinkled. “There is a story of the Fairest Queen that involves removing a heart, no? Am I wrong in thinking that this is why you have come to us?”

“Oh,” Vil exhaled. “The story of the pig's heart.”

"Wasn't it a girl's heart?" Jade asked.

"If I remember correctly, the girl whose heart was removed still lived afterwards, didn't she?" Azul asked.

"Yes, but there was an exchange involving a pig's heart," Vil said.

Rook nodded. “Cutting out the heart will remove all things, but we replace it with something simple, something that replicates just one of these many things. While the warmth of fresh blood and the smell of good food no longer entices you, you still leave your bed.” He leaned forward. “Monsieur Crocodile, what is the one thing you want to remain of your heart?”

“Lord Malleus, of course.” Because as eagerly as he anticipated Lilia’s training, in spite of his determination to finish a book or his strange, soft dreams, his loyalty to serve Lord Malleus was the great pivot on which his world turned, and that would never change. It was true that there was that year, when Lord Malleus first attended Nightraven Academy with Lilia beside him, that he and Silver lived in a separate world that existed as only the two of them. He remembered one day, after they ate breakfast, Sebek had hurried to grab the dishes to put them in the sink to clean them. He’d demanded that Silver stay at the table, and Silver had raised those half-lidded eyes up at him. His lips curved into that smile that existed almost exclusively for Lilia. Sebek almost fell to temptation that day. He almost smiled back, buoyed by the warmth in his chest. But he avoided damnation then, and would avoid it today as well. “The entire purpose of this is to—” but the lie wouldn’t leave Sebek’s mouth.

“Serving him,” Azul added, for some bizarre reason. “As a guard.”

What else? Sebek wanted to ask, but Rook spoke up first.

“Loyalty and servitude,” Rook said. “ Magnifique ! Then we must find a heart just as dutiful.” Rook rose from the couch and headed to a cabinet that Sebek assumed was decorative until he removed a book from within. He flipped the pages before flashing one to Sebek. “Of all the creatures I have hunted, I could never forget the swan I met as a child. So moved was I by its determination to struggle after an arrow reached its heart that I followed it to find what inspired this passion. After much time, it dragged itself to another swan. Its mate, I believe.”

Sebek’s face grew red. Even though Floyd had fallen so silent he might have been asleep, a crackling chuckle rose from the couch. Although the image of the swan spreading its wings looked magnificent, like a shy schoolboy stuck on his first crush, Sebek could hardly look at it.

“That is in fact exactly the sort of thing we wish to remove,” Azul said.

“Ah, I understand. You wish to be the hunting dog, proud to live and die by its master’s whims.” Sebek wanted to protest that Malleus’s desires were more than mere ‘whims,’ but thought better of talking back to Rook. Another flip of the page. Vil watched him keenly, not saying a word.

“One moment,” Jade interjected. “Are you perhaps talking about murdering an animal, cutting out its heart, and placing it in Sebek’s chest?”

Rook’s eyes grew wide. “ Non ! What a horrible thought! I simply mean we cut them both out and switch them, neither die.” Most people in the room felt slightly ill at the image this brought up.

“Ah man,” Floyd whined. “That sounds sooooo weird. Let’s do it!”

“Excellent!” Rook exclaimed. “I will need an assistant, it is a two-person job.”

“Really?!” Floyd rose to his elbows. “Can I snip the heart out?”

“You can handle the heart after I cut it out.”

“Sweet!”

Protests rose in Sebek’s throat, but what could he say? Floyd and Rook were doing nothing more than exactly what he’d requested of him.

Vil sighed and leaned his head back on the couch. “Why am I here? You know I’m not gallivanting through a forest, right?”

Rook gasped. “We would never dream of asking such a thing. And you are much too busy anyway. I simply wanted to have the dorm leader’s permission to be away for the day if we decided to go through with the procedure.”

Vil’s eyes narrowed. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Rook.”

“I have known my heart since the day our eyes met,” Rook said, completely serious. 

“Do you ever listen to yourself?” Vil murmured. To Sebek's surprise, the ever-stern Vil looked slightly less unimpressed than before. Suddenly Sebek understood Epel’s long-suffering sighs. He left before he would be forced to listen to more private words that he didn’t want to hear. He sat beside the chattering Octavinelle group, hashing out the details of the trip.

The contract was progressing better than he could have ever hoped or feared it would.

Chapter Text

For convenience’s sake, the group decided that they would scour the forests beside the academy for an animal just as dutiful as the hunting dog that they could not immediately procure. A wolf, Rook suggested, as forests generally teemed with wolves. 

“Do they?” Jade asked, one hand shading his eyes from the sun and the other dragging his brother along. It was a spring day so bright it could spoil anyone’s mood.

“I haven’t heard a thing about wolves in this forest,” Azul said. He would have added something to further kill the fun of it, something about probability and statistics and ‘regional differences,’ but thankfully a well-placed tree root tripped him first.

“More things exist that we haven’t heard of, than those we have,” Rook said, with a twinkle in his eye. In a swift movement, he slipped his bow to his other hand and pulled Azul up before he could right himself. Before setting out, Rook had donned his full set of Pomefiore purple robes, along with his odd feathered hat and a knife in his belt. Perhaps to him this was an occasion to dress for.

“Curse that Silver!” Sebek said, snapping a twig beneath his shoe for emphasis. “He naps in the forest; he must have known about the wolves. Undoubtedly, he trains with them where I can’t find out about it.”

“Well,” Azul said, “that seems a bit of a stretch–”

“Just as he did with the bears.”

“The what?”

“It was when we were children,” Sebek began. He became so engrossed in the past that he didn’t notice the looks his companions shared behind his back, or Floyd’s expressive shrug. “Silver and Li-and his father lived in a cabin in the woodlands somewhat near the town I resided in.”

“Ah, the fresh blush of childhood. Beauté!” Rook wiped away a tear. Azul, Floyd, and Jade stared, amazed that it had been a real, liquid tear that came from his eye.

Sebek snorted. “Even at a young age I knew my place in the world. All I thought about was serving Lord Malleus. Whatever else happened, at home, at school, nothing would matter when I became Lord Malleus’s guard.” In fact, that was only a partial truth. The young Sebek’s secret dream to become a royal guard that all fairies in Briar Valley spoke of in proud whispers was the one shining star that lit his heart. What words existed to describe that fervent, hopeless wish? Now that Sebek acted as Malleus’s guard in truth, he couldn’t think of anything that wouldn’t be shameful. “But Silver was different. He never left his isolated world so there were so many things he couldn’t understand.”

“Where’s the bear come in?” Floyd asked. 

“There were bears in the forest and he didn’t tell me! He kept it secret, lying like a–like a liar! Even though he knew how I felt!”

“How you felt about bears,” Jade said.

“Not about the bears, about Lord Malleus,” Azul said, in a chastising tone. Jade looked only the slightest bit chastised.

“He fought the bears! They sparred together!”

Sebek would never forget his very first shame, the result of the spar that he and Silver had held at Lilia’s bequest after their first month of training. ‘To see where they started, how far they’d come in just a month, how much more they had to go.’ What Sebek learned was that he started with his face in the dirt; a slow learner who practically walked in circles, with an endless road ahead of him that he didn’t have the talent to see the end of. When Silver used his winner’s reward of a favor to touch, at first hesitantly and then almost desperately, Sebek’s curved human ears, Sebek had cried. Lilia had laughed and patted his back a few rough times, then told him to buck up, he’d become strong, just like Silver, in no time. To Sebek, it felt as though that promised time never came.

Even though Silver is a human and Sebek, as a half-fay, should be stronger, it was Silver who developed his magic first. As children, Silver was stronger and faster, and won all of their spars. Even though Silver was only a year ahead of Sebek and didn’t attend school, Sebek couldn’t help feeling that Silver was smarter than him as well, despite Sebek’s more studious nature quickly revealing itself. 

Sebek’s teeth were no less sharp than Lilia’s, much sharper than Silver’s. That Lilia could travel to far away lands and leave the house in Silver’s care while Sebek’s own father, for many years, hadn’t trusted him enough to walk to Lilia and Silver’s part of the forest alone was more humiliating than Sebek could bear. 

“One day, I arrived at Silver and Lilia’s home only to find Silver pinning a cub to the ground.” Sebek’s fists clenched. “We were supposed to be training together, as equals who aspire for the same goal. We both wanted to be as strong as possible so that we could protect Malleus in the future, but Silver forgot about me. Without taking a step away from his home he nonetheless ventured off, leaving me behind.”

Floyd, Jade, and Azul stared at him. They shared a glance. They stared at him again. Just before Sebek snapped at them, Azul’s face lit up in recognition. “Which in turn made you less appealing to Lord Malleus because you lagged behind in training!” 

Sebek would have shouted at them, but Rook’s hand covered his mouth. Rook held a finger up to his lips. Jade covered Azul’s mouth and Floyd pushed his head down so that the three crouched on the ground. Slowly, Rook guided the five towards a crop of bushes. As they approached, Sebek started to make out the faint, chirpy noise that must have caught Rook’s ear.

“Ch-ch-ch-ch!”

Rook slowly pulled aside a cluster of branches. Beyond lay a small clearing, where speckles of light filtered in through the heavy tree cover. Sitting on one of the larger branches littering the forest floor was a squirrel wearing a classic white wedding dress. Her little paws covered her eyes and her shoulders shook.

“Oh, Squirleo, my love, how could you have left me at the altar!”

Azul placed his hand over Rook’s and slowly guided him to return the branches to their original position. He mouthed something that probably was supposed to make out ‘let’s go,’ but unfortunately instead looked like ‘eat her.’

Rook raised his bow instinctively. He did so in absolute silence, but out of pure bad luck the squirrel bride at that moment raised her head so that she could try crying to some higher power, and caught the movement. Most squirrels would run at such a time, but this brave bride rose to her feet and shook a paw at them.

“Beast! On my own wedding day too!”

“Non, non, Madam!” Rook cried, quickly lowering his bow. He dashed off towards her before Sebek could pull him back. 

“Have you forgotten why we’re here?” Sebek protested, but soon followed after.

“Did those ones talk?” Jade asked. 

“I don’t know. The ones at Night Raven never spoke,” Azul whispered. 

“Maybe those talked too, just not to us,” Floyd said. 

“So they were just pretending to be silent, when in reality they were listening in on me,” Azul hissed. “Who were they reporting to? How much would a lawyer cost us? No, I’d never throw away money like that. I’ll read a few books and do it myself.” This tirade continued to the interest of absolutely no one. 

They crowded around the large branch and watched the Squirrel Bride dramatically rest the back of one paw over her beady eyes and swoon. 

“My fiancé has run away, and I don’t know where to find him! Oh, won’t somebody find my beloved Squirleo, and bring him back to me?”

“I don’t see any profit in this.”

“This isn’t any of our business.”

“Why should we?”

“Of course we will!”

Every member of the party responded exactly in character. Although it was three against one, that one could undoubtedly shoot an arrow from a mile away and somehow pierce all three simultaneously, so the power balance felt about equal. Sebek crossed his arms in thought. As the one providing the money and who had aroused Rook’s sense of romance, the final judgment was up to him. 

Why should he care about a squirrel bride finding her groom? Why waste his time when, undoubtedly, the groom simply realized what a horrid beast he’d almost signed his life away to and fled? In that sense, the squirrel groom was a wiser creature than Sebek, who’d allowed such nonsense to torment him for far too long. It was just the sort of pointless waste of time that Silver would get caught up in. He probably wouldn’t even regret it afterwards, Sebek thought with disgust. 

When Sebek told him this tale of the squirrel’s wedding later that evening over dinner, Silver would smile.

Sebek clicked his tongue. “Do you know where the wolves live in the forest?” 

The squirrel’s eyes twinkled. A shiver ran down Sebek’s spine, but only a coward would run away at that point. “I haven’t seen any wolves, but a powerful hunter’s territory lies just over yonder. The forest is full of the brave and the cunning. Oh, to imagine my love in any of these places!” 

“I won’t go out of my way for this,” Sebek warned, and the trio from Octavinelle groaned. “It’s only if we happen to run across him.”

The Squirrel bride clapped her paws. “Of course! I could never ask for more! Except that you also invite my forest animal friends to my wedding.” She pressed on before anyone could protest. “Listen well, and I will tell you of the earth, the trees, and the skies, and the life within. And if you happen to cross the handsomest squirrel in the world, then you will know he is my groom.”

The squirrel bride told them of much more than just the life within the forest; they heard the intimate details of her first date with Squirleo, the difference in pine nut consistency between the east and the west territories, the latest gossip regarding an owl and a crow’s dispute over a particular tree, and so on. In fact, while they were given a crudely drawn map and a few vague directions where ‘truly beastly and wonderful creatures’ resided, that hour of chattering yielded almost nothing else related to their quest.

“When you find Squirleo, call my name and the blue birds will pass along your message.”

“Blue birds?” Before Sebek could question further, a chattering of chirps alerted them to their audience perched in the trees above.

“Do they talk too?” Azul demanded. The birds chipped benignly, but Azul’s narrowed eyes warned that he wouldn't be fooled.

The squirrel bride scuttled into the bushes. Sebek shouted after her, “Hey! What name do we call?” 

Faintly, they could hear a voice call back. “It’s Squirlietta, you silly!”

Nothing makes one want to smash a small forest animal over the head with a rock more than being called ‘you silly,’ but the squirrel bride departed before anyone could entirely lose their patience. 

The first place they looked for Squirleo was on the tall rock formations bracketing the twisting, creaking stone path that led from the town to the school. According to the squirrel bride, a hunter stalked this land, so terrifying that all small creatures that called that place home lived in fear of it. Why the squirrel bride believed that her beloved Squirleo might be the brave exception, no one could tell.

The group flew in a line, with Sebek leading, Floyd, Jade, and Azul following, and Rook holding up the rear. The five held a hemp rope between them, pulled from Jade’s usual hiking gear, now primarily supported by Sebek and Rook. Jade looked distinctly ill and even Floyd was sweating. Azul held onto the rope so tightly that it probably did more harm than good for his balance, and made steadying the rope a challenge. Sebek tightened his grip and pulled the rope as taut as he could. On the tail end, Rook was an immovable wall. Sebek could not be the one to drop the rope. Their flight was far from steady, but at last they reached the head of the spire without anyone falling off, and should have had no trouble touching down at the top. At least, that should have been the case.

From the lead, Sebek couldn’t see the blur that shot by. Behind him rose a cry, then shaking, and then an ominous lightness from the rope. Looking down, Sebek caught sight of Azul’s flailing form falling to the trees as Rook shot down to dive after him. Jade and Floyd dropped the rope to grab at each other. Sebek pulled out his magical pen. His eyes darted around the sky as he spun his broom in a circle. 

Again, a brown flash swooped by. It bypassed Sebek and dived at Jade. Before its outspread claws could pierce his flesh, Floyd, still connected to Jade, twisted their brooms so the two flipped upside down. Sebek shot a blast of frozen air above them, where the animal’s momentum still propelled it.

Just before the magic hit it, the creature’s wings spread out and it gilded upwards. Sebek shaded his eyes to follow the creature as it flew higher, higher, into the sun. His eyes burned from the strain but Sebek wouldn’t lose his pray. He was a royal guard, he was accustomed to pain. The wild thumping of his heart drowned out all other noise in the world.

Finally, the creature descended. Sebek kept his eyes steady on his target and when it dived closer he saw the face of his enemy– it was a hawk.

Behind him, Floyd and Jade finished righting themselves and slowly descended, but Sebek lingered, watching the hawk dance through the sky. It flapped its wings rapidly, gaining height, then glided low. It gave a piercing screech. Sebek jolted as an answering cry rose behind him. He turned to find a second hawk perched on the tall stone spire the group had initially been heading towards. With a strong flap of its wings, it lifted off.

The two hawks rose above Sebek, circling each other, two brown flecks against an endless blue sky. They rose higher and higher, and Sebek had to cover his face with one hand to block the harsh sunlight to follow them. As the first hawk did before, the two dived low. Sebek’s heart gave a jump, but he wouldn’t be tricked, he already knew they would pull up before long.

They twisted their wings, altering their path. Instead of forcing themselves up, it pushed them towards each other, and they clasped claws. They hurtled straight towards the ground. 

‘Idiots!’ Sebek wanted to scream, but the rushing wind stole his breath. He’d started towards them before he could make the decision to do so. What would be the point of whatever this nonsense was if they died? The falcons shot past the upper tips of the pine trees. The ground grew closer and closer, but Sebek knew that they wouldn’t let go, they would see only each other forever. With a grimace, Sebek pulled his broom up. They’d gone too far; no speed could save them now. 

Sebek was certain he would watch something gruesome, but he kept his eyes firm on their falling forms. He hadn’t become Malleus’s guard by shying away from unpleasant things.

But just before they hit the ground, the hawks pushed away from each other. They headed in different directions and began the furious flapping of their wings to return high to the air again. While the second hawk circled the stone pillar, the first brushed by Sebek, so close that Sebek’s fairy ears could make out the hawk’s whisper. “Leave, human.” The word burned like an accusation.

“I am not!” Sebek shouted. He felt the hawk’s keen eye glance off his curved ears and his hands flew up to cup over them. Sebek’s broom swayed gently without the extra reinforcement. He recognized that, rather than a knight rallying for a just battle, he was merely a fool who’d walked into another’s intimate moment. 

Still tense, he alighted towards the ground, where he found Rook waving to him. Beside him, Jade examined a cut on Azul’s head while Floyd ignored the sky to poke at something on the ground, his attention lost as quickly as it had been enraptured. 

“It seems we came at a bad time,” Rook said. “Monsieur Hawk searches for a hunt to feed his lady love.”

Sebek stared at the ground. He wasn’t a child anymore, so he wouldn’t kick the rock near his shoe. His ears wouldn’t turn red either, the way they used to, all those years ago, he told himself. “She can get her own food,” he grumbled. 

“True, the females are the stronger. But don’t you understand it? The desire to show off to the person you love? To protect them, even if they don’t need such a thing? It isn’t a question of power or logic.” For a moment, a recollection of Sebek’s youth flashed through his mind, of his childhood self almost in tears because Silver, in all the isolation Lilia gave him, never went to school or town, and so wasn’t teased the way Sebek was. 

There were so many things that Silver hadn’t understood about Sebek, that till the present day he still didn’t understand. The few times that Silver spoke about true friendship between humans and fairies, Sebek had to grit his teeth. In Silver’s little isolated world where he hardly knew any fairies or humans, what did he understand about the misery and strife that bound the two races in such wretched chains? That he could speak so freely of the rotten foundation that made up Sebek’s world, a topic too miserable to ever leave Sebek’s own lips, proved it.

As a child, Sebek had wanted so badly for those fairies to bully Silver. He dreamed of it at night. It wasn’t that he wanted Silver to be teased, and he never wanted Silver to cry, but something about it would be less lonely, if they both endured the same torments. And, even more than that companionship, the true joy of those dreams came after the bullying. When Sebek, fueled by all the bravery that his seven-year-old righteous indignation could give him, stood between Silver and the horrible world that chewed his heart and spit it out as if it were trash. It was the dream that Sebek could save Silver from what tormented Sebek himself, even though at the time he’d yet to best Silver in any subject or battle. 

Rook’s smile was unnervingly knowing. “A hawk’s solitary yet faithful heart, one valiant in defense of that it loves. Surely, there is no better heart for a warrior?”

Above them, the second hawk returned to the sky. Watching them, now that Sebek knew what was happening was embarrassing, but somehow he couldn’t stop. “That hawk would never trade his heart,” Sebek said thoughtlessly.

“That isn’t an issue,” Azul said, readjusting his crooked glasses. “Everyone wants something they can’t get alone. Leave the negotiations to us.”

“There was the beginnings of a nest, but no eggs,” Jade said. His voice promised mysterious tricks.

The hawk grasped talons with its mate, unafraid in its bold declaration of adoration and love. Sebek turned away. Even Sebek, obtuse as he could be, knew that to watch more would be inappropriate.

“It obviously isn’t what I’m searching for,” Sebek said. “In fact, it would probably make things worse.” For a moment, an image of that worse scenario rose in Sebek’s mind. Just the thought of bringing Silver his lunch every day, of Silver’s returning thankful smile, was too much. Sebek couldn’t tell if it was a good or bad feeling, only that it really was too much. 

“No more flying,” Floyd said, and they all agreed.

“I’ll take twenty-five, nothing less.”

“We won’t go above fifteen.”

“Twenty-five.”

“Twenty then, you bandit.”

“Twenty-four.”

“That’s highway robbery!”

“Buddy, you want a heart, you got it, but only for twenty-four acorns.”

Azul sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. The glen the group had made their way to was bright with sunlight and the vibrant green of new plant growth. This relentlessly cheery atmosphere, combined with the incessant chirping of birds, would give anyone but Rook a headache. Azul turned to Sebek. “What do you think of twenty-three acorns?”

“I said twenty-four!” The chipmunk shook a fist at Azul.

“In no way is a chipmunk’s heart appropriate for a guard of Lord Malleus,” Sebek snapped. He’d tried interrupting earlier but Azul, scenting a possible bargain, had steadfastly ignored him. Sebek, arms crossed, scowled down at the chipmunk. “Do you even serve a master?”

“I got one master and I’m loyal a servent as they come,” the chipmunk said, patting his stomach. 

“Begone with you.” Sebek swung his arm out, startling the chipmunk. The chipmunk jumped onto a tree trunk and climbed to the crevice they’d initially found him peeking out of.

“Please be sure to attend Squirlietta’s wedding,” Jade called after him.

The chipmunk peeked his head out. “That nutty dame? Sure, but I don’t know a wedding would go any smooth, what with her being a squirrel.” And the chipmunk ducked back before they could say another word.

“That was a complete waste of time,” Sebek said.

“A chipmunk’s clever mind and dedication is wonderful,” Rook said.

“I can’t be dedicated to my stomach over my lord,” Sebek snapped. 

“Naturally,” Azul agreed, without a hint of sarcasm. “We only began initial talks to see if it might work out anyway. We wouldn’t want to miss a significant opportunity.”

Behind him, Jade roused his brother with a gentle shake of the shoulder. Floyd had again suddenly lost his motivation for the job, but he also didn’t feel like making the long trek back to the dorm. The moment Azul had started toward the chipmunk he’d sat back against a tree and dozed off.

“That one talk too?” Floyd yawned, too loud to be polite.

“He did,” Jade said.

“Did they all talk the whole time and we didn’t know?” Azul’s smile grew strained.

“One wonders,” Jade said, “what mocking things have been whispered behind our backs all this time.”

“According to our source, there should be a colony of animals around these parts,” Azul said, ignoring the remark. “If there’s a colony, then there should be some hierarchy of power, with some animals serving others. If nothing else, with creatures living together they should have some loyalty to one another.”

 “Of course, there is all sorts of loyalty,” Rook said, wearing that same grin that the group had quickly learned never left his face.

Other kinds of loyalty—perhaps Sebek could also keep his loyalty to Lilia as his master, or his loyalty to his mother and grandfather. It would have to be subservient to his loyalty to Lord Malleus, of course, but it would be something. “Let’s hurry on then,” Sebek said, starting forward at a fast clip.

The destination Squirlietta bade them to go lay only a few minutes walk away. They heard it first, a soft sort of rustling that sounded almost like the wind brushing its hand through a sea of foxtails. The moment he saw it, before Sebek even sensed it, he knew that the spring must be magic. It didn’t make any sense otherwise. 

The water was so perfectly clear that Sebek could see every little swimming creature and each speck of upturned silt and the long, bright plants that grew up in the bottom. It was as if the water didn’t exist at all. It must though, it was the thin line separating the world Sebek lived in from that other. The brief, hopeless thought that the clear spring resembled Silver’s clear eyes flashed through Sebek’s mind and he shuddered with the realization that he was in worse trouble than he’d thought.

A small, speckled thing darted out, catching Sebek’s eye. A salamander? Sebek opened his mouth to ask about it, but somehow he sensed that any noise would break the water’s magic. The creature quickly retreated back into the shadows where its black skin became invisible. After a moment of stillness, it peeked its face out from the darkness. Sebek’s eyes followed its gaze. On almost the other side of the pond lounged a second salamander, peering thoughtfully at the one near Sebek. 

The near salamander jolted forward. Sebek never realized that he leaned forward to follow. But almost immediately the salamander twisted back, retreating, and Sebek fell back onto his heels. The salamander turned its head—and turned back. It swiveled around the side, then swiveled back again.

With an almost violent passion, Sebek wanted to shove his hand under the water, grab the salamander, and fling it to the other side of the pond. What was the point of all this silly flittering about, this shameful coyness? 

Sebek gripped his fists tightly. Although to the world above the water they spoke no words, undoubtedly the creatures within had their own communication. 

“It is edible,” Rook said, voice almost nonexistent. He pointed to the salamander.

“For real?” Floyd exclaimed.

“I’ve brought salt,” Jade said.

“It isn’t a protected animal, is it?” 

“Have you no shame?!” Sebek shouted. In an instant, every creature, from the fish to the small tadpoles, to even the dragonflies fled in fear. Sebek ignored the chorus of loud protests and waited by the pool another ten minutes, until finally the second salamander floated out. The first salamander, despite its earlier cowardly show, quickened to escape its hiding space. It rubbed its body against the new visitor and gave it a playful nip.

An image flashed into Sebek’s mind as clearly as if it truly happened. Raising his hand to brush away hair, his head descending, he opens his mouth and the warmth of flesh and the scent of sweat makes his mouth water. He tilts his head and his fangs brush just enough for soft flesh to bend only the slightest amount. 

Sebek came to himself, face burning, and burning more when he realized that he didn’t know if his mouth was opened to gape or to taste. His teeth clattered as he clenched his mouth shut.

“A heart bursting with hidden passion,” Rook murmured. “Too much of it to be told.”

“Useless.”

Behind them, a new fancy had taken hold of Floyd. Deftly, he folded a single Thumark into a small boat and, ignoring Azul’s distressed cry, set it on the water. With a flick of his finger, the thing glided forward. Jade, naturally, leaned down beside him. If he didn’t, who else would Floyd rattle all his wild thoughts to?

Suddenly, the salamander’s love scurried away. The salamander wriggled in a most unbecoming way, chasing after her with such fretful persistence that it could even be called embarrassing. Before Sebek could scold it—and scare away all the creatures of the spring again—a large, silver shape shot out, disturbing the scene. Sebek blinked a few times before realizing that the salamander was missing.

“Where—” The word barely left his mouth before Sebek found himself bracketed by the twins, chuckling lowly.

“A tragic end to a dull tale,” Jade said, shrugging with faux-sorrow.

“That went quicker than if he’d let us squeeze him!” Floyd laughed.

“He should have made a deal with us,” Azul said, from just above Sebek. “With your heart this wouldn’t have happened.”

“It’s the condition,” Rook said again, sadly this time, and that was when Sebek finally realized what had happened.“Hey!” Sebek shouted. Again, all the creatures of the spring fled, even faster this time as Sebek slapped the water with his hand. “We had business with that salamander!”

“Will you stop that?” A large, silver trout, the same murderer they’d just witnessed, poked its head out of the water, just beyond Sebek’s reach. He spoke with a voice so deep it was shocking. The creature didn’t have the facial muscles to frown, but the trout clearly didn’t know that. A magic spring indeed. “We can’t go running here and there every time you have a fit. We’ve got work to do and a life to live too.”

“Fiend! Why did you kill him?”

“Why, he your friend?”

“Of course not!”

“Then what’s the matter you chump?”

“I just—” But Sebek fell silent, at a loss for words. The salamander wasn’t even an acquaintance. There was no decent reason a guard of Malleus should make a fuss over such a thing.

“We wish to know why he needed to die,” Rook said. “As a fish, this may not make sense to you, but understand that it is something that we need as humans. Please, indulge us.” Inwardly, Sebek cursed. Another indication of his weak heart. Just beside him, Azul, Jade, and Floyd looked on, bored and uncaring, just the way Sebek should have.

“Of course it’s dead, what a fool!” The trout cried. “Doesn’t he know he shouldn’t go out wooing till night time? In the middle of the day like this, plucking him up was as easy as flapping my tail.” The trout’s large tongue bulged out of his mouth, as if he wanted to lick his lips. “But lucky me, what a snack!”

“But he was so in love. What a shame!” Rook shook his head in dismay so exaggerated it felt like a joke.

“He was a fool in that, too,” The trout said, oddly impassioned. “You need to wait for just the right time, when your scales are the shiniest and your scent the most charming, and then make your move with the greatest fierceness you can muster! You don’t flutter around a lady as if you can’t stand to be around her! And besides, didn’t he know that his kind romance by moonlight? Nothing about that salamander was right. He had no idea what he was doing. It was like he only half-knew he was a salamander.” The trout shook his head scornfully. “I can’t stand to see a thing that doesn’t know what it is.” The trout peered back at them, all of them, yet Sebek felt for some reason that he was the one the trout truly looked at. Many retorts rose in Sebek’s mind, but nothing he could say in earnest. If Sebek didn’t know what he was, he at least knew he wasn’t a liar, so he grit his teeth and kept his silence.

“Squirlietta is getting married,” Azul said, before the fish could escape anywhere they couldn’t follow. “Will you go to her wedding?” 

“That’s another one who doesn’t know what she is,” the trout said. But despite his clear scorn, continued, “Of course I’ll attend.”

And before anyone could ask how he planned to leave the spring to attend said wedding, he turned and slipped back into the water, as quick and silent as a knife between the ribs. 

“She said that there should be some sort of living structure around here,” Azul said, his face pressed close to the map. What he hoped to see from the squirrel bride’s childish squiggles of perhaps-trees and perhaps-rivers no one could say. They’d reached a dense, wild part of the forest where the branches grew so closely together they had to keep their arms raised to stop the sharp ends from scratching their faces. Sebek trailed the group, his face set in a scowl. 

“Like a house or somethin’?” Floyd asked.

“Considering that we are in a forest and searching for animals, it’s more likely to be a cavern in a tree, or a natural cave,” Jade suggested.

Rook, leading the group, drew a branch back and was so surprised by what lay beyond it that his grip slacked and the branch swung back. 

“Well,” Jade said, eyes wide, “it seems I was mistaken.”

Sebek rushed forward, shoving past the others, and pushed forward. Beyond the branch, the trees were greatly diminished and in their place lay the ruins of old buildings. Vines and moss covered much of the stone walls, attesting to their long abandonment. The group stepped through the town, so focused on the sights around them that they never thought to keep on the lookout for any dangers.

Sebek’s training naturally left him able to sense attacks from any direction, and to dodge any blow aimed at him, even from behind. Unfortunately, the pinecone that flew their way was aimed at Rook, and it was only by unfortunate mishap that Sebek stood in the path after Rook dodged it. The monkeys leaning down from the upper levels of the buildings howled with laughter, unknowing of the danger of the creature now rubbing his smarting head. 

“Cowards!” Sebek roared. “At least throw it with the intent to kill so I can sense it!” Of course, they only laughed louder. 

All around the group the branches shook as monkeys jumped atop them and grabbed and pulled at the vines wrapped around the buildings in a wild fury. All the time they screamed and laughed, such a piercing shriek that no one could make out the sound of one from the other.

A slow, loud crack, soon recognizable as clapping, rang out through the town, and gradually the shrieks died down. Sebek followed the noise to the top of a crumbled building where a monkey, much larger than the rest and wearing a children’s paper crown and a red bedsheet tied around his neck, lay lounging almost regally. To each side of him lay a monkey leaning against his seat, in positions that, were they humans, would look croquettish. Their faint giggles rang eerily in the new silence. 

The large monkey spoke before Azul could begin negotiations, because of course a king must be the first to speak. 

“Humans,” he bellowed, “humans! I welcome you.”

“I am not!” Sebek screamed. 

“I don’t believe that title fits anyone in this clearing,” Jade added. 

“No no, you forget me,” Rook said, as if they ever could. 

The king of the monkeys tsk-ed and shook his head. “How sad! And I so wanted to speak to a few humans today. Do you not find them interesting too? Especially the little doodads they carry everywhere; I once saw a human flick a stick of metal and a red flower bloomed from the end.”

“Couldn’t care less,” Floyd said, yawning. 

Were someone to speak to Malleus in such a way, someone would challenge them to a duel. The king of the monkey’s grin only widened and his subjects hooted with soft laughter.

“In that case,” The king said slowly, “I hope you are ready to tell a more amusing tale.”  The hordes of monkeys leaned forward, and for the first time the sheer number of the animals became apparent. At least a hundred, Sebek thought. Jade grabbed Floyd’s shoulder to pull him behind Azul, but nothing could stop Floyd when he fell into his dangerous moods.

“We wanna cut some chimp’s heart out of its chest.” Floyd smirked. A few monkeys ducked behind the large leaves, but the king only tilted his head, face unchanging. 

“We would replace it, of course,” Azul hastened to add. “An equal trade.”

The monkey king’s face was like a mask. He grinned so much that Sebek didn’t know if he was amused or furious. 

“Go right ahead.”

“Really?” Azul asked.

“Of course,” The king said. “Anyone here is free to do with their heart as they wish.” He spread out an arm and even more monkeys appeared from the branches surrounding the clearing. Sebek’s group had been entrapped from the beginning, without ever noticing it. Sebek was a shame to his master for falling for such a trick. Once this nonsense was over, he would make sure Lilia knew of it so that Sebek could be properly chastized, if the motivation to do such a thing still remained in his heart.

Rook glanced at Sebek, looking for guidance, but monkeys never lived in Lilia’s forest or around town; Sebek didn’t know anything about them. His instinct based on what he’d seen so far told him to proclaim that they were obviously not suitable for a guard of his lord, but even Lilia had a playful side. And if Sebek were to be honest, only in the deepest recesses of his heart, their last negotiation left him more than a little sick of their quest. This shouldn’t be a light decision, but he wanted it over already. Thankfully, he’d hired someone to deal with such muddled matters.

Azul straightened his jacket and stepped boldly forward. He faltered when one of the monkeys he’d been walking towards raised its arm, but as there was nothing in its palm to throw, he continued. “Ah, miss—”

The king monkey gasped theatrically. “You want to take that one’s heart? Why, that’s my wife!” 

“I beg your pardon,” Azul quickly said.

“Then how about this uggo?” Floyd asked, tilting his head towards a monkey lazily fanning herself with a large leaf.

“That’s also my wife,” The king said.

“And this lady?”

“My dear wife as well.”

“The madame up above?”

“My cute little wife.”

The more this farce continued the redder Sebek’s face became until he finally burst out. “‘Cute’ wife, ‘dear’ wife, how dare you? Just marrying people—monkeys—left and right. It doesn’t mean anything if you marry all of them!”

“Don’t be a silly goose, I love all my wives.” The monkey king flicked one of his giggling wives under the chin.

“That isn’t love at all!” Sebek cried. He knew that getting worked up over this only made him look all the more foolish, but he couldn’t help how his heart beat with anger. “If you’re going to love someone, you shouldn’t look at anyone else. You—”

Sebek Faltered. Everyone—monkey, merperson, and other—stared at him, perplexed or amused. ‘Look at this human!’, their stares seemed to say. But even a human heart has its virtues and its pride, and Sebek would not be stopped.

“At night, you dream of them. The thought of glimpsing their face thrills and terrifies you. You hike for hours to their house every day, and hours again on the way back, because you don’t want them to be lonely, because they are lonely, how can he not be?”

When winter came upon Briar Valley, frost covered the land and footing became treacherous. Even so. Even before the search party found the wild wolves that had eaten a townsfairy, when the river flooded from rain; whatever else happened in the world, no matter how dark and dreary the day or how exhausted and irritated Sebek was from school, he would take one look at the sky, sigh, and head to Silver’s home. 

It started that year when Lilia left for Nightraven Academy, because that was the year that Sebek finally understood. It was that first day that Lilia was gone, truly gone, with no chance of a surprise return. Sebek was mid-way through the forest to Lilia’s hut when he remembered that his master wouldn’t be there, and that Sebek had specifically said that he wouldn’t bother to stop by that day, but he felt it was a bit too pathetic to turn back at such a point. Sebek had crested the hill that sat just beside Lilia’s home and with his keen fairy eyes had made out a figure in the clearing of the house. It was Silver, sitting on the tree stump they used to cut wood, the axe laying on the ground beside him. Silver never sat on the tree stump; even when a spell of sleepiness came over him, he would slump to the floor beside the stump or lean down face-first on it. Sebek remembered his heart beating when he saw Silver’s figure, he remembered running. As he approached the little cabin, he strained all his senses to try and find anything out of the ordinary, but he could detect nothing unusual. Even the birds and other forest critters, Silver’s eternal entourage, fluttered about him as usual, though perhaps with a bit more fluttering than was the usual. 

At the border between the house and the wild Sebek froze. Silver sat on that stump bowed down, as if by some heavy, invisible force. His face rested in his hands. He didn’t move. Even after the few times Sebek had bested him in a spar, Silver had not looked even the slightest bit defeated the way he had that moment. It was not a look that became him. 

At that moment, Sebek had an epiphany. A thousand things over his life that he had seen and heard and learned suddenly came together, and he felt the transformation from knowing something to understanding a profound truth. For years, from a time before he even met Silver, Sebek had carried a heavy feeling in his chest, as if his soul were a hand desperately reaching out for something to grasp. Now, Sebek realized that someone had been reaching back all that time, searching for another just as desperately as Sebek had been. It was as if a thousand flowers bloomed in his heart, as if he witnessed a miracle.

Every day after, for that year, Sebek traveled to Lilia and Silver’s little thatched hut. Even at the time, Sebek knew he was doing something unnecessary, something his grandfather and all the fairies of Briar Valley, if they ever heard of it, would not understand. But he couldn’t stop himself. Some part of Sebek’s soul felt that that time would last in its own bubble for eternity. 

Of course, both dreams and nightmares must end. The year after, Sebek was left alone to stew in his thoughts, day after day, his mind twisting misgivings and paranoia into monstrous shapes. It was shameful, but Sebek never did well when he was by himself.

When Silver came back from school over break he seemed completely fine. Happy, even. He’d joined a club. Made a friend. Sebek’s presence had been useful, perhaps even liked, but not needed. Even so, that year had taught Sebek something.

“The mountains in fay are dark and tall and full of beasts, not all kindhearted. In the middle of the forest is a single house. How lonely would it be, to stay alone in that house? What does it matter if there are bears and squirrels and birds all around, when every time you look into a mirror you see that you’re alone?” And there it was: the reason why Silver couldn’t stop touching Sebek’s ears that day he’d won their first spar. Something so simple and pure.

“I thought he lived in a castle,” Jade whispered.

“I knew better than to parlay with the shabby genteel,” Azul whispered back. 

“That’s why we long to hear those words, that, ‘it’s you, you are special to me and no one else will do.’” Sebek shook his head. “I would rather have a disgusting, weak heart than an unfaithful one,” Sebek said, voice heavy with a dull misery.

Perhaps something in Sebek’s voice tipped off his companions that further comment would be unwelcome. They followed obediently as Sebek left the monkey king’s presence. The monkeys were just monkeys, and, having had their fill of amusement from Sebek’s speech, let the group go without further trouble.