The Maid Is Not Dead

The morning was closer to noon already, but I left the house late. I marched on past the Guild and the markets, where business was already underway. I paid no attention to the sales, my destination this day further ahead. It was the Tribunal I was going to. Not because I had begun to view Vera's house as beneath my station, but due to a prior agreement.

It was strange and awkward to pass through that door again. Up until yesterday, I had been quite convinced I would never do so again in this life. Not because the cost/quality-ratio of the establishment was less than ideal, but more due to the many unpleasant associations. The sole enjoyable memory I'd had in this place was in the bathtub. But the Tribunal was the address Lady Mariel had given as her temporary lodging in Faulsen, and here she would see me.

I obtained the magician's room number from the reception and proceeded to climb the stairs up to the second floor.

A mystifying view awaited me in the long hallway.

By a door about halfway in and to the right stood a tall knight.

He was not one of the King's knights, but a foreigner clad in an all-black suit of armor, stripped of identifying features and emblems and heraldic symbols, as if in a deliberate effort to eliminate the wearer's identity—and consequently, humanity— leaving only the singular terribleness of a hunk of dark steel on two feet. Even the lord's head was fully concealed under a plumed helmet, whereupon only the finest cracks were pierced in the visor to allow him to see through.

As such, it was a challenge to tell whether there was even a wearer in it, or if it wasn't only a promotional display of an anonymous blacksmith's work. However, an astute observer might have noted that the armor at times ever so slightly moved, swayed, as if to the rhythm of respiration, or to simply express boredom and discomfort. Somewhere in the confines of all that metal lurked a distinct glimmer of sentience.

Well, there were stranger things in life than a man dressed for war, even in the immediate absence of strife. Our own master-at-arms in Valengrad was of such nature that he proclaimed to even sleep in full plate. But a helmet he wouldn't wear, saying he could easier detect the approach of assassins with his ears to the wind. This was not to say that soldiers were sane, but rather that no sanity could be expected. Therefore, I made no effort to judge this man for his choice of loungewear.

But, you don't suppose…

Yes. As suspected, the old saying about birds of a feather held true.

Going closer, I found that the unknown soldier stood by the very number which the concierge had advised me to seek. The door of the room that Lady Mariel occupied. This forced me to do the very thing I otherwise would have avoided and approach the steely apparition.

"Pardon me," I said, facing the wall of black plates and bands and bolts. "I am here to see her grace, Lady Mariel. Would I have the right place?"

"Bleeding hell," a gruff, low voice in the armor uttered. "You really do dress like a maid!"

"…"

By the sound of it, I was being judged by my cover.

After my painstaking show of tact, it certainly did not endear this man to me.

"And who might you be, Ser?" I asked, perhaps a tad sharply.

"The name's Kriegard," the voice inside the helmet replied. "Don't bother with your sirs. I'm but a humble servant of milady Mariel and of no nobility. Also, forgive my lack of manners, but I'm not at liberty to remove this armor, even to show my face. I would also appreciate it if you made no further inquiry towards my identity or birthland. I cannot answer. I have already been told to expect you. You may proceed. Only, before you do, your weapons you must leave here with me."

"And why is that?" I asked. "Your mistress owes her life to my weapons, in case she neglected to tell you."

"I can tell that much even without a report. She's alive and here, isn't she? Originally, I was the one who accompanied milady into the dungeon's maw. Alas, finding ourselves in over our depth and surrounded on all fronts, I was forced to make the grimmest of decisions and leave her, to break through alone and seek help from the town. Yet, I found not one helping hand in this gallery of spineless maggots. Neither promises of gold nor words of a maiden in trouble could move a single soul to action, once they heard the destination. I'd already given up hope and meant to rush back in by myself, whatever should come of it, when lo and behold!—In marches milady herself, hale and whole. Apparently, thanks to you."

"Then you would realize you have nothing to fear from me, and trying to part me with my arms is no different from asking me to strip off my actual limbs. Mighty rude, to say the least."

"O-ho!" the knight exclaimed. "Now this and that are different affairs altogether. As I understand it, you intend to discuss the subject of cost and reward with my mistress. In such talks, I've learned, the presence of weaponry may easily result in things neither knew nor intended at first. Better it not come to that. No blade goes in with you."

It was coming clear to me then that this man, Kriegard, had no intention to allow me my tools of the trade, and Lady Mariel, though she had to be aware of our exchange, was not about to introduce exceptions. Who would've thought she had such a fierce hound in her employ?

Deep down, I couldn't deny being a little disheartened, if not outright dejected, to be viewed more as a menace than a messiah. But it could be that my own conduct in the dungeon played a small role in the reception. Either way, we were getting nowhere like this, so I begrudgingly handed over my dagger, my utility knife, and the spare to the warrior in black. If push came to shove, I still had my magic and was not a stranger to fisticuffs either. Maids were not the helpless sort, no matter what you may have heard.

Approved, I was let into the room.

It was about the same size as the double room I'd shared with Corporal Thiselt once upon a time, except it only had one occupant, and the other bed was removed. Which made me want to ask where it was that Mr Kriegard spent his nights. Surely not out in the hallway, as he was?

"Ah, you've come," Lady Mariel greeted me with a weary smile.

She sat in the bed rested against the backboard, her legs under the covers, a half-eaten breakfast on a tray by the bed. Even though it was already well past ten in the morning. But in light of her recent near-death experience, perhaps her slovenly state could be forgiven.

"Do step closer, Ms Maid." She beckoned. "Have a seat here at my bedside and let us talk. Already my strength returns and I feel much improved since the other day."

"I am very pleased to hear that, milady," I said.

In the dungeon, I had viewed the witch with such eyes as a woman would a stray, smelly cat. But now, in broad daylight, I was reminded of the gap in social standing and modified my attitude accordingly. That said, the concept of taking a seat in my work garb on the same sheets that she rested in would have been much too cheeky. On the upper stages of outrage.

But her ladyship patted the bed by her and insisted in earnest.

"Come closer, friend. Let me have a good look at you now. Have no fear. I'm bathed and not half as foul as I used to be."

Told so, it would have been too rude to refuse.

You should know what they said about witches and their tricks. Before you knew it, they had you wrapped around their little finger.

Maintaining utmost inner fortitude, I took a seat on the edge of Lady Mariel's bed. I should mention that she wore her extraordinarily great hat even now, while the rest of her was veiled in a lavender nightgown—which, I might add, had to have cost at least ten direwolves, being made of spider silk. You could tell by the sheen of the weave.

"Allow me to thank you properly for the timely rescue," she began. "If not for you, my quest for the mysteries of magic would have met a wretched conclusion. As I understand it, you are an aspiring mage yourself, yes? Thus, in repayment for the excellent service, I am prepared to share my scarce discoveries with you."

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"I am most grateful, milady."

"I have here a curated list of the Sigils I am able to offer you at this juncture," Lady Mariel continued. "You may choose yourself the one that most calls to you. Depending on your potential, it may take between three days to a week to teach the sign to you. That shall be additional value included in your reward, ehehe."

So that was how it was going to be.

Lady Mariel was perhaps a legitimate magician by trade, studying elements outside the comprehension of the common man, but her approach to commerce was every bit as secular as that of a fishmonger. Mr Kriegard's words at the door already suggested the terms of my payment were to be strictly restricted and not up for negotiation.

I received the list that the witch had prepared and raised it to the light for closer scrutiny.

There was not much to look at. Upon the small note, only the following words were spelled.

RELIGO

TONITRUS

AQUA

SONUS

PROPULSO

To further complicate matters, she had only written down the original plutarchian name of each Sigil. If I wanted to know what concept they represented, I would have to request an explanation, which she could then dress as an additional favor to fend off other requests. Magic lectures for laymen cost an arm and a leg. I could gain nothing of value and still be left indebted.

But I was not as green as she thought.

Aqua, I had already acquired. Tonitrus was also familiar to me; it was this Sigil that Raymond had learned, harnessing the destructive potential of thunder. It was not a sign for me. Storms in the mountains had left no fond memories for me, and I certainly didn't want to recreate them in daily life. I also knew that Sonus was a Sigil for manipulating the element of sound. It was this Sigil that my co-worker, Henrietta, had picked as her prize from the imperial collection. She was reprimanded for being too noisy once and sought to cheat with magic instead of putting in more effort. The spell could have its uses, as a distraction if no more, but such a party trick made for a poor reward, in my opinion.

In other words, three of the five were worthless to me.

I couldn't tell what Propulso and Religo represented, but my gut feeling said they weren't hidden gems. In short, Lady Mariel wished to take advantage of my ignorance to give me nothing truly exceptional. In particular, I couldn't help but see that she had no intention to offer Ignis to me, though it was unmistakably the most useful one for monster extermination.

It was a little too useful.

It was mostly Ignis's effectiveness against other human beings that had led the Council of Linford centuries past to label it among the fourteen prohibited magics. In 1713, over a hundred witches and wizards met a ghastly end in Nosrodia, simply for knowing this sign. Their punishment: being burned alive in a grand public show. The eastern Empire had always had a way with irony.

The sword of the state hovered above every user of fire magic even today, which was a burden I didn't care to take upon myself. There could well be the main reason for Lady Mariel and her servant's cautious reception of me. They dreaded I might extort stupendous sums from them, threatening to disclose the witch's knowledge of taboo spells to the authorities. I wasn't going to go that far, of course, but neither could I say the initial offer was satisfactory.

"Milady," I said and passed the list back, "I see that you are indeed a true magician and take your role as a guardian of the mysteries of nature with the seriousness it commands. However, I regret to tell you, I find nothing worth my time on this list."

"Oh. I was afraid you might say that," Lady Mariel replied, her pale face falling under a dangerous shadow. "However, if you presume to make demands outside this list…"

I raised my hand to interrupt her rising argument.

"I have no interest in Ignis, or any other socially unacceptable Sigil either. Rest assured. However, if you may forgive my impudence and grant me the liberty to state my terms this once, I would nominate the grimoire you were reading in the dungeon as my reward of choice."

Lady Mariel blinked her large eyes, momentarily caught off guard by the unexpected proposal. Then she proceeded to draw from under her pillow a wide but slim, black-covered book. The very book that had been in her hands when I first met her on the abyss's limit.

"You mean this…?"

On the cover were faintly impressed the capital letters: SPATIUM.

"Yes, that is the one," I confirmed. "Judging by the fact that you were able to read the tome, while it still retains its shape, you have already mastered the magic. In that case, the tome should be of no use to you, and you could pass it on without hard feelings."

Lady Mariel stared down at the book in her hands and brushed her palm across the faint title, like saying farewell to a dear friend.

"True enough, I already know Spatium," she said. "However, it is a terribly rare Sigil, and I was looking to get a handsome sum for its sale. I wouldn't then need to worry about trifling matters of finance for a long, long time. Crafting a replacement also requires certain costly materials, which I do not currently have at hand."

"I understand your predicament," I said. "Yet, I would, in this case, appeal to your conscience and ask you to consider with care, is the value of your continued stay among the living less than the gold you could obtain from the sale of the tome? Granting my request could make rescuing witches somewhat easier on me in the future."

Lady Mariel scowled at me for a time, not pleased by my choice of words.

"And may I know why it is that you want this Sigil so badly?"

"Because it speaks to my sensibilities? The wind happened to blow that way today? I thought it might go well with my pyjamas? Milady may choose the answer she likes best. I can provide no guarantee that any I give you is true."

I knew I toed a very fine line there, which could just as well send me home without any reward whatsoever, saddled with the enmity of this evanescent woman. But it was what we might have called a calculated risk. Those, whose lifelong calling it was to wrestle with divine mysteries could not be entirely displeased when given more secrets to unravel. It was only when I ceased to provoke her curiosity that my life was truly at peril.

And it seemed I had measured her right.

At my rather brazen words, the witch burst into a light giggle.

"Heheheh...You truly are one of a kind, Ms Maid. No other character quite so peculiar have I met on my travels thus far. I cannot for the life of me say if you are the most insolent fox that ever emerged from the wood, or a rare jewel in an apron. For this puzzle alone, I shall agree to your terms. I only came across this Grimoire by chance in the dungeon, while waiting for my rescue. That rescuer being you may well have been an act of providence. Although, to be perfectly honest, I cannot fathom what good you think this sign can do for you. The concept it embodies has no bearing on the material world."

She handed the black covers to me and I humbly received them.

"I thank you. Then, with your permission."

There was no reason to take the book home with me and risk whatever unfortunate incident might unfold from holding on to it for too long.

So I opened the grimoire on the spot and took in the meaning of space, as introduced to me by wise Master Ryndell.

The unseen element which fills all the gaps, which sets distances and determines the scale and proportion of things, and without which nothing could exist, life least of all, and there would be no planet for us to live on, nor the universe surrounding us, and existence as a whole would be reduced to a singular, juxtaposed mass within which there could be no telling one soul apart from another, one thought apart from another, and entirety of being would cave in on itself under the weight of its improbability.

The Grimoire melted to nothing in my hands without heat or noise, and it was soon only the two of us left there on my Lady Mariel's bed.

"Oh my," the witch remarked, thoughtfully touching her chin. "How curious. You were actually able to acquire Spatium? It is a magic even many of my colleagues struggle with greatly. You seem to possess an exceptional vessel for magic, Ms Maid. Say, would you be interested in becoming my assistant?"

"I am deeply flattered that you would consider me," I said and got to my feet. "But, sadly, must decline."

"And why is that? If it is money that concerns you, I am not altogether without any. With me, you could learn even more magic, the forms of which you cannot conceive, and allow your potential to bloom to its highest peak. Is it perhaps my person that you find off-putting? If so, I can simply change. I'll be as you wish me to be, if only you'll pledge your talent to me, and no other. Never another."

She was the rather heavy sort of girlfriend.

I bowed respectfully for farewell.

"My lady. I declined through no fault of your own, so there is no need to say such things. My choice is solely due to the fact that I am already under contract, and magic is not my calling. Should you require more mundane favors, that do not necessitate a lifelong, soulbound commitment, feel free to submit a request through the Guild. Then, I wish you a pleasant day, and speedy recovery."

Then I excused myself, before the temptation to forfeit my honor and dignity could grow any worse.