The next morning, Merril was reading in her bed when she heard a knock at her door. Frowning, she marked her place with a bookmark, closed her book, and climbed out of bed. She knew it wouldn’t be any of her siblings, as they wouldn’t go out of their way to interact with her, even when they were back home. And Levisia? She was actively trying to avoid them, so there was no way she was knocking, either.

She draped a robe over her nightclothes and opened the door, peering around it. To her surprise, it was Jedian, who was awkwardly shuffling on his feet.

“Morning, sweet thing.” She said, deliberately laying on the charm. “What can I help you with?”

“I, well…” Jedian clasped his hands together and inhaled deeply. “I need to tell you something important!” He said with one breath.

“Oh? Is that so?” Merril smiled. A smug sense of satisfaction washed over her. She, out of her siblings, had been chosen by Jedian to be the recipient of some news. It could be nothing, but she was still willing to hear him out, if only to rub it in Elizabeth’s face later on.

She stepped to the side to allow Jedian to enter her bedroom, and closed the door behind him. Perching on the edge of her bed, she waved him over to the armchair that was in the corner.

Jedian seemed apprehensive, constantly looking around him as if he was being watched. Merril sighed and went to stand by the door. She leant against it and folded her arms, her patience beginning to wear thin. Her precious time was being wasted.

“Look, there is no one here but us, alright? So come on then. Out with it.” She said, staring at Jedian.

“Alright. So, after dinner last night, I was talking to everyone in my group, and they threatened to…” Jedian paused, clearly struggling to find the right words, “Expose Levisia. Saying that she has not reacted to the fairy stone and that she has no abilities of her own, and that she can still hang out with the Kra-, I mean, with you. And then I bumped into Levisia herself and we had a little chat about… Well, about what I’m telling you now.”

Merril knew that Jedian was lying. Not about the threat to Levisia, but about the conversation he had with her. The way he was avoiding looking into her eyes and was stumbling over his words was evident that he was hiding the truth. However, she was willing to let that slide. Whatever they talked about was not her business, and she would find out soon enough, anyway.

“I see.” She said, stroking her chin with her hand. “Thank you for telling me, Jedian. I will take it from here. I’ll inform the Kraidens and soon all this will be swept under the rug, like it never happened.” She stepped to one side and opened the bedroom door. “Which is what I want you to do. I want you to walk out of this room and pretend we never had this conversation. As far as you and I are concerned, we never met.”

“Are you sure?” Jedian jumped to his feet. “If the others find out that I told you, they’ll…”

“They aren’t going to go, are they? Because you are going to keep your mouth shut.” Merril said, gesturing to the door. “Now get going before someone comes along and finds us here.”

*

Levisia watched from her bedroom window as some of the Kraidens had taken it upon themselves to explore the estate. She was content to keep herself in her room, the door locked so the Kraidens who didn’t go out couldn’t wander in and disturb her peace. Not that she could get much peace. Her mind was racing as she thought back to Jedian, who had looked like he had lots to say to her. Yesterday he was a little odd. But she was just speculating. After all, how much would she know about someone who she’d only met three times in her entire life?

She nearly jumped out of her skin and knocked her tea pot over at the sound of the door knocking. Holding her breath, she waited to see if whoever was on the other end would knock again. If they did, it was Pel, and she would be able to unlock her door. To avoid the Kraidens, the two of them had devised a special knock so she would know exactly who was knocking at the door.

She left the seat by the window and hurried over to unlock the door. As soon as Pel was safely inside, she locked the door back again.

“Don’t get too comfortable, I’m afraid. We’ve been called down for lunch.” Pel shook his head. “There is something strange about this place. It’s like the entire estate has fallen into a slump, with all its inhabitants deprived of energy.”

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