Page 6

six

Morai

“ F irst, do you know why I called you here?” the headmage asked.

“Not a clue,” Morai responded, gaining her an eyebrow raise from the headmage, who turned his attention to Luka who only shrugged. With a sigh, the headmage got up from his chair.

“First,” he started, raising his arm. The owl they’d seen the night before flew from somewhere high up in the wall and towards his arm.

“Hoot told me someone broke into the tower and stole my elixir,” he said, giving a pointed look at both Luka and Morai.

“You named your owl Hoot?”

“Morai.” Her mother scolded, but the headmage only smiled.

“Yes, a cute name, isn’t it?” he asked.

“Uh.” Was Hoot giving her a smug look? Also, shouldn’t he be sleeping somewhere?

“Isn’t it against the law to steal in one’s own city?”

“Yes, but they were paying quite well,” Morai defended. The headmage paused, cocking his head to the side.

“Who was paying you?” Morai shrugged.

“I don’t know. The client had an alias.”

“Hmmm.” The headmage stroked his chin, then turned to Luka.

“For you as well?” he asked.

“Yes.” The headmage sighed.

“So, you accepted a job by someone with an alias to steal my elixir?” Morai folded her arms across her chest.

“Well, if you hadn’t refused whoever it was, they wouldn’t have resorted to this now, would they?” He raised a white eyebrow at her again.

“Didn’t you think there might be a reason for why I refused?”

“Not really, you mages are known for being snobbish.” This time, Morai’s parents didn’t chastise her which caused the headmage's eyebrows to raise even higher.

“Interesting,” he said, stroking his chin again. “That is not the image we were trying to evoke.” Morai said nothing and the silence in the room extended. Hoot hooted then flew off to wherever it’d been.

“Eh, headmage, if I may speak,” Morai’s father ventured.

“Please call me Kirnon.”

“Eh, Kirnon…why exactly did you call us here? It’s not to punish us, is it?” A surprised look crossed Kirnon’s face.

“No, no, of course not. Well, actually…” He seemed flustered looking from Morai to Luka and back. Then, with a sigh, he gracefully sat in his chair again.

“The reason I refused to give the elixir was because it was incomplete.”

“What?” Morai asked more concerned with the fact that if the vial hadn’t broken she would have given her client a defective elixir.

“I never could get the last ingredient to complete it,” he said, frowning at his desk. Then, Kirnon smiled, looking up at them. He put his elbows on the desk, fingers together.

“What if you could get me the last ingredient and we’ll call it even,” he said.

“Huh, I don’t think that’s necessary,” Luka said, and Morai agreed with him, but didn’t show it. Kirnon smiled again, and Morai felt unease creep down her spine. She didn’t like that smile.

“You will find it necessary once you realize who wanted the elixir.”

“You knew who it was all along?” Morai asked. Instead of answering her question, Kirnon only shrugged and said,

“The king wanted the elixir.” Morai’s mouth fell open, and she saw Luka and his parents stiffen, while her parents gasped. Her mother, being dramatic, even covered her mouth with her hand. So that’s why the job had cost that much. Telling the king she’d failed her assignment might not be a good idea, she wasn’t sure why the king needed it or what he would do if he found out she’d failed. She glared at Luka who had the audacity to smirk at her. The effrontery.

“What is the last ingredient?” Morai frowned at her mother’s question.

“The feather of a peacock.” Again, collective gasps filled the room, this time her mother put both hands over her mouth.

“Are you sure?” Morai asked even though she knew this was a ridiculous question. But peacocks were rare, even rarer than dragons. She’d seen a dragon once, but never a peacock. She only heard stories of their blue green coloring and how glorious their feathers were. Kirnon nodded, sober.

“And a white one,” he added. Well, there was no way they were going to get that. Morai frowned, and why was she including Luka in this?

“Hypothetically, if we could find this peacock,” Luka said, “where would we find it?” Morai scoffed.

“Do you seriously think it would be possible?” she asked. Luka shrugged.

“It’s worth a shot,” he said.

“I think it’d be dangerous,” his mother said. “Don’t they live under the protection of dragons?”

“This is just hypothetical. I didn’t say I was going to go,” he said. Everyone turned to look at Kirnon.

“It’s in a glade in the Dark Flower forest.”

“Wow, they’re really not making it easy, are they?” The Dark Flower forest was where no one went into, mostly because stories said the flowers there prevented anyone from entering, and if you did, you never got out. But legend has it that someone once got out, but apparently, the person had been living in the forest.

“Well, this is all good, but I think Morai would sit this one out. Won’t you, Morai?” her mother asked.

“Huh…” She actually hadn’t considered if she was going or not.

“Ha. Like you won’t grab the chance to win, or are you scared my son will get the feather first, Ophelia?” Luka’s mom spoke for the first time, her usual cheery voice sounding a little smug underneath. Ophelia rolled her eyes.

“Of course I care more for my daughter’s life than a feather.”“Mother, I appreciate the thought, but…”

“No buts, I know you want to leave us, but you don’t have to risk your life for it.”

“I risk my life every time I take on a job, besides, when will I get a job that pays 100,000 coins…”

“...I can pay five times the amount,” Kirnon interjected.

“When can we start?” Morai asked, ignoring her mother’s gasp and the look Luka was giving her.