"Thea, are you ready?" Leila calls from the doorway.
Theo takes one last look around the room and nods. He is being discharged today, alongside Julian. Julian’s leg is healing well. As long as he stays off it and follows the physical therapy regi the doctors have laid out, he will be back to full strength.
They are leaving the hospital now, but they will stop by Arthur’s room first to say goodbye for the ti being.
Arthur will remain in the hospital for now. Leila had wanted to bring him ho to Arvion, to his own room, surrounded by familiar things. But the doctors had asked to monitor him for a few more days before clearing him for the move.
When Julian heard that, he imdiately decided to go back to his lab in Arvion. He wants to build whatever is needed to make Arthur’s eventual transfer easier and safer. dical equipnt, modifications, anything that will help.
Linus has already promised to provide whatever is required. But Julian wants to do sothing himself. He needs to.
Julian had already decided he will return to Arvion as soon as possible. The only thing holding him back is the fact that Theo needs to have a discussion with Rhaenas.
"Let’s go." Theo says.
------------------------------
That night, Rhaenas ets together.
Maurice and Leila have been staying in the Monfort guesthouse, a separate building entirely from the main house, with its own rooms and plenty of space for the guests to move around freely.
Four mbers of Rhaenas, plus Alicia, are sitting on the back patio looking out over the swimming pool.
Silence has settled over all of them. Each person sowhere inside their own thoughts.
Theo has just finished telling the group everything he had already told Arthur. Now they are processing it.
"Um." Maeve raises her hand slightly. "Hawk is part of the Hunters. You all rember them? Ethan Bartlett is an Apprentice, like . His Teacher is part of the Custodians, the ones who do not want to share magic knowledge openly. You rember them?"
Liam nods. "Right. And the Hunters ca to Solarys for sothing."
"Yes. I asked Victor about it and he does not know why five of them are here specifically." Maeve confirms.
"So it is not four groups, it is three." Julian says. "Though that does not change how little each group knows about the others. At least from our side. We do not know very much about any of them."
"And then there is what happened at the hospital yesterday, when Maeve and I were being discharged." Liam says. "We ran into Sonia and her group."
"Hm." Theo looks between Liam and Maeve. "What did you make of them? Maeve, you first."
"Sonia was uncomfortable. I noticed that before I even recognized her. She had her hood pulled forward and she was looking down. She did not want to be seen."
"She did not want to be recognized." Liam adds.
"Exactly." Maeve nods. "And when I called out to her, she stamred and flustered. Very unlike the Sonia who blew our apartnt wall open."
"And then there was the blue-haired man." Liam cuts in. His eyes narrow slightly.
"He was powerful, Thea. The kind of power you feel imdiately. Solid and deep. I knew right away he was dangerous. Stronger than . Probably stronger than Arthur too."
"What was he doing at the hospital?" Julian frowns.
"He said they were there to visit Thea." Maeve answers.
"Why would he want to see you?" Julian turns to Theo.
"To ask to stop the storm, most likely. Which has since turned into snow." Theo gestures toward the view beyond the patio.
"Speaking of which, Liam. Was that you?" Theo asks.
Liam nods slowly. "Yeah. It was." He pauses. "At the ti, I thought Arthur had died. I felt so guilty about not being able to stop him. I wanted to do sothing, anything. So I asked Sonia if there was a way I could help."
He looks out at the snow. "She helped understand how. And I turned the storm into snow."
"Can any of you sense corruption magic in it?" Theo asks.
The others look at each other, then close their eyes.
Alicia shakes her head. "No. Nothing."
"Sa." Julian says.
"Nothing from either." Liam opens his eyes.
Maeve stays quiet. Everyone waits.
"I..." She starts slowly. "I feel sothing." She pauses. "But I am not certain it is corruption magic. It feels similar to the green mist, but without the malicious intent. Without the fogginess."
She opens her eyes. "Am I reading it right?"
Theo grins. "I genuinely do not know. I have no magic right now."
"Right. I keep forgetting that." Maeve says.
"Thea." Liam leans forward. "You still cannot feel your magic at all?"
Theo shakes his head. "Do not worry about it. I will be okay."
"Have you tried contacting Teacher Theo? I am sure he could help with sothing like this." Liam says.
"I have not told you yet that soone sneaked onto our floor to spy on , and Arthur blasted them away." Theo says at the sa ti.
Maeve’s eyes snap to Theo imdiately.
The rest of them go still.
Theo unclenches his jaw slowly. He has been turning this over since Arthur told him that the clues had always been there. Sooner or later, he is going to be exposed. He has known it for a while now.
"Wait, what? Soone sneaked onto the floor?" Liam asks, his own question already forgotten.
Theo exhales quietly in relief and begins to recount what happened.
A few minutes later.
"Wow." Julian grins. "That is just wow. But are you sure it was Arthur?"
"Pretty sure. There was no one else in that room."
"I wonder who the spy was." Maeve says.
"I would bet on Sonia’s uncle. Everything about him is suspicious. Even his na." Liam’s frown deepens.
"Loujt." He makes a face. "What kind of na is that?"
Everyone laughs.
"I believe it is an Eralian na." Alicia interjects. She has been quiet for most of the conversation.
"Eralian? He is from Eralis?" Liam asks.
Alicia shrugs. "The na suggests so."
"And what does knowing where he is from actually help us with?" Julian asks. "He could be from anywhere. Do not be racist."
Liam’s eyes go wide. "Racist? How did we jump to being racist? What did I say?"
Julian chuckles.
"You have been very quiet, Alicia." Maeve says. "Is sothing on your mind?"
Every eye turns to her. Alicia smiles and shakes her head.
"Nothing much, really. I was just..." She pauses. "Thinking about not coming tonight." She adds quietly.
Maeve glances at the others.
"Oh, Alicia. I am so sorry." Theo cuts in before anyone else can speak.
Everyone looks at Theo, confused.
"What is going on?" Julian asks.
"This is our fault. I apologize. Though in our defence, we have had a great deal going on." Theo says.
"No, no. Do not apologize. It is my own fault for always hanging around." Alicia smiles awkwardly.
"Soone please explain what is happening." Julian says, completely lost.
Maeve grins. She looks around at the others.
"I think I speak for everyone here when I say, welco to Rhaenas, Alicia."
Alicia’s face lights up. "Really?"
"That is what this is about?" Liam chuckles.
"I thought you were already one of us." Julian says.
"I was not. Nobody ever said anything officially. I did not want to assu." Alicia smiles widely.
"You are Rhaenas. Honestly, I am not even sure when that happened. You just beca part of us." Julian nods.
"Which reminds ." Julian reaches into his space bracelet and produces a small box.
"This is for you. I am sorry I did not give it to you sooner. Everything that happened pushed it out of my mind."
"What is it?" Alicia’s hands are already opening the box.
"Oh my God." She gasps. Inside are two items. A watch and a bracelet. "When did you prepare these?"
"Arthur told to get them ready for you as soon as you unlocked Wind."
"That early?" Alicia’s jaw drops. "Wow." She slips on the watch and then the bracelet.
"They look good on you." Maeve smiles.
Alicia looks around at the four of them. "None of you have any objections to being Rhaenas?"
"None." They say at the sa ti.
Alicia smiles and turns her wrist over, admiring the new gadgets. An official sign that she is, finally and properly, a Rhaenas.
"Do you know how to use them?" Julian asks. He spends the next few minutes explaining while the others chi in to help answer her questions.
"Thea, have you finished sharing everything?" Liam asks eventually. "I am asking because we need to start talking about what cos next."
Theo looks around at the others. He blinks slowly, thinking.
One thing has been sitting at the back of his mind this entire evening, and no matter how many tis he has pushed it aside, it keeps surfacing.
Maeve notices. "What is it, Thea?"
"Yeah, Sis. Whatever it is, say it. Arthur always insisted we share everything. It is for the good of Rhaenas." Julian adds.
Liam and Alicia both nod.
Theo nods slowly.
"Okay. Okay. You are right. Okay." He takes a breath.
"Now that we have all caught up, there is one thing left that we need to talk about."
He pauses.
"About what happened before Sonia destroyed the wall."
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