12. Sniffing Out Cluescopyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡHr6rUByaYl
Francescacopyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡI31liOjGtu
My mother seemed determined to pace a hole in the floor. I thought I could see the track she had worn into the hard wood panelling if I looked hard enough. “You still don’t seem to understand the seriousness of the situation,” she said, “If Gary can’t find Melissa or Rory or whatever she’s called, we’re both…”copyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡLf6KB7oaAO
“We’re both what Mother?” I snapped, “You keep saying I don’t understand the gravity of the situation but since you still won’t explain what is going on I can’t!” I watched the hem of her pale blue silk dress swish past the chair I sat in for the millionth time. “I already said I sent Gary out to find her. There’s not much we can do until he returns,” I paused, considering what I’d just said, “with or without her.” I added, remembering Gary’s first attempt to capture Melissa. I dismissed my doubts with a wave of my hand. Gary had Melissa’s exact location and a revised description of her appearance and he hadn’t failed me yet.copyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡRigXJazhlx
I sighed again and tapped my foot watching my mother continue to fuss. I ran a finger down the wine red fabric the covered the chair in my mother’s office, getting impatient. My mother had called me here over an hour ago and still hadn’t gotten around to telling me what she wanted me to know. My eyes roved over the sculpted mahogany arm pieces shaped like dragon heads down to the base of the chair where the feet ended with exquisitely carved dragon feet. Finally, I cleared my throat again hoping to begin to understand why I was voluntarily sitting in my mother’s office. She stopped pacing abruptly and collapsed into a chair similar to mine on the other side of the desk.copyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡD4AFqTuJAX
“We need a back-up plan,” she said abruptly, “In case Gary comes back empty handed.” I nodded. “How much do we know about this Aurora Lopez?” she asked.copyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡdlck6OsvY3
“Not much,” I admitted, “Appearance, a little back ground – such as the fact she was a slave at one point or another, but otherwise nothing.”copyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡjQmzO5Knn5
My mother nodded. “Do you know her Slave Number?” she asked. I nodded. She thought for a second and seemed to come to a decision. “Go to the Scriptorium and see what you can dig up on her,” she said, “If we can find anything out about her it will be in their files.”copyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡV1awGApakZ
I nodded my agreement but couldn’t resist pushing her a bit further. “But what is this all about? Why are you so worried about a single spy?” My mother’s eyes flashed and I suddenly wished I hadn’t asked.copyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8yllTr9lW8
“Because a single spy could ruin us,” she hissed, “Now go!”copyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡpfYLPMRz9f
I scurried out of the room on a wave of my mother’s hot anger and hurried downstairs. “James!” I yelled, as I reached the front door and started to pull a jacket and gloves on.copyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡF4gPBXq08K
A head with curly blonde hair poked around the base of the elaborate staircase. “Yes ma’am?” he inquired, “You called?”copyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0gilCbNLxJ
“I need a carriage ready at the front in five minutes!” I ordered.copyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡTXZRIOEAoO
“It shall be done,” he replied as he retreated to the stables.copyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡP3T6Tu4jvc
I grabbed my coat and stalked to the front door, where Marty, our doorman, opened the door for me. James had the coach waiting there – right on time as usual. I carefully stepped into the carriage and settled in for the bumpy ride to the Scriptorium.copyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3vtmR5yER6
“Where to miss?” James asked as the coach started to ramble down the drive.copyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡoK3nCMchmB
“The Scriptorium, please James,” I replied. I stared out the window and watched as commoners went about their work. Pathetic existences really.copyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5cFYiytmSY
I rode in silence for a while, musing to myself and listening to the commoners beg me to grant them favours as the coach passed by. They don’t deserve help, I thought angrily to myself, They slack off whenever possible whereas we work extraordinarily hard to keep the country in order for them.copyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡzWu3il8R0Z
The uneasy feeling in my gut deepened as I turned my thoughts to Melissa. There was unbalance in the Elements. Some plot was brewing in the Magician’s inner circle. MY mother knew about it. She was helping plan it but she wouldn’t tell me about it. From her reaction to Melissa/Aurora’s presence in our house, I guessed it was something that would change the fabric of society in Aeirien and cement our power by eliminating the little resistance that existed.copyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡXoK0MmMZE8
There was more to it than that though. Melissa… or Aurora… or whatever she called herself had something to do with this too. I felt - no, knew - that she could either help us build a great empire or destroy the one we already had. But there was something missing from the picture. Intuition told me there was one missing link that had fallen into place only a couple days ago when this had all started. I wondered what could have caused the imbalance and started this chain of events. Melissa had been late partially because my mother forced her to clean her rooms, I had become suspicious of her identity, and… there was something else… something connected to her that I was missing. I sighed. Maybe the Scriptorium could give me that piece of the puzzle.copyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡAJkfIDOb0G
“M’lady?” James called from the front, breaking my concentration. I blinked and tried to concentrate on him. “We’ll be arriving in a minute or so.”copyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡaADEDV0MN0
“Thank you James!” I called back.copyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡLKowKbTxax
The carriage rumbled to a stop and I came to a sudden resolution. “Don’t bother picking me up,” I instructed him, stepping down from the carriage, “I’ll walk home tonight.”copyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡFKg00ZEPbE
“Yes ma’am,” he replied.copyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡvle80S40ER
As the coach rambled off into the busy streets, I looked up in awe. The Scriptorium never ceased to send shivers of amazement down my back. It was the largest building in Saffron taking up the space of ten city blocks on the ground floor alone but that was nothing compared to the underground part of it. It only rose two stories above the ground but that only added to its grandeur. It wasn’t the tallest building, but it was definitely the most ornate and decorated. Pillars and scenes of the past were carved into the walls. High arched windows rose imperiously, staring down at you. It shimmered in rainbow colours for those with the Sight, showing off its aura. The Scriptorium was more than a building. It was living and breathing – much like the Lost Catacombs, much older than the present civilisation. No one looked up as I entered the Scriptorium, or proceeded to the Archives, where we kept the records.copyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1qCpWmBPTL
The Scriptorium, while magnificent, was nothing compared to the Archives, which was located in the underground part of the Scriptorium. The Archives was a huge room that took up over half the Scriptorium. Brightly coloured pillars that were ornately carved marked each section . . . . Orange indicated slaves; blue, commoners; purple represented the Magicians and so on. The shelves were painted either white or black depending on whether or not the people whose records were held on them were dead or alive. Black was for the deceased and white was for the living. Shelves of folders wound around the room, rising almost fifty feet. The room was dimly lit, with wood-plated walls and a small section was set aside for studying.copyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡmzwDAwDelO
I started across the room, heading for the orange pillars on the other side. I’d decided that the slave number was my best lead. As I passed between two orange pillars, I started to scan the numbers on the spines of the folders. Each number, starting at 00000001, was a slave in service to us. The slave whose folder I was looking for was still alive so I focussed on the white shelves - but that still left thousands of folders to sift through.copyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡTRa80b15cF
When I finally reached 06392000, I was exhausted. I shifted over 12 folders and pulled the one I wanted out. It was huge – just bulging with information! I smiled and took the folder to a desk in the centre of the room. There was paper and ink there to take notes with because it was forbidden to take any material except your own notes out of the Archives. Sitting down I pulled out the first page of the folder and started to read.copyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡWd5zD1VeRP
Slave Number: 06392012copyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡZepvRZ2veo
Registered Name: Aurora Lopezcopyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡj8fuhgFilR
Parentage: Father: Unknown Mother: 06972314copyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡYi53RI5MWW
Other Relations: Twin Brother: 06392013copyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡCWa1r21uyg
Reason for Enslavement: Born into servicecopyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡSRp8mGo1ZJ
Birth Date: January 10, 2134copyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡTX1Y1SG6FD
Birth Place: Neuviacopyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3izek1hlvP
Slave Squadron: 06963copyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡCnH1w3HU5H
Associates / Other Slaves in Squadron: 06972160, 79832124, 0006754, 56497321, 09876543, 45387231, 85764332, 00297851, 00000638copyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡDYEFXGyEMe
Status: WANTED – missingcopyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡhQwR4QSlco
Squadron Status: WANTED - missingcopyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡbOMSQiVyc0
Personality Status: Stubborn, unwilling to work, intelligentcopyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡfQZUvXA4Bn
Skills: Magical Aptitude – possible use as a focal point/vesselcopyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡiTdPLhGDDS
Description: Dark brown hair waist length, bright green eyes, heigth:5'8"copyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2OHOGx6C5i
I was starting to get excited. This was information I wanted and needed. In seconds, I had generated an illegal copy of the entire folder that I could keep. Associates… I was sure I could find at least one or two of them. While I was here, I could also look into their files. Using a sending spell I dispatched the folder back to its place on the shelves and quickly summoned another: Lopez, Aurora.copyright protection161ＰＥＮＡＮＡDl9CfFzQJb
Hours later, I was exhausted but finally finished my research. Notes and the contents of two copied folders littered my desk. The whole research proposal had been a huge success and I was pleased with the progress I’d made on the case. I stood up stiffly and gathered the pages together with a word. Walking towards the entrance of the Archives, I carefully sent the notes into Other-Space where I could retrieve them later.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqwa8kRGquM
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