The Author's Will

45 | Mirrored Blades

　　 The next morning, Irene stirred in her sleep, attempting to shift onto her side - but finding herself unable to do so. With a groaning sigh, she opened her eyes, only to see her vision obscured by a body of white, sitting on top of her as if she were some sort of pillow.

"Snow...?" She sighed, her body still limp and tired. "What are you doing...? Get off of me-"

"Irene, talk to me through your mind, you're being watched." The Phoenix calmly alerted her, and upon hearing those words, Irene woke herself up. She glanced up to see his beady eyes locking onto her gaze with a serious look inside them.

"What's going on...?" She asked him, trying to suppress the creeping feeling of dread causing goosebumps to form on her pale skin. She sat up, pretending to rub her eyes, as Snow took a deep breath and started explaining the situation to her. He told her about everything he had seen the previous night, while she slept.

How he followed Ms Cather out of the estate, to some sort of isolated area of Laydel in a carriage. How the old woman headed into a dingy alleyway, and there was a small building her couldn't enter because of some sort of invisible barrier. Snow explained that there was a strange man there, who was shrouded in all black and had some sort of dark crest.

"She went there to receive something - but I'm not sure what it was. And when she went inside, the building, I couldn't really hear what they were talking about," he gulped. "But when she came closer to the door, where I was waiting outside, I heard her say something... And everything made sense to me then."

"What did she say?" Irene asked, calmly listening to every detail of her spirit's recount.

Snow took another deep breath, as if bracing himself for what was to come. "She mentioned a demon telling her that you were aware of her being a dangerous person, and that she needed to kill you as a result."

Irene's eyes widened, trying to hide the look on her face by burying her head into her bed again. What the hell...? A demon...?

Dark magicians exist in this world? I don't remember ever mentioning such a thing in my original story... She raised a hand up to her chin in deep thought. Snow heaved a sigh as he gazed down at her. "There's a chance she's left a demon to watch you right now. We can't take any risks," he told her. "It's no wonder Mikael wanted you to stay away."

As if a flip had switched inside her, Irene inhaled sharply when remembering that Mikael was exposed to that woman's murderous powers. Albeit clueless about what dark magic even involved, the feeling of worry quickly overtook her.

"He's in danger right now," Irene realised, getting out of bed, trying to conceal the panic on her expression. "I have to go to him."

"No, wait!" Snow stopped her. He flapped his wings so that he could stop her before she ended up doing something impulsive, which could put her and everyone at great risk. Irene paused, glancing at the bird who took on a stern expression.

"If you walk in there right now, it's going to be like walking into a mouse trap. She'll probably be waiting for you in Mikael's room," Snow told her. "From the way she spoke, it seemed like she was going to get the job done as soon as she could. You have to wait, let Mikael come out of his room on his own."

Irene clenched her fists. "...I can't do that, Snow." Gazing down at the floor, her eyes wavered with frustration. "What if something happens to him in the time I spend waiting? I can't just sit around while he's getting hurt."

"I'll go and keep watch," he offered. "Just go about your day as normal. If something happens, I'll come and get you."

Irene contemplated it for a moment, her golden eyes glassy with worry. But she knew that Snow was someone trustworthy and reliable, as eccentric as he may have seemed. There was never a time he couldn't pull off a request of hers, and he did manage to save hundreds of soldier's lives during the war against Izadel.