Lies & Labyrinths

It was a thud that awoke Lilith. Or at least, that’s what it had felt like, save that thud had been distant, and had seemed to vibrate everything about her. Then there was the sound of something breaking, as every window in the school shattered all at once. This of course was followed by a howl of wind and a surge of green light that shone through where the windows had once been, so bright that Lilith could see the flash through her closed eyelids and all the weird squiggly lines in between them. The curtains blew out, causing Lilith to shriek as she fell out of bed, landing on a rug and falling against a foldable tray that she was quite positive had not been there before. Her mind tried to process everything, remembering for the briefest moments the promise of dinner before her door flew open, Professor Klymviner bursting into the room in a long black robe tied tight, and her hair up in a shawl of some sort.

“Are you okay!?” the woman shouted over the rush of wind.

Lilith nodded, limbs nearly pretzel knotted with her half her body out of the covers and on to the floor. She scrambled up the side of the bed, glancing at the sandwich and soup that had been left to her, her stomach growling before her brain focused on Klymviner, who was stepping over broken glass in a pair of fuzzy slippers to peer out the broken window towards the explosion.

The glow continued, sparkling in the sky that dazzled in twenty shades of emerald. Lilith approached (grabbing the sandwich as she passed and sneaking a bite of savory roasted luncheon meat and cheese along with the less palatable lettuce and her sworn enemy, tomato), minding the glass as she stepped on the tips of her toes to see the display of energy. The professor turned, a look of concern upon her face.

“Stay here.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it otherwise.” Lilith responded, staying by the windowsill to watch the display of the aetherial aurora that bled across the sparkling night sky.

The moment the door was shut, she turned to look for her soup. Instead, she found the black cat from earlier inside the room, lapping happily at her soup.

“Oh!” she cried out, upset at the chance to taste food that wasn’t primarily wheat related, sighing dejectedly. “Alright, you can have it.” Lilith sighed, taking a bite of her sandwich in sullen dejection.

“Thank you”, the cat responded.

Lilith froze, eyes widening. Cats didn’t talk; that was a known fact.

“Are you a magic cat?” Lilith whispered, taking another bite in slow motion.

“No, just someone who has been waiting a rather long time to try this bowl. You’ll love it, trust me.” the cat said in return.

“I don’t think I’ll be trying it.” Lilith said, scrunching her nose up.

“Not yet anyway.”

The black cat hopped off of the table into the corner of the room, where the shadows of the bed and cabinet melded into a nice umbral haven. The black cat disappeared, and the shadows seemed to shift, before a figure stepped out.

They were cloaked in red, a mask with two small eye slits carved upon a bright white wood with the nub of branches that twisted up into sanded horns. The wood on one side seemed to swirl into small spirals, while the other broke apart into intricate fractal diamonds.

And that was just to say of the mask. An ornate cloak wrapped most of their body, covering all but sparse sights of a dark grey armor intertwined with leather pieces. Heavy boots that rode up past the knee were made of that same black material, and as they turned, Lilith thought she saw patterns flit at the bottom near the heel that glowed a light blue.

They certainly didn’t belong here.

Lilith’s eyes flicked to the door.

“You can run if you want. I won’t give chase.” The figure’s voice was hard to place, distorted through the lips of the mask, like two voices speaking at once, impossible to tell if the intruder was a man or woman.

Lilith could hardly believe that the figure spoke the truth, she thought of the window behind her-

“And don’t go out the window dear, quite the drop.”

Who is this person? Lilith thought to herself.

The Knave of Spades. Whispered a voice in her head.

Every hair on Lilith Lavoi’s body stood on end, as goosepimples broke out across her flesh. They were in her head.

“What do you want?” Lilith whispered, her voice wavering for a moment.

“What’s best for you.” The figure said in return, not inside of Lilith’s head this time. “You have a test tomorrow. You and I both know you will not pass it as you don’t have a lick of magic to you. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t ways to fool the system.”

“What do you mean?”

“Down the hall is Monsieure Arleigh’s classroom. He’s the Head of Scrolls and Scribes. Technically that makes him assistant head librarian, and his room has access to many, many scrolls. One of them is similar to the spell you so brazenly claimed to know.”

“Why are you telling me all of this?”

“Because I want what’s best for you. And because you can’t get in there by yourself.”

Lilith thought it over, and knew the truth in their words: She didn’t know how this person knew these things, but they did, and it was the only way she could even think of getting out of such a predicament. But Lilith was a fan of lies, and knew the lovely and just as talented sister of the lie, the omission of truth, was close behind in The Knave’s words. They wanted into that room for themselves, surely. Maybe for something, or maybe, maybe as a favor. Or blackmail.

“What are you getting out of this?”

“A piece of crystal that Arleigh has been using as a pretty paperweight for many years.”

“Oh.” Lilith shrugged. She could handle that without losing any sleep. “Lead the way.”

“Gladly.” The Knave of Spades responded, shifting once more, this time into the shape of Professor Klymviner.

“How are you doing that?” Lilith whispered in awe.

“This mask. On loan from an old friend.”

“Can you turn into anything?”

“No. Any person I have studied.”

“And it lets you turn into a cat?”

“No, that came from lots of practice on that particular shape.” The Knave strode out, matching the mannerisms of the real Professor Klymviner, through the hall and almost directly into a large figure with a pale near-green skin color and a heavy underbite.

“Ah! ’Ere oo are rohesor Klymviner!” the figure said in a heavy accent and a jowl induced speech impediment. Lilith blinked; did the man have two tusks? She stared, until the man glanced at her, her eyes staring straight ahead.

“What was that noise McDougal?”

“Ell Ih I ow, ’her uzzah ig OOOM!” The man made a gesture of an explosion with his hands. “Eleporter ex’oded!”

“My gods, which one?” The Knave said, tilting her head.

“’Arden! ’Ook the ’azebo wi’h it too!” Lilith could barely understand that one, looking up to the Knave.

This is Groundskeeper McDougal. He said he wasn’t sure what it was, but the teleporter exploded out at the forest. The gazebo is gone as well.

Thank you. Lilith thought.

You’re welcome responded The Knave. Well, that confirmed they were definitely a mind reader, on top of a telepath.

“Well, don’t let me keep you. I’ll go try to speak with Professor Arleigh, see if he has any ideas in his Scribings.”

“Ou ’o ’at!” he said, turning away from the pair and heading off to keep some ground, as it were.

You do that. The Knave thought at Lilith. As creepy and invasive as it was, it was still pretty handy.

The pair hurried towards the next closest classroom, one that appeared far different than Klymviner’s, one that looked somewhere between a classroom, a paper mill, and a library. There was a cabinet full of heavy inks in fancy jars of varying colors, some with cork stoppers, some with metal lids bolted atop; there were parchments of every shade of tan to white, and some a beautiful obsidian with a silver ink jar tucked away nearby for ease of access. And then there were the tomes; Lilith had never seen so many books in her life. Lilith’s eyes lingered in wonderment, able to appreciate the classroom without the daunting presence of other students far into their studies and more confident than she.

There was a similar chalkboard wall to the one at Professor Klymviner’s, though this was far more focused on the handwriting. Arleigh truly loved his writing in any form, he put such work into it. Even on chalk.

Lilith picked up an eraser, removing one letter from the chalkboard. She had no idea the hours Arleigh would spend trying to figure out what had gone wrong in his equation, and why it had resulted in a batch of spell scrolls summoning a school of fish instead of conjuring an orb of water.

“So we’re looking for a paperweight and a scroll?” Lilith asked, turning her attention back towards The Knave, who was doing something with what looked like an oval stone with a groove in the center for one’s thumb. A beam of red and blue light launched out, scanning across the plate where Professor Arleigh would touch, the doorknob melting away and swinging open for the burglar.

“That’s right.”

“You know, I could have called for help from the groundskeeper.”

“I know.” The Knave stepped into the foyer of Monsieur Arleigh, moving towards the door to the right. There was no guest bedroom for the professor, only a second study, more messy than his composed classroom.

“And I’m technically now breaking and entering and that seems more punishable than simply lying.”

“Yes, well, the punishment is the same no matter what for the lies you’ve told so far. Might as well add a new crime to the list.”

There was a knot in Lilith’s stomach. This was a different kind of wrong.

“You can leave now. Turn and head back to bed. But I know what lies that way, Lilith. That road ends with you back in the most boring village in all the world for the rest of your poor short life. This is your one shot, girl. Are you coming, or not?”

Lilith stared at the classroom for a moment longer, then moved to follow the Knave. “How do you know these things?”

“There is a place in this school that shows such things. The Sable Loom. Find it, and you’ll find the same answers.” The Knave crossed over the threshold into the room, moving towards an impressive desk with a table lamp still warmly glowing. Arleigh had been in here, and not asleep most likely, when the explosion happened. Atop the desk lay a scroll, as well as a paperweight.

The Knave approached the desk, grabbing what appeared to be an amethyst crystal wrapped in copper wire. “I have what I need. Now for you.” The Knave handed the scroll over, still unrolled, tilted for Lilith to see. The ink wasn’t dry yet, a dark navy color with flakes of silver in it. But the ink wasn’t the mystifying sight, but all of the (circles) , [brackets], and even the squiggly {braces} she saw everywhere along with the cursed symbols such as --, ++ and even ==. Math. The evilest of creatures. Even worse, this seemed like imaginary maths, with letters mixed in, and strange lines.

The Knave lifted their left index finger, trailing the tip against the parchment. Ink ran out along the page, as if their fingertip held an ink reservoir, as they added a few more lines.

“There we go. That should add the invisibility aspect to the spell. Now they won’t realize you’re not actually telekinetic.”

There’s no way I can sneak this into the test!” Lilith hissed, a panic filling her. “I can’t even read it!”

“You won’t need to. If you wrote it on your arm, they’d never know. Just don’t show nor tell anyone. Now, give me your arm.

Lilith nodded, lifting her left arm out to The Knave and rolling up her sleeve.

The Knave drew out a second piece of paper, pressing the ink so that it was backwards on one and not the other, so that when the second sheet was pressed, the words would not be backwards upon her arm. When they were content with their work, they turned back to face Lilith. Only then did they hesitate.“This is going to hurt. And there will be consequences for these actions. Are you sure?”

“This is the only way to not end up in Wheatsburg the rest of my life?”

The Knave nodded.

“Okay.” Lilith said, wincing preemptively and sticking her arm out once more.

The Knave wrapped the paper tight around Lilith’s arm,tracing her fingers to the parchment and muttering some words. The parchment tightened like a vice, a burning feeling engulfing her arm. Lilith’s fingers twitched, her skin feeling like it was simultaneously burning and freezing. Lilith let out a whimper, tears forming in her eyes. The Knave placed a hand over the girl’s mouth, shushing her gently. “I know, dear. I know. It’ll pass.”

And then it did. The Knave removed the parchment, the letters stained into her flesh.

“You’ll get better at this. And find creative ways to cover it up, I promise. This one is just the worst.”

Lilith tried to lift her hand to turn it over, finding she couldn’t. Panic began to fill her, until-

“Imagine a hand behind your hand. Like a puppeteer. There was a traveling performer who stopped, who showed you those marionettes, do you remember?”

Lilith nodded, tears catching in the corner of her eyes. “How did you know that?”

“I’ve been watching you for a rather long time. Now, Imagine that behind your hand is a ghostly puppeteer’s hand. And imagine that when that hand moves, your hand moves.”

Lilith closed her eyes, trying to imagine just as The Knave said. She pictured the left finger moving on the invisible hand.

Her left finger twitched.

“Good. You’ll need to practice, but you should be able to grab up to twenty feet with that. Nothing too heavy, mind you. And it’s downright useless in a fight unless you’re trying to drop a rock or something on someone’s head or giving someone a quick clobber. But this should get you a leg up in a school where you’re the only one who can’t do magic.” The Knave returned the scroll to the desk, slipping a smooth grey stone in place of the nicked paperweight.

“Well, thanks. But why did you need me?” Lilith asked, rolling her sleeve back down to cover up her newest crime.

The Knave seemed to smile behind their mask, stepping back into the darkness in the corner of the room similar to where they had appeared in Klymviner’s secondary room. “Because all good thefts need the best distraction.”

“What are you doing in here young lady?” A voice said behind her. Monsieur Arleigh stood in the doorframe, dressed in a blue and white striped nightgown with a rather ridiculous looking night cap that looked more like a soft wizard hat. The man really needed to try to stop looking so much like a wizard.

“I was…” Lilith turned around, pointing at the shadows. The black cat stepped out, mewling once before trotting forward. “...I was looking for the cat! He went wandering off.” Lilith knelt down, offering her arms to the black cat, who trotted up and hopped into her arms with a purr.

“And so you just broke into my room to get him!?” The man’s face was trying to decide to go between pale, red, and purple. It was having quite the time settling. Lilith feared for a moment that he might have his eyes roll into the back of his head at any moment and topple into a pile, but it didn’t happen. Instead, he charged forward, grabbing her by the ear. The black cat jumped out of Lilith’s arm and disappeared out the door to the classroom.

Arleigh ignored the chorus of “ow owch owww” and other variances as he dragged the new student out and over to his desk, letting go only to open a drawer and pull out a heavy notepad with gold trim that moved much like the acceptance letter Lilith had forged. He took out a special inkwell of gold flakes and a brilliant bright red feather, furiously dipping it in and bringing it upon the paper in broad strokes.

Arleigh dictated his words as he wrote, halfway growling, halfway gritting his teeth. “Here we go… Lilith Lavoi… Detention… three… weeks.” He signed his name in heavy brushstrokes, smirking at his achievement before standing up and doing his best to look imposing. “Thats a new record. Detention before your very first class. You should be so proud.”

Lilith rubbed her ear, squinting in anger at Arleigh. “Yeah well I lost the cat so thanks.”

“No matter. I’ll let Groundskeeper McDougal know that some mangy cat slipped inside the teleporter with us. He’ll get it released back on the ground below, we don’t let mundane strays loose around here. As for you… I’ll be seeing you after class in the Eastern Library.”

Arleigh tore the paper off of the parchment, and as he did, it began to fold in on itself, until it looked nothing like a piece of paper. It was now art; more intricate, with more size than should have been allotted to so many folds, it took the shape of an exotic bird. [10]

The detention slip sprung to life, flapping about Lilith’s head. Arleigh pointed a finger at the bird, giving a simple phrase to speak. “4 O’clock, after class.”

“BWAWK! 4’o’clock, talk no sass!”

“No, after class!” Arleigh repeated.

“BWAWK! 4 o’clock, trim the mast!”

NO! AFTER CLASS YOU STUPID BIRD!”

The parrot fluttered then landed on Lilith’s shoulder. “BWAAAWK! 4’o’clock you stupid bird!”

“CLOSE ENOUGH!” Arleigh shouted, slamming his drawer shut.

The familiar voice of Professor Klymviner interrupted, her figure visible fromthe doorframe. “Arleigh, what are you going on about?”

“PUNISHING A STUDENT!”

“And has she been punished?”

“YES!”

“Then why are you still shouting?”

“BECAUSE!-” He stopped, lowering his voice while the color red settled across his face, eyebrows wriggling like caterpillars. “Because, I have lost my patience with liars at this academy.”

“Well you can take that up with the Headmaster, then. He’s specifically asked for you.”

Arleigh was flustered beyond comparison, standing up and storming off out the door. The paper parrot flapped its wings. “STUPID BIRD! STUPID BIRD!” it proclaimed once as the man stamped off past Klymviner and off down the hall.

“I’m so glad you showed up when you did” Lilith said to The Knave.

“Pardon?” Klymviner said, clearly in fact not The Knave.

“It’s just, I-”

“What were you doing in here Lilith? I specifically instructed you to wait in the bedroom”

“The… The cat. It came in here. I followed after it.”

“Hmm. This cat, did it follow you into the teleporter?”

“Yes.”

“And did you see it before today?”

Lilith shook her head no.

“Be careful, Lilith Lavoi. Things are not always as they seem at this school.” Professor Klymviner gestured for Lilith to follow, waiting until she had caught up before speaking again. “Whatever your reasons for trespassing were, there are rules. I’ll overlook what you’ve done this once without letting it influence my opinion of you. But do not let it happen again. Understood?”

“Yes, Professor.” Lilith said in a sullen tone. She followed the professor back to her class, looking about for The Knave in cat form to no avail. Once more she was locked inside the guest room, the window fixed with the application of magic. She practiced that night with her newfound spell, picking things up across the room and moving her own left arm in a natural manner. It was magical; so simple a spell, but so wonderful. Something that she could do herself. And so she practiced well into the wee hours of the morning, until she was certain she wouldn’t make a fool of herself in front of the school the following day.

Footnotes:

[10] The Gwingan Parrot, to be precise. Known for their bright feathers and ability to mimic, poachers are known for hunting them to sell across Temrin. This of course leads to the inclusion of the sounds of said poachers being hunted by the Lionfolk Warriors of the Ruby Pridelands to the parrot’s vocabulary, such as “AHHH!” and “HELP ME!”