Chapter 96: Self defense (2)

Stefan's POV

I stared down at the ridiculous weight in my hands.

Thousands of pages in tiny print. Diagrams of foot placement that somehow needed three different angles and a full paragraph of explanation each. The thing looked less like a helpful skill book and more like a deliberate punishment designed by someone who hated free time.

"Hey dude, how exactly am I supposed to memorize any of this?"I asked in a flat voice

[Host will read.] The system's flat response came through, as if mocking me, as if mimicking the flatness I had used too.

I hissed through my teeth.

"Obviously. That part I figured out on my own. What I'm asking you is:how am I supposed to read and actually understand a book this size before I die of old age or boredom, whichever comes first?"

There was a short pause, the kind the System used when it was about to dangle something useful just far enough out of reach to be irritating.

[There exists an item designated Incubus Memory. Once acquired, Host will be able to read and instantly comprehend any text he opens.]

I felt the smirk tug at my mouth before I could stop it. "That. I want that. Give it to me."

[Host has not unlocked Incubus Memory.]

My jaw tightened. I should have known! Of course it was locked.

"I have to unlock every single useful thing with you, don't I?" I muttered at the empty air. "Nothing just comes free. Not even the ability to read a book without wanting to set it on fire."

The System offered no further comment. It had said all it intended to say on the matter.

I looked down at the massive textbook one more time, then shoved it into my inventory with more force than necessary. The weight disappeared, but the irritation stayed lodged under my ribs like a splinter.

"Later, I will deal with the world's thickest instruction manual later." I told myself.

~~~~~~~~~

Getting back into the palace was easier than getting out of Bloomhold had been. I used the same quiet side route Kara had shown me, kept my head down whenever a bodyguard passed, and slipped through the narrower service passages while the morning shift was still changing posts.

By the time I reached the corridor that led to my own rooms I was already calculating how long a man could stay missing inside these walls before someone important decided to make it a problem.

I pushed the door open and stepped inside.

The Hand was pacing.

She spun the moment the door clicked shut, eyes wide, and dropped into a bow so deep I thought her forehead might touch the floor.

"Honored guest!"

I raised a hand. "Skip the formalities. You look like you are about to crawl out of your own skin. What happened?"

She stayed bowed for another second before straightening, though her hands remained tightly clasped in front of her. The usual calm, carefully blank expression she wore had cracked. There was real disturbance underneath it - the kind that said she had been sitting with bad news for a while and still hadn't figured out how to deliver it safely.

"Her Ladyship Dove came to check on the honored guest," she said, voice carefully controlled. "When she did not find you present, she… asked questions."

My stomach dropped a fraction.

Dove. That was the Queen's first lady-in-waiting. The same sharp-eyed woman who had been present for more than one of my less-comfortable audiences with Her Majesty. Not the kind of person whose curiosity you wanted aimed in your direction.

I exhaled slowly through my nose and forced my shoulders to stay loose.

"Questions?" I repeated. "What kind of questions did she ask?"

"Where the honored guest had gone. Why the rooms were empty. Whether anyone had seen the honored guest leave the palace." The Hand's gaze flicked to the floor again.

"I could not provide answers. I knew nothing about your whereabouts." She added.

I dragged a hand down my face.

Kara's warning from the first time she smuggled me out of the day palace sat heavy in the back of my mind. The Queen would definitely not like her "useful Alien" wandering around without permission. Stepping out of the palace walls without an escort or a direct order was the kind of thing that could turn "useful" back into "disposable" very quickly if the wrong person started asking the right questions.

And now Dove knew I had been gone.

I walked over to the low table near the bed, set the folded servant's gown down on it with deliberate care, and stared at the far wall for a moment while the pieces rearranged themselves in my head.

I let out a short, humorless breath.

"Of course, I can't even disappear for one night without the entire court developing opinions about it." I muttered.

The Hand remained silent, waiting.

I looked at her again, at the genuine worry she wasn't quite managing to hide, and felt the familiar calculation settle into place.

Damage control first.

Everything else second.

"Was it the Queen who sent her?" I asked. "Did Dove come because Her Majesty told her to check on me?"

The Hand shook her head quickly. "No, honored guest. Her Majesty has not been in the palace since before sunrise. Lady Dove came on her own."

Some of the tightness in my chest eased but another question raised;

If the Queen wasn't in the palace since sunrise, where had she gone to? I was curious but I knew I needed to take care of Dove first.

"that isn't really my business," I said. Then I turned fully toward the Hand. "Where can I find Dove right now?"

The Hand hesitated only a fraction of a second before she bowed again, already stepping toward the door.

"I shall take you to her."

I followed her out of the room but as we walked to where Dove was, my mind kept wandering to the Queen and where she could possibly be.

Was she already aware of the plans of that Silent Matriarch?

I kept rerouting my mind to what was actually urgent...

Whatever Dove wanted, I needed to get ahead of it before the story of my absence grew any more interesting than it already was.