Shadow Slave

In a different memory, Effie was staring at the fire dancing in her fireplace with a distant expression. Her usual cheerfulness was gone, and instead, a sense of doubt and unease had taken root in her hazel eyes. Soon, there was the sound of an opening door, and she glanced toward the entrance. She sighed heavily, and then forced herself to smile.

A few seconds later, her husband walked into the room and looked at her in surprise. “Oh? You’re home early today. I thought we’d be barely seeing you in these next few weeks.”

Effie scoffed.

“Don’t sound so disappointed.”

Her husband laughed and walked over to hug her.

“Never. I’m beyond happy that you’re here. Ling will be beyond himself, too, once he gets back from his lessons... oh, are you hungry? I can cook something up if you are.” Effie smiled.

“You know me. I am never not hungry.”

As he went to prepare dinner for them, the smile faded on her face, and she studied his back with a complicated expression.

As they ate and chatted, Effie kept glancing at her husband when he glanced away. Eventually, she asked:

”By the way... did you hire a new tutor for our dumpling?”

Her husband took a sip of tea and nodded. ”Yes, a history teacher. Why?”

Effie hesitated.

“Why does he need a new teacher? What’s wrong with Julius?”

He laughed.

”Why, nothing is wrong with Teacher Julius, of course! It’s just that our son is quite energetic, and Teacher Julius is not a young man. Plus, he can’t be a specialist in everything.”

Effie remained silent for a while, then frowned.

”Still. Who is that new tutor? What are his credentials? Was his background checked? Most importantly, why would you just go and hire him without discussing it with me first?”

Her husband seemed taken aback.

“What? You were just busy, that’s all.”

Effie’s frown deepened.

”l am never busy when it comes to our son. You know that.”

It might have been a simple case of miscommunication. Her husband might have just made an impulsive decision, thinking about what was best for Little Ling.

Or...

It might have been something else.

Could it have been?

Effie had been tense and alarmed as of late. She was especially anxious because the Dreamspawn had already expressed his interest in her son. So, she was sensitive to everything that had to do with Little Ling. She wouldn’t have even known that Ling had a new tutor if Sunny had not told her. Her husband would have never made a decision as important as choosing a teacher for their son without her — especially not when the plague of Asterion was spreading across the two worlds like a wildfire.

He knew how perilous things were at the moment.

That was not alright at all.

That was...

‘Suspicious?’

But no, perhaps... maybe she was just being paranoid. Perhaps she was wrong, and there was a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of this.

Her husband looked at her silently. Eventually, he said:

“That is not true.”

Effie was confused.

”What?”

He sighed.

”It’s not true that you’re never busy when it comes to our son. In fact, you are quite busy too often for him... or for me. I get it, I do. You are an important person. Your duties often keep you away from home, and sometimes, you have to leave for entire weeks to fight for humanity on the frontline. l am not blaming you for that.”

He shook her head.

”But it’s unfair to say that you always have time for us.”

Effie stared at him, aghast.

A sharp sense of guilt cut across her heart. But, at the same time...

She couldn’t help but notice that he had avoided answering any of her questions. Was it a coincidence, or a tactic? Could she...

Could she still trust her husband?

That question was maddening.

The abominable ambivalence of it all cut her like a dull blade. She wasn’t sure that he was being dishonest, but she also couldn’t be sure that he was entirely sincere. She wanted to demand answers, but was afraid of finding out the truth. More than anything, she was afraid of accusing him of betrayal only to find out that it was all a misunderstanding.

’I hate it. I hate it all.’

Effie lost her appetite.

Pushing the plate away, she looked at her husband and said:

”I want you to tell me something.”

He raised an eyebrow.

”What?”

Effie stared at him for a while, then said: “Tell me that the Dreamspawn is a vile scumbag, that he only has malice in his heart, and that Nephis is going to seal that wicked ghoul for all eternity sooner or later.”

Her husband looked at her with a faint smile.

The silence stretched between them, making a cold shiver run down Effie’s spine. Eventually, though, he chuckled.

”Is that all you want? Sure. The Dreamspawn is a vile scumbag, has only malice in his heart, and is going to be sealed for all eternity by Lady Nephis soon.”

Effie let out a relieved sigh.

But then, she hesitated.

‘Why... is he not angry with me? Shouldn’t he be angry for being suspected?’

She looked at her husband, still unsure.

He chuckled, shook his head, and focused on his food.

‘Perhaps I was wrong, after all.’

As the fire burning in the fireplace reflected in his eyes, a golden gleam seemed to spark in their depths for a brief moment.

...And then, a scattering of other memories flashing like appalling snapshots of a dying world.

Effie was sprawled on cold stones, iron chains binding her bloodied limbs. Only there was no trace of the hale, vivacious woman she had been anymore — instead, she was like a corpse, so gaunt that it seemed that a gust of wing would break her in half.

Her arms had become skeletal and weak. Her ribs rose like ridges, hugged tightly by the lifeless skin. Her stomach was so thin that it seemed to cling to her spine. Her gaunt face was sunken and bruised, with feverish eyes burning on it darkly. Her legs were like long sticks, bent awkwardly. It did not seem like she could move them anymore.

Her body was a ghastly image of a beast that was slowly consuming itself, having already digested most of its own flesh.

Then, there was the sound of an opening door, and she turned her head listlessly to look at the bars of her cage.

A delicious aroma wafted through the stale air.

Her husband appeared at the entrance of the dungeon, stepping carefully over the runes carved into its floor. He was carrying a tray brimming with all kinds of delicious food.

He placed the tray in front of the cage and smiled.

“I brought your favorite.”

Effie simply stared at him, not saying anything. He hesitated for a while, then sighed.

”I simply don’t understand why you’re persisting in this foolishness, my love. All you have to do is tell me where our son is.” He studied the ghastly wreckage of her body, his expression turning somber.

“You don’t even have to say it! Just think it. Please, Effie... tell me where our son is. Let’s end this. Where is Little Ling?”

Effie remained silent for a while...

Then smiled slowly.

Her hoarse voice was like a dying echo. ”Oh, yeah? Is the ghoul... reading my thoughts, then?”

Turning away from her husband, she looked at the ceiling and suddenly let out a laugh. “What am I thinking about now?”

Her husband’s expression changed. He lingered for a moment, then frowned in confusion.

”...Food? You’re only thinking about food?” Effie’s grating laughter grew louder.

”Ah, what to do? The food! All I can think about is food! How unfortunate for that bastard, huh?”

Her laughter turned into coughs, and then into sobs.

”The food... ah, I’m hungry...”

Somewhere else, Quentin and Beth were holding hands, smiling, as they looked at the sky. In the sky, the Ivory Island was being besieged by the Night Garden, minutes away from falling into the hands of the thralls of the Hunger Domain.

”Look, Beth! The Saints of Night are going into battle!”

Beth smiled joyfully.

“Yeah. That silver light... how pretty.”

And somewhere else, in Ravenheart... Seishan found herself having to spill the blood of her sisters.

But before too long, she was of one mind with them again.