Same Light
"If what he said is true, Venden doesn't have much time left," Kathrin explained, her gaze unwavering even as her voice cracked from emotion.
"They've been beating him bloody in an attempt to make him rejoin the family. They're determined to do so before the Guard comes in and arrests them, so they've upped the ante and have started using…" she spat on the floor, her face scrunching up with all the nausea of someone that had just eaten a shoe covered in feces. "… tools."
Venden was obviously kept in the dark about such a time limit, only knowing of the grim reality that his mother wanted him back, and was willing to do anything to reclaim him.
"What kind of tools?" Fate asked.
"The worst kind. He can't die, not with my mother watching over him, but even someone as strong as Venden can't last forever. It's been non-stop since Tuesday; they won't even let him sleep."
Kathrin's butler had broken into tears and begged for forgiveness when he told her the horrible things he and her mother had done to her brother. Terrible, evil things that she could hardly believe came from her mother.
Her mother had always been a saint, responding to even the worst tantrums young Kathrin had thrown with calm, rational explanations and soothing pats on the back that always ended in the young noble crying out for forgiveness much like the butler had.
It was her father who scared her. The Arch-Mage always emphasized the importance of acting appropriately, of putting family above all else.
His hand was heavy and his words piercing when he disciplined his children, a vile man that felt no remorse driving his children to tears.
Imagine her surprise when she learned her perfect mother was willing to beat her own son half to death just to prove a point, that her father was merely a figurehead, a straw man to push the blame onto.
She soon learned from the butler's mouth the many things her mother had done, this sickening display of "maternal affection" the least of it.
Torture, murder, extortion. Making problematic political rivals "disappear." She was shocked and appalled by what the head butler had divulged, shaken when she was told that all these years, her supposedly cruel father was protecting them from their deranged mother.
His stinging slaps saved them from knife wounds, his rebuking remarks from hot coals and fiery brands. Every time he raised a hand or opened his mouth, the two children would never do whatever act got them into trouble again.
Venden was experiencing the true depths of their mother's "love" now, unshackled and unrestrained by the caring hand of their father, and Kathrin shuddered at the thought.
She was ashamed to admit she was unable to look at the butler who had taken care of her for years in the same light afterward.
When he pleaded for her to forgive him, she ran, unable to look at his face anymore without intense feelings of loathing and hatred. She knew he was just doing his job, that if he refused, he'd be disposed of. But she couldn't control what she felt.
Only what she did.
So here she was, putting her life in the hands of a commoner, barely a Journeyman, hoping he'd help her save her brother. Deep down, she knew it was futile, a ridiculous, crazy plan concocted by an inexperienced child that could hardly even call herself an adult, but what else was she supposed to do?
If she asked the Guards for help, her mother would terminate Venden without a second thought and claim that he ran away.
And her professors? The principal? What could they do besides ask the Guards in her stead?
Fate's Spell that allowed him to pass through walls was her best shot. As strong as her teleportation Skill was on the surface, she was restricted to line of sight.
And she had no doubts in her mind that her mother or another servant had heard the butler's confession. She couldn't go back without having a target painted on her back or worse, getting locked up in the basement to suffer along with her brother.
Fate seemed to catch onto this fact as well, making no moves to suggest alternatives. He could ask Alessandra, but he felt he had bothered her enough already.
There was also the matter of jurisdiction. While the Empress was fair and benevolent, her laws were not something one could bend as they pleased. While Alessandra's word was law in the Academy, she held no such power in the streets.
If Alessandra rushed in, Skill or no, the commotion was bound to be noticeable throughout the estate. Then Venden would be killed, Alessandra would be tried with breaking and entering and vigilante justice, and everyone would lose.
No, this was the only way Fate could think of to save Venden.
"What do I have to do?" Fate asked.
'Another night-time adventure,' Fate thought as he scanned the Grendeven estate from atop a shop a block away. 'Hopefully this time I won't have to fight some lunatic.'
He had foregone his usual attire of brown robes, instead wearing dark pants and a dark, long-sleeved shirt to better hide his pale skin in the dark. His usual boots were still present, their brown color deemed risky but better than going barefoot.
'You should've used your sword,' Kravoss said. He was standing next to Fate, likewise observing the Grendeven estate from afar. He'd be Fate's eye in the sky, watching and warning Fate of oncoming danger.
Upon his head was his night vision bowler hat, and gracing his talon was a small ring Kathrin had given them to see through the windows' privacy enchantments, allowing him to see every room in the front half of the sprawling mansion. It wouldn't cover every room, but it would have to be enough.
The Grendeven estate was a large, grey-colored, vaguely rectangle-shaped building with four stories, and was eighty feet long and eighty feet wide, extending into the air for forty feet.
The lawn, protected by gates of black that were half as tall as the house itself, extended for thirty feet from each side of the building, leaving plenty of room for swings, dirt-covered training spots, a small pond, and a racing track that wrapped around the building.