Chapter 18
Place of Refuge
Vigau, Arielle, Bonaventure
"And the Fairy of the Lake asked the squire, 'Which of these is your sword? I will give you what is yours.'
"The jewelled sword sparkled like the summer sky and in his heart, the squire did covet it, but he remembered his honor and told the Fairy of the Lake, 'The wooden sword is mine.'
"The Fairy of the Lake then said, 'Though in your heart you coveted the jewelled sword, you spoke truly. Because you chose honor over desire, the jewelled sword is yours.'"
There was a knock at the door. Kamellia closed the storybook and put her choker back on. She had been trying to teach Perseus Venturi, but now she needed to be sure he understood her.
"Go with Apollos and Priscilla downstairs," she told him.
Perseus nodded, then got up off the couch and went over to Prissy and held her hand. Though she had been standoffish at first, over the past few weeks she had been growing into the role of something of a big sister to him.
"Come on. Let's go," she said as she led him down to the basement. "And don't be trying to touch any of Giger's stuff. And no sitting in his chair either."
It was a good thing Perseus was such a quiet, well-behaved boy or else he would likely have a far more antagonistic relationship with the willful feline in human guise.
With that taken care of, Kamellia went to the door. There was another knock. Kamellia remembered that particular knock was used by Giger's pupil, Yugo Duchamp. Still, just to be safe, she checked the spyhole first. Standing on the other side was a young gentleman, but he was not alone. There were several girls wearing hooded capelets, five or six of them, she thought.
Kamellia cracked the door open and the young gentleman said hopefully, "Miss Gally?" However, seeing that it was not Gally, he correcting himself. "Ah, Miss Kamellia. Is Master Taus in?"
"I'm afraid not, Mr. Duchamp," Kamellia replied.
"Please, Miss Kamellia, call me Yugo," the young gentleman said. "I was hoping he would be back by now. It's been six weeks."
"Well, he's not, I'm sorry to say."
"Might we come in?" Yugo asked. "It's not safe to be out in the open like this."
Kamellia was understandably a little hesitant. Yugo by himself was one thing, but who were these girls?
"This is a small house for so many guests."
"Miss Kamellia, please, just hear me out, and for pity's sake, let's do so inside."
Had he been anyone but Giger's apprentice, she would have refused. Instead she quietly opened the door to let in Yugo and his companions. Once they were all inside and the door closed behind them, the girls pulled back their hoods and it was clear that they were all touched with magic, or at least five out of the six were.
Doffing his hat, Yugo introduced them, saying, "Miss Jeanine Watreau, Miss Bernadotte Ryczer, Miss Mariangelique Cabot, Miss Margot Leider, Miss Amelie Leene, and Miss Henrietta Gamble. They are students at the Lycée Werner Duchamp. I met them during that mess they're calling the Grimalkin Incident. I guess you could say that they're amateur witches."
"I realize you're a young man of some rank and means," Kamellia said, "but don't you think this is a few too many girlfriends for one man to have? You're no Suleiman the Keymaster."
Yugo blushed and stammered, "It, it's not like that at all! It hasn't been made public yet, but the Ministry of Magic Affairs has issued an order to round up all mages, and everyone with the potential for magic. Miss Margot's father is with the Municipal Police and he made arrangements for my family to safeguard these girls, only my father can't hold off the Witch-hunters any longer. He plans to send me off to the country, but these girls can't go with me. I was hoping to speak with Master Taus and see if he could help with other arrangements."
"Surely you've known Bar—ah, Giger long enough to know what he would say."
"I can imagine," Yugo replied, "but Master Taus has always been more kind-hearted than he wishes to appear. If anyone can help these girls, it would be him."
"You really do have a lot of faith in him, don't you?"
Yugo nodded. Kamellia could not help feeling a swell of pride by proxy seeing her brother apprentice regarded so highly. It perhaps made her a little more impulsive than she would have been otherwise.
Clapping her hands, she said, "Why don't they stay here? There's not a lot of space, but with all the work Giger has done, it's probably the safest hideout in town."
"Are you sure?" Yugo asked.
"At least until Giger and Mordekai get back. And besides, if these girls have been dipping their hands in magic, they could use a teacher so they can actually control it."
Kamellia was not sure Yugo knew about her role in the Vigau Incident. If so, her offer to teach the girls how to control their magic would not be received too warmly. However, by the looks of it, he was simply unsure because of the imposition, not that he was worried about entrusting firecrackers to a salamander.
The green-haired girl—Bernadotte if Kamellia was remembering correctly—adjusted her glasses and said, "If you mean that this house is somehow fortified against the Witch-hunters, it would be the safest choice if we're going to stay together. Otherwise, our best bet would be to split up and take our chances on our own."
This seemed to frighten the girl with curly orange hair—Mariangelique. She clung to Bernadotte's capelet and cried, "We can't! I, I'd never make it on my own!"
Annoyed, Bernadotte brushed her off and asked the others, "What do you think? Do we hole up here or go our separate ways?"
She looked first to the quiet red-haired girl—Jeanine—and when she did not say anything, Bernadotte then turned to the purple-haired girl, Margot.
"We should stay together," Margot said. "We don't stand much chance on our own and we need someone's help. If Miss—"
"Reis. Kamellia Reis."
"If Miss Reis is willing to help us, it's probably the smart thing to take her up on the offer."
"It's better to be together," the lazy blue-haired girl agreed.
Mariangelique looked around fretfully for the others to join in. Jeanine closed her eyes and nodded, but the sullen brown-haired girl showed no sign of either agreeing or disagreeing. She just frowned, but that had been her expression the whole time.
"That settles it then," Bernadotte said. She curtseyed to Kamellia and said, "Pardon the intrusion, Miss Reis. Mr. Duchamp, we're grateful for everything you and your family has done for us."
"I just wish I could do more to help," Yugo said. "I'd like to stay here until Master Taus returns, but my father won't hear of it. If I can find some safe way to send messages from wherever I'm going, I'll try to get back in touch."
"I'll let Giger know when he gets back," Kamellia said. "I'm sure he'll miss you."
"'I'll miss the paycheck from your old man,' I'm sure he'd say," Yugo replied, doing a passable impression of Giger. It reminded Kamellia of when Giger would imitate Mordekai when he was younger and in the mood to complain, which was most times.
"I hate to leave things so abruptly, but I must be on my way," Yugo said. To the girls, he said, "Ladies, please listen to Miss Reis. It may well be the difference between life and death. The Witch-hunters are only going to ramping up their search from here. I wish you all the best."
Led by Bernadotte, the girls curtseyed in reply. Yugo seemed to remember something and reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and pulled out an envelope that he offered to Kamellia.
"It's not much, I'm afraid, but this should help with the expenses, though I fear it'll be too dangerous to go out shopping for groceries and such."
As it would be rude to refuse, and because she could use every sous she could spare with six more mouths to feed, Kamellia accepted the envelope and said, "We'll just have to find a way. I appreciate the help, Mr. Duchamp. Be careful out there."
"You too, Miss Reis. Give my regards to Master Taus when he returns. Oh, ah, and to Miss Gally."
He blushed a little at the last part. Again, Kamellia was reminded of Giger when he was younger and it made her smile.
"I'll be sure to let them know. Take care, Mr. Duchamp."
Yugo donned his hat and tipped it to them, saying, "Good evening, Miss Reis, ladies, and godspeed."
Yugo stepped out the door, leaving Kamellia alone with her new guests. The girls looked uncertainly at each other and to her. Kamellia herself had to take a moment to resolve herself for the task she had taken up.
Putting on a genial facade, she told the girls, "Well, don't just stand there in the entryway. Come on in. Have you eaten? I can make you a little something if you haven't. Now, let me tell you up front that there are quite a few rules if you're going to stay here. The owner of this house is rather particular about things and we don't want him having a conniption when he gets back."