King and I - 19

The blood drains from your face as you slowly close the old tome. Silver was a blood mage? Is he really dead too? He can’t be! You saw him back in the rebel base. The book must be wrong; they didn’t find his body afterwards. It makes a lot more sense than him being a zombie at least, but you defiantly have a few questions to ask of him.

Before that, you need to find somewhere to stash this book; it might come in handy later. You don’t know the library well enough to find a hiding spot for it, but by Warm’s own admission they never check the shelves anymore. The problem is remembering where you put it. The history section seems like a good start, the dusty shelves show that nopony ever touches the neglected books.

You swipe the book from the table and head back, eyes scanning for an empty space. It’s evident that some of the books had been thrown out entirely as several gaps are left behind. The effort to hide the slaughter of the mages goes further than you first thought. You decide to pick the first gap that fits, a criterion that is met just before the end of the shelf.

You slide it into place, making sure to memorize its location among the others, and your own location of the library floor. Once you’re sure you can navigate your way here again you hustle yourself back into the corridor.

Big problem, how are you going to get in contact with Silver? So far he only shows up when he wants to and doesn’t stick around for very long, not long enough for you to probe him. You briefly consider sending a latter through to the rebels asking for him, but they’d probably get mad at you for wasting time and not sending them something useful.

A light bulb goes off above you. You don’t need to ask Silver, you have access to two most important people in the empire, Sombra and Fury. Sombra would be your first choice, but it’s only just reaching sunset and he’ll still be busy in court by now.

You stride to the mages quarters with purpose; you’re going to get to the bottom of this one way or another.

As you walk you can’t help but feel like somepony is keeping a close eye on you, something you haven’t felt for a long while since your first few paranoid nights. Suddenly a feral chill shoots up your spine; you shiver and flip around only to be met with an empty corridor. What the hell was that? It felt like somebody just laid an icepack over your back.

You pull your coat closer to you and move faster, hoping to get away from the invisible prying eyes. It can’t be Sombra again, it’s been made fairly clear over the past few days that he doesn’t have 24/7 surveillance on you, that or he’s being purposefully ignorant in your presence so you don’t catch on. You never know with these ponies.

Your sudden paranoia drives you to the door of the mage quarters in record time. With a still shivering hoof you open the door and walk into the warm embrace of the competitively cozy chambers. Fury is sat at the head of the circular table, pouring over a huge map that covers the entire thing.

A few other unicorns crowd around him, whispering and pointing. The sound of the door slamming shut draws their attention to you. The others seem irritated, but Fury looks happy to see you. With a wide smile he beckons you over.

“Rose, how very nice of you to join us!” He exclaims pulling himself away from the table. The pair of mages stand at attention hearing him speak your name out loud.

“Am I interrupting something?” You ask looking at the map. It’s quite old, with frayed edges of dirtied parchment. Despite this the terrain is still clear to see, it’s a comprehensive recording of the mining tunnels that exist under the empire, and where the rebels have made their home. Several large red crosses are scattered across some of the larger tunnels. This must be part of their effort to find the rebel bases hidden underground.

“No, no, you’re always welcome within these chambers as a member of the guild. What do you need?”

“I’m not staying long,” you hastily inform him, “I just wanted to ask a couple of questions about something I read in the library.”

“Go on,” he nods.

“Well… do you know somepony called Silver Shield?”

Fury’s face clenches in surprise, a strangled noise coming from his open mouth. Clearly he does, to get this kind of reaction. “W-where ever did you hear about him?”

“I found a book about blood magic in the library and gave it a read, and it turns out he was a blood mage from here too. I just wanted to ask if you knew him.” The other mages have silenced themselves, curious about what has their leader so flustered. He sighs.

“Yes. I knew him. He was a close… acquaintance of ours who worked here in the guild. Unfortunately he passed away during the blood mage purge. A shame, he was an extremely powerful blood mage, and with his passing we lost much of our knowledge of the art.”

You look over to the two nosy robe cladded ponies, who notice your gaze and quickly occupy themselves with the map. “Can we take this somewhere a little more private?” You ask, conscious of what you’re about to say. He leads you over to one the side rooms, which turns out to be a small bedroom. A far cry from your extravagant queen sized bed, that’s for sure.

He closes the door and casts a spell, which seeps over the wood like a shimmering liquid. “They’re too curious for their own good sometimes, just an extra precaution.” You remain silent for a minute wondering how to phrase what you’re about to say. A simple approach would be best.

“I saw him.”

“Who?” He asks, turning his back to the door.

“I saw Silver Shield.”

“He’s dead.” He states simply and without delay. “How could you have seen him? He died years ago.”

“He says his name’s Silver Shield.”

He sighs, a thin smirk breaking through his formerly bewildered expression. “That doesn’t mean it’s the same Silver Shield. You’d be surprised at how common the name is.”

“So I’m worrying about nothing?”

“What do you think is more likely, the dead rising from their grave, or somepony sharing their name with another?” He chuckles, patting your shoulder. You flush in embarrassment.

“I guess that is pretty silly, sorry, I just got a bit wrapped up in the idea.”

“It’s no problem at all. No harm done.” His horn glows again, casting the magic covering the door into a fine mist that dissipates into nothing. “I get the same sometimes. It’s good that you came to me first and didn’t let it run wild. I’ve run into far too many who make that mistake.”

He’s right, what were you thinking? By his own word the guy is long dead. You can’t believe yourself sometimes. One of the mages calls Fury over, pulling him away from you. “Do feel free to come along any time you like, you’re just as much a member as anypony else. If you’ll excuse me.” With a courteous bow he heads back over to the table to consult with his peers.

That wasted a little time, but you’re still no closer to finding out about him. It was obvious from what you read that he was a blood mage, and he was killed during the purge. The purge, which must be what Sombra was talking about back in the yard. Did Celestia and Luna really kill all of the mages? Why is every record of the event censored?

One thing is for sure, they’re hiding something from you; and now you’re determined to find out what it is.

----

Sombra gazed silently across the room. Court has been adjourned for the day leaving him a small allowance of time, time he often uses to reflect on the events of the day. Good progress has been made, teaching Rose more control. Hardly teaching he sneered in his mind, she’d picked it up without any input from him.

Fury burst through the doors and scampered down the polished floor. “I warned you!” He hollers coming to a stop, “I warned you about that collar!” Sombra’s expression remains set on the opposite wall. “Are you even listening to me?”

“Yes.”

“So?  That’s it? We have a serious problem on our hooves and you can’t even give a proper reply.” Fury rants breathlessly. “I ran all the way down here right away just to tell you this, she’s seeing things now. She came up to me and asked me about Sil-“

“Don’t you dare,” Sombra growls causing Fury’s fur to stand on end. “Just don’t.” He slumps back onto his throne.

Fury stands in shocked silence, his breath hitching as his anger flares once again. “That’s it isn’t it? That’s your bucking master plan, just ignore it and hopes it goes away. Why did I expect anything more from you? That’s what you always do!” He shouts without restraint. “I swear on our maker, if you blow this for us… I don’t even know what I’d do.”

“Nothing, I’m in charge.”

“Bullshit.” Fury spits.

Silence falls over the room like still burning embers.

“This… this is our last chance. I expect you to make the right decision; or else I’ll make it for you.”

“Not much of a choice, is it Brother?”

“No, it’s not.”

…

“Very well,” Sombra concedes, “do what you must, but if she steps out of line…”

“I’ll be the one paying for it, very predictable.” With a snort Fury storms away. “I swear on the maker…”

Sombra relaxed once again as the doors closed. An absent sigh came from his mouth as he watched beams of the setting sun spill through the open windows. A long forgotten memory touches at the edge of his conscious, asking to be remembered in full; a happier time perhaps, without the looming clouds of conflict and deceit.

Rose… Rose reminds him; the word and emotion of somepony who isn’t deathly afraid, somepony who isn’t carefully guarded from his barbed words or fearful of reprisal. She opened up to him in a way she doesn’t realize, laying down her honesty to try and get away. A sickly feeling wells up in Sombra’s chest, a faint hint of moisture creeping around his normally dry eyes.

Why does she make him feel like this? Is he really so desperate for the sympathy of another? His brother has been there for him from the start, but even he has drifted away into the crowd. Soon he’ll grow unhappy with Sombra’s rules and ideals.

And then it’ll repeat itself, again, an angered scream, the feeling of cold snow underhoof, and the bloodied face of a fallen brother.

“Silver…”

Helpless.