Count Me Out

In the silence of the study dimly illuminated by the moon, a glass cup fell to the ground suddenly.

Alexus Smith had woken up with a start thinking he overslept, he looked at the clock near the window that allowed it to be seen by natural light. He had been asleep for twelve minutes, not an hour like he wanted to.

Sleep still at the corner of his eyes he considered heading to bed but knew that would finish him so he readjusted his position and went back to sleep on the hard desk. In his fading consciousness a howl penetrated the fog, he wanted to ignore it but he found himself standing up to face the problem.

He opened the door and came face to face with a wall but paid no mind or stopped but walked through it like he walked through air.

The hounds were scuffling over something, it wasn't rare but it bothered him that morning he stood in front of them menacingly not doing anything more, they got the message and the three whimpered back to their posts around the manor. He sighed and looked around, in the blueish shade of approaching dawn the grounds looked like a different dimension, he had never gone around the manor apart from daytime.

He breathed in the cool crisp air of the morning stained with the smell of mutts. He turned to leave but he felt his body stiffen, for a moment he considered that he had been put under a spell but it was all by his will, he turned and looked straight at it and compelled by an invisible force he picked up the shiny unknown.

It was made with platinum, branches spread out and coiled to cage inside a jewel, at the back he felt the pin and hook, the moon beautifully illuminated its unblemished and polished design. The jewel in its cage looked red but in the natural light he saw the hue move like a liquid. Alexus' heart picked up speed and he trembled, goose bumps breaking out across his skin and hair on end.

He intended to throw it away, as far as it was possible but he felt sure to hell and back it gained weight as if sensing his thoughts. He couldn't move and he shivered feeling colder than the cool of the morning, heartbeat pounding in his ears he couldn't take his eyes off the brooch.

A hand touched him, it broke his curse and he dropped the jewellery like it had burnt him. He blinked rapidly and only then could he see his surroundings and hear her call.

He sat up straight in a hurry and looked at the governess then around him, he was still in his study and the time, Alexus felt apprehension rise to his throat. It was twelve minutes past four, his gaze locked on the clock till he was shaken forcefully to focus on her.

He stared at cool and mysterious purple eyes, a worried pinch in her brow, coloured lips called out to him. ' What's wrong? Say something!'

A shiver crawled up his spine and he finally felt the present. He looked at his governess properly, she had her large as life hat on and she was wrapped in layers of a ball gown, her hair curled and flared out around her figure the moonlight always seemed to make her presence glow and Alexus felt peace returning to his troubled countenance.

'Sorry, I think I had a bad dream.' He cleaned the crusts around his eyes and sleep was not appealing anymore.

The governess brows still held their crease. 'It might not be just that.'

Her voice was deep and sweet, naturally even when it wasn't intended, she sounded seductive and suggestive, they carried notes of worry and concern along with her eyes scanning every pore of Alexus searching for anything wrong. Her hands rested on his cheeks stroking them gently.

'I was heading out when I felt it, a heavy presence in the house, but now that I'm here it's gone. Tell me, what did you dream of?'

Alexus thought about it and could feel his right hand itch, it had been the one to pick the brooch up. He considered that he needed to recover before giving any explanations. 'You still have somewhere to go, when you get back I'll tell you everything I know.'

He held her gloved wrist and tenderly stroked her worries away. 'Alright.'

A kiss landed on his forehead and he felt warmth return to his system, he sighed softly in relief. During that high she had left and all he saw last was the rest of her hat moving out the door.

He leaned back on the chair and stared at the ceiling, he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep anymore a chuckle climbed up his throat, it was pathetic to have had such a nightmare, the tingle in his right palm still unnerved him. There was much to be done, not just research but domestic affairs documents to go through too, but he didn't feel like getting back to reading, he made up his mind and headed out the study to his room the wall mirage shook to let him through.

While walking down the corridors he considered that he'd tell Winry to leave some lanterns on at night, the place was too dark for his present mood. In front of the bedroom he considered putting a lock but he reconsidered, although the governess said the presence was gone if it came back and was lurking around the house and could penetrate his dreams the last thing he needed was to be locked in the room alone with it.

While considering the pros and cons, he felt a presence come near, the air around crackled with energy Alexus was ready to strike at any moment but paused when the figure gasped and stopped in their tracks. He calmed down and could feel how familiar the presence was. It was a maid.

She quickly lit the lantern in her hand and raised it to her face so he could see her better.

'Anne.' He breathed out in relief but irritation clawed at him immediately.

'And just what do you think you're doing walking around like that? At least keep the damn lantern on.'

Anne bowed slightly and shuffled her legs. 'I'm sorry young master, it's time for me to start the chores and I didn't think I'd need the light to move around in the manor.'

Alexus understood that Elves were well attuned to the dark, they could sense sounds and pneuma better but still don't have advanced night vision she'd still need light to work better.

'Don't do that again.' He dropped the matter and opened the door to his chambers.

'Wo— would you like so— some tea young master? I know a good blend that'll relax you.' Anne huffed her words, blushing to the tips of her ears. She revered the amateur count, after experiencing various working environments she couldn't be anymore grateful for how easy the young master made it to serve him.

Alexus thought it over and agreed, he'd add a little sedative from his vial to the tea too.

Quietly, she led the way to the kitchen. Her heart doing little flips at how close the count was, so close she could feel the jacket hung on his arm brush her hands.

The first time she had met him, was four months ago a relative had told her she could take her place in the manor since she was going to be married and would move some place else. In the best dress she could afford from her last salary she had gone for an interview with her application form in hand, one of the criteria for staff was for them to be literate.

She was surprised that the house master would see her directly instead of a head of staff, suddenly she felt that she wasn't dressed enough or properly prepared. Led to the drawing room she stood nervously in front of a person who seemed preoccupied with the stack of papers before him. She could already see the interview failing, she was disrupting while he was busy, which was never a good sign.

Without looking her way he pointed at the seat before him. 'Take a seat.'

She carefully sat down and remembered she hadn't said a word of greeting but wasn't sure if she could say anything yet since he was busy. Anxiety squeezed at her abdomen so she mostly whispered. 'Thank you, and good morning.'

She received a hum in response, with a sigh he dropped what was in his hand and turned to face her. Looking directly at him she reconsidered if she was really looking at a male human and sneakily looked at the chest area; flat as a board.

'Can I have your application letter?' She briskly unhooked her bag and handed over three handwriting documents.

His voice sounded male enough, she then remembered her ability to sense pneuma, her jumpy nerves had been blocking any subconscious perception. She calmed her mind and allowed her senses to wrap around his pneuma to analyse and process. That's how she knew for the first time ever she was in the presence of a sorcerer, his pneuma was heavy and contained various elements than any average pneuma; a tell tale sign.

And she was informed immediately she was in fact facing a male human, and there was also the information on how he was feeling while reading her application but it was faint. When he finished he asked questions directly.

'You were born in this realm?'

'Yes, I was sir.'

'Why did you move all the way to Hagford?'

'For better prospects sir.'

'You've been in Hagford for how long?'

'Three years sir.'

'You seemed to have suddenly dropped your last job for this one. How do I scale your loyalty?'

Then he looked directly into her eyes and Anne was startled to be staring at such stormy orbs, they didn't hold negativity but she couldn't help but compare it to a sea that hasn't seen bright calm days. Unruly grey waters with the specks of green like fog hiding dangerous jagged rocks.

'I know I can't vouch for it but sir can I ask a question? Isn't it one employer who shows they need loyalty? If you want something it's only fair you act accordingly.'

The counts jelly lips pulled to a smirk. 'To have loyalty one must be worthy, is what you're saying?'

He leaned forward and she could see light return to his eyes and the dense fog lifting. She couldn't properly answer the question but she had amused him. 'So tell me miss, how do I prove my worth? With payment?'

Anne felt her face heat up, she felt disoriented having his sole focus, but she could manage to process she'd just been asked if she would sell out her loyalty. She lowered her gaze so she could think of a proper reply.

'No, not really Sir. There's no use for money that can't bring me peace of mind, I don't need to be paid if I'll be used like I was sold.'

'But everyone has a price, everyone does.'

Anne's confidence flattered and she thought about it, she had lived without money for months before but still never flattered in her worth but she remembered that she had considered it when she received news that her father had been ill, luckily it was a phase with change in weather.

'I can't deny that sir but what I value doesn't lie in our currency.'

He hummed at her words, she couldn't read what was behind the fog in his eyes and she felt uneasy. After some moments of consideration, the count leaned back and placed her application in the drawer.

'This would conclude the interview, when do you want to resume?'

Anne was stunned at the sudden conclusion, she hadn't discussed the details of how she'd be working or payment but she couldn't bring herself to reproach him. 'Um, I can start today?'

It was better to come off as egear to work as a good first impression. The count carefully examined her in silence before pulling on a string, it rang a bell somewhere in the back rooms which Gary had gotten up to respond to.

'Meet the head butler, he'd guide you.'

She bowed before taking her leave, grateful that she had passed the interview without a hitch.

While she stood by the stove in wait for the tea to boil, she mused about Gary. He died yesterday, so unexpectedly. She had looked up to him in a way, he was also a sorcerer and unlike the head of the house, she was able to closely examine some of his skills, he used his magic for tasks that'd require significant time from the ordinary and showed immaculate perfection while at it.

She had heard it was a murder, only a sorcerer could do in a fellow sorcerer. The kettle whistled loudly and the cover rattled breaking the silence of the kitchen. With trained care she poured the young master a perfumed blend, he closed his eyes and inhaled the pleasing scent.

He was investigating to find the murderer, Anne felt her chest contract. She had heard around that the young master was also skilled in magic yet, she had never witnessed it nor could she guess how powerful was 'powerful'.

Although she was from an undiluted lineage of elves, coming from a realm with 67.8% magic output meant it wasn't odd for her to not have magic but she couldn't help but be subconsciously embarrassed about it. And she didn't live among nonhumans like herself, if that was the case magic would have been something acquainted to because in the human realm non humans contributed over 15% of magic. There were mini communities of nonhumans scattered around the realm but her family had found comfortable settlement in a concentrated human area.

Anne was worried about the young master, she was finally witnessing him working but the stakes of death seemed so drastic to her. When she was at his age, she had been saving up to get married, going around looking for a good job, exploring love, and making the silliest mistakes. But the person in front of her in the early stage of his youth was already heading the household and working with his life on the line, was that the price of being special?

Alexus took a pause from his tea. 'You should pour one for yourself .'

Anne complied and sat adjacent to him. 'Thank you sir.'

The lantern light caressed his soft features and she couldn't help but secretly admire and envy his eyelashes and lovely lips.

'You've been here a while Anne, haven't found something new?'

She stopped mid-sip, it's the third time she'd heard her name from him and she could see a slight smile at the edge of his lips. A blush bloomed on her cheeks,the young master trying to find entertainment in her reactions made her pout behind the cup.

'Sir, I can't imagine leaving. I've enjoyed my time here, it's an unusually peaceful working environment and you've been quite generous with our salary. You also don't demand things beyond our capabilities, I am nothing but grateful for being here.'

Alexus felt his face pull a smile, the pleasantly genuine reply combined with the rising effects of the sedative lightened his mood and he felt his chest warm up. 'Thats nice.'

He stood up looking at Anne properly, in the dim light a faint shine reflected off her ears, and he was surprised about the earning chains hanging the length of her pointy ears. The cursed jewellery faded from his mind and replaced with the new discovery.

The count hummed once more and left, he felt sleep overwhelming his senses. Anne was rooted in place by his reaction, once out of the kitchen she looked into his half drank tea with curiosity.

Alexus rushed to his room, his sight already tur

ning blurry, he took off his clothes and without a nightwear unceremoniously collapsed into bed. Within seconds, darkness claimed his consciousness.

Birds chirped loudly, their frenzied melody resounded for all to hear. Were they always so loud?

The question awakened his mind, and after a few minutes he opened the curtain on his eyes. The wide space of his room came into focus, shaded with no illumination, Alexus knew immediately no one had been in his room and the time was way past.

However, he mutely enjoyed the refreshing feeling of having a well deserved sleep. Slowly he crawled out from the covers and stretched but looked down in surprise that he was shirtless. He looked around the dim room till he found it lying on the floor next to a chair his trousers hung from.

Careful not to disturb the tranquillity of his space, he took a bath and dressed, choosing to wear only a waistcoat, for the first time he considered that the jacket might be a bit bulky.

Alexus made his way to a side of the mansion he'd been avoiding. The governess no longer insistently taught him daily, she had become lax over the year and he had given her a breath relieved to no longer be put through rigorous tutelage. Although he still saw her around the house here and there she could sometimes make him sit and tell him random things some of them had already been said before.

Porphura Hortensia.

As governess she did perfectly as she was paid to do but deeper the bonds went beyond payment. For any witch, she was the picture of a free spirit but the only reason she had settled into the lifestyle for the past six years was because of him, she had chosen him.

He knocked on her opened door before peaking into her office and was hit with heavy scented air. The curtains were closed and smoke wafted around coming from the being laid out on a sofa. The governess cradled a pipe on her fingertips with a hand, the other held a puzzle piece looking for where to land on the puzzle board.

She looked his way and purple shaded lips pulled into a smile, she held out the piece, he walked closer and took it. He looked at the puzzle with a few scanty pieces placed randomly. He knew the governess had an artistic skill to create new images from preexisting ones. With a wild guess of what she could be aiming for, he placed the piece towards the corner unnoticeable.

She saw through him. 'Baby you really need to be more creative.'

He scoffed in reply, taking the pipe she now offered. The smoke overtook his taste buds, it felt like chewing on flowers but no psycho-effects he guessed it was a medicinal blend.

'I guess whatever was here last night followed me from the Sterling manor.'

He sat on the fur carpet and leaned on the central table, took a few more puffs and returned the pipe to start talking about the new case.

'So yesterday morning, Gary was killed. I checked his house, whoever killed him also uses magic but magic so strong, it's stronger than mine judging from the indefinite distance it was casted. It might be enhanced by a creature, could be symbiotic or absorbed, because it's the creature who killed Gary'

Alexus searched through his pocket and brought out a vial, handing it over to her.

'I went to the lab, Gary had every last drop of pneuma taken. Normally, studies say the body will simply disintegrate into nothing. But the creature left its own pneuma remnants behind which is what still binds his body in shape.'

The governess uncorked the vial and sniffed the stopper showed no reaction and placed it back.

'Because I couldn't trace the pneuma to its source, it's left to have another victim and go from there but an alternative has opened up.

Miss Phura, did you know Gary was an assassin?'

Unperturbed, she thought about it. 'I guessed.'

Alexus sighed, he knew she'd never leave anything that could put him in danger unattended but she could have at least told him about having such a person in the house.

'Well, we can't rule out that it was revenge murder but that same morning, Gary had killed a woman. Definite social standing, and he took something from her.

We traced that she had gotten a brooch from her fiance lord of the Sterling manor. When we went to check on him, he was already under threat from Mowe.'

The governess's attention rose, she sat straighter.

'Mowe?'

'From his secretary's statement, Mowe contracted Ernold to do an excavation at the queen's tomb.'

A deep frown set into her features, surprised by what she was hearing.

'Their aim was to take just one thing from her tomb but they weren't successful. There's probably a curse and various magic death traps set inside because his secretary described that insanity had started to set in at a point the deeper they went in, and when they returned, it was shorter than the time they used to get that far.'

Alexus leaned forward staring intently at her face like it'll give him the answers he needed

'So they weren't successful and returned empty handed. Yet, Ernold still got it later. A brooch.'

The governess had long forgotten about the pipe and her mouth hung open, puzzled, and bewilderment set into her features.

'His secretary said he was chosen. If it was given to him the secretary would have said so but it chose him.'

She had sat fully straight on the sofa at this point, she exhaled softly, looking down at the carpet, and mental wheels gearing. After a moment she spoke.

'The queen learnt to use pneuma, it's not recorded how much she had mastered or how skilled she was. It's not impossible that she has imbued her jewellery with pneuma but...'

She shook her head lost in thought.

'I can't— a piece of jewellery moving on its own. Out her tomb? For what purpose is all of this?'

Alexus shrugged also in deep thought. 'Well there are cults for the queen all around, it's possible they've gotten over their head and are trying to bring her back.'

'Yes that's possible— but Mowe is not a stupid man. Why now, has he taken to the queen?'

He shrugged again. 'From what we were told he convinced Ernold that he was doing this for the benefit of the queen. He was quite taken with the idea that even after the jewel had fallen into his hands he had planned to negotiate for Mowe to let him in on his plan. He didn't fully know what Mowe was after either.'

The governess placed a hand to the side of her head and took a few puffs from the pipe. 'The thing that was here this morning...tell me, what did you dream of?'

Alexus felt his blood freeze thinking about the nightmare.

'I wasn't sure what time I fell asleep but in my dream I had woken up twelve past four. The cup you brought fell and broke, then the dogs started to bark and I went outside the moment I got there they ran away. I tried to go back inside but I felt my body stiffen.

I turned around, and on the grass there was something there. I picked it up— it was a brooch.'

His last words fell as a whisper and a shudder ran along his spine, recounting it as if he was living the moment again.

'Then?'

He looked up at her, returning to the moment.

'Nothing, I woke up when you touched me.'

He wondered if he should mention that he had women up to reality at the time he had dreamt of. The governess didn't miss the slight hesitation and arched a brow.

'Is there more?'

He bit his lip. 'No— it's...when you woke me up, the time was twelve past four.'

She leaned back on the sofa thinking, taking her time with the pipe. Alexus got lost in his thoughts, he was looking forward to a straight murder search and find but delving into a new part of the world he lived in wasn't appealing. The crows organisation had been around before he was born and it'd seem inevitable that he was going to get involved with a criminal organisation, but this wasn't the route he thought it'd take. He felt ill-prepared to face an organisation on such a scale and the mental attack was a different kind of blow.

The governess turning her pipe upside-down into the ashtray brought him out of his head.

'That thing that was inside the house was no man, no human should give off that energy, and the dogs were barking when they also felt its presence. I could say it was coming for you, the first time I yelled your name was in the corridor then it fled from my path, it didn't reach you so the dream you had must have been triggered.

A precognition, your spirit sensed danger and was given a divine warning.'

Alexus felt his grasp on the conversation slipping and sceptical about what he was hearing.

'You're the one who uses enchanted sensing, if anyone was supposed to get a precognition, shouldn't that be you?'

'Baby, I don't deal with creatures of the dark, although I've been using enchantments for protective spells against the unseen, I've never actually seen one, I thought I was just that good.'

'Ugh.' He rolled his eyes.

'If anything, you should have your eyes peeled for that brooch because that dream meant it will come into your possession. I'll deal with that thing, be careful at night, and I would like you to watch every step you make . If it gets too bad, you withdraw immediately, you hear me?'

Her tone became firm, eyes fixed on him, he looked away and blushed feeling like a kid in front of his mother.

'Yes, of course. By the way, where did you head off to this morning?'

'Ah, one of my sisters is in town. Ami, the one who married Pasquier. I think I told you about that, she was also inquiring about you but I wasn't sure if I invited her you'd be at home at that time.'

'Hm... I won't, tell her I said hi.'

He laid on the carpet, relieved the serious conversation was over but his mind was racing. Then he stood up suddenly, startling the governess.

'I still have some things to do before I go out this afternoon. I'll be in the study.'

She waved him away.

He remembered the journal and the secretary's words kept reeling in his mind. Ernold was chosen, how?

He opened the palmtop notebook and started to read careful to take note of names and addresses that appeared then he got to a particular page and Alexus was stunned.

Even though there were

three more hours before his appointed meeting with Doran he headed out. Some fresh air would do him good. It's been a rough morning.