Noble shut the door behind her.
"What seems to be the issue?"
Syrce waved for her to come closer.
"It's my sister, Lyra. Her messages are full of distress. She is becoming overwhelmed. She missed me and…"
The Saint paused, touching the necklace around her neck as she took a deep breath. When she spoke again, her voice was broken.
"Lyra is beginning to believe the lies of those around her."
Noble felt her pace quicken. "Surely you don't suspect Aurelia of misleading your sister."
The Saint shook her head. "If she had been in league with them, she easily could have hidden the evidence that anything was wrong. Aurelia is faithful to our family."
'That's a relief. I already had to defend Roan. Trying to convince her that Helie isn't out to get her would have been a tall order.'
While Noble thought she could do it, it wasn't something she wanted to try. Thankfully, no defense was needed.
Remembering what Helie had said about court, Noble saw the incident in a new light.
Helie had insinuated her rival was trying to ingratiate himself to Lyra. Perhaps he had planned to dispose of the evidence before arriving. That would have left Syrce in the dark for longer and allowed the negative influence to continue gaining ground.
'Ugh, I hate politics…'
"I am sorry your sister is suffering at the hands of others. What will you do?" Noble would understand if Syrce wanted to run home and set things straight, but that would mean a huge delay in their plans.
Sending Helie back with a message would also not be optimal. Now that the cohort was together, she did not want them to part again.
Syrce sighed. "The only thing I can do. As soon as Maelys arrives, I will send her to be by Lyra's side. Her presence alone will send the naysayers running."
"Then I hope Maelys will arrive soon for both your sakes." Noble smiled.
The mossy-haired woman touched her amulet and nodded. "She will...Yes, I am sure she will...and when Maelys comes, everything will be as it should."
Other than her initial outburst, Syrce seemed to be taking everything surprisingly well. The Saint seemed very good at talking herself out of bad feelings.
'It makes sense. She has been through so much and still has a positive attitude most of the time. She must have some coping mechanism to keep herself from giving in to her sadness for too long.'
Noble would like to know what her method was for keeping calm, but then she remembered the Saint's overwhelming reaction to meeting her father's killers. Perhaps Syrce just annihilated anything that caused her problems. Perhaps the people at court were simply living on borrowed time until the long-lost sister arrived.
Child of Promise shivered.
"Are you alright?" The Saint reached for the shawl draped on her shoulders. "Is your cloak not keeping you warm?"
Noble tugged at the garment lightly. "It is wonderful and a most gracious gift. I am not cold. But I am looking forward to everything being right with you and your family. Any thoughts on when your sister might return?"
"You are sweet to worry about us." Syrce leaned forward to squeeze her friend's arm. "But that brings me to my second problem. There has been a bit of a hiccup in my plan."
As the Saint leaned back, she revealed what she had been doing on the small desk. The box that Helie had brought was open, and the contents were lying on the space between it and the papers.
Noble scooted closer, trying to get a better look at the object. She immediately recognized the shard that she had seen back at the Fortress. The thin piece was surrounded by six others sitting in a frame with a handle.
Just like it had for the cameo, Mirage's cape fluttered as if to reach for the creation. Noble tucked the sides behind her shoulders. There was no doubt that the relic belonged to the Daemon of Imagination. The cape had become a built-in truth tester.
Not that the authenticity of the object had ever been in question. The design of the frame was carved with the same flame that Noble had seen many other times, now. Like a person's imagination, the flame was ever-changing, never creating the exact same pattern twice.
The relic was beautiful, but staring at it only confused Noble. She raised one eyebrow.
"This is your secret weapon?"
"Weapon is not the word I would use. It's more like the key to our success." Syrce watched Noble flinch.
"Please, can we not call it a key? I have had some bad experiences with keys in the past…"
"Oh? Did it open the wrong door?" Syrce winked.
"In a manner of speaking. I landed in a place I never wanted to be with people who wanted me dead. So all in all, I would not recommend it." Noble turned her thumb downward.
The Sain tilted her head. "Who would ever want to kill our beloved Bel?"
"That's not a list I want to make right now," Noble could feel the conversation drifting in an unhelpful direction. "Tell me more about what you have here."
"This relic belonged to Mirage like the rest of them, but it is special. With it, I can collect all the people I need in one place, and we can take a stand against the darkness." Syrce's grey eyes shone with hope.
"How exactly will this help you fight the darkness?" Noble tried to make sense of what she was seeing.
"It needs power. That is why we have come to Bastion: to claim the power here." The Saint unconsciously glanced in the direction of the magnificent palace.
Helie had been right. The caravan was in search of a source of power hidden in the ruins. It must have been much greater than even the core that was running the dam in her former home, because Syrce had not flinched in her determination to conquer the citadel even with a Remnant guarding it.
"In a few days, I will ascend Bastion's hill and claim our chance for survival." The Saint balled her hand as if victory were within her grasp.
Then her hand loosened as she frowned.
"But first, I need to figure out how to make it work, or this whole trip will have been in vain. I have done all I can. It's like a puzzle where the pieces won't quite fit together, and I don't know what is wrong. I don't suppose your experience as a Realm Walker might give any guidance on how to make the broken pieces whole again."
'I'm not a Realm Walker...at least not in the sense she means. I don't have knowledge of relics, but I do have extensive experience with Memories.'
Both were enchanted objects, and the more relics Noble found, the more similarities she saw. It was worth a try.
"May I?" Child of Promise held out her hands.
"Of course." Syrce picked up the frame and placed it gingerly in the other woman's palms.
Looking down at the relic, Noble saw seven images of her reflected in the glass shards.
The relic was a broken mirror.