Iria smiled at the confused boy. He seemed flustered to have mistakenly entered her room.
"Y-you should lock your door," he stammered. "You don't know what manner of monster could be in a mage's house."
"Still afraid of monsters at this age? You really are still a child," she chided.
Peter glared at her. And Iria couldn't help but be amused.
"I was just teasing." She indicated the couch. "Please."
She could see his defiant side in his refusal to sit, but his reluctance to leave indicated that there was indeed something outside that spooked him.
"Let's chat a bit." She sat at the edge of the bed and studied him. "What kind of town are you from?"
"You wouldn't know about it."
"Tell me anyway."
Peter finally conceded and sat on the couch. "It's a village called Pal. And save for the few noble families there, the place is basically a dump."
"What do your parents do?"
"I don't know. I've been fending for myself for as long as I could remember."
"How did you come upon learning magic."
He folded his arms in front of him and replied with a glare. "You ask too many questions."
She leaned back. "You can ask me questions, too, so it's fair. I don't mind."
"Aren't gatekeepers supposed to keep their secrets or something?"
Iria laughed. "And what secrets are those supposed to be? That we guard the gates to our respective worlds?"
The child paused before proceeding. "What's a solitaire?"
And Iria paused as well, as less-than-pleasant memories returned with that question. "They're gatekeepers who've lost their partners. I work alone now."
Her sadness must have shown on her face. Peter looked sympathetic all of a sudden. "Lost as in…"
Iria nodded. "He died in battle. He was my brother."
"You had a brother?"
"We're people with lives, too, you know. Did you also think gatekeepers had no family?" She teased.
By the redness of his face, it appeared he really did think that. Subdued, he asked, "Must gatekeepers always come in pairs?"
"That's the ideal. We deal with balance, after all. It helps us sense how much of an upset to the balance of our world an intruder has if there are two of us. One can still determine it as a solitaire, but only once you've had a lot of experience."
"You're not like what I thought gatekeepers were supposed to be."
Iria laughed in good humor. "What am I like, then?"
"I don't know. Like you're more suited to be something like a princess than a fighter."
She hooked her hands on her hips in mock affront. "Are you saying I can't fight?"
"That's not what I meant. I meant you're too…" It was cute how Peter waved his hands as he struggled to find the right word.
"Happy?" She offered. "Forgiving? Easy to talk to?… Pretty?"
"Nice. For a gatekeeper." Peter was blushing anew.
She smiled at him kindly. "Gatekeepers protect their worlds. That's the only thing common among us."
"Why did you agree to the mage teaching me the right spell? I could have used it on you, you know."
"A wrong spell is more dangerous than the right one. I only wanted to catch you. Not kill you."
He scoffed. "So that another person from your so-called council can do the killing?"
Iria approached the couch and placed a hand on the boy's head. "That won't happen," she told him kindly but firmly. "I will make sure of it."
Peter looked less guarded then. The way he sat there with his head slightly bowed and his ears still red made him look like the child that he was.
Iria straightened up and walked to the door.
"Where are you going?" He asked.
"I was about to go out, actually. I need to speak with the mage."
"O-out?!" Peter stood up. "But there's a monster just outside the door!"
"I'll manage. Stay here and wait for me. I won't take long."
Peter grabbed her arm. "You could die!" No doubt realizing that he was showing his concern for a gatekeeper like her, Peter quickly let go. "Don't get me wrong! I-It's just that I would be stuck here if you did."
She placed a warm hand on his head. "Don't worry, I won't die and leave you here." Then she stood up and cast a spell. A dome-shaped barrier enclosed Peter. "I've added a shield around you, just as added protection. I'm sure the room itself has protection already."
"Not for me! It's you I'm worried about!" Realizing what he had just blurted out, he added, "I mean…. Not that kind of worry. What I meant was—"
Iria couldn't help but laugh. People always thought gatekeepers were invincible. So it felt good to have someone worry about her. The fact that she was a solitaire proved they weren't invincible. "I know, I know." She smiled her princess-like smile as she headed for the door. "I'll be back soon. I promise." And with that, she left the room.
As Peter had said, there was indeed a creature in the corridor. Sitting outside the door was a tandi, its wide toothless mouth turning to her with a grin. These gentle giants were the equivalent of a janitor fish on land.
"Did you scare Peter, little tandi?" She asked with a coo as she scratched its chin. "I can't believe a dignified mage would be keeping a pet as cute as you."
The hulking beast happily gave a cry as it leaned into Iria's hand.
"Then again, it makes cleaning easier with you around. Do you know where your master is? Can you take me to him?"
With a gleeful jump, the tandi bounded toward the corridor on the left, motioning Iria to follow it.
The tandi led her to the study, where the mage sat behind a desk. He stood up to welcome her as she entered.
"Gatekeeper Iria. I trust the room is satisfactory."
"It's very comfortable, thank you," she replied. "And please just call me Iria."
"Iria, then. Forgive me for insisting."
She raised a hand and smiled pleasantly. "I figured you had a reason. I've heard of you. You're Marquelle of the Diamond Plains. Royal Mage to the King of Rivon. After that battle with the Red King, you disappeared. Did it damage you too much? Doesn't seem like it, though, save for your leg." She glanced at the cane in his hand.
The mage looked down with a somewhat sad smile. "I had my reasons." When he looked back up at her, she noticed that his eyes, which she had thought to be black initially, had specks of blue and gold. And their blackness was not a solid opaque kind but rather a translucent darkness that got denser in its depths. They were quite beautiful. "About the boy," he began, taking her out of her thoughts. "What do you plan to do with him?"
"Honestly, I don't know yet." She sat on the sofa Marquelle indicated. "I need to take him before the council. He was playing with enough magic to transport him to my world. But we could see it was only because he didn't know any better."
"He has potential."
"Yes, you mentioned."
Marquelle hesitated before proceeding to say, "My house cannot be stumbled upon by just anyone."
She looked up at his unspoken implication. "Does the boy have enough power to do that?"
"I don't think so. I could be wrong, though."
"He seemed to be using random runes for world locations. Maybe it was a mistake with the runes that led him here?"
Again, Marquelle paused. Then, coming to a decision, he motioned for her to follow him. He led her outside the balcony, through a portal, and outside by the perimeter wall of the property. There was a large hole on the half-meter-thick perimeter wall.
Iria extended a hand towards the hole to feel it. There was a transparent force field now covering the hole and preventing anything from getting in or going out into the void beyond. But Iria could still feel the energy of whatever might have created the hole. "You're right, it's too high level," she said. "Peter must have been able to enter because this hole existed. But he can't have caused this. You may have an intruder in your house."
"So I figured. But I can't be sure until I find that intruder." He turned to Iria. "I would like the two of you to stay here until I have determined with certainty that Peter isn't the cause of this."
Iria paused. His caution was warranted. But that meant they would have to stay here for more than the night. But then again, what was her hurry? It had been quiet the past month. And the few extra days would help her know a bit more about Peter to decide what to recommend to the Libra Council. Plus, she wasn't opposed to the idea of staying put and taking it easy the next few days. "Alright," she replied, smiling.
Marquelle seemed taken aback. "I thought you would be opposed to the idea."
"Not at all. I just need to report this to the council so they're not wondering where I am. But it wouldn't be hard for them to ask a couple of gatekeepers from the neighboring worlds to cover my territory for a few days. And I have a feeling, since I'm already here, that they would ask me to help you investigate what interdimensional creature could possibly be strong enough to create that hole."
He paused. "I wouldn't want the Libra Council barging into my home as well."
"Oh, don't worry. I'll make sure they agree to let me be that sole representative."
"You're surprisingly easy to talk to."
"Now, why does everyone assume we, gatekeepers, are some sort of unfeeling monsters whose job is to make everyone's lives more difficult?" Iria asked in mock affront, her hand on her hip.
Marquelle chuckled. "Forgive me. I was being unjust."
"I wouldn't mind staying put for a few days. It would be like a little vacation."
"Indeed, you can think of it that way. Again, thank you for indulging me."
The mage was a pleasant man under that cold exterior, Iria thought with a smile.