60. AURELIA

Chapter sixty

AURELIA

T houghts were swirling through my head about how we were going to find an item that was the medium in the connection. It could be anything. It could be a plant, a palace pet, or even a person. Some signs that my grandmother told me to watch out for included the living organism turning an unnatural color from the energy, having a slight purple shield around the outside, losing its energy, or becoming translucent.

I relayed this to everyone, and we decided it would be best if we split up with this information in mind. I told them each about my father and Tobias. He must be using my father's magic, but what was the connection tethered to?

Angie, Damian, and Clemmy came with me to look in the chambers of the castle, while Loker, Luella, and Abner started off in the main area of the castle, including the ballroom, basement, and kitchens.

There was an odd wave of nostalgia that brushed against my skin as I walked through the halls. I knew they were vacant because of how bad the disease was getting. People were hiding themselves in their rooms and houses, and this made the castle practically empty. There was no one.

This made it easier to look around for the medium, but also difficult to not be able to enter any of the rooms without being noticed.

How were we going to find my father? Would Tobias know we were here and looking for the tethered connection?

We started with the main floor of the chambers. We filtered in one at a time, quietly opening doors, and peering in to see if we could find anything unusual. It literally could be anywhere and we were at such a disadvantage.

We noticed some odd-looking plants, cats, and other unique-looking creatures as pets found in the Forbidden Forest. However, upon my inspection, nothing seemed out of the ordinary when it came to their strength, color, or transparency.

We were also careful to not touch anything, as we were uncertain if anyone who was in their rooms was actually plagued or not. Everyone was interestingly fast asleep, hardly moving a muscle as we entered each room. I could've phased them as dead or even in a coma.

Something wasn't right.

"Find anything?" I said in my mind to all of the Scalebound.

"Nothing down here," Abner responded. "We checked the kitchen, dining hall, and ballroom. We are heading to the cellar right now to check the dungeons." We were running out of places to examine. Were we not checking hard enough? What were we missing?

"Does anybody else think this is odd that no one is around?" Loker commented, bringing up a good point.

"No one is moving in the rooms, either. It's as if everyone is in a deep sleep," Clemmy noted. Was there more magic from the Old Religion being used than I originally had thought? Was Tobias the sorcerer? Was it his magic? Was it someone helping him?

"It is odd. We have a few rooms left to check. Meet us up here after you check the cells," I said to everyone. Glancing to see Damian by my side, peering oddly at me, I knew that we had all been having a conversation in our heads that he was unaware of.

"Got it," Luella said, and everyone disconnected, leaving a lack of their presence in my mind.

"They are finishing up at the cells and then will meet us up on the second floor," I whispered to Damian. He nodded in understanding.

We were nearing the end of the first level of chambers, signaling that we would then have to go up and check in the counselors and royalty chambers. My breaths became rapid. I wasn't sure if it was because I was nervous about confronting my father or Tobias.

Clemmy, Damian, and I sneaked through the corridors, quietly shutting the doors to the rooms we had snuck into. Eventually, we converged at the center of the hall, our paths intersecting as we regrouped.

"Where else?" Angie asked with her arms folded.

"The only place left that would be worth checking would be my father's chambers."