Hohenfels

Chapter 35

Jerzy Nowak paced around his cramped office excitedly, mentally planning out lessons for the young Prince who might very well become his much-needed benefactor in the future.

Teaching heresy to young nobles was neither particularly safe nor enjoyable, but it was necessary. Taking apprentices from among the village folk had not been feasible for centuries, no matter how much his… colleagues clung to tradition. It was much wiser to pass on the knowledge to those who weren’t at risk of getting permanently imprisoned or worse, and who would have the resources to teach their offspring.

The Hohenfels heir was in many ways the perfect student. His standing was beyond reproach, his house had distant roots in the Northern lands and no love for the West, and he was opportunistic enough to jump on a chance of getting ahead. Additionally, he might just be willing and able to spend a small fortune on Jerzy’s research if he proved himself useful.

Of course, the start to their relationship had not been optimal. Jerzy had been overconfident, relying on his Heartroot to keep him out of trouble as it had done for almost three decades. But how could he have known about that damnable sword?

Instead of fading into vague memory after mere hours, the four students would now remember him for quite a while. Weeks, even months if he was unlucky. That timeframe would become even longer once he started wearing the amulet as ordered by the Prince.

But it was worth it. Four nobles knowing his name was a risk he had to take if it meant potentially earning the patronage of a major house. Perhaps even two – the Silberthal girl seemed quite attached to Prince Arnold, and her family was famous among scholars for financing research in a vast variety of fields.

With any luck, his long quest to preserve the ancient arts would find its end.

= = = = =

“What about this one? It looks simple enough.”

Katharina had, predictably, taken the opportunity to scoot closer once Arne opened the old tome, and was now pointing out a ritual with the not particularly evocative name 'Vandalic Weather Divination’.

“Hmmm… We’ll need a handful of berries and stones to form a circle. Those are easy to find. The animal bones technically aren’t an issue, either. We can just get them from the kitchens at my dorm,” Arne mused. “But this could be a problem.”

He pointed at a detailed schematic of old runes they would have to engrave on the bones. “If anyone sees us with that… Well, I’d probably be fine. But…”

Katharina winced. “I know… But the ritual has to take place shortly before sunset, and we have to find a secluded spot outside anyway. So, the risk of someone finding us should be quite low.”

“Well, if you say so,” Arne replied skeptically.

“...Besides, I’m curious,” she admitted sheepishly, her aura confirming her words.

“All right then,” he chuckled. “That leaves just one more problem.”

“The nightshade?”

“The nightshade,” he sighed. Ingesting the leaves of henbane or belladonna would not be a particularly enjoyable experience, even with his robust constitution. Letting Katharina do it was not even worth considering – where the highly toxic plants would mean discomfort for him, they might spell serious illness for her.

“There is a dense grove behind Hohenfels Hall,” he continued with little enthusiasm. “We should be able to find the plants there, and it is secluded enough. If we go there via the servant quarters, nobody should notice.”

“That would be advisable. If we were seen entering the woods in the evening…” she trailed off, blushing lightly. Embarrassment. Amusement. Ambition…?! ‘Don’t you dare, you devious woman!’

“Ahem– indeed,“ Arne coughed, then looked up at the window. “We should still have two or three hours until sunset. Should we get to work?”

= = = = =

Katharina hummed to herself as she worked the piece of bone with her knife, adding another heathen rune to its surface. Sitting right next to her on the small bench behind the servant quarters, Arnold grumbled quietly, clearly not enjoying the task.

“Why is this so difficult?” he complained. “This is the fifth one I broke!”

He took the next piece from their small collection and placed the tip of his dagger against its surface with a little too much force. It promptly splintered it in half, and the blade sunk into his palm. He threw the remains into the bushes in a fit of rage, splattering fresh blood all over the ground.

Sensing an opportunity, she took his hand for ‘inspection’ and carefully wiped it with her handkerchief. She had stocked up on those – in addition to the usual dainty ones, she now carried multiple robust strips of cloth. She had not expected them to come in handy already, but House Hohenfels clearly had a propensity for spilling blood.

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“Thank you,” Arnold sighed with a wry smile. “This is becoming a habit, isn’t it?”

“It sure is,” Katharina giggled, softly leaning against his shoulder. ‘Just exploiting the atmosphere,’ she told herself. She could feel his muscles tense at the unexpected contact, but he relaxed again a little too soon for her liking.

“I’ve got three… decent pieces. How is it going on your end?” he asked, nodding towards her pile of finished products.

“Pretty well, I’d say. I have eight ready,” she confirmed, a little annoyed by his change of topic. “Just one more, and we’re done.”

“I’ll leave it to you, then. We’ll miss sunset if I keep messing up,” he grumbled.

Katharina reluctantly – no, deliberately! – returned to a more appropriate position and quickly finished her work.

They quickly managed to accumulate a selection of small pebbles, and found a convenient rosehip bush at the edge of the grove that provided the required berries. Finding nightshade plants proved more challenging, but thankfully, a small cluster of belladonna plants grew on a small clearing they stumbled onto by accident. Or rather, Katharina stumbled. Arnold barely seemed to notice the difficult terrain, much to her dismay.

To say that she was skeptical about ingesting the plants was an understatement. She knew full well just how toxic they could be, but Arnold had assured her that he could handle it. Having seen his regenerative capabilities first-hand, she was inclined to believe him.

After clearing a small area of grass and moss, they prepared the ritual circle, alternating between berries and pebbles. It looked quite unimpressive, but she supposed that was why the ritual was listed as ‘simple’ in the book.

“And you’re sure you know how to pronounce this?” she asked, squinting at the charm written down next to the runic diagrams. While she considered herself an expert in Celtic languages and culture, the ancient Germanic words were an entirely different beast.

Arnold shrugged. “It’s similar to a dialect from the North. Well, perhaps not ‘similar’, but it’s close enough.”

He threw a murderous glance at the handful of fresh leaves he reluctantly chewed one after another. “This is so vile,” he cursed after a coughing fit. “Do you think they’ll start affecting me in time?”

Katharina looked up at the sky, where the sun was slowly disappearing behind the grove’s trees. “Probably. You should have eaten enough of them by now.”

“Good,” he grumbled, sitting down on the mossy ground. “I’d be seriously upset if–” He suddenly fell silent.

“What’s wrong?” she inquired worriedly as the Prince shook his head in irritation. She knelt down next to him.

“It’s working,” he told her, looking at her with slightly dilated pupils. “I feel… I don’t know. It’s definitely working, though.”

She swallowed her growing concerns, threw a glance at the sky, and placed the book in front of him. “It’s time.”

“All right.” Arnold took a deep breath, and as he exhaled again, she felt his magic seep into the air. This time, it was neither cold nor oppressive. It reminded her of the feeling she had when he observed her training – curious, but reserved.

He took the twelve engraved bone fragments, rolled them up in one of Katharina’s more practical handkerchiefs, and lifted the bundle to his face. He closed his eyes for a few heartbeats, and when he opened them again, they were unfocused, gazing at something only he could see.

“Donar, mihhil Donar, ih ruofu thih.”

His voice was barely a whisper, but she heard it much clearer than the rustling of the leaves in the strong evening breeze.

“Sunna, scînan Sunna, ih gruoȥu thih.”

The last beams of daylight danced over the clearing, chased by the shadows of the coming night.

“Phôl, milte Phôl, ih ere thih.”

With a sudden movement, he spilled the bones into the ritual circle. They clattered much louder than they should have, and it took them far too long to finally settle on the ground.

A sharp intake of breath ripped Katharina out of her fascination as Arnold came back to his senses. He blinked rapidly, lightly shaking his head to clear his mind. She studied his eyes, noting that they were focused once more.

He gestured at the circle. “So, what does this mean?”

“Three out of four Sunna runes fell next to each other, along with two Phôls. Not a single Donar landed correctly,” she analyzed breathlessly, checking the tome for reference. “If my interpretation is correct, there will be very little rain over the next weeks, but the harvest won’t be damaged.”

They looked at each other for a few heartbeats, unsure what to think.

“Did the ritual work?” Arnold finally asked.

It had certainly seemed that way to Katharina. There had been a feeling of… gravity, despite the mundane result. She still had goosebumps.

“I believe it did,” she confirmed hesitantly. “We’ll have to observe the weather over the next few weeks to be fully certain.”

He hummed in agreement, collecting the bone fragments from the ground. “Let’s keep those. I don’t want to redo all the work should we ever try this again.”

Katharina shuddered. “Please do, but I can’t. Just imagine someone finding them and telling Prince Ludwig.”

“Good point,” he agreed. “I’ll hide them somewhere safe.”

It took them a while to restore the clearing to an inconspicuous state, and even longer to find their way out of the dark grove. When the lit windows of Hohenfels Hall came into sight, Arnold suddenly grabbed her shoulder and pulled her into a crouch.

“Ssshhh!”

He pointed in the direction of the bench they had sat on earlier. She could barely make it out in the darkness.

A small movement caught her attention, and it took all her self-control not to gasp audibly.

Someone was pacing around the small kitchen garden, seemingly searching for something. They bent down and picked up a small item from the ground, only to immediately discard it again.

Suddenly, the figure’s head snapped towards them. Katharina held her breath, desperately trying to calm her racing heart, as a pale face scanned the treeline. She instinctively grasped for Arnold’s hand.

After a few tense seconds, the ghostly figure gave up the search and left the garden with hurried steps. Arnold lightly squeezed her hand, and pulled her back up.

“That was close,” he breathed. “I wonder who that was?”