Page 148 of Cerulean Truth
“James, sorry to bother you,” Maurice said, his eyes twinkling with barely contained amusement. “Mind if we talk for a minute?”
James gave a small nod, his jaw clenched but his expression resigned. With a soft exhale, he gently set me down, his hands lingering on my arms for a moment as if he didn’t quite want to let go. His breathing was still unsteady, his cheeks flushed as he tried to pull himself back together.
As they left the room, my gaze lingered on him, and I slowly sank to the floor. A serene smile graced my face as a profound sense of calm and happiness washed over me. The realization slowly settled in, that my life had just undergone a significant transformation. It was the dawn of a new beginning.
Again.
PART 3
FORTY
JAMES
"I sincerely apologize for the interruption, my boy," Maurice began, his tone serious, "but urgent news has just come in."
My heart started hammering in my chest. Fuck, they must have discovered Emma's attack on the Radicals last night. What else could it be? If the Council was after her, we'd have to fight our way out of Cyclos. But where could we possibly go? Emma's translation was untraceable in the Human World, so it had to be...
"Nothing to worry about, James," Maurice interrupted my frantic thoughts, a smile breaking across his face, "We actually received some good news today." Maurice beamed, as Maria joined the conversation through the Nexus.
Oh. Couldn’t blame me for not seeing that coming. For the past month, every meeting had been overshadowed by a sense of impending doom. Updates on the rising numbers of Resistants, the violent actions of Radicals, our constant search for a possible mole in the Council, all while protecting Emma's secret and Emma herself—good news had been in short supply.
"As you're aware, we reached out to the leaders of other Collectives to address concerns about the Resistants and Radicals. While we didn't disclose Emma's identity ourselves,they were already aware of her existence. Don't worry," Maria reassured me, sensing my instant dread, "they only know a twenty-three-year-old maga was found in our vicinity, nothing more. There's no hint of her 'traceability.'"
I had always expected there would be some gossip about the oldest maga ever retrieved. I waved Maria on; this wasn’t exactly urgent enough to justify a summons..
"We've received word from Area 17. The Elder has decided to intervene in the international consensus and plans to visit several Collectives, including ours, to gauge our stance on the matter. He's unaware of last month's incident with Emma and the Radicals, but we intend to inform him upon his arrival. We would appreciate your presence when we discuss it with him, of course," Maria concluded.
Maurice and Maria waited for my response, but I was at a loss for words. My mind was too consumed, struggling to keep my jaw from hitting the floor.
The Elder was making his way to our Collective... Was I supposed to somehow wrap my mind around that?
I wasn’t easily star-struck, but The Elder was in a league of his own. The most accomplished magus in the world, he was at least two thousand years old, with the exact number shrouded in mystery. Born in Senegal, trained in Cyclos (like me), and specializing as an Offensive (also like me), Leader of Cyclos during the dark ages (like I would be), he had fought in every major conflict, from the magi's Battle of '59 to the human World War II.
Despite his Offensive training, he had transitioned to a Specialist role a few cycles ago—impressing even Stephen.
The Elder hadn’t returned to this part of the world since his first cycle. The fact that he’d even consider visiting our Collective was an honor beyond measure.
Trying to keep my composure in front of the Maumars, I casually asked, "Oh, so The Elder is coming here?" I aimed for a neutral expression, but judging by Maurice's grin, I clearly missed the mark.
"Yes, he's coming here. We'll have to inform the entire Collective and arrange some festivities for the day of. It's exciting, though; I haven't had the pleasure of meeting him," Maurice shared thoughtfully. Maria shrugged, seemingly unimpressed, and I suspected even The Elder wouldn't make much of an impact on her.
But I hadn't been this excited since…well, since meeting Emma. Meeting The Elder, or Julian—his actual name—would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
"Now, for the urgency: we received a message from him, and he'll be arriving next week on Monday. We need to announce his visit to the rest of the Collective tomorrow. We're counting on you to coordinate his visit as we expect him to stay for at least three weeks."
I was ecstatic at the prospect of meeting Julian. Hell, I had been waiting for this moment practically my entire life. And now, he would get to meet us—me and Emma. My mind couldn’t help but drift back to this afternoon—how soft she had felt in my arms, how her curves had fit perfectly in my hands, how her lips?—
"So, can you do that?" Maurice interrupted my thoughts abruptly. I nodded quickly, assuring him I would do all that was necessary.
"Have you visited our newly arrived guests?" I asked, subtly nodding to my message from the night before.
Maria frowned. “About that—what the hell happened last night?”
“Ambush,” I replied curtly. “I’ll interrogate them later today.”
Maurice nodded. “You do that. They were very close to our borders. If they were after Emma again, you might be the most motivated to figure out their motives.” He gave me a knowing wink.
I gave a quick nod in response to his reference to my kiss with Emma, eager to make my escape. Determined to gather more information on the Radicals, I forced myself to head to the Cave before returning to Emma.
