Ink Sisters

Chapter Eleven

She is huddled in Teddy's room, drawing comfort, at his request, from one of the rose quartzes he handed her over an hour ago. She wishes to make the longing end, fill the burning void that has been torn wide open when Lorelle was shoved through the mirror. The loss is overwhelming, especially when she has nothing to do but sit and pour over it. Drakkor keeps mentioning moving on from their location. Great magic was conducted here and cannot go unnoticed for long. Soon, someone will come for them, he tells them. Yet, they have not moved. How will they go? Leandra has wondered; too mentally and emotionally drained to ask Teddy or Aramis, who has disappeared deeper into the house. Perhaps he is wherever the fire mage is. Drakkor has been just as elusive.

            But not as aloof as Syd, who is setting forlornly on Teddy's desk. Leandra feels his distance more than the others. He sits, shuddering for a time, hours every day but will not speak. She becomes angry at his silence, his inability to share his grief, mingle it with hers so they may dwell on it together, drawing strength from each other as she and her sister might have done.

            Leandra is not close to Syd as Lorelle was. She does not know how to draw him to her without him getting suspicious or saying some snide remark. So, she leaves him on the desk, never bothering or touching him.

            The inactivity is too much to bear. She thinks she will go mad with longing for something to happen. Teddy tries his best to entertain her, and for a time, it works. Not for too long. She often reaches out to try and draw Lorelle to her or laugh at some shared inside joke. Teddy senses the loss, the sadness it brings, and so he leaves her with the quartz clutched between her cold hands.

            "You should eat," Teddy says quietly, a dim shadow in the already dark room. Leandra starts but without much conviction. She had not even realized he had come back to his room. He clasps his hands together.

            "Have you found out anything?" she asks, surprised at how hoarse she sounds. How long has she been sitting here?

            "He's still locked away in his rooms. All the doors and windows are tightly bound like before. No one getting in or out." He frowns, readjusts his glasses. Leandra sighs miserably but shifts to a sitting position. Cautiously, Teddy extends his hand and helps her to her feet.

            "And Aramis?" she asks.

            "I don't know," Teddy replies with a sad shrug. "What about Sydney? Does he speak?"

            "No," Leandra says tightly, glaring at Syd's wrinkled cover. His eyes are closed heavily, and she thinks she hears him snoring softly.

            "Not even when you stroke his spine?" Teddy moves over to Syd helpfully.

            "You know he can talk without it," Leandra says, wrapping her arms around herself, feeling her bony elbows knock together. It seems like she should feel hungry, having not eaten since Lorelle left, but she is not hungry. A vague taste of dried sandpaper lingers on her tongue. How much times has passed since her last meal? Her last drink? Is this what sorrow tastes like?

            "Why doesn't he then?" Teddy asks. His eyes look huge as he gazes down at Syd, who Leandra notices is no longer snoring.

            "Habit, I suppose. He's only recently gained enough power to speak of his own free will."

            "He should speak then. Maybe he can help us." He raises his eyes to roam over her own face. She senses that it is pale and gaunt, not pretty to look at all. "Maybe he can help you."

            "Maybe," Leandra agrees, but her heart just isn't in it. She no longer cares if Syd speaks ever again.

            "What was it Drakkor said," Teddy persists, "that Lorelle should write to you?"