One Less at the Table

As morning rose, breakfast came like any other day. Father sat at the head of the table, Edmund in his normal position just beside him, the maids silently watching over us as Alfie stood just behind Father’s Chair.

Yet, Emma was nowhere to be found.

Despite the numerous pitchers of water held by the maids, my throat felt drier than ever before.

“F-Father, do you know where Emma is?”

“Ah, we shipped her out to the Roil School of Magic last night; it was her birthday wish, and as her father, I was in no space to decline.”

“That's cool…” Magic School? What the hell was Father talking about? We both knew damn well there wasn’t a path to any magic school under the manor. “Emma never really talked about wanting to learn magic, though.”
“Must have been a spur-of-the-moment idea. You know how people like your sister are, always moving from one thing to the next without giving much thought to either.”

“Or to anything really.” Edmund jumped in like the prick he was.

“But, what were you doing with her downstairs then? There were armed guards surrounding her and—”

“Clair!” Father shouted. The rows of glass pitchers shattered in stunning fashion. Maids screamed as the windows shook and the building creaked with anguish. Within his right hand, his once pristine knife had been folded like paper.

I shook, frozen. A familiar numbness akin to the coldest of winters shot up my spine. Tears sprang from my eyes. I wanted to scream, to cower under the table, and run to my room. I wanted anything but to look that man in the eye. Yet all I could do was stare.

What would he do? What would he say? How would Father scream and yell and toss me aside just as before? I'm so stupid! Why did I dare to ask him anything?

“Clair, do you have anything to say to me?” He growled, eyes lit with blood-stained flames.

“N-no, Father.”

“That's what I thought.” With a wave of his hand, the building shuddered to a halt. “Alfie, the glasses? I’m afraid my particular brand of magic is ill-suited to such a task.

“Certainly, Sir. Charles.” While I sat stunned, he made his way to each and every of the shattered pitchers, gently tapping a shard of each. The shards shuddered and flew back together moments later. As Alfie took his place beside Father, any sign of damage had disappeared.

Father lazily rose from his chair. “Clair, my youngest son, let me ask you a question.”

I dared not move a muscle as he approached, casually removing one of his black silk gloves. “Sometimes, as a parent, your kids happen to make mistakes. What would you do in that situation?”

Again, I still didn’t dare to say a word.

“Sometimes, Clair…” He now stood just a mere foot away, looming down with a shadow greater than the highest of towers. “Children must be punished.”

“A—” I staggered backward, vision swarming with dancing waves. My cheek throbbed as tears now fell freely. Amidst the fog that swarmed my every thought, one clear message somehow broke through.

Run.

And so I ran, just like last night, faster than my legs could handle, faster than my suit could move. But I couldn’t care less.

I needed to get away!

My tears stained the smooth wooden floor, aimlessly flowing. Just as I had done yesterday, my legs descended staircase after staircase, no real destination in mind. Footsteps echoed, thumping. Yet against my sobs, everything faded into a mute white hum.

After what felt like a decade of running, I collapsed as flames burst through my chest. Every breath stung, every step ached.

As I caught my breath, my now-soaked pants felt cool to the touch. Torches flickered as they gave the room a dull orange hue. A staircase leading down into a dark void sat to my right, and a recently burst-open door to my left.

A more rhythmic beat echoed through my lungs as I shuffled myself to sit against a nearby wall.

Where the hell was I now?

In contrast to the light stone that made the foundation of the basement, down here the walls were a deep charcoal black. Musty air flowed up from the stairs leading even closer to the abyss.

Back when Emma and I were growing up, Father always warned us to never ever in our wildest dreams even dare to descend much past the kitchens.

A commandment I had now broken twice in two days.

Some time passed without much of note. I could do nothing but sit against the wall, letting my tears flow.

The throbbing from Father's slap had faded a bit. My chest had stopped its cries for help, and I could feel blisters start to develop under my shoes. Yet, the river of tears continued, growing slower by the minute.

Throwing myself a pity party wouldn't do anything for Emma, yet I couldn't stop.

The faint dripping of water came from somewhere below, a sinister aura accompanying it. Yet, something in me, something deep, wanted me to follow its trail down below.

I crawled my way to the steps. Faint orange light glimmered somewhere far below, farther down than any human should have been able to dig.

I took one step down the stairs, then another. Any sense of fear had long been replaced with one of morbid curiosity. Any place Father wanted me to stay far away from sounded like a perfect place to go.

“I wouldn’t go any farther, my lord.”

“Ah!” I shot into the air. “Who the—” From the door behind, Alfie stood with a faint lantern in his white-gloved hand.

“Did Father send you?” I asked, with a sense of hesitation in my voice. I couldn’t face that man, no matter what it took, not right now.

“Sir. Charles? I am afraid not. He is preoccupied with another matter at the moment.”

“Thank you…”

Alfie set his lantern against the floor, ever so slightly leaning against the stone wall. “Nevertheless, even if he had, my words would remain the same. You won't get much by descending those stairs. That entrance was blocked off long ago."

“Entrance? Entrance to what Alfie?”

He paused for a moment, face unreadable. “My lord, what would you be willing to risk for your sister?”

“Everything!” I exclaimed in an instant. Emma was my life, my sole reason for staying in this abysmal manor.

Without her here, life lost what little charm it contained.

He paused again. “Your sister, she has been placed somewhere where sunlight is a myth, where monsters of legend roam, and the spirits of those long gone from this world still linger. I would be willing to bet there is not a more dangerous place in the entire country of Roil. Are you still willing to risk everything for her?”

There was something uncanny about his tone, so matter-of-fact with little to emphasize the danger of his words.

Father terrified me, but the question didn’t even need to be asked. “Yes.”

For the first time, a slight grin broke out. “Very well. Lady Emma, along with your father, are both deep, deep below us, in the true foundation of the manor.”

“H-How do I get there?”

“Patience, my lord. There are more entrances to the Chambers than anyone can count. But if you have the goal of staying alive, there is no better entrance than the original—twin doors of ash and flame.”

“The doors down near the kitchens in that maze?”

“So you have been there before. That clears things up.”
“But, when I tried to follow Father and Emma, the door just led me in a loop!”

“Entering through those doors isn’t so simple.” Alfie fidgeted in his pocket for a bit, pulling out a sleek black key. “Your Father prefers to simply use his spiritualism to bypass any protection. You, however, will have to pass through the old-fashioned way.”

He tossed the key, continuing. “Maybe I am overstepping my bounds here as a humble servant, but if you would let me continue for a moment, I have always seen fire as misunderstood. What people always see as a force of destruction, I see as one full of life.

For a forest to stay healthy, it must burn from time to time. When people need warmth in the winter, they turn to that very destructive force. Yet it is an objective truth that fire can burn.”

Alfie stepped back with a bow. “I trust you to enter the Chambers without much difficulty, my lord. Good luck, and for my health, please don't die down there. This old man isn’t getting any younger.”

And with those final words, Alfie disappeared down the long, dark hall back to the beautiful light of the sun.