Page 14 of Chaos and Crowns

As they slid into her car once more, Antony prodded at his head again. Odelle flipped down the sun visor to show him the mirror.

“Don’t worry,” Odelle said as she began pulling out of the parking spot, “It’ll go nicely with all your other battle scars.”

Antony shot her an odd look, but Odelle was too busy maneuvering around the car that had parked unnecessarily close behind her to pay it much attention. It didn’t take long to get to Millenium Park, traffic on Odelle’s side for once. The amount she had to pay for parking reminded Odelle why she took the bus almost everywhere, but it was what it was. The price of city parking was the least of her concerns when she was on her way to plan a heist with a band of sorcerers.

Approaching the mirrored shape of the Bean in the middle of the park, Odelle paused to take a moment to collect herself before she stepped through the portal. Just focus on the Sanctuary, and she’d be fine. Then, her heart stuttered as Antony’s fingers slipped between her own. They weren’t callused or rough like she’d imagined the hands of a magical blacksmith to be— not that she’d dwelled on what Antony’s fingers would feel like, or at least she’d tried not to. Instead, they were smooth and slightly cool from his lack of gloves in the winter air.

As Antony stepped forward and pulled her into the portal after him, Odelle definitely wasn’t thinking about the Sanctuary. Since Antony led her, though, it didn’t seem to matter, and they emerged onto the gently sloping lawn. The sparks from the portal lingered on her skin for a moment. Then Antony withdrew his hand from hers and hastily wiped it on his suit jacket, and it was as if Odelle had been doused with a bucket of cold water. So much for them being a good team. After being alive for millenia, Antony just had the maturity to work with Odelle when he had to, even if he didn’t like her. And here Odelle was again letting his kind manner go to her head and burrow under her skin.

Antony led the way into the Sanctuary and Odelle trudged up the hill after him, reminding herself that she could also be mature. She could be mature about Antony while showing him just how capable she was, even if she wasn’t a magical warrior.

Antony led Odelle down a series of identical marble corridors. Reaching a closed door, Antony knocked, and a deep musical voice beckoned them inside. Stepping into the room, Odelle found it to be the opposite of all the ones she had seen so far. Where they had been barren and empty, this chamber burst with life. So many plants grew in pots or in baskets from the ceiling that Odelle instantly felt ashamed of the single spiny cactus struggling to survive on her kitchen windowsill.

A familiar man in an emerald-green peplos stood by a Ficus, watering it out of a red and black earthen jug that looked not all that dissimilar from the antique Odelle had been admiring in the Whitehall’s gallery earlier. Thad looked up and a wide smile split his face, his rich ochre skin radiant in the light spilling in from the open ceiling. An advantage of living in a pocket dimension with no weather was the ability to forgo ceilings with no consequences.

“We finally got the other Zvezda sister to visit the Sanctuary!” Thad exclaimed, putting down his pot and striding over to Odelle, where he gave her an easy hug. Even though Odelle had only met him a handful of times, the way Thad welcomed her felt like the greeting of an old friend. When Nora had described how easily she had become friends with Thad, Odelle had assumed it was due to their friendship in a prior life. Now though, Odelle suspected it was just Thad’s natural charisma.

Thad released Odelle and turned to Antony. The corners of his mouth turned down as he caught sight of Antony’s head.

“Unfortunate you only come to visit me when somebody is bleeding,” Thad bemoaned with a sigh, turning towards a trunk at the foot of his bed and rifling around within. He emerged with his prize held high.

“Steri-strips?” Odelle asked skeptically, “Those don’t strike me as standard in a magical healer’s kit.”

“But this magical healer has a secret weapon,” Thad agreed as he returned to Antony to inspect his forehead and clean the wound with a gauze pad. “I know a certain emergency medicine doctor who will nab me supplies from the stockroom. Drew even brought be a suture kit.”

“Please don’t make me your guinea pig for trying it out for the first time,” Antony implored, as he bent so the shorter man could reach his head more easily.

“I won’t,” conceded Thad, “On the condition that you tell me exactly how this happened.”

Antony filled Thad in on their investigation of the crown and the activity of the Shadow in the city. With every sentence, the furrow between Thad’s eyebrows deepened. When he finished patching up Antony’s head, he folded his arms over his chest.

“We can’t just leave the crown there,” Thad echoed Antony’s sentiment from earlier.

“That’s what I said,” Antony agreed, “but Odelle objects to grand larceny.”

“I didn’t object to stealing the crown,” Odelle retorted. “I object to getting caught stealing it, and we didn’t have any sort of plan.”

“Ah yes, stealing something without a plan is just petty theft,” Thad agreed sagely, “An elaborate plan is really what gives a heist its sex appeal.”

Odelle and Antony snorted in unison.

“Sex appeal wasn’t really my top priority,” Odelle admitted, “But we do need a plan.”

“We have half of one,” Antony pointed out, “I’m going to make a replica of the crown so we can replace it, and the Whitehalls will be none the wiser.”

Thad looked unconvinced. “Do we have time for that? With our current access to the Light, casting a piece like that will take—”

“Three days,” Antony interjected.

Thad’s eyebrows shot up, but Antony gave him the sternest look Odelle could imagine from him.

“Well, you better get to work then,” Thad said, although he still looked skeptical. “And we need to make sure the Shadow doesn’t hurt anybody while trying to get the crown in the meantime.”

Antony nodded. “I’ll find Ezra on my way to the forge. He can put a guard on the Whitehall’s home, watch for any Shadows.”

Thad nodded in agreement and Antony turned to leave the room. He stopped in the doorway and looked over his shoulder as if to say something, but then thought better of it. Antony disappeared around the doorframe in the blink of an eye. Odelle stared at the empty doorway, unbalanced at the quickly changing situation. She was relieved that it wasn’t just her and Antony working together anymore. Thad’s presence would cut some of the tension that lingered between them, but still—Antony’s sudden exit left her unsure. Where she stood with the Eteria members outside of being Nora’s younger sister had been left painfully undefined.

“I guess that leaves us to get to planning then.” Thad clapped his hands and turned to Odelle. “Got any bright ideas?”