«That’s why we’re here.»
After a short meeting, the senior Council member took a step forward.
He didn’t explain anything else.
He just raised his hand, and one of the people accompanying him took out a small wooden box.
The box looked old.
Faded symbols could be seen on its lid, and thin silver lines ran along the edges.
It seemed like it had been opened dozens, maybe hundreds of times.
The lock clicked.
The lid slowly lifted.
Inside, there was a tassel on a black cloth.
Camelot didn’t even realize at first that there was a drawing tool in front of him.
It was almost completely transparent.
It had no wooden handle, no metal tip.
Just barely noticeable outlines, as if someone had cut a brush out of pure glass and forced it to exist between the material and the immaterial world.
The advisor carefully took it with two fingers and handed it to Camelot:
«Prove that you have a gift.
And then we’ll be more lenient with you.»
Camelot frowned.
«And what should I do with it?»
«Nothing.
Just stand and watch.»
Just stand and watch.
I thought they were serious people!
«Don’t be afraid!
Just take it in your hand.»
Camelot stared at the paintbrush for a few seconds.
Then he held out his hand.
As soon as his fingers touched the transparent handle, a flash appeared in the same second.
A golden color ran through the brush.
It glowed from the inside, not just yellow, it resembled liquid gold, with tiny stars floating inside.
All conversations in the room stopped instantly.
Even the Council members stopped smiling.
Camelot slowly looked at his fingers.
«What?
How strange, I can’t throw away the brush.»
The brush trembled.
Then, like a living object, it rose sharply upwards.
«Hey!
Stand still, and don’t move!»
Camelot tried to let her go, but it didn’t work.
His fingers felt like they were glued together.
«Let go!»
The brush didn’t let go, on the contrary.
She flew even higher.
«What!»
Camelot’s feet lifted off the floor.
«Ha-Ha-Ha!»
A second later, he was already hanging in the air where the brush pulled him forward.
«Can you turn it off?!»
No one answered.
Camelot flew over the heads of the Council members, narrowly missing one of them with his foot.
«I’m sorry!»
The brush continued to move.
She rushed through the hall, flew out into the corridor, and dragged Camelot with her.
«Where are you taking me?!»
His long hair blew back along with his cloak.
Camelot tried to grab onto the doorway with his free hand.
His fingers slid across the wood.
«Why can’t I let her go?!»
The brush abruptly changed direction.
Camelot flew with her through another corridor, past the servants.
Past the paintings.
Past the startled guard, who only managed to open his mouth.
«The Young Heir?!»
Camelot rushed past him.
«I don’t know myself!»
Laughter came from outside the door.
«Ha-Ha!»
«As I thought!»
«Unbelievable.»
Camelot, flying over the stairs at that moment, turned his head.
«Do you dare to laugh?!»
The Senior Advisor wiped away a tear of laughter.
«Don’t worry, young master.»
«I’m like a bull, I’m not worried at all!»
The paintbrush made a sharp turn.
«I’m panicking!»
The counselor laughed even harder.
«This brush is very picky.»
The woman from the Council crossed her arms over her chest.
«She doesn’t accept anyone.»
«So can I tell her that I want to be accepted?!»
The tassel continued to shine.
And suddenly Camelot noticed something strange.
She wasn’t just flying.
She drew in the air, where a thin golden trail remained.
Then a familiar silver interface appeared in front of his eyes.
[Unknown magical tool discovered.]
[ Name: Classified.]
[ Purpose: To test the gift of magical art.]
[Compatibility: Discovered.]
Camelot froze.
What kind of compatibility are you talking about?
[ The tool selects the user.]
He slowly looked at the shining brush.
The council members were still laughing.
But now Camelot wasn’t paying attention to them because the brush suddenly stopped.
Right in front of a familiar painting at the end of the hallway.
The golden brush mark touched the frame.
And at that moment, the woman without a face opened her eyes.
Camelot stopped breathing.
And the silver grimoire opened itself behind his back.
[An object related to the main task has been discovered.]
[Threat Level: Low.]
[Target response: Awakening.]
Camelot spoke slowly:
«So that’s why you called me…»
Behind him, the Council’s laughter suddenly stopped.
There was such silence in the hallway that Camelot could hear himself breathing.
The transparent brush was still in his hand.
She continued to glow with golden light, and the thin lines she left in the air slowly descended to the surface of the painting.
The golden threads were woven into the canvas one by one.First they outlined the frame.
Then the walls in the background.
Then the girl’s dress.
And then they went up to her head.
Camelot involuntarily held his breath.
The girl’s face in the painting had previously been blank.
In place of the face was a smooth surface of the canvas.
It was this detail that always seemed wrong to him.
But now the golden lines began to gather where the eyes should have been.
First, the contour of the chin appeared.
Then the lips.
Nose.
Eyebrows.
And finally the eyes.
It was as if the painting remembered its own face.
Camelot slowly lowered his hand.
«She has a head now.»
The girl on the canvas blinked.
A soft rustle rolled down the corridor.
One of the servants gave a startled cry. You are reading on novelping.com, the official source.
The councilors were no longer laughing.
The senior representative of the Council looked at the painting as if a long-buried man had suddenly come to life in front of him.
Arthur Canham stood nearby and didn’t say a word.
Camelot shifted his gaze to him.
«Father?»
Arthur took a slow breath.
«I understand now.»
«What exactly?»
Arthur took a few steps forward.
He stared at the painting for a long time, as if trying to compare what he saw now with a memory from the distant past.
«This painting wasn’t here before.»
Camelot frowned.
«Where?»
«In the greenhouse.»
These words made Camelot freeze.
The greenhouse.
The one where I found the broken glass, where I found traces of sleeping pills on the napkin.
Arthur continued:
«She was hanged there many years ago.
Back then, no one considered her anything out of the ordinary.
At least at first.»
He looked at the old frame.
«But after a few months, the servants started complaining.»
«About what?»
Arthur frowned.
«They said that the girl in the painting was looking at them.»
Camelot slowly turned his head towards the canvas.
The girl was actually looking right at him.
«Maybe she was really watching.»
«Maybe.»
Arthur’s voice was getting quieter.
«But we thought it was superstition back then.»
One of the senior Council members said softly:
«It wasn’t superstition.»
Everyone looked at him.
The counselor adjusted his red robe.
«Go on, Arthur.»
Arthur nodded.
«After the initial complaints, several servants refused to enter the greenhouse after dark.
Then one maid claimed to have heard a woman’s voice.»
Camelot felt a chill along his spine.
I know which voice you’re talking about.
I heard him too.…
«She couldn’t tell where it was coming from.»
Arthur was silent for a moment.
«She claimed that a voice spoke her name.»
Camelot looked at the painting.
The girl was silent.
But her eyes were focused solely on him.
«And you decided to just outweigh her?»
«Exactly.»
Arthur nodded.
«We moved the painting to the end of this corridor.
Away from residential areas.
After that, the complaints stopped.»
Camelot slowly looked around the hallway.
«But she kept looking anyway?»
Arthur didn’t answer right away.
«Yes.»
At that moment, the girl in the painting smiled slightly.
Camelot shuddered.
«She’s smiling now.»
«I see.» said Arthur softly.
And then the girl spoke.
«Camelot…»
The voice was quiet.
So quiet that at first Camelot thought he had imagined it.