Elsa Wintry's Arc

Chapter 3 of 4

Three days passed before the knock came again. This time it wasn't Master Cornelius. Dame Crystalline stood at Elsa's door with a leather document case under one arm. Her expression was neutral, but her eyes moved past Elsa to the studio beyond, searching. "Master Cornelius claims the brushes belong to the academy." Dame Crystalline opened the case and drew out a contract, its vellum pages yellowed with age. "But this property deed proves otherwise. Your studio sits on private land, granted to your family seventy years ago. Everything created here belongs to you alone." She paused, letting the words settle. "I can present this to the council today. He'll have no legal claim." Elsa's hands went still on the frozen brush she'd been holding. The relief came first, sharp and unexpected. Then the cold feeling in her chest returned. Dame Crystalline didn't do anything without a price. "What do you want?" The older woman's gaze shifted to the phoenix, who had already gone flat and small. "Three hours each week. Supervised observation in a proper vault. I want to understand how she learns." She pulled a sketch from her case showing a copper-doored chamber with mica windows. "You'd control access. I'd simply watch and document." Elsa looked at the phoenix. The creature's head turned slightly, watching Dame Crystalline with that measuring stare she gave everyone except Elsa. The same stare she gave Master Cornelius. Elsa thought of him returning with arguments she couldn't answer, with authority she couldn't refuse. She thought of the phoenix singing her ice-shift song where others could hear. Dame Crystalline's offer was a cage, but one Elsa would hold the key to. She took the contract and read it twice, checking every clause. Then she signed her name beside Dame Crystalline's seal. The brushes were safe. But she'd traded one secret for the protection of another, and she couldn't tell yet what that would cost.