Anastasia finished the leftover meal but it wasn't enough. Standing, she scanned the table for the next most untouched plate: Tabitha's. She hurried over to it and scooted herself into her seat, then picked up the plate and set it on her chest. The fork clattered as she readied it and she glanced back to the door again to be sure no one had heard.
When Zarron arrived earlier today, she tried to follow them to the lab but the locked door kept her out as effectively as Eva. What were they doing inside? Why were these three daughters with him?
Zentalia was a Life Wizard and made complete sense as a new apprentice to Zarron. Anastasia hadn't focused on any one particular school of magic and relied on the library more than Zarron to learn advanced magic so Zentalia was theoretically better suited for the job.
Eva and Duayne only knew what the Ledger told them but Ana remembered as a toddler when Zarron created Zentalia. She was one of a dedicated batch he called "The Prodigies."
Bred to be especially-intelligent like herself, there were two for each school of legal magic and Zarron sent them to magic academies to be raised, with an agreement that he would someday take one of them back. None specialized in any of the forbidden schools like Mind or Soul Magic, that she could try to track down for help with the missing Duos.
Branka was a more curious choice. Months younger than Ana and adopted by Evoker wizard parents, she was likely brought up on her parent's path. Her parents had paid full price for her and there was no indication in her original order that she was may return to Zarron's service. Something had changed.
Evangeline was right to question Tabitha's presence but the jealousy was likely unfounded. Zarron had a cold but strangely respectful relationship with the daughters he created, even the one he made to be his future wife. It was unlikely that changed whether he loved either or neither of them.
Discussing it one night with her mother, Portia theorized the raccoon needed to keep emotional distance or he might start to sympathize with the children he sold as products. They'd bred a number of hybrid fox-raccoons over the years but Zarron always used a sperm donor despite having unlimited access to his own. It seemed unlikely from their time together that he would ever develop aspirations of fatherhood. At least not while still selling children.
An omni-breeder was a marvel of magic that no other Life Wizard was capable of, Zarron had explained. In Tabitha's case, he did it just to see if it was possible and how much it might be worth.
The miracle of her existence and capabilities turned out to not be in high demand. He sold only a few since for very specialized fates but he enjoyed the challenge of the work, moreso in more recent years.
After being born, Tabitha was studied for a short time before she was sent off, on-loan to an Institute of Domestic Labor. She would be a professional housekeeper and cook, which meant Zarron likely kept her around to take care of him. In that way, she might also be Eva's replacement.
Perhaps more interesting, the study of an omni-breeder once physically mature would be interesting to a scholar of Life Magic and also to herself. No one could really know the extent of her breeding compatibility without testing. If that was why, he wouldn't have needed to wait so long. Of course, the last year changed a lot of things for all of them and Zarron might have changed his plans too.
The raccoon wizard made no secret that some of his secrets he would not share with her, despite her apprentice status and burning curiosity. He was away from home often enough that he could easily be up to other projects. Perhaps he'd been working with all of them for several years already, somewhere else. It wouldn't be his first lie to her.
Always curious, she hadn't been suspicious of the time he spent away. He was an important wizard with other wizardly business. The duplicity Zarron was capable of only became obvious to her when she watched him give up three of the Duodecaplets to Madam Marmalade, body and soul.
Her interest in what exactly it was threatened to devour her thoughts but she needed to get moving. Her mother would be worried, most of her mission objectives were already accomplished.
Anastasia stood with a wince, from overeating on an emaciated stomach. Hands steadied herself on the dining room table for a moment as her top-heaviness settled. She looked down at the expansive shelf of flesh that blocked her view of the rest of her stomach, legs, feet and the ground below her, re-confirming she was visible again.
Watching the door, she considered the possible outcomes of Eva and the Duodecaplets' treachery.
