Chapter 21 #2
Cold steel enters the older man’s tone, at odds with his normally unflappable and eccentric demeanour. It’s like I’m given a glimpse of the parriarch he once was before it’s sucked back under the harmless veneer of civility he normally wears.
Perhaps it’s the potion, but Pierce doesn’t listen.
“I am perfectly capable of continuing to stay at the mansion. If I move here, then—”
“Then your mother will have fewer opportunities to continue filling your grimoire with dark magic,” Benny finishes resolutely. “To say nothing of sparing you from any more of her wonderful parenting.”
My mind flashes back to the way Isidora slapped her son before that meeting with Mathias, dread filling me as I consider perhaps that’s not the worst her children have experienced at her hand.
I pinch the bridge of my nose, sighing out the longest breath of my life. “I am not running a boarding house for heirs!” I snap. “And Mr Carlton has already infiltrated just about every spare moment of my time that he’s capable of.”
“I assure you, I wish I’d never asked for tutoring.” Pierce glowers back. “All I’ve learned is that Winthrop and Ackland are even dumber than they look, and that all five of the other heirs are infatuated with you.”
“Well, you’re wrong on both counts,” I retort, “which says more about your learning potential than theirs.” Turning back to Benny, I frown harder at the smile dancing along his lips. “I can’t offer Sanctuary to the unwilling.”
Benny concedes the point with a tilt of his head. “But he may change his mind when he realises that I’ve asked this favour of you, so you have one more person here who understands the gravity of the situation. He will guard the heart with his life, if necessary.”
The last is said with a meaningful twitch of his brows that makes Pierce purse his lips. It’s blatant parental manipulation.
“And what do you expect me to say to Isidora when she asks why her son is hiding in the Arcanaeum?”
“Ah, now, you see, that’s where my second request comes in.” Benny takes a deep breath. “I’d like you to call a meeting with the parriarchs, here, in the Arcanaeum, and explain the gravity of the situation—or an edited version of events.”
I teleport behind my desk solely so I can sit down.
“Your reasoning?” I ask as my forehead drops to rest on my knuckles.
“The situation has to be carefully managed,” he begins. “To outright accuse a parriarch of necromancy will spark instant panic among the masses.”
“Not to mention, my mother will have a contingency plan in place, like she did the last time she was accused.” Pierce looks away. “That time, my father was her scapegoat. If it happens again, she’ll find someone to take the blame.”
Likely him or his sister, I guess.
“Isidora has been covering her tracks for a long time, and Mathias even longer,” Benny surmises.
“Talcott is compromised, Ackland is leaderless, and Winthrop is weak enough that Georgina’s position depends on her allying herself to someone stronger until her heir takes her place.
Artemius ó Rinn will recognise his duty to oppose dark magic, but he’s a proud man, and it’ll take a lot of arguing to get him to accept he’s been deceived. ”
“And you really think they’ll believe me?”
“I think that even Isidora would be forced to make concessions if you were to tell them Jasper McKinley’s memories have partially returned, and that he was the prisoner of a lich for ten years.”
“I’m not shoving Jasper into the spotlight as a distraction.”
That doesn’t sit well with me, and I refuse to make such a decision without his input.
“Doing so will keep the details of Mathias’s identity and his relation to the Arcanaeum under wraps, protecting you from scrutiny while still inspiring the parriarchs to vigilance,” Benny insists.
“You can propose the Sanctuary as both a protective measure for the heirs after the murder of Josef, and for the Arcanaeum, which is obviously a target for any lich.”
There’s a long pause where I consider it.
“You could’ve brought this to me earlier,” I sigh. “Perhaps even dealt with Mathias by now.”
“I considered it. But I was certain the Arcanaeum would shut its doors and never admit another patron the moment I presented you with proof.”
I open my mouth to object, but Pierce’s disbelieving brow silences me.
“Mathias Ackland scares you,” Benny continues. “Rightfully so. But you had no reason to help the arcanists before you struck up friendships among us. By keeping you ignorant, I ensured I always had the upper hand, because I always knew what Mathias’s endgame was.”
Reclaiming the Arcanaeum.
“You would’ve used the Library as bait.”
He still might. The shelves straighten with righteous fury.
Benny’s face loses a little of his joviality as he responds. “I would do that and worse to protect my house, Librarian.”
“Like a true parriarch should,” Pierce mutters. “Now. We’re leaving. How long until this potion wears off?”
I shrug. “An hour? Maybe two?”
He huffs. “Inconvenient, given that my mother expects me to return for lunch.”
“No. You ought to remain.” Benny stands, straightening his coat. “Unless Kyrith has a better plan?”
No, because I’ve not had the time to come up with one.
Unfortunately, I think I’ve been outvoted. I can feel the Arcanaeum making changes—big ones. It doesn’t take much guesswork to realise the clock tower just became several floors taller because it expects six new occupants.
Magic. I hoped I was done with everything spiralling out of control when the cracking stopped.
Apparently not.