Chapter 4 #2
I rub my temple. “If they’re attacking Prince Jacos, why isn’t the army doing something about it? What more proof could you need?”
They think he simply got sick. Whoever’s in on the conspiracy, they’re stealthy about it. What I’ve observed isn’t something I can hand over to the Watch or the royal guards. It’d only be hearsay.
Despite her haughtiness, an urgent note threads through her voice. She truly believes the threat is real.
And I can’t imagine much short of a potential continent-wide catastrophe bringing a noble to the reeking streets of the outer wards.
Still, I have to confirm that I’m understanding her correctly.
My voice comes out hoarse. “So you’re saying that there are students at the Sovereign College who are… sacrificing entire people to add to their gifts?”
Possibly professors are involved too. I haven’t been able to determine how far the conspiracy goes, but based on the effects of their attempts, there have to be more than a few of them. You shouldn’t sound so shocked. They killed me, didn’t they?
She has a point there. I was too startled to put it together, but now that she says it, it’s obvious. Not only why she’d have been out there, but why someone would want her dead, if she’s on the verge of uncovering crimes this horrifying.
The only type of sorcerers people revile more than the riven are the so-called “scourge sorcerers” who developed their horrific methods several centuries ago.
They found a way to demand gifts from the godlen not just through their own living sacrifices but those of family and supposed friends as well, offering up the bodies of the slaughtered.
They thought they could challenge the gods in power. And the All-Giver punished all of us for their psychotic hubris.
The Great God and the lesser divinities ravaged the continent with flames and earthquakes—and then the All-Giver stormed off on us. But only after shrouding our sea in fog and raising the eastern mountains so none of us could attempt to follow.
My soul arrived in this world broken thanks to the aftereffects of that long-distant retribution. I’m a reminder to all of us that when we take on more magic than mortals are meant to handle, it’ll destroy us.
But I’m only a danger to my fellow human beings. Scourge sorcery threatens the gods themselves.
And now some greedy assholes are risking bringing the godlen’s wrath down on the entire continent once more.
Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. I steal from greedy assholes who don’t give a shit about anyone but themselves every week, don’t I?
The pricks dabbling in scourge sorcery think they won’t get caught. That they can escape divine punishment.
And they’re willing to bring the rest of us down with them if they’re wrong.
Another unsettling thought strikes me. “The first prince—seven years ago. The royal family said his death was an illness. Could it have actually been part of this conspiracy?”
A very good question, Julita says in an approving tone. I’ve wondered as much myself, but we haven’t found any proof one way or the other.
I rub my tired eyes. “‘We’? Do other people know about this?”
Yes! I had friends working with me to expose the sorcerers—fellow students and a professor.
That’s where you can help. I must have been getting close to the villains, or they wouldn’t have attacked me.
I was supposed to meet with the others tomorrow to share what we’ve learned. You can do that for me.
I frown. “I can… go to the meeting? Where do you meet?”
At the college, of course.
A disbelieving sputter jolts out of me. “I can’t waltz right into the royal college.”
Julita’s voice warms. Oh, I’m sure you could. I saw how skilled you were in that ploy at the bakery. And you appear to be a master at avoiding notice. I can give you everything else you need.
“Somehow I think it’ll be a little more complicated than that. And your friends will know I’m not who they expected to be meeting.”
I can smooth things over with them. We’ll come up with a story just like you did about Master Radir. It’ll be as easy as the way you handled the baker.
I pull up my knees and rest my chin on them, bracing myself amid my spinning thoughts.
The only places I’d want to go into less than the Sovereign College are the Temple of the Crown and the royal palace itself. There’ll be more guards around than I normally encounter in a year.
Ivy… Julita pauses and then goes on at a softer cadence. There’s something incredible about the fact that my soul has survived, however that happened, so I can continue to speak out against these sadistic rogues. I’m getting a rare chance to deal with unfinished business.
“Your unfinished business,” I have to point out. “Not mine.”
I’d imagine it’d affect you too if the scourge sorcerers cause a large enough disaster to bring the gods’ wrath down on us all. You and the people in the outer wards you clearly care about. Would you truly risk all of them just to avoid a scheme that’ll take no more than an hour or two?
Her words bring a lump of guilt into my stomach.
My friends need to know everything I’ve been looking into if they’re going to take on the conspiracy without me, Julita says. I have no idea how much time we have before there’s an even bigger strike against the royal family.
I think of the young prince, only a year past his dedication ceremony, gazing stiffly down from the temple balcony a couple of hours ago. These are the kind of monsters who’d kill children.
And who knows how many others. Would Ewalin and Frida survive another Great Retribution? Would Zuzanna and her son, or the sisters I watched playing in their garden?
All I have to do is play noble for a couple of hours. Walk into the college, chat with a few nobles, walk out again.
Is that so much to ask?
My body automatically tenses against the idea. I don’t step in; I don’t get directly involved.
But I already am. How could I be more involved in this woman’s life than hosting her soul alongside mine?
It isn’t as if I could create a worse disaster than the retribution of the gods, right?
My gaze lifts to the ceiling of its own accord. A shiver passes over my skin.
How did I end up absorbing Julita’s soul, exactly? What if the gods have noticed me after all, and this is a strange test they’re giving me?
I’m not sure what the right answer would be, but completely ignoring the problem definitely seems like a wrong one.
And hey, once I give this ghost what she wants, maybe her soul will depart for the peaceful beyond and leave me be. Even if she’s only ephemeral, I can already tell that she won’t be easy to ignore.
When you add it all up, it isn’t even much of a decision.
I wet my lips, square my shoulders, and nod. “Fine. Tomorrow I break into the royal college.”