Chapter 6 #2
Well, I’m not here to worry about the feelings of these strangers, one of whom would haul me straight to the gallows if he found out about the magic lurking inside me.
I drag in a breath, taking a moment now that I’ve accounted for all four of the men to study the rest of my surroundings. The small room is packed with shelving units around the broad desk, the shelves stacked with books and boxes, many of them dusty.
I guess no one much uses this room other than Julita and her coalition of conspiracy-hunters.
Yanking my attention back to the men, I rattle off the facts my ghostly guest wanted me to convey.
“She saw reason to believe that the scourge sorcerers might be getting some assistance from or have associated with the Temple of Still Waters in Slaughterwell.” The reason mainly being that she was murdered on her way to check out the place.
“She thinks you should use your connections to look into it further.”
Julita gives me a mental nudge. And the knife. Tell them about the knife.
I was getting to that. “And she saw someone she’s certain is part of the conspiracy, but they had their face concealed. The only item she made out in any detail was a knife they were carrying.”
Pausing, I bring up the uncomfortable memory of Julita’s gasping, gushing body right before she died.
I’ve handled a lot of blades in my life. Even though I was focused on attempting to save her life at the time, I automatically noted some of the details.
“It was about eight inches long—two thirds of that blade, the other third handle. A fairly simple handle, metal with a spiral engraving on the pommel and black leather wrapped around the grip. Slightly curved cross guard. Blade about an inch wide, double-edged.”
By the time I’ve finished that recitation, Stavros’s glower is searing into me. I resist the urge to glare right back at him.
So I have a bit of a thing for knives. What about it?
“That doesn’t sound very distinctive,” Alek says doubtfully.
I spread my hands. “That’s all she could tell me. Keep an eye out for it, I suppose.”
Of course, who knows if the murderer has another blade that looks the same? It hadn’t looked like he was coming back for the first. But Julita wanted to give them all the evidence we can.
Stavros clears his throat. “You haven’t explained what she’s up to now.”
He shifts on his feet, just a slight sign of restlessness but enough for me to note it. Even Casimir is watching me with an intensity I can sense is unusual for him, waiting for my answer.
These men are awfully invested in my unwanted passenger. Just how “friendly” has she gotten with them?
She’s got decent taste in looks. I could do without the interest in riven-slaughtering, though.
I meet the former general’s gaze steadily.
“She didn’t tell me anything specific about that.
She simply said that if she didn’t leave right away, she was worried she’d miss her chance, but she didn’t want to leave you wondering.
It sounded as though there wasn’t time for her to send word back to you even if she’d wanted company. ”
A frown mars Casimir’s dazzling face. Stavros rubs his square jaw but can’t seem to find anything to criticize about my statement.
Nicely done, Julita says. You got all the important parts in.
I’d like to think that means I can go now, but Benedikt adjusts his jaunty position on the edge of the desk to glance at the others. “Well, my forays into spydom haven’t gotten me very far in the past couple of days. No remarks on any unusual indications of magic in the palace.”
I focus on him for a beat longer than I did before. Who is he that he’d have a direct line to what’s being said in the royal household?
His archly handsome face offers no clues.
If he’s a student here, he can’t be acting as a courtier yet, but maybe someone else in his family is. Nobles were the ones who invented nepotism, after all.
Stavros runs his fingers through his hair, looking abruptly bored with the conversation. “I confirmed that there’s no official record of dartling eggshell being purchased by any students or staff within the city. If Julita was right about that dust she says she saw.”
“Julita knew what she was talking about,” Alek says with just a hint of heat creeping into his flat tone.
Casimir nods. “Jules did always say they’d have bought it on the black market or through a secondary source. That was why she was looking into the temples.”
Stavros glances at the masked man. “Have you found out anything more about the other substances she mentioned, Aleksi?”
“A few things. There—”
Alek pauses, his piercing gaze coming to rest on me again. “We should let Ivy take her leave, shouldn’t we? She must have better things to do than listen to us.”
He doesn’t sound considerate so much as wary. He doesn’t want me listening in on their discussions.
Well, that’s just fine. I did what I came for.
The sooner I’m beyond the college’s gloomy gray walls, the better.
“Indeed.” Stavros offers me a cocky grin. “We wouldn’t want to bore you.”
Julita lets out a huff. I’d have liked to know more about their progress, but I suppose it’ll look suspicious if you try to stay. Well— Oh! Ask them if Wendos has been up to anything—ask them if any of them saw him yesterday evening.
Her voice turns abruptly urgent with the last demand. I have no idea who Wendos is, but I can’t see any point in denying her.
I give a slight cough as if clearing my throat. “I don’t want to interfere with your discussions. There’s only one thing I almost forgot. Julita also wanted to know if any of you saw Wendos yesterday evening. Or any other time recently, doing anything that made you suspicious.”
From the look the men exchange, I get a distinctly dubious vibe from all of them. Whoever this Wendos guy is, maybe Julita’s been harping on about him a little too much for her allies’ patience.
Benedikt pipes up. “He was in the card room for a few hours after dinner. I didn’t have the pleasure of relieving him of any of his money, but plenty of others did.”
Julita lets out a disgruntled sound. Not him then. This is getting us nowhere.
I bob into the faintest sketch of a curtsy. “That’s everything, then. I’m glad I could do the favor for Julita.”
Casimir strolls over with another of those smiles that warms me up like sweet tea on a winter day.
A smile he’d never have offered if he knew who I really am.
That thought douses the warmth with an uneasy chill, but the courtesan shows no sign of noticing my discomfort. “Thank you for taking the risk of coming here at all, Ivy. I’ll show you the way out.”
He tweaks a few volumes on the bookcase next to the bit of wall I emerged from. The shadowy pathway reforms on the wall.
I raise my hand to the men in an awkward farewell that seems necessary and set off. As the darkness closes behind me, I exhale in a rush of relief.
There, that’s over with.
All right, Julita says briskly, giving the sense of rubbing her hands together. Let’s get down to some real work.