Chapter 13
Thirteen
Ivy
Like with the rat, I wait until the last of the men emerges from his loop of cord in the palace meeting room. Although unlike the rat, Stavros already knows what I need to say, which is how I convinced him that we needed this impromptu meeting.
As Casimir glances around at us with a worried expression, Benedikt sets a plate of pastries in the middle of the table. “Confiscated from the dining hall. I thought we all might need a little refreshment at this time in the evening.”
I guess we know what he was doing when he felt the tug to come. Naturally he’d bring dessert.
The rest of us eye the assortment without making a move to grab one. I know my stomach is clenched too tight for the idea of eating anything to be appealing.
Benedikt plucks up a tart and sprawls into one of the chairs. “Well, let’s hear the urgent news. I interrupted an excellent dinner for this.”
The former general shoots him a disgruntled look. We weren’t supposed to meet again until tomorrow, but I signaled the others with their lockets.
“Ivy received an invitation,” he says before I can speak. “Presumably from the scourge sorcerers.”
Alek’s shoulders stiffen as he stares at me. “What? Already? Who delivered it?”
I glance down at my hand. “I don’t know. Conjured writing appeared on my palm and then vanished again. They obviously don’t want me having any proof of the summons.”
“What did they tell you to do?” Casimir asks quietly.
“I’m supposed to go into the campus woods—at least, I assume that’s the woods they meant—at the first bell after midnight tonight, alone. That’s all I know so far.”
Benedikt has paused halfway through his tart. He licks a stray drop of berry filling from his thumb. “The woods. That seems rather ominous.”
I shrug as if I’m not all tangled up with apprehension inside. “We know they’ve conducted rituals out there. Julita pointed out evidence of it before. And it’d be away from prying eyes.”
Alek frowns. “Which means they could do anything to you and no one would see to help.”
I tap my thigh where one of my knives lies beneath the skirt of my gown. “I am reasonably good at defending myself.”
“But you don’t know how many of them will be waiting for you. Or what magic they might be ready to wield.”
All of that is true, which is the reason for my tangled apprehension.
I force a smile. “I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. If they simply wanted to kill me, I’d imagine there are easier ways to arrange that.”
Stavros pulls one of the scrolls off the shelves and spreads it on the table. It’s a map of the college and its grounds. “I may be able to obtain something that’ll help conceal my presence. The king is supporting us, and he has plenty of resources. If I enter the woods from a different angle—”
I tug at the edge of the map to interrupt him.
“No. The message emphasized the alone part—and Alek’s right.
We don’t know what magic they can bring to bear.
They managed to murder Wendos while he was under palace guard!
You can be sure that whatever they’re doing, confirming that no one’s going to spy on their activities will be at the top of the list.”
Stavros’s cocky voice takes on the edge of a growl. “You can’t go waltzing off into the woods in the middle of the night to meet a group of murderous psychopaths totally on your own.”
I set my hands on my hips. “That’s been the plan all along, hasn’t it?
What did you think would happen if I caught Ster.
Torstem’s notice—he’d invite me to tea to discuss the possibilities for overthrowing the royal family?
Anyway, I won’t really be on my own. Julita will be there with me, and she knows what these people are like better than any of you. ”
You’d think I’d get a little credit from this bunch, Julita says with light-hearted offense, but she can’t totally hide the tension in her tone. I’ll get you through it as well as I can. I don’t know exactly what you’ll be facing. I never saw Borys and Wendos initiate anyone into their practices.
I can’t imagine she’s looking forward to potentially reliving aspects of her childhood trauma. But she hasn’t said a word against me continuing with this plan, no matter how much danger it puts her continued survival in too.
Of course, it isn’t the danger I’m in that Stavros is worried about so much as the danger I might pose everyone else.
The former general narrows his eyes at me. “It’ll be an unnerving situation, and they could mean to harm you. It’d be easy for you to get careless in how exactly you defend yourself.”
I might slip and unleash my magic, he means.
Benedikt raises an eyebrow. “Does it really matter how ‘careless’ she gets with blades when it’ll be these pricks getting cut by them? I say Ivy can stick it to them any way she likes.”
I fix Stavros with a firm look that hopefully he catches at least a glimpse of with his faulty vision.
I warned him just an hour ago that the fourth member of our group was catching on that we were hiding something from him.
“I’m sure I won’t be flinging my knives so far that they hit anyone who doesn’t deserve it.
Although if you decide to lurk in the woods and jeopardize whatever trust I’ve gained with them, I’d count you among the deserving. ”
Benedikt stifles a snort of laughter.
Stavros glowers back at me, but he seems to relax his stance with concentrated effort. “I’ll keep my distance, then, but I’ll be on watch.”
“Fine.”
Alek sets his hands on the table, the bronze-brown skin of his knuckles paling.
“You may have their trust now, but what if they’re looking for something from you that you can’t give them or don’t realize?
Once you’ve interacted with them at all…
they’re not likely to give you the chance to report anything back to the authorities. ”
I’ve already thought about that too. “I’m good at thinking on my feet. This is our best shot. What other options do we have now that they’ve killed Wendos?” I glance at Stavros again. “The surveillance of the brothels and the orphanage still hasn’t turned up any leads, has it?”
He grimaces. “Not so far.”
“I just—” Alek’s hands clench against the tabletop. He drops his gaze to them before meeting mine again, his bright eyes so intense my pulse skips a beat. “You’ve already risked so much for this investigation. I don’t even know if we could get justice for you if they murder you.”
“Alek,” I start, not even sure what I’m going to say to reassure him, but he shakes his head as if he already knows.
“I’ve seen records—there’ve been a couple of members of the entomology club who disappeared at different times.
One body turned up looking like he’d been mugged.
Another was set up to look as if she’d gone boating on the river and drowned.
I’d guess they saw something they shouldn’t have…
and Ster. Torstem’s people know how to remove ‘problems’ without it even looking like murder. ”
So if I die tonight—or later—at the hands of the scourge sorcerers, even my death might be for nothing. My stomach knots tighter in response to the agitation Alek’s failing to hide.
“We’ll know,” Casimir says in his gentle way. “Ivy has all of us on her side. The scourge sorcerers don’t realize that. No matter what happens, we’ll see through their lies.”
Alek still looks so miserable even with his expression concealed by his mask that my heart wrenches. He opens his mouth and closes it again in a tight line, as if there’s something he wants to say but doesn’t feel he can.
Has he found out something else that he doesn’t want Benedikt—or Stavros, for that matter—hearing about?
A chill ripples down my spine.
I make myself pick up one of the glazed puffs from the plate of desserts and take a nibble. The sweetness laces my tongue without providing any comfort.
“Well,” I say with a wave of the pastry, “it seems like that’s all there is to talk about.
I’ll go into the woods tonight and not get murdered and find out what the scourge sorcerers are up to.
The rest of you can go back to your dinners or what have you.
I’ll signal you through the lockets in the morning so you know I’m back at Stavros’s quarters safe and sound. ”
Benedikt gets up, though I think the look he aims at the rest of us is a little wary. “I may have to indulge in a second dinner to make up for the first that’ll have gone cold before I could finish,” he announces jauntily, and steps toward his makeshift portal.
Casimir aims a soft smile at me. “I know you’re stronger than them.” He pauses until Benedikt has vanished and then adds, “They might ask about your magic—the magic they’ll assume you have from your dedication.”
I glance down at my right hand with its missing fingertip—what the men around me assumed was a sacrificial offering at first. “I can make up a story. They won’t expect anything major with this small a ‘sacrifice.’”
I’d sooner kiss Stavros’s boots than tip the scourge sorcerers off that I’m godless, let alone what other magic I can wield despite that fact.
“We don’t know what lengths they’ll go to in order to confirm your story.” The courtesan tips his head toward Stavros. “I can use makeup to imprint a believable godlen brand on her chest. I’ll come by a couple of hours before they’re expecting her?”
The former general gives a begrudging grunt. “We should be prepared for every possibility.”
I hadn’t even considered that one. My hand closes against the unmarked spot between my breasts. “Thank you for thinking of it.”
Casimir’s smile comes back. “Even if we can’t go into the woods with you, you’ll have our support.”
Alek clears his throat with an urgent note. “Shouldn’t Ivy be able to support herself in every way she can? If she has to prove something to the scourge sorcerers, or if she needs to defend herself, or there’s a chance to find out more… Her riven magic would allow her to—”