Chapter 10 Aurelie
Aurelie
When Monday finally arrived, Aurelie had never been so grateful for her work and classes. She’d spent Sunday organizing her
lab, fiddling with the slug elixir—it had no discernible impact on her moss, but it was tremendously sticky—and puzzling over
Everard’s door until her head felt ready to explode. Anything that didn’t involve thinking about her encounter with the somnia, or with a certain demon hunter.
As she and Kiara made their morning rounds, Aurelie wondered how much to tell her friend. Procrastination, she decided, was
the best option. “How was your visit with your grandparents?” she asked.
Kiara scrunched her nose, which had gained a few more freckles in the past week. “It was nice, in a provincial sort of way.”
It was sunnier in the south where her grandparents lived, and she’d spent most of her days outside, helping with their pumpkin
harvest. “What did you get up to? See a certain gentleman, perhaps?”
For a heart-stopping moment, Aurelie thought she was referring to the giant, which was not only ridiculous, but impossible.
“Oh, Miles,” she realized. “Yes, I’m afraid so.” She recounted their horrendous dinner, only giving a brief mention of the
Iron Guard escort she’d received. But while she couldn’t tell Kiara about Everard’s proposal, she didn’t see the harm in mentioning
the somnia that had followed her on campus.
“Aurelie! That’s terrifying! Why didn’t you tell the guard?”
“Because it didn’t actually try to hurt me,” Aurelie said.
“Aside from yanking your ribbon out of your hair? Maybe it just didn’t get close enough to finish the job!”
Aurelie winced as she tightened the screws on a desk that looked about ready to collapse. She prayed someone small sat there
for the rest of term. “Maybe.”
Kiara sat down on the ground, forcing Aurelie to look at her. “Listen, I know your inventing is important to you. But don’t
you think it’s possible that you’ve attracted extra attention from these demons by conjuring so many of them?”
“It hasn’t been that many. And these weren’t verita. I’ve never heard of a somnia harming anyone, in fact.”
Kiara, who was usually endlessly patient with Aurelie, shook her head. “We wouldn’t have an entire Iron Guard if they weren’t
dangerous.”
“Then it was a coincidence. Probably.”
Kiara’s gaze hardened in a way Aurelie didn’t like one bit. “You’re thinking of doing something stupid, aren’t you?”
Lying to the guards, or even Uncle Leo, was one thing. But lying to Kiara was next to impossible. Aurelie rose from her crouch,
moving to another desk. “What gave you that idea?”
Kiara followed. “I don’t know. There’s something off with you this morning. And with your uncle gone, I could see you doing
something you wouldn’t dare try with him around.”
“Pffft. I have you to keep me in check.”
“Not at night!” Kiara crossed her arms over her chest. “Do I need to surround Easton Hall with salt? Or perhaps find this giant of a guard and tell him to keep an eye on you?”
At that, Aurelie’s entire face flooded with heat. “No! Absolutely not! I hope I never see that brute again.”
When Aurelie finally glanced at her friend, she was grinning. “You like him, don’t you?”
“I beg your pardon?” She leaned closer to Kiara, though no one else was around to hear them. “I’m an illegal inventor. I keep
a pet demon in my lab, Kiki. Do you really think I could possibly have any interest in a demon hunter?”
“A big, handsome, muscular demon hunter who saved you from a runaway carriage?” She smiled, revealing the gap between her
front teeth.
Aurelie gaped. “I never said he was handsome! All that country air has clearly gone straight to your head. You should visit
the infirmary.”
Kiara trailed Aurelie out of the classroom, still smiling. “You’re the one who’s lovesick.”
“Please be quiet,” Aurelie hissed as a pair of students passed them in the hall, giggling.
“Oh, very well. I’m done teasing you for now. My father wants me to help him with the rain gutters.”
At the mention of Mr. Morel, Aurelie once again thought of Everard. The least she could do was follow up on his identity.
“Can you ask him if he knows a Mr. Everard?” Aurelie asked, trying her best to sound nonchalant.
Kiara narrowed her eyes. “Why?”
“Just something I’ve been meaning to ask.”
Before Kiara could press her, Aurelie waved goodbye and walked to Professor Booth’s office. The acting dean had requested
a meeting with Aurelie this morning, though she hadn’t said why. She was already planning to head to Professor Sheldrake’s
tower this afternoon.
“Come in,” the professor called when she knocked on the door. Her office was not as orderly as Uncle Leo’s, but there was
a hominess to it that Aurelie found comforting. Professor Booth’s bookshelves were full in a way that looked haphazard at
best, though Aurelie had seen her locate books she needed instantly. Whatever system she used worked quite well for her, it
seemed.
Professor Booth was at her desk, scribbling notes in a ledger and sipping from a cup of tea. She was a tall, brown-skinned
woman with long braids and the warmest smile Aurelie had ever encountered. She could still remember sitting in this office
as a child, reading while her uncle and Professor Booth chatted about lesson plans. If she was fortunate enough to become
a professor one day, Aurelie would aspire to be like her.
Aurelie sat in the chair across from the large mahogany desk. “You wanted to see me, Professor?”
“Your uncle asked me to check in on you while he’s away. It seems you passed all of your exams, though I think we both know
you can do better.”
Aurelie ducked her head. “Yes, Professor Booth.”
“Leo is concerned you’re spending too much time working that would be better spent studying. What do you think?”
She couldn’t give up her work. And especially not now, when it might be her only cover if she accepted Everard’s commission. “It’s not my job. I keep to my hours, I promise. But I may spend too much time dithering when I should be studying.”
“Dithering? Aurelie, you hardly ever leave campus. You have no social life to speak of, according to Leo.”
“I went to dinner with Miles Viridian on Saturday,” she said. Never mind that she’d hated every minute of it.
“With the Applebaums, I believe. I don’t know the family personally, but I’ve heard they’re a lively bunch.”
Aurelie forced a smile. “Indeed.”
The professor folded her arms on her desk and leaned forward. “Aurelie, I called you in here because Commander Yew from the
Iron Guard sent me a message this morning.”
Aurelie’s stomach lurched as she felt the color drain from her face. “He . . . he did?”
“He wanted me to know that you’d had some interactions with several of his guards this weekend. He was concerned, since your
uncle is gone, that you weren’t being properly supervised.”
Aurelie felt herself bristling at the implication that she needed to be watched over like a small child. Especially by a certain
guard who seemed to have the same opinion, and had gone tattling to his commander as a result. “I assure you, I’m perfectly
fine. They were being overly cautious. That’s all.”
Professor Booth didn’t look remotely convinced.
“I was thinking of taking on a mentor . . .”
“A mentor? Who did you have in mind?”
Aurelie couldn’t help smiling at the prospect of killing two birds with one stone: she could work with Professor Sheldrake
and keep Professor Booth off her scent until her uncle returned. Not to mention she’d have a wonderful excuse not to socialize. “I’ve been interested in studying Elder Vansion. I was planning to approach Professor Sheldrake about it today, actually.”
Aurelie had tried to sound casual, but the words had fallen out of her in a rush, and Professor Booth narrowed her eyes, clearly
skeptical. “Indeed? I must admit, Aurelie, I had no idea you were interested in the runic alphabet. It’s not exactly science,
is it?”
Aurelie chewed her lip. Faced with someone she respected and admired, it felt wrong to lie. But in for a penny, in for a pound.
“I’m interested in the science behind language creation. It’s for my biology class.”
Professor Booth’s smile was still kind, but there was a tinge of suspicion in her voice when she spoke. “There aren’t many
studies in that area. I hope you’re not thinking of doing anything that could get you into trouble. Your uncle would have
my head.”
Aurelie laughed nervously. “Of course not.”
Professor Booth studied her for a moment. “Very well. Professor Sheldrake is the foremost expert on Elder Vansion in the kingdom. If anyone can help you, it’s him.”
Aurelie struggled to keep from cackling in triumph. Things were finally going her way for a change. “Thank you, Professor.”
Just as she reached the door, Professor Booth said, “One more thing, Aurelie.”
“Yes?”
“Professor Sheldrake’s views are a little . . . unorthodox. But he’s a wealth of knowledge, obscure though it may be.”
“I understand.”
“Besides,” Professor Booth added, seemingly more to herself than Aurelie, “someone should go and check on the poor dear. Maybe take him something to eat. It must get lonely over there in the old tower.”
The “tower” in question belonged to one of the oldest buildings on campus, topped with a turret clock. Built some three hundred
years ago, it was always drafty, and it had the smell of decaying wood, wet stone, and a dusty scent Aurelie could only describe
as feathers. This was likely due to the vast quantity of pigeons that had made their nests in the holes left behind by fallen
bricks. Fortunately, Professor Sheldrake never put in work orders for the place, so Aurelie rarely had reason to visit.
The sky overhead was as gray as iron, portending rain. She crossed the courtyard before the clock tower, clutching a basket
of muffins she’d asked Uncle Leo’s cook to prepare, hoping something tasty would warm Professor Sheldrake up to her. He only