Chapter 9 #2
Leading the way, Calya let herself in through the same door she’d seen Lowe use, following the sounds of voices to an open room with several desks situated in the center.
Lowe stood next to a harried-looking younger woman of eastern Radiant Isles descent, probably an Initiate Three or Four by Calya’s guess.
She quickly scribbled notes as another man spoke to Lowe, nodding along every few words. An extern, perhaps.
Aside from Lowe, two men, another woman, and the extern completed the group. All Graelynders, and one of the men and the woman wore gray robes with the sigil of Sylveren University stitched along the right front.
Despite their attire, Calya got more of a Central District impression from them, based on their more coiffed appearances.
Trim, sleek haircuts and demure but tailored shirts and trousers beneath the robes.
Expensive leather shoes that weren’t polished to a shine but didn’t show signs of regular wear, either.
Too clean for the winter weather. Of course, they could be the most conscientious mages when it came to personal appearances that Calya had ever seen, but on a random weekday when they were supposedly in the midst of a project?
The other man was undoubtedly the mayor of Desmond’s Landing, Krowe. Fur-trimmed cloak over finespun wool. Speaking in an unctuous tone, and far too smiley.
“You must be Miss Helm,” he said, noticing Calya’s approach and abandoning the conversation to offer a limp handshake.
“I was just telling the Sentinel that—” His eyes widened as he took in Calya’s companions.
“Er, everything’s in order,” he finished, voice weakening.
“Lot of you to be making the trip out to our fine little town.”
Calya watched the mayor as the rest of the group introduced themselves. Was it her imagination, or did he seem to pale at hearing Ezzyn’s name?
“Prince Sor’vahl, we had no word you would be coming.” Krowe rallied, his politician’s smile back in place as he gestured widely, though if he meant the office or the people was unclear. “We’d have been more prepared.”
“There have been some communication issues,” Ezzyn said. Though his tone was polite, the Graelynd mages and the mayor all seemed to become a tad more guarded. “The opportunity to follow up in person came about late.”
“I was just saying, Galwynd’s team is top notch. We were about to show the correspondence records to—”
“Galwynd? Eren Galwynd?” Ezzyn said. “He’s here?”
“Oh, no, not right now,” the mayor chuckled. “He’s off checking on another site. Should be back any day.”
“We should get this properly stored,” Ollas said, indicating the crate of tea.
“Preferably in a place with humidity enchantments for the entire room,” Zhenya added.
The extern looked at her superiors. “There’s workspace in the other building, but the enchantment runes need refreshing.”
“I might be able to help with that,” Zhenya said.
“Lily, show them,” the woman mage said, indicating the door with her chin. “Show the Sentinel our correspondence logs while you’re at it.”
“This way please.” The extern, Lily, motioned for them to follow.
Lowe’s gaze flicked to Calya, his expression unreadable, before he and the others departed, leaving Calya, Anadae, and Ezzyn behind.
“I have some questions regarding my company and the needs of the research efforts here,” Calya said, nodding shortly to the Graelynd mages. “I’m concerned we have a shipment missing. Could you point me in the direction of whom I should speak—”
“No, no, not at all,” Mayor Krowe said at once. “As I was telling our Sentinel friend, everything’s been going fine here.”
“Yet we have a request for some of their wards,” Calya said, tone mild as she nodded at her sister and Ezzyn. “They were sent on one of my ships. Did they arrive?”
The woman mage waved dismissively. “That was a mistaken request. We’ve already cleared it up with them. You probably haven’t heard yet because of the travel times.”
“We’re very happy with the routes provided by both companies,” Krowe added. “Been working a treat for years.”
“Can you confirm receipt of the shipment?” Anadae asked.
The two university mages exchanged looks. “I believe the request came from Matthias,” the man said. “I don’t recall if he got the shipment or not, but it’s likely. He took most of his things when he left.”
“Left,” Calya repeated.
Another silent exchange of looks occurred between the mages. Mayor Krowe glanced at them, his easy smile still fixed firmly in place. “I can ask the dockmaster about this, see if he remembers. I’ll let you know what—”
“I’ll ask your dockmaster later, thank you,” Calya cut in. “I’m a bit paranoid after so many mishaps. My apologies.”
The mayor made a blustery amalgam of understanding and wheedling attempt to change her mind. Calya ignored him, her attention returning to the mages. “Who is Matthias?”
“A Magister Two doing work toward his Magister Three level,” the woman replied. “I’m Treen and that’s Aylton. We’re all working on experiments for the university, but our reporting has been consistent, as we told the Sentinel.”
“University work?” Anadae said. “I thought this was a Graelynd job. Unaffiliated.”
“I misspoke. It’s technically outside work, but we’ve received approval to use some of the data here for our Mag Threes once the work here is done.”
Aylton sniffed. “Easier to simplify for explaining to non-Sylveren University folks.”
“Which we aren’t,” Ezzyn said. Hard to say which was more brittle, his tone or his smile.
Regardless, it put the other mages’ hackles up, which didn’t serve Calya’s purpose. “Makes it easier for me,” she said. “What was Matthias working on?”
Treen shrugged. “Growing some type of plant for textile use in South District. I’m not an earth mage, so I don’t know the particulars.”
“Why did he leave after receiving his shipment? Isn’t that odd?”
“Not necessarily,” Aylton said. “He might’ve gotten tired of the grind and left for a different project. All the earth funding has been going toward eco resto work in Rhell. Understandably,” he added with a nod toward Ezzyn.
“He never mentioned this to you?” Calya struggled to keep her skepticism in check. “He simply vanished one day.”
“We weren’t close,” Treen said. “We aren’t always in here every day, or at the same time.”
“What are the rest of you working on?”
Treen gave Calya a polite, regretful smile. “I’m sorry, Miss Helm, but your company isn’t part of our contract, and the work is classified.”
Before Calya could argue, Brint came through the door.
“Avenor!” the mayor cried. “I was wondering when you’d stop by.”
Calya watched the men greet each other heartily. “You two are acquainted?”
An understatement, obviously, but she enjoyed how uncomfortable the mayor looked.
She knew Brint had had some kind of private project here, though whether it was truly a thing of the past or not was growing more suspect by the moment.
Still, it stood to reason the mayor would’ve gone out of his way to make himself known to a member of as influential a family as the Avenors.
But there was business friendliness, and then there was the smarmy level on display.
“We, uh…” Krowe glanced at Brint.
“I’ve made a few trips on AG’s behalf,” Brint said, shoulders lifting in a careless shrug. “Would you excuse us? I have business I need to discuss.” Though his tone had an affable charm, his lip curled with the sneer she knew was truer to his nature.
“One last question,” Anadae said. “Is this your primary office?”
Calya glanced around the room. Tables and papers and filing cabinets.
There was a workstation toward the back with some sort of crystal model-projection system, and she glimpsed storage racks on the rear wall, but her sister had a point; it wasn’t nearly the level of equipment they’d expected to find.
Song’s Scrap had more testing paraphernalia than this supposed research office.
“Yes, I was given the impression there was a larger team present,” Calya said. “Doing… I’m not sure of the proper phrasing, but more active research?”
“Much of our research is theoretical,” Aylton said. “Funding issues, as I’ve mentioned.”
“You’re welcome to look over Matthias’s desk.” Treen gestured toward a table toward the back of the room. “We haven’t had a chance to pack up what’s left.”
Calya kept a bland smile on her face as she murmured her thanks before going with Anadae and Ezzyn to investigate the desk. It didn’t escape her notice that the mayor was able to stay for the classified meeting, but then, Krowe and Brint seemed cozy.
Matthias’s desk didn’t have much, whether because he’d truly taken most of his things during his departure or because his colleagues had already picked it over. All that remained were irrelevant forms and what appeared to be some old task lists that hadn’t been thrown out.
Calya was about to slam one of the desk drawers in frustration over the dead end, but she checked her childish impulse at the last moment. She could punch a pillow when she got back to the inn.
Her abrupt motion caused something to rustle at the back of the drawer.
A slight scrape of paper on wood. Reaching to the back, she found the crumpled remains of an unfinished letter.
More of a list, really, for aside from the salutation of Lady S, there were a few lines that resembled code more than sentences. It was signed with a simple M.
Pushing the drawer shut, she declared, “Nothing useful here,” as she surreptitiously pocketed the note. “Any luck with you?”
“Doesn’t appear so,” Anadae said, her gaze lingering on Calya’s before she straightened up. “Let’s find the others.”
Brint and company watched them leave, but no one seemed to suspect Calya’s petty theft.
“There’s another cohort from Sylveren stationed here. A real one,” Ezzyn added. “We should try to find them.”
Lowe exited the building from a side door. Calya waved. He hesitated at the sight of her, but instead of coming over, he turned away and strode off toward the town.
“I’ll catch up with you later at the inn,” Calya muttered to her sister.
“Just don’t do anything reckless.”
“I would never.” She tossed her head. “We don’t share the same risk assessment—that’s different.”
Anadae blew a laugh through her nose, but she didn’t comment further. While she and Ezzyn headed toward the docks, Calya went after Lowe.