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Julita gives a laugh that sounds a bit stiff.I obviously should have prodded him more to bring out this unexpected generous side.
I lift my shoulders in a slight shrug to indicate that I didn’t ask for any of this and wolf down the food in approximately five seconds flat.
Stavros waits for me to take my own cord out of the drawer in the sofa-side table where I’ve been keeping it. Like he’s making a show of the fact that he’s letting me handle it now.
Am I supposed to thank him for that too? He only handed it over because Casimir asked.
I lay it out in its ring hastily and step through at the same time he does. The magical passage into the palace meeting room hits me with a little more dizziness than usual, but the effect clears the moment I’m on solid ground again.
I prowl the edges of the room to confirm no unwelcome creatures are lurking. Stavros takes his locket out of his pocket and taps it to signal the others.
The sight of it gives me pause. I hadn’t fully thought through the part of the plan where we alerted the other men. “Are you sure it’s safe to use that? I mean, Benedikt had one too…”
Stavros’s jaw tightens. “That problem has already been taken care of.”
I’m about to ask him what he means when Alek emerges into the room with a warble of the air. “Is Ivy all—” he’s saying before he’s even steadied himself. Then he sees me, and a relieved smile springs to his lips.
I step closer to catch his hand for a quick squeeze. “I was summoned by the scourge sorcerers again last night, and it was pretty… intense. I thought I should fill you all in as quickly as possible. And you can tell us about your investigations too.”
Alek’s mouth slants downward. “There isn’t much to report there so far, unfortunately. Plenty of clay quarries and few ways of narrowing them down without taking the trip to visit them.”
Stavros dips his head to the scholar. “It’s good that you’re looking into them at all. None of the rest of us would be able to invent a suitable excuse.”
Alek’s smile comes back at the former general’s praise. “I want to pitch in however I can. All the responsibility shouldn’t fall on Ivy.”
I mean, it’s not as if you’re out therealone,Julita mutters.
A twinge of guilt runs through my stomach. “At least I’ve got Julita with me no matter what happens,” I say.
Alek blinks, as if he really had forgotten about the ghost who’s taken up residence in my head.
Stavros lets out a stiff chuckle. “And we’re still glad for any help she can offer, as limited as it might be in her current situation.”
Julita lets out a disgruntled sound.Limited? I’ve had plenty of useful observations—
Her rant is cut short by Casimir’s arrival. The courtesan steps out of his cord and swipes his disheveled hair away from his eyes, his outfit of dress shirt and trousers looking hastily pulled together. “Sorry. I was still sleeping. I had a late night plying people for information over drinks.”
“So did Ivy,” Stavros says dryly. Despite his tone, he lifts his hand to rest it on my back long enough to set my skin tingling, guiding me toward the table. “It sounds as though we’ve all been busy. Let’s sit, and our Lady Thief can start by telling us what madness the Order of the Wild has pursued this time.”
I settle into one of the chairs, my stomach knotting. But now my mind is clear enough that I can give a cohesive account of last night’s events.
As I lay out everything from meeting with the other candidates to our journey across the river to the drugged drink we were given, the men’s expressions turn increasingly tense. They barely speak other than sounds of sympathy or protest. But when I describe the young man who also came from the college, Casimir knits his brow.
“I might know him. That sounds like one of the newer students in the companionship division—he’s specializing in poetry.”
“See if you can arrange to point him out to Ivy in the dining hall or elsewhere so she can confirm,” Stavros suggests with his commander’s airs, and motions to me. “Where were they taking you?”
My gut only gets heavier as I tell them about the ritual in the clearing. Alek’s stance goes rigid when I mention Ster. Torstem killing the false king, and Casimir pales at my description of the burning effigy and the remarks the law professor made.
“They’ve all but stated outright that they intend to see the royal family dead,” I finish. “I don’t know how soon they plan on making a move or how they’ll do it, but I think we should warn the king of how passionate they are about that goal. And that might not even be the worst of it. I went looking for the body of the false king while the bonfire was still going… but what I found was a bunch of clay shards.”
I have the sense that Alek’s forehead has furrowed behind his mask. “They killed several of their conjured beasts too?”
I wet my lips. “I don’t think so. I think themanwas conjured out of a sculpture. That must be how they got him to look fairly similar to King Konram. And why they didn’t have any qualms about killing him just for a trial.”
Stavros’s eyes have widened. “Bringing small animals to life is shocking enough. This was a totally convincing person?”
I grimace. “Yes. I mean, he didn’t say anything, so I have no idea how much of a mind he had. But I had no suspicion he was anything other than an actual human being until I found the mess of clay.”
