by Caitlin Seal
Naya paused. “I want something specific I can bring to Delence. He’s more likely to believe me if I give him details he can confirm.” Even if Celia was trying to trick her, she might tell the truth if she thought this was a test. She could prove her good intentions by giving away a small piece of information here, in order to plant a greater lie later.
Celia’s expression turned thoughtful. “It’s only a guess,” she said slowly, “but Valn has an aunt named Ela Hest. She’s a scribe in the Academy of Magics. Valn spoke of her on and off. Apparently they were quite close when he was a child. Hest is old enough that she would have been active during the war. Valn made a trip to Talmir about a year before you joined us. I think he mentioned visiting his aunt then. If she didn’t give him the journal herself, she’s likely the one who told him how to find it.”
Ela Hest. The name was one of the ones Lucia mentioned in her notes on the purges. “What else do you know about her?”
“Not much. I’ve never had much cause to deal with Talmiran rune scribes.”
“Do you think she’s connected to Resurgence?”
“I don’t know. It’s possible. But even if she is, I’d be surprised if she was involved in what’s going on at the Congress. The scribes don’t have a presence there.”
“But she might know something.”
“Perhaps. You should be able to confirm her family connections to Valn through the birth records in the Book of Lords. His last trip to Talmir is likely on the records as well. Anything else will be harder to track.” Celia’s brow furrowed briefly. “I don’t know where Hest lives, but all the high-ranking scribes have private offices inside the Academy of Magics. That would be where I’d start if I was looking for a connection.”
Naya had scouted the Academy of Magics. Only the outside, but that was enough to tell her the place was hardly a fortress. She was sure she could find a way inside if she had to. Finding Hest’s office and getting back out unnoticed would be another challenge entirely. But that challenge would be worth tackling if her suspicions about Hest were right.
“I’ll talk to Delence,” Naya said. “How do I contact you?”
“There’s a bronze statue at the end of the west hall just past the main entrance to the palace. It has a gap under its pedestal. Leave a note in the usual code there. I heard a rumor that you’ve been confined to your rooms. But given that you were able to meet me here, I’m assuming you won’t have a problem planting messages inside the palace.” Celia hesitated a moment, then added, “And, if you do try going to the academy, be careful. Any guards there will probably be equipped to handle the undead.”
“Why?” Naya asked. “There haven’t been any undead in Talmir since the war.”
Celia smiled humorlessly. “You weren’t alive back then, so you never saw the way fear spread when the Mad King’s army was on the march. The academy fancied itself a bastion of hope against the corrupted hordes. As soon as they perfected the wraith eaters, they made a point of arming their own people. After the war ended, it became tradition for the academy guards to carry wraith eaters as a reminder of the academy’s contributions and their dedication to using runic arts to defend Talmir.”
“Perfect,” Naya said grimly. “Are there any other defenses I should know about?”
“I don’t know,” Celia said, sounding irritated. “If you want my advice, forget Ela Hest and bring my offer to Delence. We don’t have much time before Resurgence makes their next move.”
Naya stood by a row of hedges one block from her father’s house and drew in aether. Celia had claimed she’d come alone, but she could have placed someone with a signal rune on the nearby streets to follow Naya once she left. Naya waited a minute, then two, but didn’t sense anything beyond the haze of people sleeping in the nearby houses. She wrinkled her nose. She was probably being paranoid. But better that than to allow Celia to draw her into a trap. She’d trusted the old woman once before, and Celia had returned that trust with lies.
Naya glanced toward the cliffs. She had hours left before dawn. If she returned now, she’d have plenty of time to get back aboard the ship before anyone could notice her absence. If she told Delence about her meeting with Celia, she might convince him to play along and extend an offer of asylum. He wanted to know who was behind Valn’s death and Celia was too valuable a resource to ignore.
But returning now would put her back under the control of the queen and her soldiers. It would mean giving up what might be her last chance to explore the city freely. If Celia had told the truth, then Ela Hest fit Lucia’s theory perfectly. And if she was the one who’d given Valn Lucia’s journal, then tonight was Naya’s best chance to go after her. Thinking of it that way made the choice seem obvious.
For ten minutes she wandered randomly, darting around corners and drawing in aether to check for anyone who might be following. When she was reasonably sure Celia hadn’t sent anyone after her, she turned her steps toward the Academy of Magics. Even then she didn’t let her guard down. Carriages still traveled the main streets, and three times she had to change direction to avoid patrolling city guards. It seemed there were far more of them than the last time she’d been in the city. She didn’t want to give them the opportunity to stop and wonder why a young woman was skulking around alone in salt-stained clothes.
She turned a corner and the white mass of the academy’s walls rose in front of her. The iron gates were shut, and two guards stood by them. Naya paused in the shadow of a darkened restaurant across the street. The guards wore more elaborate uniforms than those she’d seen on the city guards or the soldiers in the palace. Their jackets were cut longer, with gold braid running along the shoulders and the academy’s black-and-white crest stitched across the front. At their hips, each guard carried a sheathed sword on one side and a rune pistol on the other.
One of the guards yawned, rubbing his eyes. The other glanced over and said something, then both men laughed. They obviously weren’t expecting trouble. Still, Naya doubted they’d let her in if she walked up to the gates without any sort of identification. She didn’t have one of the fancy medallions she’d seen the last time she’d been here, and she didn’t know enough about the academy’s inner workings to lie her way in.
Naya walked farther down the road. Across the street from the academy was a row of small shops and restaurants. Everything was closed except for two restaurants that looked like they were still doing brisk business despite the late hour. Most of the customers wore the robes and metal medallions of rune scribes. She watched them, some talking and laughing in groups, others eating distractedly while reading or scribbling notes.
Naya brushed at the front of her dress. Her body still hummed with nervous energy. Perhaps she could learn something here. If Ela Hest worked at the academy, then surely some of the students would know her.
Naya ran her fingers over her face, checking that her disguise was still in place. It was, but maybe a different face would serve her better here. She concentrated, then felt her features shift to those of Blue. Her hair darkened to black, forming smooth, elegant curls. The lines of her face grew sharper and though she didn’t have a mirror to check, she knew her eyes would have brightened to a striking true green. She pulled back her hair, as though tying it in a tail. She concentrated again, then lowered her hands carefully. Her hair stayed up, held in place by her will.
Most of her work as a spy had involved making herself inconspicuous. But Celia had also said there were times when it could be useful to attract attention. A part of Naya wanted to curl up at the thought of what she was about to do. She squashed it, drawing on Blue’s confidence. If she could find the courage to jump fifteen feet into the ocean and meet with an enemy spy, then she could find enough to manipulate information out of a few scribes.
Naya walked past the first of the open restaurants. The crowd there was older, subdued. The second restaurant seemed more promising. It reminded her a l
ittle of the Bitter Dregs back in Belavine. Yellow light glowed from oil lamps, and the atmosphere around the place was one of cheerful familiarity. Most of the people inside looked like young students. They wore blue and gray robes and talked loudly over drinks and shared plates of food. Naya hesitated in the doorway. The restaurant’s aether was thick and bright with an undercurrent of jittery weariness that made her think of hot tea and long nights spent studying in the comfort of her room.
Someone jostled Naya’s shoulder. “Whoops. Sorry there,” a male voice said.
Naya stepped back, then turned to see a young man with curly, dark hair and spectacles struggling to balance two heavy mugs of beer. “Sorry,” Naya said quickly.
“Ha!” someone said behind the young man. “Isn’t your fault Rask has two right feet.” Another young man stepped up behind the first. He had a friendly, open face with a prominent nose, and his robes seemed to be of a finer cut than his companion’s. He offered Naya a courtly bow. “Really, miss, may I apologize for my companion’s rudeness by buying you a drink?”
Naya took another step away from them, smiling as politely as she could. “You don’t have to do that.”
“Ah, but I insist,” the well-dressed young man said.
She couldn’t drink. Did they suspect what she was? Were they testing her? No. She couldn’t sense any suspicion in the aether around her. She relaxed and gave them what she hoped looked like an inviting smile. “All right, I guess a cup of tea would be nice.”
“Tea? Are you sure? I know this place doesn’t look like much, but the house beer is really something excellent,” the well-dressed young man said.
“Come off it now, Dav,” the young man with the glasses, Rask, said. “Not everyone likes to drink like you.” He smiled at Naya. “If he’s bothering you, we’ll go.”
“No, it’s okay,” Naya said. “I was the one standing in the doorway like a country girl who’s never seen the city before.”
“Is this your first time in Lith Lor?” Rask asked.
Naya shook her head. “Not the first, but I haven’t been here in a long while, and I’ve never gotten a chance to really explore it.” She let eagerness seep into her voice. “Tell me, are you two students at the academy?”
“What gave it away?” Dav asked, gesturing at his robes and the copper medallion hanging from his neck. Up close, Naya could see the disk was scribed with a circle of runes.
Naya blushed. “Sorry. I guess that was a silly question, wasn’t it? My ship just got into port. I had a bit of free time this evening, and I thought maybe I’d come see the famous rune scribes’ academy.”
Dav’s brow furrowed. “Then I’m afraid you’ll be doomed to disappointment. Nobody but scribes allowed in after sunset.”
“Even during the day, you need an invitation from someone who’s earned at least their third disk to be allowed inside,” Rask said, sounding apologetic.
“Oh, that makes sense,” Naya said, not having to feign her disappointment. She’d expected something like that, but searching the academy would have been so much easier if she could find a legitimate reason to be there. “Well, um, maybe I could trouble you for that cup of tea?”
Dav smiled. “We’d be delighted, Miss…?”
“Jesale Ilvakal,” Naya said. It was a Silmaran name to match Blue’s pale eyes. Her dark hair would suggest some sort of mixed blood, but that was common enough in the port cities. When these scribes remembered her, it would hopefully be as a pretty young Silmaran merchant girl, someone with absolutely no connection to Naya Garth or the Ceramoran delegation.
“Well, Miss Jesale, we’d be happy to have your company.”
Naya followed them to a table near the back of the room. As they walked, Naya pieced together what she hoped was a likely story. Rask set down their mugs of beer while Dav ordered her a cup of tea.
“You said you just got into port. Where did you sail from?” Dav asked when he returned with a cup of strong black tea.
“From Silmar,” Naya lied.
Dav raised his eyebrows. “So far? Well, I must say, your Talmiran is excellent.”
“Thank you. My mother was from Talmir originally. She taught me the language growing up.” Should she have given herself a Silmaran accent? No. It was too late for that now. Best to keep things simple.
“And what brings you to our fine city, other than a fascination with the academy?” Dav asked.
Naya pretended to take a sip of her tea, then winced.
“Something wrong?” Rask asked.
Naya shook her head. “No, it’s just a bit hot. I’ll let it cool a while. I came here with my father. He’s a merchant. Ever since I finished my schooling, he’s been letting me sail with him to learn the business.” She was surprised to feel her chest tighten at the half truth.
“And he let you go out into the city alone?” Dav asked, frowning with concern. “I don’t mean to speak ill of our fair city, but I heard the Ceramorans brought trouble with them when they came for the Congress. If I were a father, I wouldn’t feel safe knowing my daughter was walking the streets alone at night. Especially,” he added with a wink, “if I had a daughter as pretty as you.”
“You? A father?” Rask shook his head. “There’s a laugh.”
“I know how to take care of myself,” Naya said, smothering a smile at the irony of Dav’s warning. “Anyway, I told my father I was going into the city to visit my aunt, which is true, but…” She rotated her teacup in her hands and ducked her head. “Well, I may have misled him a little into thinking that I’d had a letter from her telling me she’d meet me by the lifts. See, I do have an aunt in the city—a great-aunt, really—she’s from my mother’s side. I’ve heard stories about her, but I’ve never gotten to meet her since my mother moved down to Silmar after she married my father.” The two young scribes were leaning forward now, obviously curious. Naya’s chest felt like a knot of anxiety, but she forced herself to go on.
“I know my great-aunt works at the Academy of Magics, but I wasn’t sure how to get a message to her to ask if we could meet. I thought I could just come to the academy and ask after her, but then I got lost on my way here, and by the time I found the academy, the gates were shut and those guards were standing out there. I…I guess I lost my nerve, so I decided to come in here and get something to refresh myself, and you know the rest.”
Rask nodded. “If you come back tomorrow, you could give your aunt’s name to the gate guards and they could pass a message along to her, I’m sure.”
Naya shifted in her seat. “I doubt my father will let me go back out again tomorrow. If you’re right, and there’s trouble in the city, he’ll have heard about it by now. Do you know if there’s any way I could leave a message for my aunt? I think my mother said she’s important among the scribes. Might she have an office, or an assistant or some such?”
Dav took a deep pull from his beer. “Only scribes who’ve earned at least their fifth disk get private offices. What did you say your aunt’s name was?”
“Ela Hest,” Naya said, watching the scribes’ faces carefully. It was clear immediately that they both recognized the name. Rask’s eyebrows went up, and Dav snorted into his beer.
“Hest?” Dav asked. “Didn’t know that one had any family.”
“We’re somewhat distant relations. But my mother had fond memories of her from when she was a child,” Naya said, hoping the words didn’t sound too forced. “Do you know how I could contact her?”
“Hest does have an office up on the top floor of Main,” Dav said. “But…”
“But what?” Naya asked.
“Are you sure you’re remembering the name right?” Dav asked.
Naya felt a chill. She’d said something wrong, but she wasn’t sure what. “Why do you ask?”
“Hest is…” Rask glanced at Dav, then shrugged. “She’s an odd one. Obsessed with her r
esearch.”
“And cold,” Dav said with a shudder. He blinked. “No disrespect to your family intended, but I wouldn’t wait too long expecting a response from her.”
“Oh.” Naya leaned back in her chair, trying to look disappointed instead of relieved. For a moment there she’d thought they’d somehow seen through her lie.
“Maybe she’d be different with family,” Rask said, his voice bright with false cheer.
Naya smiled. “Maybe.” She glanced around. “Either way, I should get going before my father has a fit. Thank you for your help, and the tea.”
Dav stood. “Wait! Are you sure you want to go so soon? I could walk you back if you’d like? A young lady like you really shouldn’t be wandering the city alone at night.”
“I’ll be fine,” Naya said, perhaps with a little more force than was necessary. The last thing she needed was to be stuck walking half the city with him.
“But you said you got lost on the way here. I would be happy to show you the way back to the docks,” Dav said, holding out his hand and giving her a charming smile.
“Really,” Naya said, “I’ve taken up enough of your time. In fact, let me buy your next round as thanks for helping me.” She pulled out her father’s purse and set a couple of coins on the table. As their eyes went to the coins, Naya stood and began making her way quickly toward the door. She heard Dav call something else, but she ignored him, weaving through the crowded tables. As soon as she was outside, she ducked around the corner and quickly changed her features back to the ones she’d used earlier that night. She let her hair fall around her shoulders just a moment before Dav stepped out of the restaurant. He glanced left and right, his eyes stopping on her. His brow furrowed. “Did you see a young woman come out of here? Black hair, pretty green eyes?”
Naya dipped her head to hide a smile at his look of utter confusion. “No, sir,” she said, pitching her voice higher than usual. “Sorry, sir.” She hurried away before he could ask anything else. Her body hummed with tension, and she imagined she could feel eyes on the back of her neck until she crossed the street and rounded the corner into Lestor Park. There she stopped under the shadow of the trees. Through the aether she could sense a couple walking somewhere deeper in the park, but it didn’t seem anyone had followed her.
