"You can call me Aurie," she said, hoping it conveyed the proper amount of awe and subservience.
Celesse smiled softly, and Aurie was aware the lizard part of her brain wanted her to fall down on her knees before the patron.
"Aurie. Welcome to my home."
When Celesse motioned to the room, giving permission to look away, Aurie was able to take in her surroundings. The decor was Egyptian oasis, complete with palm trees, white furniture, golden accents, and a small pond at the center. The vaulted ceiling towered overhead.
"I'm honored."
"I'm almost surprised you came," said Celesse. "I made the offer to check all my boxes. Yet here you are. This is a bold, but probably foolish choice from a fourth year student in these difficult times. Even if nothing had happened to Semyon, you'd be no match for me."
The dryness of Aurie's mouth matched the sandy rim around the little pond. She'd thought there might be some back and forth before the challenge.
"You offered sanctuary."
"And you believed me?" asked Celesse, placing her long fingernails against her chest in faux indignation.
"I didn't come without protections."
Celesse scoffed. "My bodyguard removed that trivial item outside."
Aurie hated to have to play her hand early, but Celesse wasn't giving her a choice. "That wasn't the only one."
"A bluff," said Celesse, stepping forward, producing a crystal decanter with an icy blue liquid inside. "I can make you drink one of my custom cocktails and you'll burn yourself out in a blaze of glory, killing Semyon in the process, and then the charter can be reformed with more favorable terms."
"What about your feelings for Semyon?" she asked.
Her surprise at this revelation was hidden skillfully behind a mask of indifference. "Feelings, yes. But not enough to blind me from opportunity."
"Were you always this cold and calculating? Or did you trade your soul for luxury over time?" asked Aurie.
Celesse's lips squeezed to a thin line. "A girl with little experience should not judge someone who has lived a much longer life. The world is a cruel place. If you aren't prepared to be ruthless, then you'll never be old enough to gain the wisdom necessary to understand."
"But wasn't that the point of the Hundred Halls? So that mages could work together instead of fighting? Look how far humanity has come in the last century. Magic has given the world a reprieve from war and misery. Why risk a return to that?"
"There will be no wars."
"Are you sure? Once the charter is dissolved, won't there be a battle for power? Who's to say another charter will ever be forged? The only reason the Halls exist is because Invictus brought you together."
A snide chortle of derision slipped from Celesse. "Invictus brought us together? A fiction. He may have bested us, formed the Halls through us, but most of us were friends long before him."
It was Aurie's turn to be surprised. The history of the Hundred Halls was well known, or at least she'd thought so. Of course, there were no pictures from that time. The records had been lost, or maybe destroyed to preserve the tale presented as truth.
"Are you sure you can trust the others? They've each tried to take the Halls for their own. Why would they want to share power?" asked Aurie.
Celesse waved the crystal decanter dismissively. "If you came here thinking you might pit us against each other, you're more naive than I thought."
"I came here to save the Halls, to appeal to the patron you used to be, not the one you've become," said Aurie.
"Who's to say that I've changed? That any of us have changed? The old saying, that power corrupts? Not true at all. Power only brings out the person who was really underneath. What you see here is what was there all along." Celesse wandered past Aurie, running a fingernail across her shoulder, bringing a shiver of pleasure. "Of course, how would you know? You might actually be a good person inside."
"I could have said your name to Malden last year during the trial, and pit you two against each other."
"If you really thought it might work, then you were a fool not to. Those not willing to play the game ruthlessly don't play long."
"But then it's a race to the bottom," said Aurie, "as we destroy the foundations of what keeps us together. That's why I didn't say anything. It does us no good to fight each other."
"Fight each other? Isn't it Semyon who's defied the rest of us? It was he that should have bowed to the consensus of the group, not us," said Celesse.
"You killed Invictus," said Aurie.
"You should try learning the truth before making accusations."
Celesse was trying to play her, but Aurie would have none of it. She steeled herself.
"I can still say your name to Malden. He'd believe me."
"As if I would let you do that after you placed yourself in my care." She swished the decanter at Aurie. "Maybe it's time to be done with pretense."
As Celesse's long fingers curled into the beginnings of a spell, Aurie stepped forward. "You cast that spell and you kill us both."
With a hint faez in the air, Celesse paused. She raised an eyebrow. "Liar."
"I would not have come here if I hadn't prepared for betrayal," said Aurie, growing serious.
Celesse cackled, putting a hand to her chin. "And what will you do? Truth magic won't save you. The wards alone in this room would kill you before you threatened me."
Aurie moved a few feet away from Celesse. "I assume you are familiar with batrachotoxin?"
Batrachotoxin was a poison harvested from western Columbian tree frogs. The material was used in alchemical mixtures involving transmogrifications. Aurie had broken into Arcanium's store and created the necklace with a little help from her fellow fourth years.
Celesse's eyes searched Aurie. She stuck her chin out, daring the patron.
"If you try to scratch me, or move against me, I will burn your lungs out with fire," said Celesse.
"And you will die." Aurie patted her jade necklace. "This isn't jade, but a hardened matrix of batrachotoxin that will turn to a particulate with any significant use of magic. So if you try to attack me, you'll trigger it to explode. Or if you try to run away, I'll trigger it with truth magic."
"You'd die too."
"A risk I'm willing to take, though I don't think it'll be necessary. You enjoy living as much as I do."
Celesse stiffened, clearly unnerved by the predicament. She had not expected this, and did not hide her concern. The thin line of her lips revealed her utter lack of options.
"A stalemate," said Aurie. "What is it that you really wanted to ask me?"
"An offer."
"I'm listening," said Aurie.
"Eventually you and the rest of your friends in Arcanium need to face the truth that Semyon isn't coming back. Remember, we have a connection to him through the charter. We know he's all but gone. The longer you wait, the more dangerous it'll become for you and your fellow students. This is the flip side to faez madness. You have that connection, but you can't use it. It'll be like a dam building up until it explodes, killing everyone in Arcanium."
"You can't scare me," said Aurie.
"I don't need to scare you," said Celesse with a respectful nod. "You're not the scaring type. But you are logical, as you have demonstrated by the conundrum your necklace represents, so I'm appealing to your intellect. Eventually Arcanium will die. There's no two ways about it. Not only would it be a terrible waste, but it could cause considerable damage to innocents in the area."
"Let me guess, you're the only one that can save us."
"I'm the best of your options. If you give me access to Semyon, I can transfer the students of Arcanium to me, safely, I might add. Then Semyon can heal on his own time, and if he recovers someday, then he can return to the Halls," said Celesse. "This is something that only one of the original patrons can do, I might add."
"How generous of you."
Celesse gave an exquisite sigh, as if she were a soap starlet preening for the came
ra. "Semyon is not going to recover, which leaves the other original members of the Halls as your only hope. Would you rather pledge yourselves to one of them? I may be a bitch, but I know I'm a better option than the others. Or were you hoping for Bannon?"
Aurie was beginning to wish that she hadn't come, only because Celesse was right. Semyon wasn't getting better, and she was the least horrible option of the patrons if it came to that.
"Why did you make this offer to me?"
Celesse snorted derisively. "Do you really think Old Ironsides would listen? Or even come here? And the rest of the professors are your typical smug elitist types who hate to dirty themselves with reality. None of the students would listen to them, even if they suggested it. You're the one they'll listen to. You're the one they'll follow, even if it's into my waiting arms."
"No," said Aurie, right away. "Not you. Not ever."
"You'd doom them to death then?"
Would she? Was it fair to answer for them?
"I can't trust you," said Aurie. "Look what you were going to do when I came here."
"True. But I would be willing to sign a magical contract between us to ensure no cheating."
Aurie thought about her friends in Arcanium. They were despondent, listless with grief. Yeah, everyone was trying to put on a brave face, work their faez-less spells as if nothing had happened, but it was like watching a mime work after a two-week bender.
"What's in it for you?"
Celesse looked away, presenting a noble figure. Aurie didn't know if it was on purpose, or not, but it was impressive. It reminded her of those old Hollywood actresses.
"As cutthroat as I can be, I have no interest in seeing students die. It would be a terrible waste, both for them and for the Halls, or whatever the Halls will become."
"And you gain new followers, professors too."
"Well, I am a calculating bitch. Proudly. You don't survive this long otherwise."
Every bit of Aurie wanted to agree, to say yes to Celesse so that the slow nightmare of their existence in Arcanium would end. But in the end, she couldn't. She couldn't betray Semyon, she couldn't effectively doom the Hundred Halls by her decision, handing them over to the Cabal. There was no hope of Semyon recovering, but she couldn't give up.
"I'm sorry, but no. I can't support this."
Celesse's gaze narrowed. "You don't have to support it. Take this back to your fellow students. Let them decide. Or are you afraid of the answer?"
"I'm not telling them," said Aurie. "I put my life in danger coming here to hear what you had to say. I heard you. Now, I'm going back. I won't be your pawn."
"Very well," said Celesse, turning to walk away.
Aurie almost went back towards the elevator, then she remembered her necklace.
"I wouldn't go much further."
Celesse froze mid-stride, shrugged, and turned back. "I'd hoped you'd forgotten."
"I'd love an escort back to Arcanium," said Aurie, keeping her voice annoyingly light. "There's a nice limousine waiting outside."
Celesse looked ready to say something else, but changed her mind and nodded.
"Shall we," said Aurie, motioning towards the exit.
They entered the elevator together. As Celesse stepped inside, her modified self disappeared beneath her older version. Aurie rather preferred this one, though it wasn't real either.
As they walked out the bottom floor, Aurie asked, "What is it you sell here?"
"Experiences you cannot find anywhere else," said Celesse. "I mix the potions myself, tailoring them to the desires of the customer."
"Don't you have a team to do that for you?"
Celesse gave the barest hint of a shrug. "It keeps me on top of my craft."
Aurie did not doubt that. This whole visit had been tailored for her benefit. Aurie wondered if Celesse had known about the jade necklace all along, and had gone along to deliver her message. This made Aurie worry that there was another level of gamesmanship that she hadn't considered. It was too late now.
The limousine was waiting outside. Before Aurie got in, Celesse said, "If you change your mind."
"I won't," said Aurie.
"I'll be here when things get worse and you realize there's no other way. You know how to get ahold of me."
The patron of the Order of Honorable Alchemists disappeared inside Elysium, and with that, Aurie had no doubt that her visit to Celesse's business had been scripted to sow doubt. The worst part was that it'd worked. If Aurie couldn't figure out a way to save Semyon, then maybe pledging to Celesse was the best way forward.
Chapter Nine
The Goblin's Romp was darker and dirtier than Pi remembered from last year. Her starry-eyed view of her "Uncle" Liam had blinded her to the fact that the establishment was barely above a combination ale trough and urinal.
Eyes followed her as she went into the back. Pi stepped over a dead mouse among the drifts of peanut shells. The place smelled like a horse barn.
Pi ignored the muted whispering as she adjusted her backpack covered in Hello Kitty! buttons and went around the bar to the dark archway. Radoslav's rune got her past the chew-lipped bouncer with a neck bigger than her thigh. As she headed into the stairwell, she caught a shadow of movement, a thick head of hair and a dirty face. She didn't bother speeding up, but kept her pace until there was a foot scuff.
She paused on a landing and called out, "Unless you'd like to learn what your asshole tastes like, I suggest returning to your nest and enjoying a piss-warm beer. Or maybe just piss, it certainly smelled like it up there."
Her follower didn't comment, so she pulled a piece of cloth from an inside pocket, placed a temporary enchantment on it, and placed it on the nearest step. The fabric-snake slithered up the staircase and after about twenty seconds, she heard someone cursing and running back the other way.
"What a waste of a good towel," she said and continued down.
Big Dave's Town was an improvement from the bar above, but she knew that was a bit of projection. This little spot of civilization in the Undercity was her destination, at least until she could figure out a better place to live, giving her a case of renter's Stockholm Syndrome. The only problem was she didn't know anything about Big Dave's Town.
She'd spent the previous couple of weeks moving around the city, staying in hotels, but the Cabal kept finding her after a few days. She'd thought about contacting Hemistad, but he still hadn't forgiven her and Aurie for what had happened the year before, and Radoslav was out of the country on business, which left no safe places in the city. When she realized that she couldn't keep up her hyperawareness forever, she decided to move to the Undercity, where the denizens of the Halls held less sway.
There wasn't much to the cobblestone streets, as she learned by walking around. Big Dave's Town was laid out like a hashtag, with two sets of streets crisscrossing each other. At least three roads went in different directions, heading through caverns that connected to the large one the town existed in. There was an open-air market that sold fruits, vegetables, fungi, and other edible goods, run by a couple of fungusfolk in tie-dyed Grateful Dead T-shirts. A buzzing neon sign splattered its bright pink lights over another street, announcing the Devil's Lipstick was open and served cold beverages. Other establishments had their signs, but Pi didn't see anything that looked like an apartment building or real estate office. The whole place had the feel of a town in the Old West.
Pi waffled between talking to the fungusfolk and checking out the Devil's Lipstick, but went with the latter because she'd had a bad experience with Voodoo Jake. As she paused at the door, a ruckus from near the open-air market caught her attention. A fungusfolk with a bright red beard of lichen was throwing green apples at a group of fleeing shapes that flickered like shadows from a windmill as they escaped the cavern.
Pi was too far away to hear what he was saying, but she had the impression the creatures had stolen something from his market. Probably something valuable if he was so irate. She had no idea what the crea
tures were. They seemed to move in stutter steps, jumping across patches of light, before disappearing down a side passage.
When they were gone, Pi checked the street. The whole way here, she'd had the feeling someone was following her, but her spell work uncovered nothing, so she marked it down as nervousness about her new adventure.
Shrugging away the momentary distraction, Pi went inside. The bar was nicer than she’d expected, though the clientele was seedier than a motel that charged by the hour. There were a lot of physical modifications, either deliberately or due to curses. A woman near the entrance had a head of porcupine quills that ruffled as she slurped soup. It was early morning above ground, but the Undercity kept its own time. Judging by the busy tables and people eating and drinking at the bar, it seemed like dinner-time.
Pi didn't want to sit at a table. It would have felt weird to be alone like she would be expecting Aurie to come strolling in at any time.
There were a couple of empty seats at the bar. The nearest was next to a tall gentleman in a cowboy hat and duster, but she didn't want to sit near the door. Another was next to someone in a red hoodie and as Pi moved towards the spot, the guy or girl, she couldn't tell, moved their backpack onto the spot. She ended up having to take the seat on the far side of the bar, near the window where the two waitresses picked up meals for their customers.
As Pi sat down, a tray of cinnamon apple crisps went past, making her salivate in anticipation.
The bartender, a woman with big hair and a Garbage Kings T-shirt, slid over to Pi.
"Drink or food?"
Pi tapped on the counter. "Information?"
"Drink or food."
"Right," said Pi.
The food smelled delicious, so Pi ordered a bacon cheeseburger and crispy mushroom fries along with an energy drink. She caught the girl—Pi realized as she heard a feminine throat clear—watching from behind her red hood, but could only see the green tips of her hair and dark eyes.
The bartender screamed the order into the back, startling Pi from her examination. The cook responded, "One of these days, Delilah, you're going to blow out a vocal cord."
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