Lucky Rabbit

Pandy, Professor Beeswick, Glory, Thaniel, Geraldine, Miss Cupcakes, Eleanor, and Abbington stared down into the gently swirling pool of water. A great deal had happened since Pandy and Augustus returned to Falconet two days ago, and Thaniel told them that his brother had been kidnapped before they got a chance to break the news to him.

The only thing that hadn’t changed was that Lian was still trapped in a single, book-lined, windowless room, and the only person they’d seen with him was the woman who delivered his food. She wasn’t anyone they recognized, but based on the way she moved and dressed, Augustus was almost certain she was a member of the Shadow Exchange.

The image of a mainly grayscale room faded as the water slowed and stopped, and Brook laid her chin on her paws, eyes closing. The capybara lay on her belly beneath the table that held the shallow bowl they were using as a scrying basin. She leaned against Abbington’s legs in much the same way Lord Winston leaned on Eleanor, and as Pandy watched, the capybara’s gentle brown eyes drooped closed. From experience, Pandy knew the elemental would need to rest for at least an hour, then wake and eat before she and Bing could show them another glimpse of Lian’s current predicament.

“He’s all right, isn’t he?” Thaniel asked, as he did every time they did this. “He’s just readin’ books.” The boy looked exhausted, with deep circles beneath his eyes, but who could blame him? He was worried about Lian, and even Pandy could barely convince him to sleep or eat.

“Indeed he is,” the Dragon librarian murmured, already flipping through half a dozen books of his own, trying to locate anything like what they’d just seen through Lian’s eyes. Beeswick had already confirmed that he didn’t recognize most of the titles they’d glimpsed, though he had been able to translate some of the words. The books he had been able to identify were mostly old fairytales – or rather folklore, since they were apparently written versions of a much older oral tradition.

They were no longer bothering to meet in Professor Beeswick’s hidden – or possibly entirely imaginary – home. Falconet had officially closed for two weeks, and every other student had either gone home or was staying in Knightmere with friends or relatives. Most of the staff and teachers were gone as well, though Mr. and Mrs. Farrier were still living at Falconet, as was Master Lawson, the stablemaster, and most of his helpers. The horses still needed to be cared for, after all. It was less obvious why Mr. Musgrave was still there, but essentially, he refused to leave.

Eleanor, Lord Winston, and Hazel had returned as well, along with Empress Glory, who had rather reluctantly come along when they asked. Currently, Pandy was trying to conserve her Mana and regain Corruption Points, which was a challenge even with Glory there. Pandy had to sneak close to the woman, who seemed determined to be as stand-offish as possible. For good or ill, Thaniel cried a great deal now, so between him and stolen moments with Glory, Pandy was back up to just over a hundred points, but she knew it wasn’t enough.

The other two schools were still open, so Isidor had moved into Kestrel, and was spying for them among the student body. If anyone had any idea where Lian had gone, or seemed suspiciously knowledgeable about any of the madness that had finally spilled out into the open, he would find out. So far, he’d come up empty, but Pandy had to remind herself Lian had only been missing for just over forty-eight hours at this point.

“Ah, here,” Professor Beeswick said, laying a book open on the nearby table. Everyone crowded around, then settled back in disappointment as they saw a now-familiar shadow smudged across the sketch filling the page.

“It’s just that icky god again,” Geraldine said in disappointment. None of them could read the pictogram-like lettering, but the shape of the thing in the drawings was unmistakable. For years, those few people who actually bothered with old stories from a rarely-seen nomadic people had interpreted these images as Dark elementals – likely Apparitions, given their generally humanoid outline. Now, Pandy and the others had come to recognize the shape that seemed to rise up out of the depths of the shadows as the god Zheraphon.

The librarian sighed and skimmed the accompanying text before closing the book again. “One I’ve seen before, unfortunately. It’s not difficult to find mentions once you know where to look, but most of them are partial translations of incomplete texts. It’s really very disappointing.”

Everyone else exchanged glances. Disappointing was an understatement. The Dragon was Disgruntled, or perhaps Disillusioned with a side of Disgusted by the lack of curiosity shown by the few scholars who included anything about the desert tribes, and he made no effort to hide it.

The library door opened, and Keros’s head popped up from behind the K to N shelf in the mythology section. Like everyone else, he had found a spot in the stacks where he could set up his own little nook. He spent most of his time exercising, which meant everyone else avoided that part of the library, because it was starting to emit a distinct funk. Keros didn’t seem to understand about sweat, and he and Professor Beeswick had already had a few Discussions about it. Neither of them seemed quite willing to escalate beyond words, but the Dragon wasn’t happy about the new aroma that had been added to his pleasantly bookish-smelling domain.

Seeing that it was Augustus and a tray-laden Mrs. Farrier, accompanied by a toddling Hazel carrying a small plate of virulently green cookies, Keros emerged into the open. As usual, he wore no shirt, and the pants the seamstress had made for him were damp around the waistband and behind the knees. Mrs. Farrier took a look that might have lingered a bit longer than absolutely necessary – though Pandy didn’t make clothing, so maybe she was just checking his measurements – and said, “I found a new fabric at the market, and I thought I might see if it works for you, Mr. Kappa. It’s made from the fibers of a plant, rather than woven from fur, and it’s supposed to dry very quickly.”

Keros plucked at his damp waistband and said, “I still don’t understand why I can’t wear my himation. Or even a skirt.” He eyed Geraldine’s skirt with some envy. It wasn’t nearly as long as Mrs. Farrier’s, but it also wasn’t as short as the summer version. Still, it was as close as West Altheric got to the general length and shape of his toga, which was actually called a ‘himation’.

Pandy gave him a Look, which he didn’t notice. That was fine, because she was really more interested in what Augustus had to say. The chancellor – who might yet become a former chancellor – looked almost as tired as Thaniel, but the lines around his eyes had relaxed a bit, so she hoped he had good news.

Crossing to the table which held the now-still bowl of water, Augustus looked down into it, then shook his head and managed a small smile for Pandy and Thaniel. “I spoke to Healer Sinnett. Thaniel’s father is doing fine, though he hasn’t woken yet. He’s comfortable and resting well.”

Thaniel stood, fists clenched and lip quivering. As happened all too often now, tears overflowed and dripped down his cheeks. Pandy immediately moved to embrace him, and not only because of the Corruption Points she gained every time one of those tears landed on her.

+1 Corruption Point for Bathing in the Tears of the Innocent

+1 Corruption Point for Bathing in the Tears of the Innocent

Do you even take regular baths anymore?

Pandy shrugged the notification away. The System knew perfectly well she used shifting between her forms as her primary method of cleaning up. It was just being obnoxious because it was bored, though it hadn’t been as vocal since they all moved into the library.

“I want to see him,” Thaniel said, as he did every time Augustus arrived with an update. If it weren’t for the fact that the library was mostly disconnected from the real world, Pandy was pretty sure the boy would have snuck off to try to find either his father or his brother, even though he had only the vaguest idea where either of them were.

Augustus didn’t chastise him, just crouched down next to the small boy and said, “As soon as he wakes, I’ll take you to him. Right now, he’s protected by magic and the fact that no one knows where he is. Please be patient a little longer.”

“That’s what you said last time!” Thaniel said, twisting away from Pandy’s embrace. He raised his hand to touch the heartstone hidden beneath his shirt, and Pandy’s throat tightened. She didn’t think he realized how often he was doing that, but it was becoming more and more frequent. He also rubbed at it and whimpered in his sleep, though Pandy only knew that because he’d woken her the night before. It was strange to sleep again after so long without rest, and she constantly felt like she was missing a large chunk of time.

“And it’s still true. I’m sorry, Thaniel,” Augustus said, straightening. As he did so, he brushed Pandy’s hand with his own, and what felt like a warm electric shock ran through her. That was new too, and not entirely welcome. She didn’t need any more distractions right now.

“How is Sir Bailey?” Pandy asked, trying to change the subject. Now that Bailey’s existence was known, Pandy had filled the children in on who she was, and how she’d been quietly protecting them this whole time. Somehow the fact that she’d once broken Pandy’s nose had come up as well, and at the mention of her name, all four of them looked at the proboscis in question. Pandy carefully avoided their eyes, instead picking up one of the cookies piled on Hazel’s plate. The little Dragon grinned at her with sharp teeth that were Very Inappropriate in her cherubic face. Pandy pretended to nibble at the cookie, though the scent of iron and fresh bubblegum told her she probably didn’t want to actually eat any.

Pure relief flooded Augustus’s face. “Much better. Priest Jule is confident she’ll make a full recovery, though I could have told you that when she demanded to go back to work. She’s upset that Bryan was abducted from beneath her nose, and she’s insisting upon joining his protection detail.”

A detail which currently consisted of a few non-military, non-noble people who had been vouched for by Lord and Lady Reedsley, and didn’t even know who their guest was. Healer Sinnett had checked on Bryan, determining that he was no longer under the influence of magic. His mind simply needed to recover on its own, if it was going to do so at all. Now he was lying in a very comfortable guest bed somewhere between the Reedsley estate and Knightmere.

By the time Pandy and Augustus returned to Knightmere – leaving Bryan behind, but with Edgar and Dorian in tow – many of the conspirators had been rounded up, including Queen Louisa’s brother. Once enough of them had been arrested, they all started turning on each other, especially after Louisa told them that whoever turned in a new name would have their sentence reduced. Of course, this also led to some making false claims, which muddied the water, but the evidence Augustus and Beeswick had already unearthed cleared most of those up fairly quickly.

One of those conspirators turned out to be Lord Findlay, the former chancellor of Falconet. It turned out that he’d been pulling promising students into the conspiracy for years. By now, some of them had graduated from Condor, and others, like Miller, were actively encouraging dissent and dissatisfaction with Queen Louisa and Kaden. Many, such as Lamonia Kimball, were manipulated into helping when their families or grades were threatened. In Lamonia’s case, her twin brother, Lamont, had never been physically strong, so it was easy to prey upon her fears for him to convince her to work with them.

A few teachers and staff were in on it as well, carrying messages and reporting on students and prominent families alike. It was amazing what they could pick up in a private conference with concerned parents, or from a child who hadn’t yet learned to guard their words. That number included Miss Keswick, Falconet’s etiquette teacher, who neither Eleanor nor Geraldine particularly liked. It did not include Ms. Davenport, the girls’ hall supervisor, much to Geraldine’s annoyance.

The low-level members of the Shadow Exchange had been abandoned to their own devices, which was probably explained by the fact that none of them really knew anything. They were the people who actually went to find missing cats, spy on ex-lovers, and sell stolen goods. Essentially, their relatively legitimate actions served as a cover for the higher-ups who were actually involved in the Dirty Deeds. Few of those higher-ups had been taken into custody, and those who were seemed to meet with Unfortunate Accidents soon after. The Knights had taken to stripping them down, doing cavity checks, and wrapping them in kivet. So far they had two survivors, neither of whom were saying a word.

Cult members fared even worse. Most of them seemed to be immigrants, which was something Louisa wanted kept very quiet. Many people moved to West Altheric for innocent reasons, like the seamstress Saskia, and the queen didn’t want people to start suspecting them or treating them badly just because they weren’t born in Knightmere, or at least West Altheric.

In any case, the few people they’d been able to prove were followers of Zheraphon had died before the Knights even arrived at their homes or places of business. As soon as a warrant was issued, they vanished or suffered a sudden fatal illness, which meant Augustus and the others still hadn’t rooted out all of the traitors. The ‘good’ news was that some of them were fleeing preemptively, so they’d found a couple when they were reported missing by well-meaning friends or co-workers.

“What about Suze?” Geraldine asked, and Eleanor nodded. The princess had partially returned to the quieter, more subdued version of herself after the attack on Avington House, but she set her jaw and continued wearing pants, though it was now a boys’ Falconet uniform, rather than mismatched servants’ garb.

“She’s fine, just as Mistress Rose said she would be. She’s at home, and Matilda is visiting her every day,” Augustus assured them, and they smiled somewhat wistfully. Both girls had asked to visit their friends, or at least exchange letters, but Augustus didn’t want anyone to know where they were. Apparently Professor Beeswick had split the Falconet library from the ones at Kestrel and Condor, so it seemed like the library was functioning as usual, which meant there definitely weren’t four children, two to three elementals, one adult, as well as whatever Pandy and Keros were living in here.

A small silence fell between them, and almost as one, everyone turned to look at the bowl of water. Abbington had laid his head down beside it, and in spite of the noise, it was obvious that both he and Brook were asleep. They’d been checking on Lian as often as possible over the last few days, and while Abbington and his elemental were apparently both strong and talented – at least according to Professor Beeswick – they were also obviously tired.

Stopping across from Pandy, Keros caught her eyes and nodded. She sighed. She’d really been hoping they’d find some definitive sign of where Lian was being held, and then the Knights of the Royal Eagle could go off and rescue him, entirely without her or Augustus’s assistance.

Giving Thaniel one final squeeze, Pandy tilted her head and squinched her nose at Augustus, trying to indicate that she needed to speak to him in private. Being the Extremely Intelligent person that he was, he immediately picked up on this and said, “Does your head hurt, Eurydice?” His hand was already heading for his cache pocket when she shook her head, defeated.

“I wanted to talk to you about something. Privately,” she said, seeing the way all of the children immediately focused on them. They were handling it surprisingly well, but they were still a group of eight and nine year olds stuck in a space where they weren’t allowed to be loud or messy. Eleanor seemed content to sit and flip through books, but the others were struggling already.

“Here,” Mrs. Farrier said, speaking up for the first time. “Mr. Farrier is taking this opportunity to try a few new recipes. Usually he does it over the summer, so I’m the only one who gets to enjoy it.” She placed her tray down and smiled around at the children conspiratorially before lifting the cover from the platter. A perfectly golden roast bird appeared, along with a scent that made Pandy’s mouth water. Now that she was becoming more alive, she found that she needed to eat at least a little every day, and she was already dreading the natural result of that change. Still, that really did look delicious.

Taking gentle hold of her elbow, Augustus tugged her off to the side while the children were distracted. Keros – who could eat enough protein to give a tiger meat-sweats – reluctantly followed along.