“I suppose.I wouldn’t confine yourself to… Why—did you find it?”
“I might have,” she breathed, holding the little book apparently made of moonsilver that had been shoved to the back of a drawer.It was as lovely as a piece of jewelry, with tiny hinges and even various precious jewels decorating the slim spine.There were several of the chapbooks in there and she handed another to Jadren.
“Pretty,” he commented.“And made to last.This one is all about fruit.”
“Jadren.”Selly closed her book, heart fluttering with excitement.“I think we found them.”
He grinned, then gave her a hard, enthusiastic kiss.“We sure did.Will we get a medal for it, do you think?”
“You’ll have to savor the internal validation, I’m afraid.”She studied one of the little books.“I still don’t get it, though.These are as obscure as the other documents.”Cillian had let them look at those, theorizing it might help them recognize the key.“I think we have to get these to Convocation Academy safely and see what Cillian can do.”
He sobered.“It would be nice to have back-up copies.”
“How would we do that though?”She wiggled the silver book so it caught the light, gems flashing.“Even House Xerograf only copies paper.”
“Anciela, you cagey witch,” Jadren muttered in frustration.“Why make it so difficult?”
“She made them to last.”
“True treasures, hidden away.At least Cillian was able to copy the other information.It feels safer to bring that here, keep these hidden in the arcanium.”
She shook her head.“We don’t have time for that.We should leave right away.Hopefully we can get these safely to Convocation Center before anyone figures out we found them.”
“I suppose you’re right,” he conceded glumly.“And here I was hoping to have a nice meal, maybe a real bath, and a good night’s sleep.”
A bolt of panic struck her.“Dark arts.Dinner with my parents.”
“We’ll have to send our regrets.”
“No,” she decided.“I want to ask my mother about her pregnancies and if she ever met Nic and Alise’s maman.We’ll just have to make it quick.”
He presented her with a bag he’d extracted from a pocket of his leathers.“Good thing I thought to bring this for our heist.”
Feeling a bit as if she sullied precious objects with bad handling, she set the little books in the bottom, watching Jadren seal the bag.“If you have another, I can put it over my mother’s head when she starts with the baby talk.”
He chuckled.“Courage, fair one.”
~18~
Gabriel went withthe garrulous Bertie to where Lady Órlaith Harahel was interviewing the various Harahel wizards employed by Convocation Academy.She was a few days into the process—several steps ahead of them—and ensconced in the empty office Provost Uriel had provided.A number of scholarly looking wizards from school age to ancient cooled their heels in the waiting area, every one with a book in their hands.
All of them glanced up and did a double-take upon seeing Bertie.
“Lord Harahel Emeritus,” one young woman blurted in astonishment, jumping to her feet, trying to bow, and nearly dropping her book, instead stepping on the hem of her too-long skirt and having to straighten awkwardly, lest she fall over.“Why are you—I mean, it’s a surprise to see you—That is, is everything all right at House Harahel?”
Bertie cackled and actually patted her on the head.“No need to worry, little Louisa Harahel.Look how you’re growing up.”
She both flushed and beamed.“I’m a wizard now,” she offered.“Just barely.”Indeed, her eyes which must have been a light cornflower blue had just begun to darken to wizard-black.
“Of course you are.Well done.”Bertie beamed back at her.“Are you all here to see Órlaith?”
“Yes, Lord Emeritus,” another scholar replied, a middle-aged man.“We’ve all been summoned to report for an appointment time, but—ah.”He coughed politely.“Lady Harahel must be running behind schedule.”
Gabriel suppressed a smile, remaining gravely standing just behind and to the side of Bertie, aware that he towered over everyone in the room and that they cast him surreptitious, curious glances.He wore a brooch with the House Phel crest—a silver moon over still water—but unlike most citizens of the Convocation, these scholars all seemed to recognize it.House Phel was too newly resurrected and, he had to be honest with himself, too irrelevant to the political and social scene for anyone to have memorized either the crest or what the current head of the house looked like.People were far more likely to recognize Nic, something that didn’t bother him in the least.
“Is that so?”Bertie gave the room a smile, not bothering to introduce Gabriel, which was also fine with him.“I’ll speak to Órlaith about that.We can’t have our valuable wizards sitting around waiting on her to get organized.”
“Oh, no, Lord Emeritus, I didn’t mean…” the wizard stammered, but Bertie had already cheerfully charged toward the closed door and flung it open.“Órlaith,” he bellowed.
