We hang it over the alcove and Marquis opens the library door. Ravensloe is waiting with a group of Guardians.
‘Those of you on shift this morning will be escorted to your places of work,’ Ravensloe says. ‘The rest of you –’ he glances at Marquis – ‘will return to your dormitories immediately. The fun is over.’
‘Oh yeah, because spending the night trying to avoid getting murdered was really fun,’ Marquis says.
‘Wherewereyou?’ Atlas says to Ravensloe. ‘Where wereyour Guardians last night when two people were killed?’
I’m surprised at the uncomfortable look that flickers across Ravensloe’s face, but it’s soon replaced by a sneer.
‘We were unaware we were dealing with a group of uncivilised animals.’
‘Have you even found Gideon?’ I ask. ‘Or … any of the other recruits?’
‘We assumed they would be with you,’ Ravensloe says, peering into the room.
The four of us shake our heads.
‘Miss Featherswallow, Miss Rundell, you will be escorted to the glasshouse by these Guardians, for your own safety. And you,’ he says, looking at Marquis. ‘Prime Minister Wyvernmire wishes to congratulate you.’
*
When Sophie and I walk into the glasshouse, Dr Seymour is sipping a steaming cup of coffee at the loquisonus machine. She stands up when she sees us, her eyes red. Tinsel hangs from the ceiling, a half-hearted attempt at celebrating a Christmas Day no one will care to remember.
‘Girls, I heard what happened last night, and about Katherine. Are you all right?’
‘I …’
I’ve been forcing myself not to think about it. Katherine, who grew up Third Class yet never hesitated in becoming friends with Serena, who flirted shamelessly with Marquis, who beat us endlessly at chess.
I can’t believe she tried to kill me. I can’t believe she’s dead.
Dr Seymour begins to cry. ‘It was never meant to happen like this.’
‘Atlas told me everything,’ I say. ‘Do you know about the Bulgarian dragons?’
‘The Bulgarian dragons?’ she says. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Wyvernmire is set to confirm an alliance with them two days from now, if we haven’t cracked the dragon code.’
Dr Seymour sits down again, like a puppet with her strings cut.
‘I had no idea,’ she says. ‘Are you sure?’
I nod. ‘Wyvernmire told me herself. Dr Seymour … if I give Wyvernmire one of the dialects, the one used by Rhydderch and Muirgen, she’ll call off her alliance with the Bulgarians. But if I don’t—’
‘They’ll invade the country,’ Sophie says grimly.
Dr Seymour goes to the cupboard without a word and begins scribbling on a piece of paper. A warning to the rebels.
‘Your dracovol,’ I say, thinking of the miniature dragon nesting in the forest. ‘Will you be able to get to it without anyone seeing?’
She nods, her eyes still on the paper. Of course she will. She’s been doing this for months. She seals the envelope.
‘Vivien, I have to ask you. Do you intend on giving Wyvernmire this first dialect?’
‘I … I don’t know,’ I say, hearing the panic rise in my voice. ‘If I don’t give it to her, then she’ll ally with the Bulgarians and I’ll never see my family again. But—’
Dr Seymour nods once. ‘I’m going to find the dracovol.’
