I couldn’t help my grin as I shook my head with a snort.
“I need to pull you from your usual assignments for a while,” I told her.
“Why?” she asked, diving back into her chicken without concern.
“Raghnall found some witnesses willing to testify about Cosmo’s actions that day. I can’t trust the Guardians to protect them until the trial.”
“You’re worried Cosmo will have them killed so they can’t speak out against him.”
“I am. Since I can’t trust the Guardians, that means I need to source some enforcement myself. The only people I have to offer are our own. So you’ll be on protection duty for a while, just until the trial. Nick will be watching a pair of brothers down on the Third. Cleo is already busy checking on an older seamstress woman who does some work up on the Second from time to time. I figured you can make sure some horrible accident doesn’t befall that Harrison guy and Pax can–”
“Why him?” Olympia asked, dropping her feet off the desk so suddenly she nearly sent the chicken toppling over the side.
I raised a brow.
“I just mean, why put me on him specifically?” she asked in a rush.
“He’s had run-ins with Cosmo before,” I answered, slowly, wondering where this was coming from, “and you’re the best I have. I trust no one to keep him safe more than you. Besides, you’ve already had more interaction with him than anyone else since he caught you sneaking into his apartment and helped get the Bexleys up here to speak with me.”
“Right, of course.”
I was certain I didn’t imagine the calm that settled over Olympia as she relaxed back in her chair. But she didn’t resume her eating and didn’t seem able to keep her right foot from tapping after that. I’d missed something, I was sure of it, but I couldn’t imagine what it might be.
“We need–”
I was interrupted by the acolyte from before entering the study once more. She wasn’t alone this time. Two more in whitefollowed after her, a box overloaded with books in each of their arms. They set them down beside my desk and filed out before the girl could even speak.
“She liked to write,” the young acolyte told me, blowing out a breath and giving a pointed glance at the boxes. “These are most of her journals, like you requested. We’re still looking into family records and letters but I’m sure there will be more.”
“Thank you,” I told her, looking down at the boxes in surprise as she filed out behind the others, closing the door as she went.
“What’s this?” Olympia asked with a frown, peering over the edge of the boxes to look down at the journals piled up within them.
I reached for one and read the cover.
Adelaide of Avus
1891
Brows furrowed, I pulled out another, then another. Then I reached for one out of the second box. Each of them had the same heading on the front. The girl’s name, House, and year. Which meant she wrote one of these every year, but that didn’t make sense. She must have overlapped some years, maybe had more to discuss in those than others; big events, politics, etc. There were far too many for each of them to only be for one year.
“Who’s Adelaide?” Olympia asked from across the desk where she’d reached into the box closest to her and extricated one of the journals. “And why are you interested in whatever happened in 2018?”
My gaze snapped up to meet hers.
“2018,” I repeated. “Are you sure?”
Olympia frowned but held the journal out to me so I could read the cover.
Adelaide of Avus
2018
“That’s impossible,” I said.
“I agree,” Olympia muttered. “Who could write this much?”
“No,” I stood up from the desk and knelt down by the boxes, rifling through them and looking at the years on the covers. “I mean there’s over a hundred and twenty years worth of journals here, all under one woman’s name. How is that possible?”
