Rinka came up to her and put her arm around her shoulder. Ceri loved Rinka. She was what she imagined having a sister would be like.
“Should we go out there, Ceri? Does he need help?” asked Keir.
“No,” said Ceri. “Don’t go out there. He’s not there, I’m telling you. He’s not there!”
“Let’s get you back to the dining hall and into some dry clothes, and we can talk about it,” said Rinka.
“Oh,” said Ceri. She removed Rinka’s arm for a moment and concentrated on the water soaking her school uniform, her hair, her body. There was a lot of it, far more than the contents of the coffee up that she’d picked up right here in the library.
Leo’s tea coffee.
She sobbed, and then added those tears to the floating ball of water.
“You’ve been practicing,” said Idris, awed.
Ceri opened the door, flung the water outside with her magic, and slammed it shut again.
“What happened to you?” Ceri asked him. He looked like death.
“Let’s wait to go over all of that when we get back to the others,” said Alison. “I’m not sure what could be listening. Ceri, none of us have much energy left for magic after tonight. If something happens—”
“I got it,” said Ceri. “Did you all come looking for me?”
“Yes,” said Idris. “Lady Sibba and Weyland as well. Has anyone seen them?”
“No,” said Willow. “I could smell them in the hall though. It seemed like they went to the dorms as planned.”
“Should we go and find them? What if they had a similar encounter to ours?” asked Alison.
“Let’s check the dining hall first,” said Keir. “It’s closer.”
“There’s a professor that practices some form of witchcraft,” said Idris. “Maybe she can help if they need it.”
Ceri felt bad about putting all of these people in danger chasing after Leo only to…to…
“Hold on, princess,” said Rinka as Ceri cried, putting her arm around her again. “It’ll be alright. We’ll figure it out.”
Ceri really wanted to believe her.
They traced the path back through the books—Ceri had to be stopped from trying to put them back on the shelves in order to save her energy in case it was needed—and returned to the dining hall, to the immense relief of Dean Whittaker.
“Oh, you’re back! You’re all back!” said the Dean. Lady Sibba rushed over with Weyland close behind.
“What happened to you?” asked Lady Sibba. “Was it the blood? Did you see it too? Oh, hello, princess. Glad you’re alright.”
“Where’s Leo?” said Professor Marin. “Did you find him?”
“Can we have a place to sit down?” asked Idris.
“Of course, of course,” said Dean Whittaker. He directed Weyland to the stacked dining room chairs and benches. He and Rinka arranged them in a circle in a far corner of the room.
“Let’s start with Ceri,” said Idris. “Tell us what happened to Leo.”
“I went to your office first. I thought he might have gone there for his objects, but the door was locked. I opened it anyway, just in case he’d locked it back from the inside. But no one was in there. Your closet was unlocked, and I could see he had taken them back, so I thought I’d try the library.”
“The objects?” asked Dean Whittaker.
Idris and Professor Marin filled him in on Leo’s research and Idris’s confiscation.
