Ceri waited for Ana to fall asleep and then slipped away, carefully stepping around the beds and tables, heading for the toilets.
The lights were still out, but Ceri had taken Alison’s candle, which she had left behind after their meeting. She lit it with her magic and headed into a stall, pulling the door shut behind her.
She carefully balanced the candle on the floor, pulled out the journal, and began to read.
Journal of Leorias of Gallia, Doctoral Candidate in ‘Lectrics
Summer–Autumn, Year Three
If found, please return to Professor Marin’s Laboratory
Ceri snapped the journal shut again. Could she do this? Ceri knew that he recorded the numbers in the journal when he tookhis measurements, but did it contain any of his private thoughts as well? She assumed so; it’s why she didn’t mention it yet to the others. And if there was anything in there about her, she wanted the chance to read it first.
But to do that, she needed to actually read it. It felt like a violation.
It was also really, extremely tempting.
They had only known each other for a couple of weeks. There was a decent chance she wasn’t mentioned at all.
But if she was mentioned, what did he say about her? Would he have written anything about the night they met? The night they watched the shooting stars?
Would he have written about that moment when he looked at her before she sat up and ruined it?
She thought about that moment. A lot.
Or what about the things he’d said he liked about her?
She wanted to know.
But that wasn’t the reason she was going to read it. She needed to read it because he might have mentioned what his plan was tonight, and it might be the key to finding out where he had gone.
And if she found out anything else incidentally, well, that couldn’t really be helped, could it?
Ceri opened the journal again, this time flipping through pages until she found the last entry.
Friday, Day 5 of Autumn Term
The items were reacquired from PI’s storage with minimal effort, but I was forced to leave prior to cleaning up the mess. Here’s hoping he doesn’t check his storage prior to joining the others in the dining hall.
The dining hall matter poses some concern, but there will likely be too many people to do a thoroughaccounting. I have no means of preventing my discovery other than hiding until the storm begins in earnest. It would be ideal to take all measurements in the exact same location, but I’ll have to assume that some taken in the cloister won’t impact the numbers too greatly.
I remain convinced that the exact center of the courtyard has some degree of impact on the readings, especially considering the final reading from the horn prior to its confiscation.
I have considered bringing LBB into this plan. She would no doubt be of use. But as there is some degree of hazard from the storm conditions, I cannot risk it. She is—
There were lines marked out here. Ceri pondered the acronyms as she tried to read the struck text: PI was clearly Prince Idris, but who was LBB? She could think of no one at the university with those initials. Lady Blue Blood? Lady SiBBa? Little Book Brat?
Did he mean her?
She squinted and tilted the text at all angles, trying to make it out.
extr——ary. All plans — her front have failed, mise—. She can— be —ided. The feel— —not be reasoned —. She is inevi—le.
“Godsdammit,” she muttered. Perhaps once she’d read some of the other entries, she’d know his handwriting well enough to make better sense of it.
One additional note: as I searched for my objects in PI’s storage, I found two other items of interest. The first gave average to below average readings with the magimeter; see table above as “Ring—Sapphire.” Thesecond, however, gave the highest readings I have ever seen from any object, including the horn. See “Watch—Gold.” I would have liked to ask PI permission to study these items in particular, but I did not feel it would be granted in time for this unprecedented event. As the conditions cannot be replicated later, after I have convinced PI of my intentions, I have borrowed them temporarily without permission.
It weighs on my conscience to do so, but with any luck, I’ll be able to return them before he even realizes they’re gone. This, I know, is a considerable risk. Should I fail in this endeavor, PI will likely be hostile towards me for the foreseeable future. This could pose a problem if—
