“The fact that you, Basil Brysden, are going to an actual party? Or the fact that said party goes against the rules?”
“Both.”
Baz caught himself staring at Kai again as they wound their way through a darkly lit Decrescens library. The navy tailcoat and patterned waistcoat he’d gotten at the tailor fit him like a glove. Kai didn’t wear the ensemble theproperway—his black neck cloth was draped lazily around his neck, his golden chains peeking out from his partly unbuttoned shirt—but this small act of fashion rebellion made him all the more dashing.
Baz, on the other hand, hadn’t felt confident enough to play around with what he’d been given. He felt awkward in his own dark copper tailcoat and golden waistcoat, and though the satin neck cloth felt nice and cool against his skin, he couldn’t help but feel stifled. Or perhaps that was just his nerves.
He was still reeling from the near disaster with the wards earlier,uneasy now in this library he’d always felt at home in. But Clover had insisted they come to the secret party he was throwing—which really wasn’t so secret at all once he’d invited every single student participating in the games, even Wulfrid and his friends.
“Like I’d want to mingle with you depraved lot,” Wulfrid had spat at him. He’d gestured to himself and his three companions. “While you’re having your little fun,we’llbe working on unraveling the wards.”
Clover had shrugged. “Suit yourselves.”
Baz and Kai finally found the stained-glass window Clover had told them to look for. Whereas most of the windows in the Decrescens library depicted poppies—the lunar flower associated with House Waning Moon—this one showed a colorful bouquet of all the house flowers: black narcissus, indigo hollyhocks, white orchids, purple poppies, and a singular sunflower. It was in an alcove at the very back of the library, tucked away in a spot Baz couldn’t remember ever coming to. The faint moonlight that shone through the window hit a large painting on the adjacent wall, which showed a wizened Quies weaving a tapestry of shimmering thread that looked like stardust.
“This is ridiculous,” Baz said with a laugh. “If there was a secret room hidden in here, we would know about it, right?”
“One way to find out.” Kai leaned in toward the painting and whispered, “Velleity.”
For a second, Baz thought the password Clover had given them held no magic at all. But then the painting melted away like liquid silver, transforming into a dark-stained door with a silver waning-moon-shaped knob.
Baz and Kai stood transfixed before it. All these years of haunting the Decrescens library, and Baz had not once heard a single rumor of this.
The door opened onto a smaller library—though still too largefor something that was hidden in the walls—all gleaming dark wood and arched ceilings. Its shelves weren’t lined with books. At first Baz thought they might have been vials of water meant for bloodletting, but he quickly realized they were various bottles of alcohol.
The scene unfolding before them was lavish and exuberant. People drank and chatted and kissed and danced, so careless and free it felt like stepping into another time, or another world entirely. There was none of the stuffiness and decorum of the period. Students mingled in an extravagance of styles and costumes with curious arrays of feathers, furs, hats, and jewels the size of small planets. Some were dressed like Baz and Kai, just as others were barely dressed at all—girls scantily clad in short frilly dresses and boys in sheer shirts that would make people in Baz and Kai’s own time blush.
Jaunty music played, produced by a quartet of finely dressed musicians wearing elaborate powdered wigs and a large amount of rouge on their cheeks. Baz swore he could see the bright reverberations of notes in the air coming from their instruments, some kind of Wordsmith magic, no doubt.
A girl wearing nothing but a bejeweled leotard came up to them, offering them drinks on a golden tray. They were a bright green color, with a rim of salt or sugar around the glass and a decorative crystal flower floating on the surface.
“Yeah, I’m going to need something a bit stronger than… whatever that is,” Kai said with mild disdain.
The girl smirked at him. “Suit yourself. And you?”
Baz grabbed a glass, in part not to offend the girl, but mostly because he thought he might need a bit of liquid courage. Plus, he liked the color, the flower, how innocent it all looked.
One sip had him entering a fit of coughing. His throat was on fire. “Tides,” he sputtered, not complaining when Kai grabbed theglass from him and took a curious sip of his own, “what’sinthis?”
“It’s absinthe,” a laughing voice said behind them. “Not for the faint of heart.”
Clover stood behind them. He wore an all-white suit that looked dramatic and over-the-top with a frilly collar and ample sleeves, his waistcoat adorned with fine-threaded golden accents that shimmered in the light.
“Welcome to our secret library turned ballroom,” Clover said with a smile.
Baz shielded his eyes as a sudden flash flooded the room.
“What is that?” Kai asked, taking the words right out of Baz’s mouth as they stared at a big contraption, behind which stood a student who had the machinery pointed at a smiling, clearly posing couple.
“A new invention,” Clover explained. “They call it a camera. The light captures our likeness on these silver plaques, you see.” Clover clasped them both on the shoulders. “The three of us should take a photograph together to mark our new friendship, don’t you think?”
Panic seized Baz. If this photograph persisted through time, it would be proof to any future eyes that he and Kai had been here. In a time not their own. But before they could refuse Clover with some made-up excuse, he’d dragged them toward the photographer and was making introductions.
“This is Reynald Delaune, brightest Lightkeeper of our generation.” A lazy smile. “Pardon the pun.”
Reynald chuckled. Then his eyes went wide as he took Baz in. “You’re the Timespinner who saved that Ilsker girl earlier!” He grabbed his hand, shaking it fervently. “Bravo, truly. That was incredible.”
“Oh, uh, thanks?”
