Kai finally relented, his own morbid curiosity apparently satisfied. Or maybe just to appease Baz’s fear.
They bumped into Jae as they made their way back to the lighthouse. There was a twinkle in their eye as they clapped them both on the back.
“There you two are. Come on, it’s time we get to work on your training.” Jae winked at Baz. “We need to get you ready for the Quadricentennial.”
Baz groaned, wishing he’d stayed back at the cave. This, he wasn’t looking forward to.
“Remind me again what this Quadricentennial entails?” Baz’s mother asked as they all sat around the kitchen table later that evening, a frown of consternation on her face.
The Quadricentennial was to be the biggest event of the century, marking Aldryn College’s four hundredth anniversary. Every centennial, Aldryn hosted a month-long celebration to which students from other magical colleges around the world were invited. In the past, deadly, cutthroat games had been held, pitting student against student as they sought glory and knowledge. But these games hadn’t been held since the school’s Bicentennial; no one knew exactly what happened that year, but it was catastrophic enough that the college not only discontinued the tradition but also canceled their Tricentennial celebrations altogether.
This year, there was a buzz of excitement surrounding the Quadri, because the college had decided to bring the games back, though in a way that focused more on academia than anythingelse. The college would be hosting panels and workshops led by the world’s leading magical experts as well as academic challenges that students could enroll in to showcase their magic.
There would be theoretical challenges where students would solve complicated equations revolving around tidal bulges and moon position degrees, and practical challenges where they would form teams with students of other houses and alignments to solve complex puzzles using only the magic at their disposal. With scouts from the area and abroad watching like hawks, it would be a chance for students all over to prove their worth, to make connections that might land them highly sought-after jobs and internships and scholarships to the most prestigious postgraduate programs.
And Baz had been roped into participating.
While Eclipse-born were allowed to compete in the challenges, not many of them had signed up. Understandable, given the stigma surrounding their abilities and the very real fear of Collapsing. Baz had always known his final year at Aldryn would be the school’s Quadricentennial, though he never anticipated entering the games should they ever be reinstated. But all that had changed now.
Now his participation in the Quadri was a crucial part of their grand plan to bring justice to Eclipse-born. Because despite their case getting thrown out of court and the odds being stacked against them, what with the corruption of the Institute and the power that the Selenic Order wielded over the Regulators, they had no other option but to keep fighting.
It was Jae who’d had the idea for the Quadri.
“If Baz wows everyone with his magic—and I’ve no doubt he will—it might sway the public opinion in our favor. Academic scouts use the Quadri to assess talent, but most of them won’t expect to find it in an Eclipse-born, especially not one with sucha rare gift as our Timespinner. They’ll marvel at his precision and control, and when we finally reveal that Baz has been Collapsed for years now—without giving away the, ah, unfortunate details of his Collapsing, of course—people will recall that precision and control and realize Baz was never a danger to them. They’ll see that Collapsings aren’t inherently bad.”
“Or they’ll twist it around and condemn Basil for putting all these people in danger,” Anise countered.
Jae merely shrugged. “It’s a risk we have to take.”
“And why does Basil have to be the one to take that risk? Why can’t it be someone else?” Anise stopped herself with her eyes on Kai, as if just remembering that Baz was the only Eclipse-born left at Aldryn. Her gaze softened. “Someone from another college, perhaps.”
Theodore patted his wife’s hand. “Basil can handle himself. Isn’t that right, son?”
Baz nodded shyly, feeling the weight of everyone’s attention on him.
“He’ll show all the assholes at that school how it’s done,” Kai said with a sardonic smile, and Baz was grateful to him for breaking the tension.
“And we really do need to put all chances on our side,” Jae said, “especially as more and more Collapsed Eclipse-born seek to join our little revolution.” They cleared their throat, a somber look in their eyes. “Word of what I’m doing in Threnody is getting around faster than I can take people in, which is wonderful, but also comes at a risk.”
Jae had always been a secretive type, full of mysterious connections from all around the world, and Baz now understood why. They communicated with other Eclipse-born through secret channels, by telegraph and letters and other ways Baz wasn’t privy to. Jae had sent out the call to find other Collapsed Eclipse-born inneed of help, and magically the news had spread without raising any alarm with the Regulators.
Theodore was squinting his eyes at his former business partner. “What are you not telling us, Jae?”
Jae sighed. “Do you remember Freyia Lündt, a woman who Collapsed in Trevel a few years back?”
Theodore’s eyes bulged. “TheReanimator?”
“Yes, the Reanimator.” Jae thrummed their fingers on the table. “She asked to meet me in Threnody.”
A deathly quiet settled over the lighthouse. Baz remembered reading about the Reanimator in the papers a few months after his father had been taken away to the Institute. She had magic as rare as his own Timespinner abilities, but far more sinister. She could bring things back to life, so to speak—though from what Baz understood, the corpses she brought back from the dead weren’t exactlyalive. They were empty vessels that only imitated life. Her Collapsing had been brought on after she’d killed a dozen people for the sole purpose of testing the boundaries of her magic on them.
Freyia Lündt had escaped the Regulators’ clutches, narrowly avoiding the Unhallowed Seal, only to spark more terror wherever she went. Death followed in her wake—as did theundead. There were rumors of gruesome murders and corpses brought back all wrong, their bones bent at odd angles and their magic acting up, as if being brought back from the dead rotted their powers from the inside out.
When people told each other horror stories of Eclipse-born who’d succumbed to the dark curse of their Collapsing, it was the Reanimator who haunted their thoughts.
And Jae wanted tomeetwith her?
“You can’t be serious,” Kai said with a gruff, nervous laugh. And ifKaiof all people thought this idea was absurd, then it surely must be.
