Farlands?'
Wynn stared at him, remembering their seemingly casual chat on the ride back to the guild. The first words that came to mind were…
She bit her tongue. This was why he'd been so innocently curious about sages and journeyors and assignments. All his polite questions were nothing more than a way to get into her head. She stopped petting Snowbird.
'My first loyalty is to the guild,' she replied coldly, 'as well as to any agreement of confidence requested of them by the royal family. But I have other information you should know.'
'And what is that?' he returned.
'Jeremy was working—without guild knowledge—for a moneylender under investigation by the high advocate.'
All the morning's trials and frustration faded from Rodian's face.
He slowly shook his head. Wynn guessed that he might've known of such a case, as head of the city guard. But obviously a link to the deaths hadn't occurred to him—not without the connection she'd just provided.
Rodian patted Snowbird once more. He pointed toward the lone stone bench to the courtyard's left, and Wynn followed to sit with him. She repeated what Nikolas had shared concerning Selwyn Midton and the forged account books. For now she kept Nikolas's involvement to herself. Rodian listened carefully to every word.
'Why didn't you tell me this yesterday?' he asked.
'I just found out last night. But please be discreet. Even you can see how badly this might damage the guild's reputation… and the memory of a dead apprentice.'
'Even I?' he returned, but he let the barb pass. 'Who told you this?'
Wynn shook her head. 'I cannot say.'
Rodian's ire began to spread across his face again.
'There's more,' she said.
She wasn't certain how to begin, as Duchess Reine had mentioned one of the parties involved.
'Do you know Baron Twynam's son, Jason?'
'Why?' he asked cautiously, which implied «yes» to her question.
'He and Elias were courting the same girl, a merchant's daughter named Elvina. Jason caught Elias one night and threatened to kill him if he didn't stay away from her. I think Elias was going to meet her the night he died.'
Rodian's blue eyes widened, and his voice rose. 'Where did you hear that?'
She shook her head. 'I'm not even certain it'll be helpful,' she replied. 'What you do next is your own business, but remember discretion… if you expect anything more from me.'
Wynn got up and headed across the courtyard, and the captain didn't try to stop her.
Rodian had to investigate all possible leads, but he'd been «royally» warned off of pressing the sages—at least for now.
Wynn fought to remain rational. She had to at least entertain the possibility that Jeremy and Elias had died for some reason other than the folio they'd carried. And the burglary at Master Shilwise's was just a coincidence. But a feeling in the pit of her stomach said otherwise.
Entering the common hall, she found Domin High-Tower and Premin Sykion speaking quietly by the great hearth. Whatever tour they were giving Duchess Reine seemed to have been interrupted, and il'Sänke was nowhere in sight. Wynn willed herself calm as she went to her superiors.
'Thank you for seeing the captain out,' Premin Sykion said. 'A bit of air has done you good.'
Wynn bit down again at this condescension. Treating her like a child was just another way of undermining her. Although she didn't care for High-Tower's cold looks and lectures, at least he was openly hostile.
'Thank you,' she answered politely. 'I understand that we must keep the translations away from general citizens, like the captain… but you both know someone may be seeking the contents of our folios.'
High-Tower grumbled under his breath with a snort, but said nothing discernible.
'If I had access to my journals,' she continued, 'and translations, and the codex of all recent work, I might help find what this…
'Wynn!' High-Tower growled, trying to silence her.
'I didn't just carry back those texts!' Wynn snapped, and it came out too loud, echoing around the empty hall. 'I handpicked every one the best that I could! I know what I chose and why.'
She took a long breath, grasping for calm once more, and appealed directly to the premin.
'Please… I can help stop these thefts, or at least offer a motivation for them.'
Premin Sykion raised a hand at High-Tower's impending barrage.
'Wynn, do you truly believe you would understand the texts better than the masters of our order, or even those of the other orders helping us? Is that not rather prideful and assumptive?'
Wynn clenched her hands so tightly that her fingernails bit into her palms.
'Please… Premin,' she repeated. 'What harm could there be in giving me access?'
The slightest flicker of anger crossed Sykion's narrow, serene face. 'Your place here, as well as your soundness of mind, has been in question for some time. You will keep away from what does not concern you.'
Premin Sykion and Domin High-Tower walked away together.
Wynn stared after the pair until they vanished out of the north archway. She turned to the fireplace and crossed her arms, clutching herself tightly, as if it were the only way to hold herself in one piece.
Why hadn't she presented a more reasoned argument? Someone or something was willing to kill for the secrets of the texts—someone who could read the Begaine syllabary. And none of her superiors seemed the slightest bit willing to acknowledge that truth.
She leaned forward until her forehead touched the hearth's warm headstones.
'Oh, Chap,' she whispered. 'What would you do?'
He'd rebelled against his kin, the Fay, not only to save her life, but to do what he knew was right for those he watched over. In becoming an outcast among his kind, even an enemy to them, he found the courage to bear that sacrifice.
Wynn gazed into the hearth's low embers.
If—when—she ever saw Chap again, how could she look him in the eyes unless she found the same in herself?
Chapter 6
At midmorning Rodian stepped from the city ministry hall overlooking the bay with two addresses in hand: one for Selwyn Midton's shop and the other for the man's home. He'd heard of charges filed against an illicit moneylender but never connected this to either deceased sage.
Once mounted upon Snowbird, Rodian turned eastward through thr city.
The inner business district was closest to the royal grounds. He passed one small bank with polished granite steps and a fine inn of massive size called the Russet Palace. Visiting merchants and even the wealthier ones of Calm Seatt often retained residency there for a whole season. He should've been relieved to have uncovered anything besides the guild itself to investigate, but instinct told him to focus on the contents of those missing folios.
And yet Duchess Reine had asked him to follow other leads.
He passed through the merchant district's fringe, filled with respectable and utilitarian shops for basic necessities. Then he slowed to carefully guide Snowbird through a bustling open-air market.
Why were the royals, the duchess included, protecting the sages and their project? He still remembered going before her inquest tribunal in the main hall of the greatest of the three castles. At first he hadn't cared for the arrangement.
The royals of old had established a rule for all citizens to be held accountable in like fashion. Legal proceedings were always held at the city's high court, prosecuted by the high advocate of the people. It wasn't
