The next morning, I opened the windows the smallest amount they allowed. The wind coming in was colder than I appreciated, but it at least cleared the air. Lilianna joined us, and we sat down for breakfast. I was already getting tired of porridge and jam. I only managed a few spoonfuls before giving up. At that rate, I was going to start losing weight. Even Lilianna was looking a little disappointed. It was a rare moment of solidarity when Branneth wanted to know where the meat was.

“This cannot stand,” said Branneth. “Don’t worry, Hero Lilianna. I am going to do something about this.”

“It’s alright,” said Lilianna. “You don’t have to do anything for my sake.”

“No,” said Branneth firmly. “You’re a Hero. You deserve better treatment than to be served animal feed every morning. Just wait.”

He stomped off, and we left it to him. On his heels, and while breakfast was still on the table, we got a visit from Academy Leader Darkwater. I glanced down at his hems. Vines with clusters of berries.

“I apologise for disturbing you so early,” he said. “But I wanted to tell you something before the meeting.”

A meeting we were presumably also involved in, otherwise he wouldn’t have assumed I already knew what he was talking about. I let it go. I had completely given up on our itinerary.

“It’s not a problem,” I said. “How can I help you?”

“I have news I must share with you,” he said, but came to another stop.

“You have news?” I prompted.

Academy Leader Darkwater couldn’t have been twitchier if he was a mouse spotting cheese.

“You see,” he said, “when Candidate Shanelly made that cheating accusation, I decided to go through all the original examinations. I was expecting to disprove her, you see and vindicate the Academy’s reputation.”

Then you would have been the only person involved to expect that.

“But that’s not what you found?” I asked.

“No,” said Academy Leader Darkwater. “The score card that Candidate Bethany was holding did not initially belong to her. It belonged to Kessandry Altengart.”

“Any relation to Assistant Altengart?” I asked, already seeing where this was going.

“Yes,” he replied. “She’s Assistant Altengart’s younger sister. I admit, I thought long and hard about telling you. But I know my duty to the gods, and that must come before any loyalty I have.”

“Very honourable,” I said. It seemed to be expected.

“I’m sure it had to be an accident,” said Academy Leader Darkwater. “Assistant Altengart probably just wanted to confront her about stealing his sister’s chance, and then things got out of hand.”

That was a popular theory. I wondered how often things ‘got out of hand’ and resulted in murder. Was it a leading cause of death in inconvenient enemies? Right up there with ‘fell out of a window’?

> This seems to be one of those universal truths. As soon as buildings reach a certain height, defenestration becomes a favourite form of government murder. Just plausible enough to claim it to be an accident, while being implausible enough to make sure that everyone knows it isn’t an accident.

I asked a few more follow up questions, but it became clear that was all he had to say. Or all he was willing to say. I thanked him politely and saw him out the door. Every time the door opened, a chilly draft swirled through the rooms, and I was reminded that this wasn’t even close to winter. I was told that people adapted to the new state of normal and hoped it would happen fast.

As soon as the breakfast dishes were removed, Assistant Oxenden arrived. I didn’t think that was a coincidence. I suspected that was the earliest polite time to visit. Assistant Oxenden had hems with little stylised dragons racing around the perimeter. It was the cutest thing I’d seen since I had arrived, and I wanted some of my own.

“I have news,” said Assistant Oxenden. “The destiny-weaver has returned information about the suicide note. You were right, there was more to it. It had magic cast on it originally that had worn off by the time it was discovered.”

“Anything to tell us what it was?” I asked.

“No, not at all,” he said regretfully. “But the destiny-weaver confirmed that it could have been something to make the writing look like it was written with assistance.”

“Or make it glow, or keep it wet?” I asked.

“Yes,” he admitted. “No proof of what it was, just that it happened.”

“Anything about who wrote it?” I asked, although I knew Assistant Oxenden would have led with that if we’d had that kind of luck.

“No,” said Assistant Oxenden. “That was cleansed. That isn’t unusual. Spell casters are trained to cleanse as a matter of course.”

I wondered if constant cleansing implied constant surveillance, or if it was just the equivalent of washing hands after visiting the bathroom. Did those with more magic power typically spy on those without?

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

> Some have wondered if the extreme concern for surveillance His Devotion, Saint Percival the Investigator, is showing here is some sort of hidden clue. I personally believe it simply to be a symptom of his origin world, which was very high surveillance.

Lilianna was the one to point out the obvious. “Every single person who had been excluded because they knew about Candidate Bethany’s disorder is now back under suspicion. With Shanelly Oakswell back to being the top suspect, since it was in her handwriting.”

“Except we also now have independent confirmation that the cheating accusation was valid,” I reminded her.

Assistant Oxenden looked puzzled, so I filled him in with what we had learned from Academy Leader Darkwater.

Assistant Oxenden asked, “Do you think… do you think that House Holder Fairbanks was right about him stealing from Candidate Bethany’s rooms after all? Assistant Altengart has an override key.”

“Why remove the evidence?” asked Lilianna. “Surely he’d want the cheating scandal to come to light if he wanted his sister to come to the academy.”

“Perhaps he realised that it would draw too much attention to him,” he speculated.

“That might explain why it took so long for him to remove it,” added Lilianna.

“Perhaps,” said Assistant Oxenden. “Remember that all the official functions yesterday were cancelled. Yesterday lunch was the first time he could be sure that Candidate Shanelly wouldn’t be present.”

“By the way,” I interrupted. “Academy Leader Darkwater mentioned a meeting shortly. Is that something we are invited to as well?”

“If you wish to be,” said Assistant Oxenden, blinking a few times. “It’s a discussion about how to move forward with the bonding ceremony, all things considered.”

That definitely was something I had an opinion on, although perhaps not one I could admit to. “I think it would be best if we did attend. Thank you.”

“I will send some-one to fetch you,” he said. “It shouldn’t be long now. We’re just waiting on a few things.”

Assistant Oxenden seemed to realise that he had other things to do, and made motions to leave.

“Before you go,” I said, “do you know who I need to speak to about personal expenses? I went to the club last night, and I had no way of contributing my fair share.”

“Ah, apologies,” said Assistant Oxenden. “Yes, someone should have mentioned it before. All the heroes have an account they can charge expenses against. I can set you up with club membership if you’d like?”

While that wasn’t as useful as pure cash would have been, it was better than no money at all.

“Thank you, that would be appreciated,” I said. “In the same line, do you know if it would be possible to purchase private foods? I find myself a little homesick for the foods I had before, and I would appreciate the opportunity to have something a little more familiar from time to time.”

“I’m sure it can be arranged,” said Assistant Oxenden. “I’ll put out the word for someone who wishes to earn some extra money. But please do keep it to yourself. The students would overwhelm the kitchen with requests if given the opportunity.”

I tried not to get my hopes up – I couldn’t order food that didn’t exist – but it might be a small comfort in an unfamiliar world. I also organised with Assistant Oxenden to make a visit to the robe-makers to investigate the ‘clue’ I’d discovered the previous night – although I did imply that I didn’t know the identities of either party involved. I offered to postpone it to the next day, given it was a rest day, but apparently artisans worked on Sundays and took their rest days on Mondays. I was relieved that they did, at least, get rest days. Assistant Oxenden was looking rather harried by the time I let him go, and I resolved to be less demanding in the future. Even his good will would eventually run dry if I kept draining it.

Branneth returned shortly after that. He did not slam the door, but the very measured way he closed the door was almost as loud. I gave up and closed the window again.

“I thought this was a civilised world!” he complained.

“No luck?” I asked.

“No,” he said. “It’s apparently the standard breakfast for everyone. And it’s against policy to customise food for different rooms.”

“It would be quite a burden on the kitchen if they allowed it,” I said with a straight face.

He ignored me to turn to Lilianna. “I’m very sorry, Hero Lilianna. I failed you.”

“That’s alright,” she said. “Thank you for trying.”

Assistant Oxenden had asked us to keep it to ourselves. And on the other hand, no point in getting Branneth’s hopes up if it turned out he’d soured the deal for all of us. I truly hoped he hadn’t, or I would be requesting a room change.

Memo to Self

Stuff to avoid

· Becoming a dragon rider Joining the official dragon rider forces

Information gathering

· Find out about alternative occupations and opportunities

· - Speak to Minister Greenfield in private [not useful]

· - - Find out when he is due to leave before he leaves in four three days tonight, to fix injury

· Investigate other countries and cultures to see if they’re a better fit

· - Determine just how far heroic independence goes

· - - Legally, very far: complete diplomatic immunity

· - - Practically: assistance can be withdrawn

· Track down itinerary [no point]

· Check safety / security of funicular

Opportunities

· Sneak out when harvesting night flowers [7 6 5 days]

· - Walk out down dry river bed towards Cammions

· Deliberately failed bonding [not an option]

Preparations

· Beg, borrow or steal clothes of a different colour

· - Use investigating embroidery as excuse? [Meeting planned with artisan]

· Delay the bonding ceremony as much as possible

· - Extend investigation

· - Imply maximum psychic pollution

· Acquire or fake travel documentation?

· Find way to transport food and water

· - Talk to House Holder Fairbanks about food [done]