Marie

Month 12, Day 9, Wednesday, 7:00 AM

Poe never woke early. Or, at least, Marie never thought Poe woke early. Except this morning, he knocked on her door even as she was just putting on her shoes.

“Good morning Marie!” Poe chirped. Despite his tone, he looked slightly manic, with dark fatigue under his eyes..

“Uh, good morning?”

“Let’s head up to the University. I have a good feeling about our chances of meeting Professor Lacer and discussing the progress on the investigation.”

“Uh, this early?” Marie was surprised. “How are you …”

“Awake? Didn’t sleep.” Poe replied.

“Ah.”

“I found a book on physical exercise, and I’ve prepared a physical self defense course; I’m thinking some stick fighting, because you are too small to do much damage with much of anything.”

Marie winced. “Did you stay awake all night for that?”

“Couldn’t sleep. I’ll take a nap in a few hours. You’ll want your cloak; let’s go eat!”

Marie put on her cloak with her garnet cloak pin and followed Poe out of the August Agency into the city. Some long wool socks kept her calves from freezing, but she again wished for her boots.

They found a street vender selling a spicy beans and rice concoction wrapped in a flat bread and then hired a carriage to head up the hill to the University.

Marie had seen the magical elevators before, but she’d never ridden in them. There seemed to be an impossibly long winding stair that they could have used. Poe, however, had no trouble getting permission to ride the elevators. He showed some sort of token, which Marie guessed proved his status as a journeyman graduate, and they were ushered into one of the lifts in exchange for some money.

When they reached the top they found a guarded iron gate. Poe did stop for long enough to allow Marie to gaze, somewhat open-mouthed, at the city that spread out below the cliffs from the entrance to the University. Close to cliffs, and across the gulf, were the grand homes of the wealthy and the parklands reserved for the privileged. Father away, and into the Mires, Marie could see the factories and workshops nestled along the the canals, the grey homes and shacks become less attractive the farther away one lived from the heart of Gilbratha.

“The city looks bigger from up here than I even imagined.” Marie told Poe. She tried, and somewhat failed, to sound like a mature observer. The view thrilled her on a level she’d never experienced before. So far up, everything smelt clear and fresh. Marie decided that the people living on the great plateaus surrounding the city must imagine that nothing could touch them. The University and the Palace looked down on all the tiny, inconsequential, people below.

She tried to imagine what it would be like to be one of these few. This was Poe’s plan for her? She wasn’t noble. How would she ever relate to these people?

“Is this what it feels like to be untouchable?” Marie asked.

“The University has placed itself above everyone that it could, but it is not untouchable. The food comes from the city’s farms. The books printed in city book presses. The cerelium from mines in the countryside. The trade goods from the docks. The fish from the gulf. The magical components from the rest of the world.” Poe paused. “If the University did not represent the greatest collection of magical knowledge in the world, it would be abandoned for its ruinous expense.”

Poe stopped in a small building by the gate; he persuaded the security with deft explanation and managed to get two temporary passes.

Marie had only ever seen the University at a distance. There were round towers, a massive library, and plenty of elaborate buildings. The white stone of the University Building, towering seven stories over the campus, glowed with reflected pink and gold in the morning light. But, what stood out to Marie were the trees.

Down in the city, a tree might struggle for light in some hidden courtyard, or there might be a few on the grounds of a wealthy manse, but here trees grew in great plenty, isolating the buildings from each other and the world. There were parks, of course, but those weren’t for people like her. These trees, however, just grew, unconstricted by street boxes or grates.

Marie had heard stories of forests, but she had never seen one before. Here was the closest to a forest that she’d ever encountered, surrounded by a green carpet of grass that showed some signs of brief snowfall in the shady places near the the tree trunks and beneath evergreen boughs.

Cold wind blew through even the sheltering trees, and Marie tucked her arms under her ruana.

Poe lead them into this seeming artificial forest; Marie could see the shapes of small cottages hidden among the trees. Eventually, they reached the front door of one of them. When Poe came to its door, he knocked politely. He tucked his hands into outer pockets of his koi-coat. Shortly, the familiar long-haired professor opened the door.

Poe cut through any niceties immediately.

“I have a report for you on your request; may I come in?”

Professor Lacer scowled slightly. “I suppose you want coffee?”

“No need to go to the trouble, Grandmaster, I’m sure you have classes to prepare for.”

“Hmm. Yes, I was preparing my lecture on transmutation and transmogrification.”

“The turtle-egg demonstration? I enjoyed that one.”

“Sorry, what are you talking about?” Marie asked.

“The theory of practical sorcery holds that transmutation converts natural forms or energy, and transmogrification borrows from concepts to create a magical effect.” Poe replied. “Grandmaster Lacer’s demonstration shows that many magical effects use both. You needn’t worry about it for now.”

“I suppose your report includes lecturing your student on my lessons?” Grandmaster Lacer said blandly. “I am awake early to receive the delivery at my classroom this morning.”

“To your commission then. I’ve found two ways to reach Siobhan Naught. The first is obvious: contact Lord Stag.”

“Really?”

“He must know her or how to contact her. But, he is interested in keeping the Raven Queen’s secrets, and he wears a mask at all times. So.”

Grandmaster Lacer frowned. “Very well. The second method?”

“You have been consulting with the coppers, and they have an interesting piece of information. You might acquire something that Siobhan Naught desires. You are aware of the Gervins?”

“Of course. The Gervin’s presumptive heir is in my class.”

“Someone in the Gervin family has attempted to barter with Ennis Naught for the book.”

“Did they?” Lacer smirked a bit.

“It might have been unremarkable except … Siobhan Naught asked Ennis for a conduit housed in an heirloom ring. Ennis used the ring to negotiate his freedom in exchange for offering his daughter’s hand in marriage to a Gervin; the ring was supposed to be a dowery, like some old farmer trading a cow.”

Marie noticed that neither Poe or Lacer seemed happy at this behavior. A traditional dower was out of favor, but it would have been especially insulting to a sorcerer of the Raven Queen’s cleverness and power.

“I’m sure you’ll see more about it in the copper’s files, should you read them yourself.” Poe continued. “But, you could acquire the ring. If the Raven Queen has a method to locate it, that would be another method to contact her.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“Any other possibilities? These seem unlikely methods.”

“I planned to determine if she has made a direct contact with the magical underworld. There’s a black-market trade in information, magic, and components. But, that might take weeks. Short term, I might only be able to pass a message, if I am lucky.”

“I’m not interested in passing a message, but if you can contact her, I’d be interested in what you learn. Do you need money for bribes?”

“Bribes? An amateur might try that, but no one in this group would be willing or interested in going up against a blood sorcerer like the Raven Queen. If money swayed them, the copper’s reward would be enough. We’re talking about unlicensed witches and tax evaders, not magical crime lords.”

Grandmaster Lacer nodded. Marie noticed that he remained largely unreadable, but still seemed pleased. He wrote Poe a draft of some kind, to be drawn at a bank in the city. When he handed the draft to Poe, Grandmaster Lacer offered one more comment.

“I thought you might not come back from the accident. It seems, however, that you recovered. I’ll allow you return return to my class, if you decide to enroll. You were only a few semesters from completing your mastery; your capacity was already sufficient I believe?”

Marie thought Poe looked a little sick. “There’s not much point in that now. I am an investigator. That will be good enough.”

Grandmaster Lacer nodded slowly. “I am aware enough of the details; if you need, you may consult me. The Red Guard’s vow won’t apply.”

“Thank you, Professor. Perhaps in a few years, if the curse … anyway. Thank you. We will let the you know if we find a reliable way to make contact with the Raven Queen.”

Lacer showed them out.

On their way back out through the copse of trees, Marie thought Poe seemed especially quiet. He walked slowly, and Marie did not have trouble keeping up.

“I didn’t know you could come back.” Marie said.

“I could, but I won’t.”

Marie thought about that as they walked. Marie took in the rattling branches in the trees, while the sun shown down through their branches. The air felt crisp and the wind blew softly in the trees like a whisper.

Students were traveling the park-like campus with their satchels and papers, moving from the dorms to the main building. They looked clean, with stylish clothes, and purposeful expressions. Determined.

When Marie looked at Poe, she realized how young he must be. How long ago had he been a student? Marie had imagined he’d been an investigator for years, but while the August Agency’s building, and some furniture—like the couches—showed signs of wear and age, his books and desk must have been less than a year old. Her own black table was practically new.

“Could you be a full Master, if you wanted?”

Poe made a noncommittal noise, but he did not answer Marie’s question. As they emerged among a cluster of large buildings, Poe left Marie to wait on a bench and he left to send a message.

She sat and watched the students, hurrying about, laughing, and among their friends. Some of them might have watched her back, a little, but none tried to accuse her of being the Raven Queen, although one blonde watery-eyed boy slowed near her.

Following not far behind him, she saw one well-dressed group of younger students that caught her eye. A fashionably dressed, brown-haired and blue-eye young man, a blonde young woman with similarly pale blue eyes but dressed in a suit more commonly worn by men, and one more: a tall young man with light pale skin, pale blonde hair, and black eyes. Eyes very much like her own black-brown. Eyes like the Raven Queen, whose black hair and eyes lead to so much confusion.

“Silverling, will you be passing on pointers to us in Burberry’s class?” The brown-haired fellow said to the blond young man.

“Westbay,” the young black-eyed man replied, “if you’re inadequately attentive on your own, you can hardly expect me to make up the difference for you.”

Marie figured that—while the remark seemed scathing—Silverling hadn’t put any real contempt behind it. And, while Silverling remained quiet, the other two chattered on, as they walked past Marie. Marie surreptitiously watched them as they walked off into the main building.

Marie had never heard the name Silverling, but she knew Westbay. The Westbays controlled the Coppers. Was this the sort of people that went to the University? The scions of Crown families and privileged elites? Did they have any idea what the city below was actually like?

Seeing them reminded Marie of her real place in the world. The University trained people with mundane and magical power; the kind of power that could get her free of the Mires. She would have to work hard to catch up to people like Westbay and Silverling. She was beginning to see the shape of the debt she would owe Poe for his promise to get her into the University. No wonder her Mama worried.

Poe returned with a light step, and cheerful expression.

“We need to speak to Canelo, and we will wait for her in the Menagerie. It’s quite the fascinating place, really. Although it’s also dangerous. Many of the plants—and most of the animals—can kill the careless in many clever and horrible ways.” Poe said.

“Kill?”

“You didn’t think magic was safe, did you?” Poe asked rhetorically.

Poe lead them up the plateau to a what first appeared to be wild garden. But stepping on the path inside the Menagerie, Marie realized she could practically feel the magic the plants gave off. Here and there students appeared to be collecting cuttings and putting them in baskets. Marie took Poe’s warning to heart and kept her hands to herself, and walked in the center of the path.

“There are many magical plants in the world, and even more from the elemental planes. All of them can be used in magic.” Poe lectured.

As they walked, he pointed to seemingly random plants and explained their virtues: plants that could be used to boost spells through power, symbolism, or even to transfer their effect to potions and pills. He pointed out several bushes whose leaves and bark could be used for magical effects: aiding in sleep, accessing the deep unconscious, reducing pain, speeding healing, granting wakefulness. He pointed out a red-stemmed bush that was one of his principle ingredients in his kinninnik, and he showed her a plant with silvery leaves used to substitute for more specific elements in cooling or heating spells, depending on whether picked in summer or winter.

Eventually, they reached a little out-of-the-way bridge over the stream.

“This is a good spot to wait.” Poe told her.

“Why?” Marie asked.

“The sound of running water metaphorically, and physically, carries the words spoken here away. This location hides deep beneath wards to protect the Menagerie. A bridge reinforces the space between things: bridges connect places, ideas, and people. Bridges sit in-between places, so travelers meet on them naturally. Practically, a bridge is often a little higher than everything around it, so observers can see if anyone is close. Canelo won’t look out of place meeting us on this little footbridge, and passing a pleasant few moments of conversation where wind and water keep our words from being easily overheard.”

And, indeed, from the top of the bridge’s arc, Marie easily spotted the familiar blonde student walking briskly through the Menagerie. Canelo walked directly to the bridge, then stopped and glared at Poe.

“What are you doing here?” She asked.

“Your paranoia needs work. You could have done a better job looking out for spies.” Poe answered. He raised an eyebrow.

“What?” Canelo waved to the empty pathways around them.

“Hmm. We were here on other business, and I thought I’d pass on a few pieces of information since you were close by.”

“If you’re trying to pad your fee, I don’t have any gold on me.”

“No, nothing like that.” Poe chuckled. “I have confirmed that the Stags can reach the Raven Queen. The other information I can only share with someone cooperating with the Coppers.”

“I’m not.” Canelo snapped.

Poe glared at her for a few moments. Even Marie thought Canelo’s reply especially careless compared to Lord Stag, who had at least given the impression of cooperation.

“Very well. There’s another information source we might try.”

“Then I want to speak to them!”

“Do you really?” Poe replied mildly. “I won’t protect you from these people if you make them your enemy. We’re stepping off the straight and narrow path here. You’ll be required to pledge secrecy, and I can not guarantee you will even be admitted.”

“Yes.” Canelo said through gritted teeth. “I need results, and you are not providing them.”

Poe’s expression remained neutral, but Marie thought the koi shimmered a bit.

“I’ll send you a message. Aquire a mask before you receive it. You will pay me in restricted components this time.” Poe gave her a ragged smile. Poe withdrew a pad from a pocket and wrote a few sentences. “Do try to read this several times before you walk away. Forgetting this information would be a failure of your will.”

When he passed her the note, Canelo seemed ready to snap at Poe, but his expression had become more stormy, and he interrupted her before she even began.

“Do not confuse personal power for experience.” Poe hissed. “Many thaumaturges live in the world, and not all of them are as forgiving as the Raven Queen. You have already received a warning,” Poe’s eyes went to Canelo’s arm, “be sure your ambition matches your competence.

Canelo blanched slightly, then touched her wrist. “It does.”

Poe nodded slowly.

As Marie watched Canelo walk away and out of the Menagerie, Marie wondered if Canelo really understood.

“How hard do you think it would be to follow Canelo to her dorm, or her classes?” Poe asked Marie.

“What do you mean?” Marie was confused, because there were only a few reasons she would follow people secretly, and she didn’t think Poe had those sorts of reasons.

“Investigators need to be able to follow people and pry into their private affairs. Unobtrusively, of course. Notice how she’s not worried about anything up here at the University? This meeting with me was to discuss a confidential matter, but she made no attempt at a privacy ward or artifact. She has no noticeable protection from divination.” Poe grinned. “Let’s say you wanted to follow her, could you? And, how would you go about it?”

“I’m sure I could. I would follow from a distance; everything here is very open, so I figure I can see a long way. And, if … I were dressed differently and … was taller, I could mingle with other students among the little groups that walk together. I just need to stay behind her.”

“I agree. She barely ever looks back to see if someone is following her. She needs improvement, or she’s going to run into the wrong sort one day and be entirely unprepared.”

After Canelo had been gone for a while, Poe and Marie made their way back to the gates, dropped off their guest tokens, and took the long way down via the stairs.