Orrin propped himself up against Wren’s desk, studying the group around him. Maeve, the socially awkward daughter of Lord Wellan, the ruler of Ceraun, stood close, watching his every move. Her father managed the breadbasket of Odrana, keeping the people fed. Anabella’s report stated the only reason that Lord Wellan voted to oust her in favor of her son was a concern for the safety of his daughter.
If I can keep her safe, Lord Wellan will likely help.
Finley, fresh back from the front lines of a war with the elves, stood to his left, near the bookshelf full of curios. He stared at a long knife held aloof by an ornate wooden stand but as he reached out to touch it, Professor Wren slapped his hand.
Finley Madvarr was one of the best fighters Orrin had met in this world. He was also honorable and believed Orrin’s words. He hadn’t taken the story at face value but used analytic thinking and his own knowledge to accept an uncomfortable truth. Namely, that his country was instigating wars. If his father had truly given him the power to decide the direction that Ronden would throw their weight behind, Orrin thought he had another of the provinces of Odrana on his side. Which brought Orrin to his last hope.
Iona, the bodyguard of Rhys Tonsa, kept her eyes on everything. She stayed closest to the door, acting like she was studying the large map of Odrana on the wall but really watching the others in the room. Orrin was happy to see her and glad she was alive after the fiasco in the dungeon but she was just a bodyguard. It made sense that Rhys’s mother wouldn’t make her way to Mistlight at the request of Finley but he’d work with what he had. Wren worked with Rhys’s mother from time to time, so maybe she could help convince Lady Tonsa to back Orrin’s big play.
“We are not here to kill each other,” Orrin announced, much to Finley’s amusement. “Before I tell you all my story, I want to apologize for misleading you. My name isn’t Casimir. I’m Orrin.”
“What?” Iona stepped closer to the door, putting her hand on her sword handle. “What do you mean?”
“I was captured while rescuing my friend from the dungeons below Lord Sanerris’s home and sent to his mother for some reason. She placed a slave collar on my neck and forced me to come here to school,” Orrin explained, lifting the collar up to make his point. “She also put a [Glamour] on me so you can’t see that I’m wearing it. I guess this just looks like a necklace.”
“Professor Wren, is this some sort of joke?” Iona demanded. “You allowed a spy to be placed in the school and placed him in the same party as Rhys?”
Wren paled slightly as she answered, placing her hands on her desk to steady herself. “I recently learned about Casimir’s… Orrin’s mission. I did not know when I placed him in Lord Tonsa’s party, at his mother’s request by the way, or I would have questioned the situation more.”
“The boy who was beheaded before term for attacking Lord Sanerris?” Maeve chimed in. “That was you?”
Orrin glanced back before hopping up to sit on Wren’s desk. “It was someone else that they pretended was me. We only fought Lord Sanerris when he tried to kill us. It’s a whole story but he was torturing my friend and everyone got out but me. After Anabella gave me a chance to come here, I thought I would have a better chance of escaping if I complied. I never would have put any of you in danger, though. That’s why I brought you all together. I think you’re all in danger. Iona, somebody already tried to kill Rhys. I bet you were told Sloane was the one who set up Rhys in the dungeon. That’s not true. I saved her and then they killed her because she was from Veskar.” Orrin’s voice filled with rage and he took a deep breath to calm himself before continuing. “Fin, I already told you my theory but for everyone else’s sake… He was going to be killed in battle tomorrow. Likely by someone who looked like they were from Veskar. They had him stationed near the border.”
“He’s telling the truth. Lord Palmer was not happy when I told him I was pulling my men back. It seemed odd but knowing what Orrin told me, I realize now how cagey his answers to my questions were,” Finley said, reinforcing Orrin’s story. “I also met the [Hero] of Dey.”
“What does that have to do—?”
“Here?”
“When did you—?”
The other three people in the room began asking questions at the same time and Finley winked at Orrin. “Enough. Maeve, I know you’ve met Madeleine Catanzano. She fights by his side. She also told spoke highly of Orrin, although I didn’t know it was the same man we know as Casimir at the time.”
Orrin finally had the attention of the room. He told them of the plan to befriend the three heirs and even his own failed attempts at escaping. He explained everything… again.
“I think Anabella wants you three dead so that your parents will vote her back into power. She’s using Veskar as a fall guy to regain her position.”
“I can have an army of three thousand on the borders of Mistlight in twenty hours,” Finley spoke first.
Orrin cringed at the thought of a full civil war breaking out. A small part of him wondered if that would fulfill the Stop the War Quest but he shoved that thought aside. “The point is to keep the general population safe, Fin. We don’t need to start another war. That’s what they want.”
“Why not tell the Lords and Ladies of Odrana about Lady Sanerris’s plot?” Iona asked. She’d finally moved closer to the group. “If they know what she’s trying to do, they won’t vote for her over her son.”
“Her son that is currently waging a war against a group of people who just want to be left alone?” Orrin asked sarcastically. “Lord Sanerris is as bad as his mother. I know I’m not exactly the person you should come to for advice but maybe vote the Sanerris family out?”
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Silence filled the room more so than before.
“Orrin, a member of the Sanerris family has ruled in Mistlight since the founding of Odrana. The only families that are older are the Wellan and Ibarra families but only the Wellans have kept their hold as lords,” Wren moved to the side of her desk, closer to Orrin. “What you just said is essentially treason.”
“Is it not treason for them to throw your people into a war because they want more power?” Orrin asked, waiting for Wren to look away from his glare. He stole a quick peek at the glass orbs behind him.
“I agree with Orrin,” Maeve said as she broke from the circle they’d created and began to roam Wren’s office. “My dad doesn’t trust Arvin. Plus, I’m tired of killing the people trying to kill me.”
Wren slipped off the edge of her desk and landed hard on the floor. “Killing people? Not here at school, right?”
Maeve ran her finger down the spines of a few books on one of Wren’s shelves. “Do you have any books on the intersection of plant and earth magic?”
Orrin reached back and slid one of the glass silencing balls into his sleeve. It was the size of a small peach and he used the motion of hopping off Wren’s desk to close the box. “Maeve, you’re scaring Professor Wren. Who tried to kill you?”
“I didn’t ask their names,” Maeve said as she pulled a book off the shelf and stared to flip through the pages. “There wasn’t much time for talking.”
Orrin shivered at the casualness of her revelation. Maeve might have killed someone one day before coming to class and battling him with earth magic during class. “When did it happen?”
“The first attempt was a few days ago,” Maeve answered slowly. She was reading the book in earnest now. “Someone tried to attack me as I walked to my apartment. The man tried to stab me as he passed. Yesterday, someone else tried to sneak up on me when I cut across the courtyard after class.”
Wren gasped and Maeve finally tore her eyes away from the book.
“Don’t worry, I buried them deep enough nobody will ever find them. I even regrew the grass in the courtyard so nobody will find a bare spot.”
“In the courtyard…” Wren whispered in shock.
“That doesn’t add up,” Finley said as he helped Wren stand. He gently pushed her into her chair. “Why would someone try to kill Maeve at school? There’s no connection to Veskar and her father was always a strong supporter of Lady Sanerris in the past.”
“He did vote her out in favor of her son,” Orrin commented. “Revenge maybe?”
Wren seemed to gather her strength and shook her head. “That’s not her way. Lady Sanerris never does something without a backup plan. Maeve put that book back. It’s restricted.”
“That’s the least of our worries right now,” Orrin grumbled. He shoved his hands into his pockets, depositing the glass sphere in his dimensional space for later use. “I think Iona and Finley need to go see what their families want to do. I’m not going to betray anyone here but I want to leave Odrana. This isn’t my fight.”
Maeve placed the book back on the shelf. “You will go back to Dey?”
“I’ll find my friends and try to keep the elves away from the borders for a few days. That should give you time to fix your problems. Wren, you can take off my collar, right?”
The professor looked lost and Orrin felt momentarily bad for her. As Graem had said, she played the game and had been caught between the powerful families of Odrana. No matter how this shook out, she wasn’t coming out unscathed.
“Iona, the reason that Lady Tonsa wanted Casimir… Orrin placed in your party was because she wanted to poach him as a potential asset, correct?”
Iona met Orrin’s eyes before nodding.
“Take him back with you.”
“Hey, I’m not going anywhere. Take this collar off. I’m not a slave.”
Wren ignored him. “Have him explain everything again to her. Maeve and Finley can teleport home as well. Let the lords figure out the timing. Work with Orrin to give them both what they want.”
“I’m not doing anything unless this collar comes off,” Orrin nearly shouted. Everyone was looking at him. “I could have killed you all and trusted Anabella to remove it. I’ll help you to a point but trust goes both ways.”
Finley crossed his arms and tilted his chin up at Wren. “This man has committed no crime worthy of slavery. Remove the collar, Professor Wren, on the authority of the Madvarr family.”
Wren stood shakily and approached Orrin. She touched the metal around his neck. He heard a click and the ring of metal fell to the ground.
I’m free. Orrin could hardly believe it. He’d worked so hard and planned so much only for Finley to order Wren to remove it. Part of him screamed to run from the room and [Teleport] back to Daniel. A more bloodthirsty part of him wanted to find Lord and Lady Sanerris and take them out himself. What would Daniel do?
“You look better without the collar on,” Maeve broke his train of thought. “More natural and less perfected by magic. I like it.”
Orrin blushed at the sudden compliment. He’d forgotten he would lose the benefits of the [Glamour] with the collar.
“Watch out, Orrin,” Finley said with a smile and a poke at his side. “That’s the highest compliment I’ve ever heard Maeve give someone. Her father might try to arrange a marriage.”
“Now will you agree to go with Iona?” Wren was practically wringing her hands. “Lady Tonsa will be able to come up with a solution, I’m sure of it. I’ll pay the price of the [Locationist].”
Orrin ignored Finley. “I’m not going to put myself in a place where someone else can control me again but I’ll do what I can to support you all. Fin, where did you fight with Daniel?”
He crossed the room and had Finley point out a location near the southwestern part of Odrana. Orrin would [Teleport] part of the way and then run. He hoped Daniel would still be there. If not, he could always [Teleport] to the elves.
“You aren’t going to help?” Wren said dejectedly. “Lady Sanerris will kill me for letting you go. I’ll still pay for a [Locationist] to bring you to the border.”
Orrin looked at the people around him. Finley, Maeve, and Iona gave no indication of what they were thinking.
“I can use [Teleport]. Fin, you can come back with me if you want. We can talk with Madi. She’s better at knowing what to do in these situations than me.”
“I’ll come too,” Maeve said. “I’d like to meet the [Hero].”
“That’s too dangerous. We shouldn’t have you all together,” Orrin said, a terrible thought occurring to him. “Anabella has failed at each step. She’ll need to kill you both for her plan to work.”
“Lady Sanerris’s plans have contingencies for success even in failure. She’s not someone we can win against alone. We need to talk with Lady Tonsa,” Wren said, trying to convince him again.
“I’m not promising anything but if Madi agrees it’s safe, we can meet me outside the Mistwater Lanterns in an hour,” Orrin said. “If you and Iona can convince Rhys’s mom to come, then great. Maeve, can you get your dad to come for a meeting too?”
Maeve frowned a bit at being excluded. “If that’s what you think is best, Orrin. We are still friends, right?”
Orrin smiled. “Yes. Definitely.”
“What are you going to do about Lady Sanerris?” Iona asked as Orrin invited Finley to his party.
Orrin glanced at the map. If Anabella had left her seaside cottage, there was no telling where she would be holed up. He scratched at his neck. “I’ll burn that bridge when I get to it.”