“I don’t know if you quite understand what we’re saying…” Breale said. “But this could be a dire risk to the prince’s life. And everyone else in the city for that matter!”

Francis looked down at the three of us with a look of disbelief as we stood in front of the gate. Auro had stayed back to bring Gideon up to speed while we informed the guards of the coming threat, though I also knew that the falling of the sun had no small part in her insistence. Thankfully, the rest of us thought of our mission as rather more important than some triflety as a curfew.

Now if only everyone else thought the same.

“I understand what you’re saying, but we can’t just cancel the whole thing.” Francis said. “It should be perfectly safe in any manner, the guard has received no end of threats.”

“That should be even more reason to cancel it, shouldn’t it?” I asked.

“The guard is on top of any credible threats.” Francis insisted. “I assure ye that whatever yer warning against has been taken into account. In all likelihood it is being taken care of as we speak. And if not, I will have a letter sent ere the sun rises.”

We looked at each other again, the same thought probably running through all of our minds.

“Sir Knight, this matter is far above such disruptions as you anticipate.” Fredrick said. “The very same shadow that lay under the royal court the day of the massacre now hounds our step. It is imperative that I am to speak with the Duke and Lord Andril before that shadow can mimic the success it found in the capital.”

“And how could you possibly have come across this, if I am to be so presumptuous?” Francis asked. “Ye speak of shadows and conspiracy, but have we not been locked in our humble mountain for the last so weeks? And unless I have found my guards lacking, the mail service could not be the answer.”

“You would find a Maverick suffers not to be cornered.” Fredrick said.

“As I have found in sparring practice with your sister.” Francis joked. “But this time yet confounds me.”

“Could you just chance to trust us on this one?” Breale asked. “For a dear duelling buddy?”

“Is that really how you want to word it?” I asked.

“Wielders of the sword and sheath? Midnight dancers?”

“Sister, please.”

“The Duke’s orders were clear, unfortunately.” Francis said, ignoring Breale. “No students are to leave this campus until tomorrow morning for the speech, and that includes dear ol’ sparring partners. Even one’s that lose most every bout.”

I could almost feel Breale suppress a scowl.

“The Duke, huh?” Breale threw an arm around me and drew me forward. “Doesn’t Saphry here outrank him? You’d have ot let us go down if she ordered it, right?”

I nodded furiously.

“Perhaps if we were in Summark.” Francis scoffed. “Well, even then she’s not quite the Lord of the Mark herself, is she?”

I frowned. What was the point of being a noble if you didn’t get any actual perks for it? Shouldn’t I be some sort of god to peasants like him? [Christ], you’d think I was a second class citizen sometimes…

“Not even if the security of the state depends on it?” Fredrick pressed. “These are not fanciful children’s tales we weave, but eyewitness accounts of a very real threat. A demon is to be spawned ahead of the speech, and though I know not its hellish lineage I can assure you that the children of the deep are not to be taken lightly.”

As soon as Fredrick mentioned ‘demon’, I saw Francis’s face change almost imperceptibly. His curious expression faltered for but a moment, and a slight twitch betrayed some hidden emotion before he returned to how he was.

“A demon! Surely ye joke?”

“I swear upon Esilmor.”

“Saphry and I can attest too!” Breale added.

For some reason he looked towards me, and I felt compelled to answer.

“Eh, yeah, what they said.” I said lamely. “It’s kind of serious.”

I stared at his face as I talked, watching for an abnormality that didn’t come.

Why had he made that face earlier? Had I misseen something?

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“I musts know how ye came across that information then.” Francis raised an eyebrow. “Surely ye wouldn’t trouble me with a schoolyard rumour, right?”

I glanced at the others, and Fredrick nodded.

While it wouldn’t sound good to admit skulking about the sewers, it wasn’t worth missing out on alerting the authorities. We would survive detention, the city would not fare so well against an adequate demon.

“We happened to witness a meeting in the sewers-” I began.

“Aqueduct.” Fredrick corrected.

“Yes,yes, the aqueduct.” I rolled my eyes. “Well, we followed my dear roommate, the [el…] I mean the Mistren, and she met with some shady cultist. They spoke of summoning a demon to burn down the city at the speech, which of course-”

“Ah, so this is some joke then?” Francis asked. “Because I don’t find it so funny as you’d imagine.”

“Have we not sworn?” Breale asked.

“Then you must’ve been mistaken.” Francis said. “The aqueducts are abandoned down there and filled with all kinds of stagnant gases known to cause madness and visions. It is the very reason we keep them locked and forbidden, in fact.”

He stared at us hard as he said that last bit, and I looked away with a nervous whistle.

“Madness! How could you say that?” Breale cried.

“It was beheld with our own eyes, I assure you.” Fredrick said.

“I would hope not, for then I would have to hold you for breaking and entering.” Francis shook his head. “I can overlook it this time, and even send a letter with the courier tonight if you truly wish to keep this up, but I am much too busy to entertain this all night. And the curfew has already fallen.”

“Why you…”

Breale grasped the hilt of her sword, only to be stopped by her brother.

“We would be very happy to send a letter, Sir Knight.” Fredrick said. “Do you by chance have paper on you?”

…

“Worthless! You know full well Andril won’t read that letter in time!”

Breale stamped around the dorm room like an angry bull, every once and a while sending a glare towards her brother sitting on Hosi’s bed. For his part, Fredrick looked incredibly calm as he sifted through our missing roommates books, not a hair out of place to imply that he’d just climbed up the outer wall and through the window like some kind of deranged monkey.

Auro and Gideon sat on the cushions around the table, each of them obviously trying to think of what to do.

“It was all we could get.” Fredrick flipped another page, his eyes speeding through the lines within. “He was already suspicious, any more and he would’ve taken us for questioning. Time we don’t have to spare right now.”

“Then what now?” I asked. “I would’ve thought the guard would be a little more helpful given everything that’s happened, but…”

It really didn’t make sense to me that we’d be blown off so blatantly. Surely Francis himself had struck me as someone who’d rather go and duel a potential demon than blow it off as dioxide visions.

Though I also hadn’t thought about how dangerous the air was in the aqueduct, so he did earn one point.

“He already knew, I suspect.” Fredrick said. “Either there’s already an operation underway to clear it out or he’s connected.”

“That must be it!” Auro said. “There was already plans to arrest Hosi, so he was just keeping it on the down low.”

“I don’t know, that sounds a little too convenient.” I said.

“Too convenient by half!” Breale cried. “There’s no way I can trust something so important to a pitching guard anyway! We have to do it ourselves. Andril’s in danger otherwise.”

“How come I feel like you’re just irritated about that ‘losing every bout’ comment?” I wondered aloud.

“It is not every match! That pitching…”

“It’s not like we can do anything anyway.” Auro said. “ The gate’s locked, and there’s not exactly too much time before the speech tomorrow…”

“We could go down through the aqueduct. They connect to the city below, don’t they?” I asked.

Do you even know the path? I don’t fancy the thought of everyone getting lost underground all night.

“It should be a straight shot, we should be fine.”

“Those ladders sounded kind of painful.” Auro said.

“You can handle a few rungs if it means saving Andril, surely.” I said.

“I suppose…”

“A great idea, with one glaring problem.” Breale looked between us. “We don’t know where the hell they are in the city.”

“Ah, that would be an issue, wouldn’t it?” I asked.

No matter how strongly we felt about it, blindly wandering one of the largest cities in Minua in the hopes that we’d somehow see a mysterious cult of demon worshippers wasn’t quite the best idea. The best we could do was just warn Andril personally.

“Actually, I think I have the solution for that.” Fredrick flipped the book he was reading around and pointed at a few lines written upon it.

An address was written upon it.

“Remember how she said she wrote it down? It happens that she wasn’t kidding.”

…

“And that’s why you…” I coughed pointedly. “...have to count us on the attendance roll.”

Luis looked sceptically at me, and I did my best to look sickly and pale, though it wasn’t hard given how sickly and pale Saphry tended to look anyway.

The plan we’d designed last night had been simple by necessity. We’d have to wait until morning roll call if we wanted to be undetected, after which we’d hang back and sneak down to Minua via the aqueduct once everyone started shuffling down the mountain pass. Then, because of the apparently vertical nature of the tunnels we’d be down in a fraction of the time. Once in the city, Auro would split off to warn the Duke and Andril while the rest of us dealt with the demon cult, or at least delay it until guards could arrive.

It wasn’t the safest plan, of course, but given the restrictions and the time frame it was the best we could hope for.

“You say it’s gone across all three of you?” He asked. “Just in time for the speech?”

“Disease strikes at a moment’s notice.”

“And you could still walk up to the front of the dorm to meet me?”

“I’m very stoic, you see.”

I nudged Gideon, and he shook his snout in agreement.

Luis looked unimpressed.

“It’s really not supposed to be optional, you know.” He stepped to the side as more groups filtered out of the dorm hall. They gave him a wide berth, his reputation apparently preceding him. “And with Fredrick just declining it’ll only be me and Roland there…”

“Oh, Fredrick isn’t going? Gee, what a shame…”

“You guys aren’t planning something, are you? You know this’ll reflect in our team points, right?”

I sighed. I’d really hoped it wouldn’t come to this, but I suppose it was a little far fetched to hope that Luis would accept that at face value.

“I suppose I might mix up and do two sets of maths homework next-”

“Ah, what a shame that everyone is so ill, I hope you guys feel better.”

After a quick shake, I watched him slink off to join the larger group forming in front of the academy. Professors correlled students and groups forward, and I could hear the reading of names as guards went down the lines. From where I was, I could just barely see Luis speak briefly with the most stressed-looking soldier, who quickly jotted something down on his notebook.

It looks like the plan’s a go then. Gideon thought.

“Thought you’d be a little more sad about that.” I commented as I moved back towards the now empty halls to my dorm.

Gideon had been surprisingly accepting ever since we’d gotten back last night, much more so than he normally was with this sort of thing.

I was originally.. He said. But Auro… ah, I just supposed it wouldn’t be too useful if the city got blown up. You’ll just have to make it up by doing nothing afterwards. Certainly no more randomly breaking into sewers…

I raised an eyebrow at that. What had Auro said to him?

Oh well, I’d just have to ask her myself later.

“I’ll try my best.” I promised. “Now let’s save ourselves a city.”