I can't wait for our usual library meeting so I make up an excuse to see Seir at the infirmary. The Elite Guards don't give me a hard time about it, maybe because they've gotten used to me showing up or maybe Tyne told them I might be coming to see him. Who knows? Either way, the Guard leads me to the infirmary with little prompting.

After he leaves, I make sure the coast is clear before I pull out the sheet of paper with the alchemy symbols on it and put it on the table.

“I’m not sure what that is,” Seir says, adjusting his glasses as he peers at the symbols. “That one is the symbol of life, but this one..." He taps on one that resembles two squiggly lines, crossed with another. "I don't think I’ve ever seen that before and I’ve read a million textbooks, despite what your little friend thinks.” He adds the little friend part sardonically.

I try not to smile.

He runs his fingers up the edge of the paper until it lands back on the first symbol. "That one is life."

I nod. I knew that already.

"And this one is, looks to be a beast so it probably refers to a magical creature of some kind."

His finger slides down. "And this is the symbol for a sword which is the first thing ever made with alchemy. But I don't know what the final one means. And I’m not sure what any of the others mean in this context."

"Hmmm.” I lean back in my seat, thoughtfully, but nothing comes to mind. I was hoping Seir would know what the order of those symbols meant. I need something concrete to give the King and fast because the time limit is quickly approaching.

"Why do you think the Ravens are really here?"

Seir frowns. "What do you mean?"

"This doesn’t seem like an opportune visit," I say. "The Ravens usually only travel for business reasons. So what business is it this time?"

Seir shrugs. "I assumed it just had something to do with the King and whatever deal he cut with the Pangea so they don’t annihilate us.”

He says it with clear honesty even though even the suggestion of annihilation could be seen as blasphemous. But we all know that the Pangeans outnumber us. How they haven't annihilated us already is a miracle and wonder.

“What if they need us,” I ask. “I mean, Lord Raven knows that the people of the North hate him enough to try to poison his daughter. Yet he's still here. Even knowing the King may be behind the attempts."

“He doesn’t know for sure.”

“Oh, he knows," I say. Part of the notes that Jace's brother was able to translate spoke about patches and anti-poison. They came prepared. “At any point, any of us could lose our minds and try to kill them. Yet they remain here, having endless meetings with the King.”

“And visiting the library,” he says.

“What?”

“I’ve seen them there a few times."

Surprising.

The Ravens supposedly have some of the largest most extensive libraries there are, second only to being kept by the Magic Tower.

"There's no way they would come here just to look through our measly collection."

“Unless they’re looking for something they can’t find in theirs,” Seir states the obvious.

But what could we possibly have that the Ravens don't?

“They could just be doing it to pass the time. Pearl mentioned how bored they were.”

“Yes.” Seir chuckles to himself. “I can’t imagine our town would have much to offer them in terms of entertainment. Northern entertainment is watching their people kill each other or get tortured by the king.” He sighs. “At the risk of sounding out the obvious, why don’t you just ask your friend what they’re doing here?”

I shake my head. “I don’t think she'll tell me.” We've had lots of conversations but she hasn't mentioned anything about it and I don't want to set off any suspicion by asking.

He cocks an eyebrow. “Have you asked her?”

"No,” I say.

“So how do you know she won't tell you?”

Because if I were her, I wouldn’t trust me with that information either.

"Boy." A voice sounds from the doorway that has us both jerking and me swiveling around.

I meet the clear eyes of the Farrow Witch.

My heart instantly starts racing.

She takes a few steps closer, blatantly ignoring me as she speaks to Seir. “Are you in here yapping instead of making the potion I asked you to?“

“No," he responds with a swallow. "I was just researching the right amounts when..."

He trails off when he realizes she isn't paying attention to him anymore. Instead, her eyes are enraptured by the paper still under Seir's finger.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The page holding the alchemy symbols.

I didn't think it was possible but the Farrow Witch pales and something dark crosses over her features.

I immediately snatch the paper back and crumple it into my pocket.

Her clear eyes shoot to me.

“Sorry." I fix an apologetic smile on my face. “I was showing Seir some of my scribblings and we got carried away.”

Her eyes are like white flames as they bore into me. The top of her lip curls in a snarl like she wants to rip my head off and spit it out.

“You drew that?” Her voice is threateningly quiet.

I nod and shrug casually.

“Yes,” I say. “Just copying something I saw in one of the library books.”

"Which book?” she asks.

“I forgot the name."

“There are no more books with that symbol.”

No more? The curiosity temporarily halts my alarm.

Is she talking about the symbol Seir couldn't figure out?

That means at one point there were books with it, and now there aren't anymore. What does that mean?

How does she know this?

The Farrow Witch seems to realize she exposed more than she likely meant to. With a headshake, she turns back to Seir. "Stop wasting your time on scribbles and get to the potions. I need them instantly–"

She's interrupted though, by a loud voice that calls from the doorway, "Oh Seir, dear friend."

Seir pales even more than I did when the Witch appeared.

Pearl's head pops out of the side of the doorway and she beams at us. “Oh good! You’re here too, Adria. I’m glad.”

“Hi Pearl,” I greet.

She walks further into the room but then pauses at the sight of the witch.

They eye each other, and I get the sense that they're sizing each other up.

“Raven." The Farrow witch says, nose turned up like she smells something nasty.

“Farrow,” Pearl responds with an equal tone of distaste.

They stare at each other for a few more seconds before the Farrow Witch pulls up straight and sweeps out of the room.

“Good. Glad she’s gone.” Pearl holds up a mug of frothing liquid, before placing it on the table. "I got you some Apple Mead. Rare in the North, I'm sure, but I got some anyway."

“How?” Seir asks, frowning at her.

“I asked around,” she says. "The guards weren’t particularly helpful but after I gave them two gold, they told me where to buy it."

"You gave them two gold?

"I know. I would have given more but Father has become stringent with my purse lately."

A thread of jealousy weaves through me. She doesn't even know how easy she has it, to be able to give away gold coins like it's nothing. But I can't even be resentful. She's so pure-hearted and incredibly hard to dislike, despite her knack for putting her foot in her mouth.

“Anyway, I’m glad I finally found you,” she says and drops her hand into her satchel that swung at her side, retrieving a tome from it. She slams it on the table so hard that it jostles the drink. "Here.”

“What is this?”

“Another gift," she says. "I thought about bringing two books, but the other one would be far too complicated for either of you to understand. This is the perfect book for your level of intelligence."

"Is it?" Seir's eyes spark, tone silky with annoyance.

"It is. And I thought it would be a shame if someone of your clearly above-average intelligence got stuck only reading below-average books forever. Plus it's a drag to get different information from different books. This is a comprehensive theory of everything you need to know about Later Stage Alchemy."

Seir's jaw clenches and unclenches as his teeth grind together. I can tell precisely what he's thinking.

"How does she manage to insult and praise in the same breath," he murmurs in the Local Accacian Dialect. I smile in commiseration.

To my surprise, Pearl grins too.

She also responds by saying, "My father tells me the same thing."

I gape. "You understand local Accacian?"

"Of course she does’,’ Seir responds, seeming increasingly annoyed. I grin at them, but figure Pearl and I better leave before Seir loses his mind or gets in trouble with the Farrow Witch.

I rise. "Seir we've kept from your work for too long. We'll be leaving now."

Seir nods and says, "I'll try to think more about that question you posed."

"I'd appreciate it."

Pearl glances between us but says nothing.

As we walk out she continues looking around, her eyes hungrily seemingly absorbing new information about the courtyard even though she's likely seen it multiple times before.

She enjoys observing things and seems to crave knowledge, I realize. Even when it's knowledge already has.

I wonder what it would be like that to be that insatiable for knowledge.

I want knowledge too, but only to the extent that it would help me win this war.

But Pearls seems to want knowledge for knowledge’s sake.

“How is your friend?” She finally focuses her curious green eyes on me. “The one with the sick mother.”

“She’s fine,” I say suppressing the guilt in my gut. "Tia managed to find a healer for her mother and she’s doing much better."

“That’s good." Pearl rolls her neck and continues her observation.

“It was very kind of your father to offer help after she tried to steal from him.”

“Yes. Father is a kind man,” she murmurs distractedly. “It drives Uncle Remus nuts. He wants father to be more like him. He says this is why father cannot lead the Ravens after he dies.”

I blink. "I thought your father was the Raven leader?" It would make sense with his wealth and all that.

"No," Pearl says. “Well we don’t have an official leader or anything but Remus runs the family business so I guess he’s our leader.”

“Ah, I see,” I say. “Well, I disagree with him. Your father’s kindness isn’t a weakness. It’s a strength. He just helped save someone's life.”

“Yes," she says. “It’s good father did that. I know what it’s like to have a sick mother."

I glance at her. "I thought your mother died shortly after you were born."

I immediately regret the insensitive words after they leave my mouth. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to–"

"No, it's fine. I understand the confusion." Pearl doesn't seem offended, even flashing me a wry smile. "It's my fault for not explaining things better. Father says that I only give half stories sometimes because I like to answer the question I was asked rather than giving proper context. The truth is my mother isn't dead. But she may as well be."

"I don't understand."

"It's hard to explain,” she answers. “She has an incurable disease called the Stiffening. Her entire body is stiff as a board, and she cannot move, eat, or talk. She appears to be in deep sleep, and some think she's already braindead although her body still breathes."

The look in her eyes makes me especially regret asking about it.

"I'm sorry. I've never heard of that before."

"Yes, most people haven't. It's a very rare genetic disease. Some think it originates from the mind, others think it's a result of a sophisticated poison destroying the nerves of the body. Either way, no one has ever recovered from the Stiffening and it's often thought to be more merciful to put the victim out of their misery. But father won't do it. He loves mother too much." She glances up at the castle walls as we approach the guest tower. "He tells me he heard a prophecy once about a way to bring her back. But Uncle Remus thinks it's a fool's quest. Is that adamantine in between each stone?"

"What?" The sudden change in conversation gives me whiplash.

"Looks like adamantine," she continues pointing to the castle walls and I notice for the first time that the darker spaces in between each charcoal-colored stone have a mild glitter to them. "Interesting."

"Yes," I comment mildly but then I freeze, suddenly hit with a burst of realization, the knowledge flowing into me instantly in a dizzying wave.

I think I know what the Raven Lord is looking for.