[46]

Crushing a fragrant herb in a pestle for minutes on end caused my mind to wander toward things other than alchemy. Joy appeared equally bored, rolling a stone rod over a dough-like substance she’d made earlier with powder and oil. Apparently, my class skills were not all wine and women, as they say.

I only had a single contribution point left. It cost me 150 silver coins to send an expedited emergency message to my father. An exorbitant price, but worth every coin if it saved my father from the coming war.

Raxx, who I learned was far wealthier than I ever imagined, had offered to cover the cost, but I refused. I was already indebted to him for the coin he gave me as a gift for Elaine. He considered it a fair trade for services rendered haggling today, under the belief that the mostly human merchants would have given him a poor deal because of his race. I was not sure if that was true, but it did not matter. The fact was, I loved having an excuse to barter, so it did not feel like I did much for him. It was one thing to take advantage of a merchant, quite another of your friends. Raxx assured me he felt good about the trade, though.

And speaking of favors...

“Joy,” I said. I wanted to ensure that her concentration was divisible before I launched into what was on my mind.

“Yes?” she said.

“I need your help with something.”

“Besides alchemy and herbalism?” She smirked.

“It’s something a bit more, uh, sensitive in nature.” I said.

“I do not know how to make a paste for crotch rot.” Joy said, setting her stone down and glaring. “You need to see a healer.”

“What!?” I said, horrified. “I mean, no! Not that.”

She calmed some. “Is it a wart? I might be able to help that, but it won’t be cheap.”

“It isn’t anything like that! Please, just let me talk.” I begged.

“All right,” she nodded.

“There is a girl, Florence Claybrook, and I want to know where she lives.” I said.

A dark look appeared on Joy’s face. “Why do you want to know where this girl lives?”

“Don’t look at me like that! Come on! It isn’t anything like, whatever it is you are thinking! Do you truly think so low of me?” I found myself legitimately offended at her accusations. It was unexpected that she assumed the worst.

Joy sighed. “No, Harald. I don’t think low of you. Forget why you want to know where she lives. Why are you asking me?” Her face was more serious than I had ever seen.

I gave Joy a considering look. This was the part where I had to be careful.

“Joy,” I said after a moment. “I may not be as perceptive as you, but I notice some things.”

“Like?” she folded her arms.

“Like, that you know people, and always seem to know what is going on.” I said, smiling to keep things light.

“So, because I pay attention, you think I know where everyone lives?”

“It’s more than that, Joy. We are friends, I have your back. I don’t know who your patron is, or what your abilities are, but I appreciate you are tapped into the world around you in a way that is much greater than my own.” I was being sincere, but a little flattery could not hurt.

Joy snorted. “You are right. You know nothing. I’ll admit that my… curiosity is a little stronger than most. All right, fine. Let’s circle back to why you want this girl’s address.”

Relieved, I said, “I think she was behind what happened to Elaine the other night.”

“Florence Claybrook was not at that party.” Joy said.

“So, you know her?” I asked. How did she know that? I wondered. Then it hit me: Duh, a purple hair would have stood out.

“I do.”

“The day before I saw her with one of the Churm twins. Then my patron showed me a vision at the party, and I think its purpose was so that I would look into Florence.” I said.

“Do you have a quest?”

“No,” I admitted.

“That’s all you have. A conversation and a hunch?”

“There is another reason, but I can’t discuss it. Florence did something to a friend of mine and tried to do it to me. It was awful, but I cannot tell you what it was.”

Joy arched an eyebrow, smiling. “Now that is interesting. Why not?”

“Because it would dishonor the person,” I blurted. “It is several things, all adding up. I just want to snoop around, maybe follow the girl a bit and get an idea of who she is associating with.”

“What is it you are looking for? Knowing that will help considerably.” Joy said.

“She claims to serve Marvaya. I think it is a lie. Her behavior has been far too despicable.”

“Well, if she was behind what happened to Elaine, then I am inclined to agree with you. Nasty business.” Joy said, shaking her head.

I felt a shred of guilt about that. Elaine’s secrets were not mine to share, but in the wake of what happened at the Churm estate, I felt obligated to tell what I learned to my friends about her enchanted items. After all, they placed themselves in danger, and it was Elaine that asked them to be there. They had a right to know.

Joy continued, “Besides, there is no way Florence could be a student without a golden soul ledger.”

A fact I had considered but had no counter for. Everyone on campus had to connect their ledger to the tower. I was not there when Florence synchronized hers, though, leaving me enough reason to doubt. It was possible she served another deity entirely, maybe even a despicable one. Still, Florence was all I had apart from the Ankest nobility, and they were already up to their necks in RRS officers. If the secret police had not found proof of evil doing, then there was no way I would.

“It’s been a week since the demon attack, and no one at the school has found anything. This is the best lead that I have. I have a strong feeling about it too. Will you help?” I asked. Izzy left, and the thought of sitting around waiting to get attacked again was not how I wanted to spend my time at Ashmere. I wanted answers.

“Fine, but you owe me.” Joy said seriously.

“Owe you? Joy, we are friends. If you ever need me, you just have to ask.” I said.

“You say that now.” Joy scoffed.

I had considered skipping this conversation entirely, using Ugz to locate Florence’s residence. After thinking it over, I decided against it. The biggest problem with using Ugz was that while darkness concealed him well at night, he stood out correspondingly badly in daylight. Like most students, I suspected Florence left campus while there was still a lot of daylight. One of the many talented guards that Ashmere employed would surely spot the bugger trying to tail a student.

Also, we did not know if she had a residence on campus or off it like the other nobility. It was likely she had her own villa, and that was a large territory to cover walking around aimlessly. Considering how poor I was at stealth, that left me out of the picture too.

I needed and planned to use Ugz once I found where she dwelled. He could enter her home at night. Then we could do some first-class snooping. But until then, he needed to be shelved.

Angelina was another option, albeit a bad one. She would almost certainly know where Florence lived, but how would I justify asking? It would not be a good look to have me inquire about where her longtime friend lived for unspecified reasons.

“Do you think you are up to it?” I asked Joy.

“Hah! Just give me a few days.” Joy laughed.

…

It had been five days since Joy’s bold claim. Instead of being upset, I could tell failing to locate Florence’s home was exciting for her.

Florence’s machinations had become just a voice in the chorus of concerns for me. Elaine disappeared after the night of the party. I would be lying if I said I was not thankful for Elaine’s absence—it made the cold anger nesting in my heart easier to manage—but I still wished for a resolution with her. Not seeing her smiling face caused an alternating guilt and anger cycle that continued to frustrate me. I prayed to my goddess for understanding, and each day it got easier.

Subsequent days after that night, Tedric, Reynold, and other nobles began leaving Ashmere too. Red robed martial students went soon after, from both Ergentein and Ankest as more calls to recall them followed. War became less of an abstraction, and more of a frightening reality by the day.

“You were right about her. Something is f-i-s-h-y about that girl. I have never seen a more paranoid noble.” Joy said over dinner, turning my thoughts back to Florence. We made it a plan to eat at the safe house a few nights a week so we could discuss certain things openly. Last time we invited Angelina and Ambrose so they could eat with us without fear of hurting Angelina’s reputation.

Without the intrigues of Elaine my life settled into a straightforward routine. Nonetheless, my schedule was hectic and exhausting, but I no longer felt like I had to look over my shoulder as much.

Helping move things in that direction was Ugz, who I started to let travel along with me in my backpack. I was worried that he would be too easy to spot in my bags, but he assuaged that fear by reverting to his original, smaller form. After doing some research, I discovered that the forms that familiars gained from eating cores were interchangeable. Meaning Ugz could switch between new ones, but only use one at a time.

Ugz proved to be a source of good fun because of the way he picked up sound through his skin. The two of us periodically spied on my classmates' conversations, and I learned about various petty intrigues amongst the ascended.

“How so?” Raxx asked, slurping down a bowl of beefy noodles and broth.

“Well, she leaves through a different gate, almost randomly, every night. Enters that way too, which is also weird. After exiting campus, she takes a different route to the market district. From there, I always seem to lose her in the crowd or in a store. She must have an ability or an item that masks her presence or changes her appearance. I’ve never had this much trouble following someone before.” Joy said.

“Is it possible she lives there?” I asked, picking up a garlic grilled vegetable with my fork.

“Possible, but I don’t think it's likely. She doesn’t leave from the market district in the morning. I know because yesterday, I looked around early in the morning hours and then waited until the sun rose.” Joy said.

“Whoa! I am so sorry this has become this complicated Joy. When I asked, I didn’t think it would be this hard.” I apologized.

“Don’t sweat it. At this point, I am going to stalk her like a mantis, just because I want to know what she is up to. I’m going to turn up everything I can in that girl’s life.” Joy grinned fiercely.

Sometimes, my friends were a little scary.