Aneirin

“I haven’t heard from her in two days.”

“Uh-huh. Not surprising.”

Nirin watched the Auldheim locate a phrase in the old lexicon of the Ariod Aulds, then grunt and mark it in her notes.

“She was supposed to leave for Ganlin Hall this afternoon with Rees,” he insisted. “To prepare for my ranking ceremony.”

“Little tart’s only going to try to run away.”

“That’s why she wouldn’t miss it,” Nirin said stubbornly.

His great-aunt raised one brow and peered up at him from her work. “That girl almost made you lose your head to the Vethyles, Nirin. Rees and I agree—she’s a bad influence.”

“I’m worried,” Nirin said.

“Then go find her.”

“Madame Auldheim... What if Auldin Laelia got wind of you using the girl to spy on her?”

Agathe cocked her head at him. “How did you find out about that?”

Nirin turned red, remembering that Maelys had been told to keep silent. “It wasn’t very difficult to figure out, especially with her midnight visits to your chambers.”

“She told you.”

Nirin bit his lip, but refused to lower his head.

Agathe sighed and slapped her book shut. “If Laelia found out, then Laelia had her killed and she’s dead already. What do you want me to do about it?”

“Confront Laelia. Put her under a truth geas.”

Agathe laughed. “And then, if Laelia hadn’t already discovered who had spoken against her by that time, she would, and the wench would be dead anyway.” She waved a hand. “Besides, she’s a Rockfarmer. Of no known royal lineage. I can’t put one of the most powerful Vethyles in Bryda under a truth geas because she’s decided to run off again. We don’t even know the girl’s name.”

The tone of her voice said he was dismissed. She found another dusty tome on her shelf, propped it open on the golden stand in front of her, and started scanning the passages with a thick index finger.

Nirin held his breath, then let it out slowly. “It’s Maelys.”

Agathe looked up. “Eh?”

“Maelys. Her name is Maelys.”

“That’s wonderful.” She went back to her book.

“I thought you wanted to know!” Nirin cried, distressed that his gambit hadn’t worked, and that he had betrayed his friend’s trust for no real gain.

“I did, but that was before she laughed in my face when I offered to apprentice her.” When Nirin sat there, stunned that Agathe had offered, appalled that Maelys had turned her down, frantically trying to think of something to say, the Auldheim said, “Are you done here, Nirin? The Vethyles are trying to put forth an argument that they descended directly from the Aulds of Ariod, and therefore that they have a right to burn down the forests surrounding the Auldhund citadel. I’ve got to come up with a counter-argument before the Circle meeting at sundown or it’s going to become a much bigger situation than it already is.”

Nirin nodded and stood up, feeling ashamed.

As he was walking out of the room, the Auldheim called, “Did you check the treasure-rooms? Rees tells me the little tart likes to amuse herself with priceless baubles when she’s bored.”

Nirin nodded. “Rees helped me look before he left.”

The Auldheim went back to her studies. “I’m out of ideas, then. Good luck, and be sure you’re ready to leave at dawn. Oh, and don’t eat or drink anything tonight. You don’t want to vomit all over Rees at the ranking.”

A tug of unease twisted in Nirin’s belly before he fought it down. “Thanks.” He didn’t want to admit it, but the ranking ceremony terrified him.

The Auldheim never looked up.

Reluctantly, Nirin shut the door and stood in the hallway outside, worried for his friend. His uncle Rees was the best scrier in Bryda, and he had come up with nothing when he sought out Maelys. Nothing at all. Even if she were a corpse already, Rees should have located the body.

Which meant either Maelys had chosen that time to wander into a room of the Spyre immune to all outside spells—which included only a couple of the most dangerous treasure-rooms—or somebody had wrapped her essence in a fog, with the specific purpose to ward off a scrying spell.

Instinct told him it was the latter.

And, of all the people in the Spyre that Nirin knew wanted Maelys to disappear, there were only two motivated enough to do it. One of them was sitting at her desk behind him, sifting through old Ariod histories. The other one was serving tea to a guest in her council chambers on the second floor of the south tower.

Setting his jaw, Nirin went to confront Auldin Laelia.