It's been three months since the events of The Honouring Day, and Ignolia is still mourning the sudden disappearance of their powerful rulers.
Lydia finds herself in Ellesmere; the capital of the Congress. Her days are spent accompanying ranked wiza...
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"So, let me understand this correctly," Dorian concurred, pretending to be deep in thought as he twisted a thick curl between his fingers. Ayana and Redmond seemed to hold their breaths, waiting for his answer. Elsie seemed ready to throw her shoe at him, and I was inclined to do the same. "You want me to somehow get you into the archives, which are heavily guarded, then help you find out whatever information on Uzier is in there and do all that without Agatha discovering?"
"Yes," gritted Elsie.
It was clear she was nowhere near pleased with Dorian overhearing our plans. Granted, he did not make it easy by testing our patience. But right now, he was the only opportunity we had to access the archives.
"Do you think you can do that?" I asked him, arms folded tightly against my chest.
Surprisingly, he did not seem outraged at the fact we were intending on sneaking behind Agatha's back. Rather, he seemed unsettled.
He leaned forward in the cushioned chair, elbows resting on his knees. "You guys appear to misunderstand that I had access to every section of the archives."
"You don't?" said Ayana, now nestled between her pink and purple blankets.
He shook his head, and I felt the disappointment starting to weigh on me. "I'm only authorized to be in the upper section, where they keep illegal books."
"Is it possible to find what we need in that section?" asked Redmond.
"It's mostly books from the mortal world, ones that contain forbidden science, such as alchemy. There are two lower levels, and from what I know, no one other than Agatha has entry to the last one."
Damn. If that's true, then how the hell do we reach it?
"Are there any guards stationed?" I inquired, moving to sit on the bed beside Elsie.
Dorian shrugged. "I'm not sure. I don't believe so since only Agatha is allowed to go there."
"I'm guessing that's where we'll find what we're looking for." Elsie theorized. "I mean, it seems to me that she doesn't want anyone to find out what she's hiding there."
"True," I agreed.
But this just made things much more complicated.
"Um..." Ayana spoke softly, and all heads turned to her. She blinked at the sudden attention but said, "I've been thinking about something. If Madam Alastair is hiding something from the public, wouldn't it be safer to destroy it? That way, there's no risk of people finding out."
I had to say, her words made sense. And at that thought, a knot formed in my stomach. But why would Decimus send me to find something that wasn't there? He had to have known.
"Shit!" Elsie cursed as if realizing it herself. "Ayana's right. What guarantee do we even have that information on Uzier is still there? What if that hag got rid of it?"
