Sera grabbed me into a hug. I awkwardly reciprocated.
She pulled away after that, wearing a slight smile that concealed a well of other emotion. “Vanniv saw the attack, or the beginning of it, at least. He went to get help, but by the time he came back, you were already gone. And there were just…bodies.”
I winced. “I’m sorry, Sera. I’m okay, though.”
She looked skeptical.
“Really, I’m okay. I mean, mostly. Shaken, obviously…but I’ll live.”
“I won’t press.” She folded her arms. “But it’s good to see you.”
“It’s good to see you, too.” I gave my best effort at a smile, which wasn’t very good. Still, I meant what I said. I also didn’t want to think about Saffron anymore, so I changed the topic. “How did the rest of the test go?”
“I’m afraid your departure was the last twist in our little story, and it’s the only thing the others would talk about on the other way back. Really, Brother, do you always have to be the center of attention?” It was a good attempt at sounding like she was back to her usual teasing, but her tone was off.
Still, I appreciated the effort, so I played along. “I try to be consistent. And I’m sure you were glad to have a day or two away from me, given how irritating I am.”
“Of course.” She wiped her eyes. “Obviously.”
Marissa came up behind her, reaching out awkwardly, and then pulling back. “I, uh, hi Corin.”
I realized that she’d stopped because of our last exchange, and I gave her a nod of gratitude. I extended an arm and offered her a half-hug. That was more tolerable to me, and she seemed to want the physical connection, even if it wasn’t exactly the kind of reassurance I personally enjoyed. “It’s good to see you, Mara.”
She accepted the half-hug and stepped back. “You…so, is there anyone you need me to hit for you?” She punched one fist into her other palm.
I laughed. “Maybe. I’ll explain when we get back to Elora’s place.”
Marissa blinked. “Elora? Is that a girl’s name?”
Patrick grinned. “Ooh, have you been…”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s not like that. She’s more like Derek’s girlfriend, if anything.”
“Aww.” Patrick chuckled. “I was hoping for some good gossip.”
I shook my head. “No gossip. But I do have a lot to tell you all.” I glanced from side to side. “Where’s Jin?”
“He went back separately,” Sera explained. “Said he had some business to attend to.”
Well, that’s not ominous or anything.
I nodded, but I felt oddly disappointed. Wasn’t he worried about me?
I dismissed the concern. He had his own ways of handling worry, just like I did.
If he wanted to check on me, he could do it any time.
I waved toward a nearby carriage, where Keras was waiting. “Let’s head out. I’ll explain everything when we get to a secure area.”
“Secure…?” Sera asked. “This is going to be one of your stories that changes everything, isn’t it?”
I considered that. “No. Just our living arrangements.”
The manor we were staying in belonged to Sheridan Theas, and it was on the opposite side of the city from the university. That meant that going back to school from there would have been a bit of a trek, but we were officially done with our exams, so it was a suitable place to stay for the few remaining weeks of the semester.
In truth, we probably could have gone back to our respective homes at that point if we’d wanted to. There would be closing ceremonies for the year, as well as the winter ball, but neither of those were strictly mandatory to attend.
I explained everything that had happened to me to the others. No omissions. They were deep enough in this situation now that they deserved to know.
After that, we took trips with Keras and a mostly-recovered Derek back to Derek’s manor to retrieve our things.
On one of those trips, I stopped Derek and asked him a question. “Who made the magic emergency stick that you gave me?”
Derek paused in his step. “An old friend, why?”
“Because Saffron’s agent in Elora’s group had one that was almost identical. They used it to signal Saffron. That’s how he showed up to attack us in the first place.”
Derek spent a moment making some colorful curses, at least one of which involved that other Enchanter doing things with a hamster that sounded both awkward and anatomically impossible.
After that, though, he turned to me. “I’ll look into that. They sell primarily to climbers out of a local casino. They probably just sold the stick without any idea of who they were dealing with…but I’ll find out.”
I nodded. “Any chance you’d be willing to give me a name?”
“No.” He shook his head. “This one is personal. Trust me, I’ll deal with it. And if they do end up being involved, I’ll let you know what I find out.”
I didn’t like that, but we all had our secrets, and I understood Derek’s need to keep some things to himself. “Okay. Is the stick that you gave me safe for me to hold onto?”
“Yes. It’s unlikely the item itself is compromised. It’s more that my friend might just be selling to an organization they shouldn’t be.”
The most important part of that exchange was that Derek had seemed genuinely surprised. I’d wanted to know if he’d knowingly been working with someone connected to the Tyrant, and from his response, it sounded unlikely. That was good enough for me.
I nodded to Derek and we continued walking back to the manor.
I’d already picked up the most important of my own items — Selys-Lyann and the Trials of Judgment book — but I still had a few other miscellaneous bits and pieces to move over.
I also stopped at the area where I’d hit Saffron with Ceris. As I’d suspected, there was a dried bloodstain.
I collected what I could of the blood in a vial. I had no intention of summoning Saffron with the Jaden Box, but I knew blood could be used for other things, like tracking spells.
After that, I did some thinking about where I wanted to stay.
Staying on House Theas’ lands would not be a long-term arrangement. There were too many servants, guards, and other people I didn’t necessarily trust. It wasn’t just a personal home like Derek’s house — this was a full estate, complete with three different houses, an expansive garden, and even a swimming pool.
That made it far less personal and far less enticing to me.
Going back to either my own humble dorm room or Derek’s house was not an option, though. Not when Saffron could show back up at any time.
I was concerned that even with the degree of security at House Theas, we were still woefully unprepared for another attack by a threat of that magnitude.
The hope seemed to be that Saffron simply wouldn’t know where to look for us, and that the wards on the house would block any efforts at divination. I didn’t find either of those things particularly likely to be true, but I agreed that being in a different house made it less likely Saffron would find us immediately, at least.
Keras assured us that if Saffron hadn’t attacked again immediately, he probably wasn’t going to any time soon…but that still didn’t excuse a lack of planning for if and when he did decide to finish what he’d started.
I spent most of the next two weeks working on my own solution to that problem — communication devices.
I made a series of voice-activated necklaces that could be used to send a message to anyone else with a matching necklace.
The flexibility to connect with any other necklace was tricky to sort out, but I made it work similarly to the function-changing runes I’d seen on the tiles in Teft’s dueling tests.