Oh, lovely, I may have just let a malevolent demigod out of prison.
I rubbed my forehead. “Do you think that’s likely to be true?”
Orden shook her head. “He’s certainly powerful, but I can’t say if that’s accurate. There are other possibilities. He could be one of Wydd’s forms, for example.”
I nodded at that. Wydd was the Visage of Forbidden Knowledge and she — or he, depending on the day — was known to take on many forms. There were stories of her conflicting with other visages in the past, but I hadn’t heard any that involved direct combat. “Do you think Keras is the reason the tower was sealed?”
She shifted her hand, drumming her fingers on the chair. “That is an excellent question. Knowing that Keras is involved certainly puts the whole situation in a different light. It’s possible he’s responsible. I’ll have to consider it and investigate further. You’re welcome to research him yourself, but don’t make it your primary focus.”
Orden paused, eyes pensive. “You said the woman with him was named Vera, and sounded Caelish?”
I thought back to when I’d met Vera and her interactions with the other prisoners. “Yeah, but I don’t think they were working together. She fled just the same as I did when the battle started.”
“Interesting.”
“And you mentioned a young boy. Another applicant, like yourself?”
“Not sure. He had even darker skin than Vera, so he was probably Caelish, too. He looked too young to be taking a Judgment and he had an unusual mark on his forehead. It was large for an attunement. It looked more like a tattoo.”
“That could be nothing; tattoos are much more common in Caelford. But you’re right that it’s unusual enough to note. If nothing else, it should be possible to find out if a young Caelfordian with a forehead tattoo entered through the Door of Judgment recently.”
“Do people from Caelford take their Judgments at a younger age than we do?”
She shook her head. “No, but people from Edria take them at twelve or thirteen. It’s possible he’s from Edria and simply had a Caelish complexion.”
True enough. It was easy to assume someone’s region of birth based on their skin tone, but there were people of all nationalities living everywhere these days.
“Were you serious when you mentioned that there could be agents of a visage coming after me, or was that just to inspire me to prepare?”
Orden cracked her knuckles. “Both. You must understand that part of the influence of the visages comes from the belief that they are infallible. You witnessed a visage fight someone — not destroy someone, not execute someone, fight them — and you escaped after seeing it.”
She waved a finger at me in warning. “That kind of knowledge is dangerous. It may be sufficient in itself for Katashi to want you eliminated. Perhaps he would be merciful enough to order someone to remove your memories. Of course, maybe he won’t care at all. It is always prudent to plan for the worst case.”
I agreed with her logic. And, considering I’d been responsible for freeing Keras in the first place, the chances that Katashi would hold a grudge were even higher than Orden knew.
“So what do I need to do for now?”
“Focus on learning how to use your attunement. First, because it will improve your ability to defend yourself. Second, because there’s a good chance I will need to take you with me into the tower to investigate this later in the year. I will try to give you as much time as possible to prepare, and I will also ask some of my contacts to keep an eye on you in case there are any actual threats in the meantime.”
I sighed in relief. “Thank you, I don’t think I’d be capable of repelling an actual assassin on my own yet.”
“I never expected you to be, but your preparations did show promise. Continue to improve on them. I may not be able to look out for you forever, especially since I will most likely need to go into the tower on my own for a while to investigate this.”
I considered that. “Do you need me to help with your investigation right now? I mean, I obviously shouldn’t go in the tower yet, but what about other research?”
She shook her head. “No, not yet. Focus on improving your skills. You should make certain to get your attunement to Carnelian status before you visit the tower again. You’ll be much more likely to survive that way.”
Yeah, fair enough, surviving is one of my favorite things to do.
From the way Orden was starting to glance back toward the paperwork on her desk, I got the message that she was done with the conversation. I took a step back toward the door. “Okay, that makes sense. Do you have any idea when you might need me in there?”
Orden pursed her lips. “I can’t say. You should prepare as quickly as possible. Even the first floor will be much more dangerous than what you faced in the Judgment. I would advise trying to reach Carnelian status within three months. Sooner would be better.”
Three months to hit Carnelian. One more thing to work on.
“I’ll do my best to improve my enchanting as quickly as possible.”
She scratched her nose before replying. “Good. You should also study the tower itself as well. Even if I do not end up bringing you into the tower to investigate this situation, students are generally sent back into the tower — accompanied by a teacher — for a test at the end of the year. Thus, you should focus heavily on preparing for another visit to the tower either way.”
“Got it.”
Orden gave me a curt nod. “Excellent. I hope that the Voice can clarify this situation in general, especially whether Katashi wants you dead. I will try to determine that as quickly as possible.”
I nodded in return. “And if Katashi does want me dead, I should be preparing to fight him when I go back to the tower?”
“Oh, Goddess, no, child. If Katashi decides to attack us directly, you should be prepared to die.”
We concluded our talk quickly after that, and she sent me on my way with one last instruction.
“Don’t discuss what happened in the tower with anyone who isn’t already aware of it. We need more information before we raise any alarms.”
I wasn’t pleased by that, but I understood her reasoning. “What about my sister?”
“You may consult with Jin if you need assistance, since he’s already gotten himself involved, but we can’t risk dragging anyone else into this situation. Understood?”
“Understood.”
I considered telling Sera immediately in spite of Orden’s orders. There was roughly a zero percent chance she wasn’t going to be dragged into the situation at some point. It was just a matter of when.
I should probably do a bit more research before I talk to her, though. At this point we don’t know enough to formulate a plan of action.
I considered my options while I went to verify a few things.
Yes, the academy guard had been informed that I was going to be under a mock “attack” the night before. No, they hadn’t expected a firearm to be discharged. Fortunately, the bullet hadn’t hit anyone.
Curtis, the dorm chief, had the same story. Apparently they hadn’t heard me screaming for help due to a rune Orden had marked in chalk on the wall outside my room. That was good. Everyone had heard the bullet, though. He’d made it outside to reassure the other students that it was just a drill shortly after Jin and I had fled the scene.
He also mentioned that this sort of thing happened occasionally. He’d been a target of a similar “attack” himself the first year. Apparently, it was something of a tradition.