Chapter 111: Cunning and Craft

Chapter 111: Cunning and Craft

Damien

Month 2, Day 8, Monday 10:30 a.m.

Damien returned from a wonderful weekend visit to Westbay Manor—wonderful mostly because his father had been away, leaving just Titus and the servants—barely in time to make it to his Monday morning class. He brought back with him three things: news about the latest developments on the Raven Queen’s case, delicious treats, and a terrible secret.

As they went through their classes, Damien watched Sebastien with more care than normal, trying not to be obvious about his revived scrutiny. Despite the shock of the knowledge Damien now bore, he reassured himself that the secret was only new to him. Sebastien had been dealing with it all along, unable to talk about it, but his emotional state seemed to be improving, if anything. His stint of working every spare moment to try and bury the pain of what had happened to Newton seemed to have passed, and he and Ana had worked out their argument while Damien was gone. Sebastien was still jittery, though—probably drinking too much wakefulness brew to combat his chronic sleep deprivation.

Damien had tried to tell Ana that she should give Sebastien some slack because it was normal for someone to be a little emotionally unstable after a traumatic experience. But though Ana had seemed subdued by this reminder, she had remained too stubborn to reach out.

Damien waved for his friends to linger as Introduction to Modern Magics let out, dispensing the desserts wrapped in wax paper. He gave an extra to Sebastien, hoping they would spark his appetite, and then was forced to give an extra to all his other friends as well when they complained at his unfair treatment. “I have news,” Damien told them in a hushed tone, his excitement somewhat exaggerated to cover up his anxiety.

Ana leaned in with interest, Sebastien’s gaze sharpened, and Alec grinned, but Waverly was more focused on her dessert, Brinn just gave Damien an indulgent smile, and Rhett was busy making googly eyes at some girl across the room.

“Do you remember the Raven Queen’s accomplice, Ennis Naught?” Damien asked.

Sebastien wasn’t fast enough to keep the flicker of expression from his face, but Damien couldn’t quite tell what emotion had caused it. Anger, or maybe fear?

“His sentencing has been scheduled, and it’s going to be public,” Damien continued.

This time, Sebastien’s expression didn’t slip, remaining mildly curious. “Is that normal?” he asked. “And don’t you have to hold a trial before sentencing?”

“It is somewhat uncommon, though not quite as rare as a public execution,” Ana said, taking a delicate bite of her pastry. “Usually they hold a public sentencing for the more high-profile cases, to remind everyone that the hammer of Crown law is still as powerful as ever. I would guess the trial is either ongoing or scheduled to complete before the sentencing. What did they charge him with, exactly?” With a distracted, indulgent smile, she handed off her second dessert to Waverly, who had already finished both of hers.

“Eat, Sebastien,” Damien reminded. He waited for Sebastien to take a big, scowling bite before he continued. “They charged Mr. Naught with felony theft, conspiracy to commit treason, and being an accomplice to illegal magical practices. Plus some other things, like resisting arrest.” He waved a hand glibly. “There’s also a whole list of minor crimes he committed over the years and confessed to while in Harrow Hill. I didn’t memorize it.”

“When is the sentencing?” Sebastien asked.

“A couple of months from now.”

Ana brightened. “Oh? We’ll be free from the University for Sowing Break, then. Maybe we can attend! I imagine quite a lot of people will be there.”

Alec shrugged. “That just means it will be uncomfortably crowded. Plus, I’m not really that interested in seeing some poor sod get told the rest of his life is ruined.”

Sebastien flinched, and Damien gave Alec a look of irritation. “Poor sod? He’s the Raven Queen’s accomplice and a career criminal. The whole of Lenore will be better off without him.”

“Ehh.” Alec didn’t bother to argue with him, probably because he lacked good justifications for his opinion but didn’t want to admit he was wrong, either.

As their little huddle dispersed and they walked toward the next class, Damien fell back from the group, tugging on Sebastien’s sleeve. “This is a ploy to try and trap the Raven Queen,” Damien murmured.

“Obviously,” Sebastien said. “They’re not even being subtle about it.”

“Do you think she’ll show up?”

Sebastien’s lips were pressed together in a thin line. “Not if she’s smart. And if she did, I’d like to see their plan to keep the audience from panicking. Have you ever seen someone stomped to death by a crowd, Damien?”

Damien stared at Sebastien. “No.”

“It doesn’t even take that many people. Just a small enough space and enough panic.”

“Maybe they’ll restrict the number of attendees? And increase the security, of course. Titus probably has some clever plan to catch her as soon as she gets near, before she has a chance to do any damage.”

“Either that or someone decided the danger was worth it,” Sebastien said darkly.Updated from novelb(i)n.c(o)m

Damien fell silent, trying to figure out how to bring up the more important thing he had learned from Titus, but they arrived too quickly at the Natural Science classroom, and the discussion had to be postponed.

Professor Gnorrish had arrayed a strange assortment of things on their desks, from candles to ugly-looking mushrooms, and when all the students were seated, he dimmed the lights. Some of the items revealed a glow.

“There are many sources of light energy,” Professor Gnorrish began, his loud voice cutting harshly through the wonder of the glow. “The most obvious source of light is the sun, followed by flames. These are ‘incandescent’ sources of energy, and are rather inefficient, because most of the actual energy goes into producing heat, with very little left over for light. Less than one percent of incandescent energy is expressed as light, even for the hottest flames from the heaviest fuel.

“Light is also created through electric discharge, which you’ve all surely experienced through lightning. You can create an arc lamp using two charcoal strips as electrical conductors and a slow-release artifact array filled with electrical energy—lightning-aspected energy, as it was once called. If any of you wish to experiment with this, I recommend you do some research on limiting current and voltage to avoid a catastrophic discharge. See me after class if you want a list of good resources.” He looked pointedly at one student, who Sebastien vaguely remembered had caused some sort of explosion in the dorm a few weeks back.

“After electric discharge come phosphorescence and fluorescence. Some materials can absorb energy from another source, often ultraviolet light, store it, and then emit visible light gradually, at a longer wavelength and reduced brightness. This is rare, and happens naturally in minerals like barite, as well as a few magical species such as fey-flowers and glow-slimes. If the light disappears immediately, it’s fluorescence. If it lingers, it’s phosphorescence.”

Gnorrish let his eyes rove discouragingly over the students, some of whom seemed a little too interested in their rocks and mushrooms. “If you come across something glowing eerily in the dark, do not eat it.”

Damien thought it was probably not a good idea to eat random things you found lying around in the dark, in general.

“Finally, we have chemiluminescence and bioluminescence. Chemiluminescence is when chemical energy is converted to light with little to no change in the temperature, unlike incandescence. This process occurs naturally, and when it does, it is called bioluminescence. You may be familiar with fireflies, jellyfish, and the moondew drosera, which is a magical carnivorous plant.”

Sebastien nodded as if this was obvious, common knowledge.

Damien smoothed back his hair, this idea settling into his mind like stones thrown into a pond, disturbing everything with ripples as they sank to the depths. Before he was really settled, he said, “I take your point.” He needed time to think, not to continue arguing.

Ana was gracious enough to move on, but Damien’s mood was effectively dampened. “I’m sure that Uncle Malcolm will have evidence of at least some of these misdeeds in the vault he keeps in his office. I want that evidence,” she said.

“What will you do with it?” Sebastien asked. “Blackmail? Or give it to your father?”

“Both.” Ana’s vicious grin was back. “And that’s not the whole of it. I want to plant evidence that they are planning to overthrow and kill my father once he has removed myself and Natalia from the line of direct inheritance.”

Damien let out a slow breath. “Do you think he’d buy it?”

“Maybe he wouldn’t normally, but I think we can make it more credible. I want to blackmail them with whatever real evidence of misdeeds we find inside, then document their response—proof that they feel the information is legitimate enough to respond to. Once I bring it all to my father’s attention in the most embarrassing way possible, they might deny what exactly they were being blackmailed about, but with the real evidence mixed with the false, they’ll have damned themselves. Proof of any of it acts as proof of all of it. Plans to overthrow Lord Gervin or even kill him won’t seem so unrealistic.” Ana’s cheeks were flushed pink, her eyes bright. “Their corruption and incompetence will erode his trust in them. Getting blackmailed for wrongdoing might actually be worse in his eyes than the original crime. And their planned betrayal will erode his faith. They won’t be able to continue undermining my authority and trying to tear my rightful birthright out from under me.”

Sebastien fiddled with the Conduit attached to his pocket-watch’s fob, frowning into the distance. “That might work, if you play everything just right. But there are some pivot points where everything could break apart. First, even if we can get into Malcolm Gervin’s vault, do we know that we’ll find reliable blackmail within? Secondly, this plan hinges on them responding to the blackmail attempt the way we want, in a way we’re able to document. And finally, how are you going to ensure that all the evidence comes to light at the right time, in the right way? If we’re blackmailing your uncles, we can’t plant the false evidence at the same time we break into the vault. They’ll definitely check to make sure nothing’s missing. How do you plan to control the outcome? That’s not to mention all the details of how to pull this off that we’ve yet to discuss. There could be pivot points there, too. The more variables, the more chances there are for things to go wrong. Real life isn’t like a story—inevitably, things go awry, often most horribly at the worst possible moment. Rather than a complicated plan with a lot of excitement and moving pieces, an exceedingly simple plan that can be adjusted as needed is preferable.”

Ana was undeterred. “Okay, well, that’s what we’re here for. We’ll work out all the kinks and come up with backup plans or less dangerous ways to do things.”

“Let’s run through it from beginning to end, solving problems as we go,” Sebastien said. “Do you have the blueprints for your uncle’s house? I need to know the details of the layout, the security, and you can’t overlook the servants, even if they walk around acting like they’re invisible.”

Ana didn’t have the blueprints but ran off to grab a sheet of paper large enough to sketch out the mansion and grounds from her memory.

When they were alone, Sebastien turned to Damien. “I need you to tell Ana that the Gervins have a betrothal contract with the Raven Queen. It’s with one of the branch line men, and I’m not sure of the details, but it was likely negotiated by one of her uncles. Ana didn’t mention it, and it seems like it would be perfect blackmail material. Hypothetically...we could gather evidence that makes it seem like they’re colluding with the Raven Queen.”

Damien’s mouth dropped before he could suppress the uncouth expression. “Wait, how do you know this? Titus never mentioned anything about this to me.”

“There’s no good explanation—not one I can give Ana—for why I know that,” Sebastien said, not exactly answering the question. “But you have a plausible source. The coppers know about this. But like Ana said, it must not have been a big enough issue for them to go after someone from a Crown Family, since the deal wasn’t made with the Raven Queen directly.”

“Wait, what?”

“The Gervins have a Conduit set in a ring that they took from Ennis Naught when they negotiated the deal. It seems like the kind of thing they would keep in a vault. I’m thinking, if possible, we could use that to blackmail them. We won’t steal it, but perhaps we could take a photo to help make a drawing of it, to prove what we know. This mission isn’t just for Ana, Damien. It’s been approved by our bosses.”

Suddenly, it made sense why Sebastien knew these things. He must have learned it from another member of their secret order, or from his investigations into the Raven Queen. Damien swallowed, trying to suppress the resurgence of giddiness. “Do they have any special missions for us?”

“You just need to keep two unworthy men from coming into greater power. If there were any secret missions, I would be the one tasked to complete them.”

Damien pursed his lips unhappily, but then realized it looked like he was pouting and straightened his expression. “I’ll tell Ana,” Damien agreed. “And we’ll frame them for treason. Oh, this is perfect!” He threw back his head and let out a cackle.

“It is...interesting,” Sebastien said. He didn’t seem nearly as enthused as Damien, but his frown of worry was matched by a small curve of his lips. “Dangerous, but interesting. This is the kind of thing where so many things could go horribly wrong. If we’re going to do this, we’ll need to be truly and properly prepared. I think the reward could be worth the risk, though, with the proper plans in place.”

Damien sobered abruptly as he remembered something less pleasant, feeling almost dizzy from his own mood swings. He checked his pocket watch. They still had plenty of time until Ana should return. “I heard something else from Titus, Sebastien. I didn’t want to mention it in front of the others.”

Sebastien’s frown returned in full force. “Tell me.”

Damien hesitated. “I suppose you couldn’t mention it to me...because of the vow to the Red Guard. But I heard the Raven Queen cast something on you when you went to try and save Newton from whatever Tanya dragged him into.” Damien swallowed past the growing lump in his throat, watching carefully as Sebastien shifted uncomfortably, looking away. “Sebastien...what did she do to you? Are you okay?”

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing!” Damien said, his voice rising. “It’s not nothing,” he repeated more quietly.

Sebastien’s scowl grew harsher. “The Red Guard and Professor Lacer examined me extensively. I’m safe, and no one around me is in danger, either.”

“But that doesn’t mean you’re okay.”

Sebastien sighed, rubbing away the wrinkles between his eyebrows, then smiled, finally meeting Damien’s gaze. “I’m okay, Damien. Really. The Raven Queen, she...wasn’t acting maliciously.”

That seemed implausible to Damien. “Can you tell me what she did?”

Sebastien hesitated before speaking, and when he did each word was slow and carefully considered. “It wards off divination, with some minor knock-on effects. I can’t really talk about it, but please believe me, I’m being honest when I say it’s fine. If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t be here talking with you right now.”

“Why would she do something like that to you?”

“Professor Lacer thinks it didn’t have much to do with me at all. She was just trying to get his attention, taking advantage of an unexpected opportunity. She...maybe wants to meet with him.” Sebastien’s lip quivered, but instead of the tears Damien half expected, Sebastien burst out laughing. He was obviously more stressed out about the whole thing than he admitted, if he was breaking into insane laughter.

Damien stared at him, bemused, and even though he didn’t really think it was so funny, he couldn’t help but start laughing too, letting his jumbled-up feelings pour out as mirth.

Ana returned to find them bent over in hilarity, wiping tears from their cheeks. When she asked what was so funny, they just shook their heads silently. “You had to be there,” Damien said smugly, tossing his head to flip back a lock of displaced hair.

“Fine!” She sniffed. “Keep your little jokes between boys. But I expect your full attention on the plan.”

Damien reached into his pocket, running his fingers over the thirteen-pointed star disk hidden within, which would shine a light onto the world when activated. “I remembered something important, Ana. It’s the perfect blackmail material.”