Seth tried to ignore the uncomfortable atmosphere as the students rode back to the academy. Duvessa had stayed behind to help out Seth and Arnold with Owen, and spent the entire ride glaring at Arnold.

Seth was impressed with how long she could stay mad. He would have thought she was the type that would forget as soon as she saw something cute or shiny. Instead she was quietly raging and held firmly to her grudge. 

Arnold was staring out the window at the dark streets, his face periodically illuminated by the passing streetlamps. His clothes were still muddy. He wasn't the only one who stank though, they all did.

When they were only a few minutes from school Seth decided to address the brewing storm. If things got out of hand it would only be a few minutes before they could separate. 

"Duvessa, is there a problem with your power?" Seth asked her quietly. "You mentioned a few summons not coming back earlier. Did they just get destroyed or something?"

Duvessa waved her hand dismissively. "It's fine. I had a couple sparrows watching those people for Booth that haven't come back on time. I was probably not specific enough with their instructions. And that capybara from the mountain hasn't come back, but I didn't expect it to. Everything else is working fine."

Arnold kept staring out the window.

"Arnold told me your power was being stolen. You don't think so?"

"He's being dramatic and making everything ugly. Don't listen to anything he says," she answered.

"Forgive me for being concerned about your well-being," Arnold snapped. "I assure you, it won't happen again."

"You told nasty lies about a friend of mine!" Duvessa had shouting quietly down to an art. "I better not hear another thing like that again. If I hear you're spreading rumors…" 

Mau shifted on his shoulder. That's right, she hadn't heard any of this. He should probably take a few minutes and tell her everything that happened. He'd do that once they were alone.

"I appreciate it, Duvessa," Seth said as they pulled into the tower courtyard. 

Arnold was out the door before they'd fully stopped. Seth, Owen, and Duvessa watched him leave.

"I have somewhere to be tomorrow evening. Can we reschedule or skip our lesson, Owen?" Seth asked.

"Oh, we do lessons too!" Duvessa said brightly, her whole demeanor having changed with Arnold's absence. "You can join us! Selendrith has been trying to teach Blaise mana control. I'm trying to learn it too. It's really really hard."

"Why is it hard?" Seth asked, confused. They manipulated mana all the time in class. You just focused on the spell, and the mana moved.

"Because she doesn't let us use our own mana. We have to use a circle to fill a vault with attuned mana and use that without converting it to aspected mana. It's really hard and confusing." Duvessa groaned dramatically. "Selendrith says we have to do it that way because it's a necessary skill for creating certain objects. Aspected mana can corrupt the results of certain creations. Like a healing spell aspected to lightning isn't actually going to heal."

Mau shifted again and gave him a look. She tapped 'This' and flicked her ear in 'Tell me more'. 

"Mau wants to see that," Seth told Duvessa. "I do too. Would you mind if we join sometime? Just not tomorrow."

"Of course!" Duvessa told them where and when they practiced. 

"I don't know about you two, but I'm heading for the baths before bed," Owen said. The others agreed.

The following afternoon Seth left campus right after his last class. Mau rode on his shoulder. He spent the walk to Benjamin's townhouse composing his thoughts and working out what he'd need to do about Arnold. He just hoped Benjamin was actually in town. A lot of Benjamin's business was in Vernar. There was a permanent and managed entrance to the Below there, and that was where Saben was training to join an explorer team.

Saben had hoped he could work the entrance Seth had found, but the last Seth had heard was the Palace was still assessing it. Typically an entrance would be explored for a month or so and closed when near a city. At about a half a day away, this one was on the cusp of being too close. 

If the entrance led to a place too dangerous or too shallow to be profitable it would just be sealed. Otherwise there was a chance they'd keep it open for a few years or even make it a managed and permanent entrance. 

That was what Seth was hoping for. A managed entrance nearby, so Saben could come back to the city.

Seth wished he could talk to his brother in person. He wanted to tell him about the wyvern, and Arnold's accusations against Benjamin. Those were things he couldn't put in a letter. He could have used Dad's code, but Saben had never learned it.

Seth took a slightly longer route and went down the main thoroughfare into the city. He'd seen the princess and her guard there before school started and he secretly hoped to see her or anyone from the Palace that he knew. Saben would have scolded him for it.

Instead, he just encountered normal traffic. Horses and carriages clopped by while pedestrians ebbed and flowed. Seth did pause to watch someone shuffling a ball under shells. Seth waved his hands in a universal 'I got no money' when the guy called him over. The guy promptly ignored him and called over a well dressed young man who had a young lady with him. 

Saben had said the whole game was a trick. Seth watched as the young man won twice. Following the ball under the shells was easy. Then, the third time when the young man made a bigger bet, he lost.

Seth couldn't see why he lost. He chose the same shell Seth would have. Saben was right. There had to be some type of trick. Booth would probably know it.

He didn't take any more detours and knocked on Benjamin's townhouse door shortly before sundown. 

John promptly opened the door. John was middle aged and thin, the kind of man you'd see anywhere. He was also Benjamin's office manager for business in Rosia. When Benjamin was present he acted as an assistant and butler as well.

"Seth, this is unexpected." John stood aside to let him enter. "The Master has an engagement tonight, but I'm sure he'll be pleased to see you." John led Seth into the front office to wait. The room was furnished with a dark wood table and ornate chairs. Portraits of people Seth didn't recognize were on the walls. Seth felt uncomfortable here, he was used to sitting in the kitchen or upstairs.

Seth took a seat and Mau jumped down. She walked around the office as they waited before hopping up on the table. She settled down and curled her feet under her. Pleased with her good behavior, Seth scratched her head.

Benjamin entered a few minutes later. "Seth! It's good to see you! I wish I had known you were coming. I'm sorry I only have a few minutes before my carriage gets here."

Seth started to stand but Benjamin waved him back into his seat and sat opposite him. Benjamin's eyes lingered on Mau for a few moments. Mau glanced at Benjamin and then looked away and closed her eyes. 

"I'm sorry for not sending a note ahead," Seth said, "but something's happened and I wanted to talk to you directly about it."

Benjamin leaned back. "All right. What can I do to help you?"

"One of my classmates thinks I'm stealing people's magic. I'm pretty sure he was involved in the attack on the caravan last month. He thinks you had an artifact that takes powers, it was on the caravan, and that I now have it."

Benjamin's expression was serious. "Tell me about the stolen powers."

Seth briefly explained what he knew about Blaise, that Arnold's power also went missing and returned, and that now Arnold believed Duvessa's power was also being stolen.

"Does he think you were involved in his own power loss?"

"I don't think so. Just Saben, Blaise, and now Duvessa."

Benjamin raised an eyebrow. "Saben's power was lost months ago. Long before any of this happened. And you know there was no artifact on the caravan."

"I know. There's no way. But he sounded so sure of it. And he's one of the people researching power loss at the Circle Tower. He could get me expelled. This could be a problem for you too. He is certain you have something to do with it, but I have no idea why he'd think so."

Benjamin drummed his fingers on the table. "What's this student's name?"

"Arnold. I don't know who his father is. He has a snake familiar, Asclepius. I think he might be from Vernar."

"He is. I know of him. One of the explorer teams I sponsor had a run in with members of his family that also explore the Below. It went poorly. That is likely what this is about."

"It sounds so flimsy to me now that I've told you all that. But he is really sincere in his belief that I was responsible for stealing people's magic. He could easily convince other people." Seth stood up and paced to the far side of the room. "I got put on probation already for fighting with Arnold."

"Everything you've described is circumstantial," Benjamin agreed. "But we've become targets for investigation. We'll need to step carefully. Do you think powers are being stolen, Seth? Do you think someone is intentionally doing this?" Benjamin studied Seth.

Despite all the natural possibilities, Seth didn't think there was any other reasonable explanation. "Yes I do. After what happened to Blaise, I'm convinced it was either theft or the deliberate destruction of her power."

"Speaking of destruction, how is your power? Are you still wearing the affinity bracelet I gave you?" Benjamin asked.

"Yes, I have. I haven't noticed any real effect from it though." Seth realized he was rubbing the beads on the bracelet. It was becoming a common fidget action for him.

Benjamin pursed his lips. "If I may? I'd like to run a calibration test on it."

"Sure." Seth removed the bracelet and handed it over. Benjamin was only gone about a minute and Seth sat down again while he waited.

"I was thinking," Benjamin said when he returned. "Only people with powerful or desirable powers have been targeted. Who do you think is the next likely target? Do you know who is at risk?"

"There are a bunch of people at school that I don't know," Seth said. "I don't even know what my roommate's power is. He gets all mysterious about it when I ask." Seth thought for a moment. "They did power tests the first week of school. One of the tests was a wall with a tree carving on it. It showed, I guess it was the size? Of a person's power."

"That kind of information is probably exactly what we need."

Seth nodded. "There was a man in the stands making copies of the tree image that he would sell to us if we wanted. His name was Ollie. I think he has a shop in the city."

Benjamin smiled broadly. "That's exactly what we need. I can hunt him down and see what he has for those images."

"If we can determine who might be at risk, we can at least warn them," Seth said. 

"That might not be a good idea," Benjamin said. "If we know who is next, Arnold will likely take that as proof we are responsible. We shouldn't mention this to anyone. Not even your friends. We should quietly determine who the likely targets are, and take steps from there. Anything you learn, report back to me."

Seth reluctantly nodded. "I can see that." He felt better having told Benjamin. There was something else he could use advice on. "A few days ago," Seth started when there was a knock at the door.

"Pardon, sir. Your carriage is here," John said from the door.

"I'm sorry Seth, I'm out of time." Benjamin glanced at Mau who hadn't moved the whole conversation. She may have dozed off. "I'll fetch your bracelet before I go, and John, could you see that Seth gets something to eat? I believe he's missed dinner at school."