Sebastien

Month 2, Day 6, Saturday 10:00 a.m.

Sebastien didn’t flinch from the needle-like stabs of the artifact disks in her back as they sucked up her blood. ‘I wonder if I will bruise if they keep activating again and again under these tests.’

She stood in the middle of Professor Lacer’s office, where he had drawn a divination spell array on the floor in a hard wax that resisted melting even with the power he pushed through it. It had only been a week since she came up with her plan to fix everything, which included a more stringent schedule, but already she was off course, accommodating him instead of brewing for the Verdant Stag.

She had skipped dinner on Wednesday to bring Liza the sleep-proxy spell components, and while she was there, asked the ward’s creator about the danger of it coming under scrutiny, vaguely describing the situation.

Liza had stared at Siobhan for a good thirty seconds of silence, clearly exasperated by the way Siobhan always seemed to get into trouble. “I don’t understand how this situation came to be in the first place, but I gather that someone who doesn’t know you’re the Raven Queen somehow found out about the ward, and for some unfathomable reason you’re going to let them examine you. Either that, or you plan to encounter a hostile situation where someone rapidly tries successive, creative ideas to break the ward, rather than simply overpower it.”

Siobhan had clasped her hands together tightly, sighing with acknowledgement of how foolish and precarious the whole thing sounded. “The former is partially correct. I just want to make sure they won’t find some sort of loophole in the ward, or something besides its particular effects that links me to the Raven Queen. If it seems too risky, I can avoid the examination, but there’s a lot at stake, and that’s an option of last resort.”

“Do not undress and let whoever is casting scan you for heat fluctuations,” Liza had warned. “It’s possible the five disks could cool the skin of your back enough to stand out, and if someone found them and extracted them… Well, it wouldn’t lead back to me. And I expect you won’t do anything to lead them back to me, either,” she said firmly. “Remember that I still have my copy of our blood print vow, and I assure you, that ward will not protect you from me if I find I have been wronged.”

Liza took a slow sip of her tea, letting that threat sink in. “Other than that, I didn’t knowingly design a ward with loopholes, and I am an expert in the field. It will protect itself from examination just like it protects you, but it can be overpowered. Your examiner will find that the ward is extremely well-designed and has no obvious source. That is suspicious in and of itself.”

“I don’t think that will be a problem, exactly. Is there anything else I should worry about?”

“If you can, I would appreciate an update on the results of these tests,” Liza said, seeming rather unconcerned.

Oliver had been more apprehensive than Liza, perhaps because he knew the details of the situation and had more at stake. “They already think the Raven Queen created the ward. It makes sense if it’s suspicious and mysterious. Even if Thaddeus Lacer does find the disks, that doesn’t unquestioningly implicate Sebastien Siverling. She could still have done that to you without you realizing or remembering, though it stretches belief in a completely different way than her free-casting such a powerful, ongoing effect. However, if he finds them, it will surely lead to additional invasive tests. Everything gets a lot trickier to explain away if their original blood sample points right to Sebastien Siverling. Even if they didn’t believe you were her, I can’t see you avoiding the inside of a cell ‘for your own protection’ while they ran more tests.”

Oliver had rubbed his hands roughly down his face, taking a few moments to think. “I’m not sure the risk is worth it.”

Hesitantly, Sebastien revealed the conversation she’d had with Professor Lacer in the carriage, where he had thought she might be the Raven Queen in disguise. “Unexpectedly, if he did find out, he might not turn me in right away. It’s possible he would listen.”

“You can’t depend on that!”

“Of course not. I’m merely saying things might not be as bad as they seem. Even the worst-case scenario has a chance of working out.”

“You need to get out of it, Sebastien,” Oliver had insisted.

Sebastien tried. On Thursday, she’d gone to Professor Lacer and told him she remained uncomfortable with the idea of him casting spells on her and asked if it was absolutely necessary.

“I think you should rather I do it than someone from the infirmary or the Red Guard, Mr. Siverling,” he’d replied, unmoved. “I will only be casting some divination spells to examine the nuances of how the boon works. If it makes you feel more comfortable, I can explain each spell beforehand so that you know what’s being done.”

“But I still don’t understand what you’re hoping to find. Do you think this boon will somehow lead back to her?”

“That would be a pleasant surprise, but I very much doubt it. No, I am looking to decipher more about how she thinks. Magic always carries the signature of the caster, and even more so of its creator. Perhaps I will discern something about her background based on the things she thought to ward against, and the ways she implemented those defenses. I could find hints about where she was trained as a sorcerer, or the culture she grew up in, or even just how her mind works. Does she prefer misdirection or complex traps? Does she lean toward punishing aggression directly or circling around to attack from behind? Did she leave any strange loopholes or responses in this boon that are meant to hint at her purpose more directly, to the right person?”

This was a significant relief, though Sebastien was disappointed that her mentor’s willingness to respect her boundaries only extended to this point. After all, he didn’t seem to believe that Sebastien was in danger from the ward, and yet he still insisted on something he knew she didn’t want.

She’d gone back to Oliver.

He reluctantly agreed that taking a risk to remain at the University was worth it, if they were prepared. If Professor Lacer tried to have her arrested, Oliver would have a team standing by to rescue her on the way to Harrow Hill. No one Oliver could hire was a match for Thaddeus Lacer, but they could probably overcome a team of coppers. If that failed, he would have someone impersonate the Raven Queen while Sebastien was confined to help keep her identities separate. She’d even practiced acting believably innocent in front of a mirror while trying to come up with some reasonable lies.

She wore even more alarm bracelets and a toe ring, each connected to Oliver and with a particular meaning. Her hidden stunning wand and disintegration artifact, as well as a range of paper spell arrays, were neatly filed in her bag and ready to go. She’d arranged useful potions and philtres in individual bands, their locations thoroughly memorized as she practiced retrieving the correct one using touch alone. She had Professor Lacer’s Conduit attached to her pocket watch and the black sapphire in her hidden holster. If Professor Lacer asked her to take off her clothes, she would refuse, and was even prepared to fake a panic attack. Surely that would be enough to stop him.

Even if Professor Lacer noticed anything incriminating while examining the divination diverting ward, he might not immediately realize the full implications or become hostile, which gave her the element of surprise. Even if all that failed, which was unfortunately likely when going up against a man as powerful, insightful, and starkly intelligent as Thaddeus Lacer, he might still be reasoned with.

Now, halfway through Professor Lacer’s examination, Sebastien felt that all their preparation and worrying had been mostly unnecessary. The whole process was quite anticlimactic. He had explained all the spells he was planning to use when she arrived that morning, and there were none she thought would be dangerous—just various forms of divination, some with a twist on the standard application.

“Do you feel anything?” the man asked her, frowning down at the crystal ball in front of him, which was as cloudy as ever.

“Uncomfortable,” she admitted. “It’s as if cold fingers are trailing down my back, or like when you think you see someone watching you through the window from the corner of your eye, but when you turn, there’s no one there. I…instinctively want to cringe away.”

He hummed, muttering to himself. “Fascinating. I wonder if the sensory connection somehow increases the spell’s ability to help you avoid notice. Magic feeding off emotion…” He trailed off, scribbling notes by hand because he couldn’t guide the pen to write on its own while also casting the divination spell. He turned his gaze back to the crystal ball, frowning slightly.

Sebastien cried out at a sudden spike of power. Whatever was allowing her to metaphorically slip to the side, deflecting the tendrils of magical attention, simply broke, and suddenly she was bare, naked before Professor Lacer’s divination magic. She shuddered with the sense of vulnerability, but resisted further empowering her ward to fight back, if that was still possible now that he’d succeeded. Thaddeus Lacer was a Grandmaster. This close, he could overpower even her best efforts, and with him already knowing where she was, there was no point in resisting.

He didn’t seem to notice her discomfort, dropping the spell after a couple more scribbled notes, and then moving onto the next. “How does this one feel?”

Her eyebrows rose. “Slightly different. Like I’m being painted into a corner, the safe space getting smaller and smaller, until it will be too small for me to fit,” she said, her surprise almost overpowering her discomfort.

He looked up, giving her a smile. “Very interesting. The woman who cast this on you is quite skilled.” He dropped that spell, too, not bothering to channel power into it until he broke past her defenses. “Tell me about her again. Describe her in detail, everything you can remember. If your memory is fading, I have a small ritual that can boost recall of a specific event. It’s rather unpleasant, but quite safe.”

Sebastien swallowed hard. “No need for that. My memory is superb.”

“Stressful situations can often result in impaired recall, or even completely fabricated memories. There is no shame in that. It is simply how the human brain works.” When she didn’t reply, he looked up at her, but she just stared back, which seemed to satisfy his doubts. “Go ahead, then.”

“She was…tall, for a woman. Wearing a hood, so I couldn’t really see her features. Umm, it looked like she was growing feathers mixed in with her hair.” Sebastien hesitated, then added, “She did not look particularly evil, not like the wanted posters. And she was protecting those people. Why do you think she did that?” She watched him carefully, trying to gauge his response. ‘Is he hostile to the Raven Queen? As far as I can tell, he’s only displayed curiosity. If I could make him an ally…’

He met her gaze, perhaps sensing the importance of the question from some clue in her voice. “I do not know. But I would like to.”