Rufus opened the door, and Niger glanced up from where he sat at the foot of the bed. My spine sagged with relief, and I emptied my lungs in a single breath. My gaze fell onto the figure on the bed. It was Livens, the brother I had met at the Healer’s Academy whose dragon had been bitten by a sea serpent.
“What happened?” I asked.
Niger stood. “Somebody hit him with the full strength of an ogre, and he smashed every single bone in his face on the wall and lost his teeth.”
“Oh, no!”
“He has been healed, but they are keeping him in a deep sleep so his mind can process the shock while he slumbers.”
He guided me to the bench next to him, and we sat. Since Rufus was the only other conscious person in the room and already knew my secret, I slipped my hand into Niger’s. “I’m sorry about your brother.”
He nodded. “Whoever did this will pay.”
The door slammed open, and I yanked my hand out of Niger’s grip. Masters Fosco and Hyacinthus entered the room, followed by Brunus, Virens, Albens, and a half-ogre female with the same auburn colored hair as the Griffon brothers. She held the hand of a boy about the same age as Gobi, with auburn fluff on his cheeks.
“Lady Griffon,” said Master Fosco. “I apologize for meeting under such unhappy circumstances.”
“Will he be all right?” she asked.
Master Hyacinthus cleared his throat. “I healed Livens personally with the help of Dr. Duclair. All the bones are mended, and we’re just giving him a little time to mentally convalesce.”
She dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief. “When will you catch this wretched Asproceros? If he kills again, I will withdraw every single boy of mine serving in your sanctuary.”
The Griffon brothers all scowled, including the youngest. Master Fosco explained that Madam Maritimus had set traps for Asproceros, but Lady Griffon demanded that every single warrior and civilian hunt for the poacher so she could execute him herself.
“We don’t think it’s the ogre,” I whispered to Niger. “That wild dragon has to be the one attacking everyone.”
“What did you say?” asked Lady Griffon.
I repeated my words.
Mater Fosco snarled. “I am not sure why Cadet Bluford is bothering your family with wild theories. Only purple dragons can teleport, and the wild dragon dwells behind two layers of runes that prevent teleportation inside and outside his cage.”
“I see…” the half-ogress narrowed her eyes. “Is Bluford a minor house from Steppe or elsewhere?”
I jumped to my feet and bowed. Hopefully, whispering didn’t count as doing anything untoward that could get me expelled. “My apologies, Lady Griffon. I will take my leave.”
Chapter 11
I hurried out of the room and down to the end of the hallway, glancing over my shoulder for signs of Lady Griffon or a furious Master Fosco.
“You should have stayed and explained what you meant about the wild dragon,” said Fyrian. “He’s behind all the violence, not that poacher.”
“Right.” I galloped down the stairs. “Then she’d want to know why I was sitting next to Niger instead of my classmate, and Rufus would have to tell her I was Princess Alba in disguise. Then Lady Griffin would throw herself at Father’s mercy and beg for her son’s life.”
“Hmmm…”
Fyrian wasn’t disagreeing with me, so I continued my speculation. “Next, Father would lock me up somewhere as he had threatened, and I’d be so desperate for company, I’d allow King Magnar to rescue me. And that would result in some kind of double damsel denial, where I ended up his magically obedient concubine and lived in his tower between battles.”
“Possible, but morbid,” she said.
“And King Magnar would place you in a lower level with a better view, or something.”
Fyrian sent me a mental prod. “Wait until you get Niger on his own and tell him why he’s putting himself in danger.”
I swallowed. “I hadn’t thought of things from the Griffon point of view. People have been executed for much less than kissing a Princess.”
“Maybe if your mother had explained things that way, you might have thought twice about kissing Niger all those times.”
“It was only twice.” I hurried down the hallway.
“It would have been three times if you hadn’t found the four unconscious grooms.”
I pushed the laboratory door open, and a gust of foul air filled my lungs, making my mind summersault. The alchemical markings on the walls blurred, then my vision sharpened back to normal. I rocked back on my heels, arms splayed out for balance.
Evolene rushed to the door and grabbed my arm. “A-are you all right?”
I leaned onto her tiny frame. “What in the Known World was that?”
“You’d better sit.” She guided me out of the room and back into the hallway.
I slumped against a wall and slid down onto my behind. Another burst of dizziness rocked my body, and I leaned forward, resting my forearms on my knees. “Ugh. What’s happening to me?”
“That was the second stage of the spriggan poison.” She gave me a gentle pat on the back. “We finished it a few minutes ago but didn’t get round to clearing the air.”
I glanced up. A breathing parasol covered her crown like an overstuffed mushroom head, and tentacles stretched down into her nostrils and mouth. At least that explained why she’d been in no hurry to get rid of the poisonous fumes.
“How am I going to fight spriggans with that if it affects me so badly?”
“It’s only stage one out of four,” she replied. “We still have to add lots of other ingredients and make magical transformations. There’s a spell at the end where we get samples from fairies who might be exposed to the poison. It works by excluding them from its effects.”
“Oh.” I rubbed my brow. “It sounds more complicated than the antidote to the loyalty elixir.”
The door opened and closed, then plodding footsteps approached. Master Jesper crouched in front of me, not wearing a breathing parasol. Troll physiology was probably so different to ours that it didn’t get affected by anything but trollsbane and the usual instruments of war.
“Take this.” It held out a vial of Liquid Invigoration. “It should give you the boost you need until bedtime.”
“Thanks.” I took the vial and uncorked it with my teeth. The scent of lemon exploded across my senses, and I gulped its fizzy contents. Cool liquid slid over my throat, down my gullet, and into my stomach, where its energizing effects expanded into my torso and limbs. I raised my head and smiled. “Ah! Much better.”
“Please accept my apologies for the exposure,” said the troll. “Next time, I will perform an enchantment that filters fumes at the doorway, so you’re not affected by the poison.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
“Very good.” The troll stood. “Was there anything you needed?”
“I just wanted to catch up with Evolene.”
Master Jesper beamed. “In that case, I will leave you children to talk among yourselves.”
The troll walked back to the laboratory and closed the door. Evolene lowered herself onto the floor next to me. “By the way, I performed a few spells on the scrap of fabric I found in your room.”
“Did you learn anything interesting?”
She shook her head. “Whoever stole from you knew what they were doing. They also used a leave-no-trace invisibility cloak.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
“It’s something burglars wear when they’re robbing a victim who can afford forensic witches.” She raised a shoulder. “The cloak wraps around you and covers everything. Any hair or skin or sweat you might shed goes into the fabric.”
I rubbed my chin. “Then we’ll find where he threw it out. Something as powerful as that has to be a one-use garment, right?”
“That’s the thing. Leave-no-trace invisibility cloaks self-combust when you take them off, leaving no trace of the user.”
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p; I clenched my fists. “Who would develop such a terrible thing?”
She dipped her head, covering her features in a curtain of chestnut hair. “A-actually, it was me. F-father had the idea and he got me to keep making versions of the cloak until I got it right.”
“Did he sell them to people?”
For several moments, she didn’t reply. At first, I thought she needed a moment to gather herself before speaking, but tears fell into her lap, and her shoulders shook.
I placed a hand on her arm. “Whatever it is, I won’t judge you. I know he forced you to commit those crimes, and you’ve been punished already.”
“H-he…” she whispered, her voice becoming quieter with every word. “H-he sold them to…”
“Huh?” I leaned into her, straining to hear. “I didn’t catch his name.”
“Asproceros.”
Every drop of blood drained from my face and fell into my hardening stomach. I tensed, mouth falling open. Evolene had… I couldn’t even think the words. I had imagined the crimes she had been forced to commit had been petty, but how many villains had she helped? Asproceros had very likely used her leave-no-trace cloak to infiltrate Mount Fornax and attempt to steal poor, dead Paniscus’ dragon.
She raised her head a fraction and peeked up at me through her lashes, tears still glistening in her eyes. A lump formed in my throat, and I pushed all judgement aside and forced my features into a neutral mask. It was easy for me to refuse Father. He wasn’t a complete tyrant, and I’d always had Mother fighting my corner. Evolene had had nobody.
Fyrian snarled. “They should bring Jack Galloway back to life again and punish him slowly. That poor rider got killed because of him.”
“Does Roseate know?” I asked.
Evolene shook her head. “I couldn’t bear to tell her. So few people talk to her here. If she didn’t have me to say hello to each day, she’d be lonely.”
“R-right.” I blew out a breath. “If you want to stop feeling bad about it, you’ll have to help catch the thief.”
“You think it’s Asproceros now?” asked Fyrian.
“I don’t know,” I replied. “The leave-no-trace cloak is a more plausible explanation than a wild dragon capable of sneaking in and out of its cage to attack without a trace. Everything that got stolen seems more useful to an ogre than a dragon.”
“I can’t see the wild dragon wanting to steal raw oats,” she said with a laugh. “That doesn’t mean he isn’t somehow involved.”
Evolene stared up at me, eyes shining with determination. “Do you have a plan?”
“Errr….” I loosened the collar of my undershirt. “Not yet.”
“Fosco said if you do anything inappropriate, you’d be expelled.”
“If Asproceros is behind all the attacks, I can’t sit around doing nothing,” I replied. “He’s a killer who’s hurting people and stealing dragonets. The curfews aren’t working, and the security witches won’t be able to find him in a leave-no-trace invisibility cloak.”
“Oh, I’m not saying you shouldn’t do it,” Fyrian drawled. “But if you get expelled, I don’t want you to blame me for not reminding you of the consequences.”
“Fine.”
I turned back to Evolene. “Leave it with me. There’s something missing in this puzzle that I need to find out.”
“Anything I can help with?” she asked.
“Unless you know the habits and powers of iridescent, wild dragons, no.”
After making arrangements to meet Evolene later, I bounded up the stairs with Master Jesper’s elixir powering my limbs. I would have to ask the troll to supply me with some more for practicing speed drills.
“You forgot to ask them for an anti-nausea elixir,” said Fyrian.
“It’ll have to wait until next time.”
“You also forgot to ask Evolene if she knew a way to counter the leave-no-trace invisibility cloak.”
“That’s a brilliant idea.” I reached the top of the stairs and hurried down the hallway. “If she was forced to make it, I’d bet she’d work in a way for the culprit to get caught.”
“Or she did, and when the first batch failed, her father got angry. Remember that time you found her beaten unconscious and clutching that fake note?”
I shuddered and pushed the door to the ground floor hallway open. Those wounds had been real.
As I reached the exit, a male healers shoved the door open, carrying the front of a stretcher and shouted, “Make way!”
I glanced at the unconscious cadet lying inside. Blood covered his features, but his green and gold hair was unmistakable. “Muti!”
The short security witch following them said, “You know this male?”
“Muticus Pavo,” I replied. “First-year dragon rider cadet. What happened to him?”
“His friends found him outside the Warrior Queen in this state.” She rocked forward, holding a staff six inches taller than her actual height. “How would you describe your relationship?”
I furrowed my brow, following the healers down the hallway with my gaze. “If his friends found him, then you should already know his na—” My eyes bulged. “You think I beat him up.”
“Just answer the question.”
I eyed the witch. She stood about five feet six, with periwinkle-blue hair and looked about ten years my senior. I didn’t recognize her features, so she couldn’t be related to the witches in our Noble House. Perhaps she came from a distant branch family. “I only just got to know him last week. Before that, I used to only see him around in classes. His friends will tell you.”
“Do you know anyone who might have wanted to hurt him?” she asked.
“Rufus Griffon,” said a voice from behind. The black-haired dragon rider cadet who usually accompanied Muti everywhere loomed over us. “They fought bitterly in Swordsmanship class.”
I shook my head. “It couldn’t have been Rufus. He got called out from History of Dragons class to visit his brother. He’s been here ever since.”
“Who can corroborate this?” asked the witch.
I pointed in the direction of Livens’ room. “The whole family is in there. Masters Fosco and Hyacinthus also saw him.”
The witch nodded. “Thank you for your help.”
I turned to the rider cadet. “You don’t think Rufus did this.”
He shrugged. “Everyone else likes Muti except for Gobi, but he is too young to cause that much damage.”
“And everyone says Asproceros has returned to Mount Fornax. Why didn’t you mention his name?”
The cadet raised his shoulders. “Why would a poacher attack Muti? He does not look after dragonets, and someone already stole his lucky shilling.”
“That’s what I’m trying to find out.”
After going into Muti’s room to wish him a speedy recovery, I headed out of the building. The sun hung low in a sky lightened by a thin covering of clouds. I sucked in a deep breath. I was still reeling from Livens’ attack and the revelation that Evolene had been forced into more criminal activity than I’d suspected, and I wasn’t sure how much more I could take. Fyrian and I needed to sift through everything we had learned and work out the best way to catch the culprit before he hurt someone else or stole any more dragonets.
Outside, beyond the chamomile lawn, a group of dragon warriors stood around the Healing Academy’s iron gates. My steps slowed. Had someone else gotten hurt? One of them, a half-ogre rider in red leather who wore his gray hair cropped close to his scalp, nodded in greeting. “Master Fosco says cadets are to travel in packs no less than four.”
“Has anything happened?”
“Two more attacks. A rider cadet and another groom.”
I knew about Muti, but the groom was news to me. “Did the attacker take any dragonets?”
“Silkie works in the refectory and supervises the feeding of full-sized dragons.”
“That’s strange.” I rubbed my chin. “Why would Asproceros want to attack him?”
He shrugged.
“Wrong place? Wrong time?”
“I can’t see that poacher going after someone who fed dragons,” said Fyrian. “Unless he wanted to dose their food.”
I stared at my feet. “But why beat him unconscious? I’ll bet the witches are testing the meat for signs of elixirs.”
“Someone wanting to commit widespread poisoning would be too sneaky to beat up the man in charge of feeding dragons,” said Fyrian.
“True.”
“Come on, Cadet.” The gray-haired rider gave me a hearty clap on the shoulder. “Where do you want us to escort you?”
I glanced up and blinked. Hadn’t Master Fosco said cadets weren’t allowed out on their own? “The dorms.”
Three of them broke away from the rest of the group and walked with me across the lawn. The rider said, “All the dorm doors are magically locked now. Nobody goes in or out unless they belong there.”
“When did this happen?”
“Today. They are stepping up on security with that murderer around.”
The warriors updated me on the latest security measures Madam Maritimus had put into place. One of them worked with the groom who had been attacked. He was a short, human-looking male who carried the biggest and thickest longsword I had ever seen.
I eyed its blade. “Did your colleague have any enemies?”
“Silkie? Everybody liked him.” He snickered. “Apart from Percoquo.”
Fyrian groaned. “That idiot.”
“Who’s that?” I asked out loud.
“A dragon who never knows when to stop eating.” The groom swung the longsword over his shoulder, making everyone flinch. “That dragon’s stomach must be enchanted to hold ten times its capacity. Silkie tried everything to curb his appetite, but nothing worked.”
We reached the edge of the surface, and the gray-haired rider activated a stone so we could descend the stairs. I followed them down the next few terraces until we reached the level of the dormitories. Then we entered the mountain and walked the dim hallways.
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