“I don’t intend to do so, but there will be consequences for my choice to take up arms,” Nellise continued, looking up at the magnificent doors of the cathedral in consternation. “I might as well get this over with.”
“Though I do not pretend to understand the reasons of which you speak, my lady,” Sir William said, “you have nothing to fear from the Church. Through those doors lies not judgement, but healing and forgiveness. This is your first time in the Cathedral, yes?”
“I have been here several times over the years, though this will be my first as an indoctrinated member of the clergy,” Nellise clarified.
“Permit me to accompany you, then,” the knight offered. “I have been lax in my attendance of late, and I would benefit from a visit. I can introduce you to one of the patriarchs – Corvyn, an old friend of mine.”
“I’m quite alright to go on my own, but… I suppose if you’re going anyway,” Nellise replied reluctantly.
“It’s no trouble, I assure you,” Sir William offered.
“Very well,” she finally relented. “I regret having to leave you for a while Aiden, but I think you’ll manage in our absence.”
“I know where to find you if Pacian gets stabbed again,” Aiden drawled, drawing a rueful grin from the young cleric.
“Oh, one last thing,” she added. “You and Sayana have certain talents the University would be very interested in, not necessarily for good reasons. I suggest you refrain from any sorcery while you’re here, just to avoid complications.”
“Okay,” Aiden replied dubiously, “I doubt we’ll be in need of burning the place to the ground so it shouldn’t be a problem. When next we speak, I’d like to know what you’re talking about.”
“I promise,” Nellise said as she walked up the stone stairs with Sir William by her side.
“What was that all about?” Pacian hissed as Aiden and his remaining companions moved on towards the larger of the two towers.
“I’m not sure,” Aiden pondered, “maybe there’s some sort of registration required to use magic openly in the city?”
“Not that,” Pacian pressed. “The old bugger offering to ‘walk her in’ like that.”
“Sir William?” Aiden asked in surprise. “He seems to be a very traditional sort of knight, so I wouldn’t read too much into it. Chivalry and what-not, I suppose.”
“He was showing her a lot of attention last night too, and you can’t tell me he was just being nice,” Pacian continued.
“You’re right, I’m sure he has a diabolical plan to get inside the blouse of a girl young enough to be his granddaughter,” Aiden said with a straight face.
“You think so?” Pacian asked, clearly missing the subtle sarcasm in Aiden’s statement.
“No you idiot, he’s being a gentleman. Do me a favour and stop thinking for a few minutes, we’ve got some important work to do here.” Pacian lapsed into a brooding silence. Aiden thought nothing more of it as they opened the large double-doors into the main tower, and stepped into the vaunted Halls of Knowledge.
The short entry corridor opened into a large, circular chamber with chiselled stone columns around the periphery, and a metal statue of a warrior standing prominently in the centre of the chamber. Many robed students were walking to and fro as they went about their studies.
It was familiar to Aiden, who had not only read about such devices, but seen them in his dream vision of the Battle of Fort Highmarch. This ‘golem’ was a much smaller version and far less imposing, but nonetheless was of a similar design.
“It is a metal man,” Valennia declared after a moment’s observation. “Someone has made an effigy to decorate the hall of this place.”
“It’s more than just a statue though,” Sayana breathed, looking at it with fascination. “It’s practically glowing with power.”
“I can’t see anything glowing,” Valennia countered. “It would appear your eyes are playing tricks on you.”
“You just have to be able to see the right way,” Sayana stated somewhat cryptically, unwilling to waste more time on the conversation. Aiden focused his vision and in a moment, he was able to see what she described - a halo of shifting green energy surrounding the construct.
“What is it supposed to do?” Maggie asked.
“I think it’s a guard,” Aiden surmised, peering at it closely. Nearby, he heard the sounds of stifled laughter and saw that he and the others were apparently a source of amusement for the students.
“Why do they laugh at us?” Valennia asked, looking at the students across the hall.
“We probably look like a bunch of ignorant tourists, gawking at their metal man,” Pacian growled. Valennia levelled an intimidating glare at their audience and the laughter quickly silenced. As they were beginning to disperse, Aiden suddenly had an idea.
“Wait a moment, I need to speak with you,” he said to the closest students. A young man with dark hair and regal features, a girl with brown hair and large, inquisitive eyes looked at him curiously. Both were clutching large books and seemed to be in a hurry.
“We’re late for class, so if you’ll excuse us,” the young man said while walking briskly through the hall.
“Don’t mind my friend here, she’s being paid to be menacing,” Aiden continued dismissively. “I just have a few questions for you regarding the explosion on the road over near Foundation Circle.” This statement caused both students to stop and look at him in a new light.
“What sort of questions?” asked the young lady.
“Well, to start with, do you know who did it?”
“I wouldn’t know anything about that,” she replied with a nervous laugh,
“Okay… what would possibly cause such an explosion,” he continued. “Could it have been an incantation, or some sort of device?”
“If it was an incantation, only one of the faculty would be capable of using it,” the male student explained. “You should probably go and talk to one of the teachers, Dean Desmond Foster, on the fourth floor. He’s usually dabbling with things that should be best left alone.”
“Thanks, I’ll go and speak with him immedi -” Aiden’s voice trailed off as a memory flashed through his mind. The two students looked at him oddly and then scurried off to continue their studies.
“Smooth,” Pacian offered as a compliment as he watched the two students depart. “I liked the part where you stopped talking mid-sentence. You didn’t start drooling, did you?”
“Shut up, Pace,” Aiden murmured, his thoughts elsewhere. He had heard the name ‘Desmond’ before in one of his dreams… or had he? No, he had been present in person when Salinder, the ancient gold dragon, had mentioned that name during Aiden’s brief ‘death’ experience. Although the memory was a little blurry, he had wanted Aiden to speak with Desmond about something important.
“You look like you’ve had a revelation,” Sayana observed. “What is it?”
“We need to speak to Desmond, I think he has something important for me - us,” he said, quickly recovering. He led them across the hall to the stairwell before any questions could be asked. A small sign in front of it read - ‘Practical applications’ going down, and ‘Classrooms, Library, Artefacts’ and ‘Faculty’ going up.
The fourth floor, as the student had informed him, was where Desmond was to be found, in the section labelled ‘Artefacts’. This piqued Aiden’s interest in more ways than one. Taking the stairs two at a time – and leaving poor Maggie far behind in the process – he passed two floors crowded with people either studying or researching, until they arrived at the door to the artefacts section labelled with a sign with ‘do not disturb!’ written upon it.
“Nobody… said anything… about stairs,” Maggie spoke between breaths as the raelani woman caught up to them. Aiden barely noticed as he rapped on the metal-bound door.
“I thought you’d be fit from all that healthy living you do,” Pacian observed cynically.
“Healthy living does not include climbing giant stair
s,” Maggie replied, looking up at Pacian with a raised eyebrow. “Besides, I usually ride a lot.” Any further comment on this topic was interrupted as the door silently swung open, revealing a dimly lit room with shadows cast by large, objects sitting against the wall. The door seemed to have opened by magic, which in any other building might have been strange.
Stepping inside, Aiden peered through the dimness and saw a tall man in dark robes standing in front of a large, round bench on the other side of the chamber. Spread before him were countless oddly-shaped metal pieces, along with small metal tools arranged on the table.
“Just put it on the desk near the door, Sidney,” he called without turning from his work. “And tell Harold I’ll get to it when I’ve figured out this nonsense.”
“Pardon me, are you by any chance Desmond?” Aiden asked, his voice echoing across the open space. The robed man turned and levelled a stare at the small group before putting down his tools and advancing on them.
“That’s ‘Dean Foster’ to you, sir. This area is off-limits to non-university staff or faculty, barring a dispensation from myself or the Arch-Chancellor,” he intoned with impressive volume.
“What about a representative of the Crown?” Aiden countered, pulling out the letter.
“Let me see that,” Desmond grumbled, seizing the piece of paper and squinting at it. Brown eyes looked out from under a brow bristling with white hair, and a long white beard tapered down the front of his robe, which upon closer inspection, appeared to be stained with dirt.
“The duke’s seal is upon it, in case you doubt its veracity,” Aiden prompted, receiving a condescending glance from the wizened old man.
“This appears to be legitimate,” he said in a more reasonable voice, handing back the letter. “What the duke is thinking handing out that sort of authority to a strange group of people such as yourselves is beyond me. Well then, have out with it man - I’ve ten hours of work to do in a span of five.”
“We’re investigating the explosion that occurred out on Renown Street yesterday evening,” Aiden explained. “I’ve been informed that you’re the man to talk to about the sorts of things that might cause that to happen.”
“Do you suspect my involvement?” Desmond shot back.
“You tell us,” Pacian pressed in an ominous tone.
“Outrageous! I will not stand here and listen to these baseless allegations.”
“No-one is being accused of anything at this time,” Maggie interjected. “But you seem to be an experienced practitioner of magic so you could explain ‘how’, if not ‘who’.”
“Is that a remark about my age?” Desmond bristled. “For shame, madam.”
“I - what?” Maggie stammered, caught off guard by the surly remark.
“I shall ignore that, out of respect for the duke,” Desmond said dismissively. “And yes, I do work with volatile magicks on a regular basis, but it is all contained within this reinforced chamber. Nothing I’ve been working with would be able to escape and wreak havoc within the city. Indeed, if something were to break through the protective wards on this room – which is impossible, of course – but were that to happen, the tower itself would be damaged and as you can see, there are no breaches in the wall through which such terrible energies could escape.”
“And your students are incapable of this sort of power, I trust?” Maggie continued, showing an unexpected flair for deduction.
“None of our students are capable of invoking the sorts of energies necessary to damage a paved road to that degree, certainly,” Desmond answered gruffly.
“What of these artefacts you have lying around?” Aiden asked, noticing that Sayana had moved away from the group to inspect the oddities in the room more closely.
“They are kept under lock and key, and any use is strictly monitored by the faculty,” Desmond replied distractedly, trying to keep an eye on Sayana as she moved around the room. “Do not touch anything there Miss, or I cannot be held responsible for the consequences.”
“There are several devices here that could have been the source of such destruction,” she said absently, as if talking aloud to herself. Her hand hovered about the bench as she moved.
“You have some knowledge of these things, Miss?” Desmond asked, his interest piqued by the mysterious girl. “Uh yes, there are darts that detonate with considerable force, and a staff that is more than capable of channelling the power you seek, but as I informed you earlier, access is restricted.”
“To whom?” Maggie asked, looking up at the wizard towering above her almost as if she was looking down upon him.
“Myself, the Arch-Chancellor of course, Dean Webber down in Acquisitions, and some of my more accomplished students who assist me in my work,” Desmond explained. “Before you say it, those students are under strict supervision while handling any dangerous goods.”
“Has anything gone missing over the past couple of days?” Pacian asked. “Say… one of the small, easy to conceal items that might be able to blow up a road?”
“To suggest that one of my students is a thief is beyond contemptible,” Desmond growled.
“He’s not suggesting anything,” Maggie explained casually, “but we would like to speak to them, all the same.” Desmond glanced around at them from under his furrowed brow for a long moment before finally relenting.
“Very well, if it will put this talk of theft and duplicity to rest, I will permit you to question my assistants,” he said, finally calming down. “But if I learn of any more baseless accusations against our students, the duke will be hearing about it.”
“You have nothing to worry about,” Maggie assured him, beaming a wide smile up at him. “Their names, if you please?”
“Maxwell Brady, Alan Leonson, and Patricia Sothby,” Desmond supplied, somewhat mollified. “You can find them in the student’s tower, pursuing their own studies. All three of them are from noble families, so please exercise the utmost discretion when speaking with them.”
“Thank you, you’ve been most co-operative,” Maggie told him. She and the others turned to leave, but Aiden had one last inquiry to make.
“Just before we leave, Dean Foster, I have a quick question for you,” he stated. “Does the name ‘Salinder’ mean anything to you?”
“Should it?” he replied without missing a beat. Aiden’s confidence faltered with this casual response, for he was certain this was the man the dragon had mentioned.
“I was informed the name would have some meaning for you,” Aiden pressed, hoping to glean something from his expression, his tone of voice, anything.
“Is that one of those new bevelling planes I’ve heard about?” he mused. “Ridiculous, really. How many ways do you need to cut a piece of wood?”
“I… never mind,” Aiden said, giving up. There had been no sign of recognition from the wizard and he was beginning to doubt himself. “Thank you for your time. We’ll leave you to get back to your work.”
“About time, I should say,” the Dean grumbled, turning his back on them and heading over to his work area once more. Aiden followed the others back out into the stairwell and watched as the heavy door silently closed behind them, wondering just how good a liar the old wizard might be.
“What was that about?” Maggie asked suspiciously. “Do you know something about this incident that you’re not telling us?”
“It was an unrelated issue,” Aiden explained, slowly moving down the stairs. “Oh, nicely done back there, Maggie. I wasn’t expecting such versatility in an urban setting from a lady of the forest.”
“Well, I wasn’t always a druid,” Maggie replied with a wink.
*
Despite pressing for more information on that leading statement, Maggie refused to elaborate further, leaving Aiden to wonder just what her former profession might have been. He didn’t have a lot of time to ponder however, for within minutes and a brief exposure to the elements they were inside the student’s tower.
Aiden’s guessed this small
er tower had been built first, for the interior was far more aged and decrepit than the one they had just left. It had the appearance of a dungeon more than a place of study. An old suit of armour, complete with sword, was propped against the wall opposite the fireplace.
The occupants had attempted to spruce the place up a bit with a few tapestries and banners, as well as some comfortable furniture, but these contrivances couldn’t conceal the true nature of the dank structure. Half a dozen aspiring wizards of roughly Aiden’s age were gathered in the room at present.
Aiden felt a pang of regret that he could have been one of them, had circumstances been different. Most of them probably came from noble families, those with the wealth to support the University’s fees. From what he’d read however, nearly half the students admitted to the school would fail to pass, regardless of their wealth.
“Pardon me, is one of you named Maxwell or Patricia?” he asked the small group.
“I’m Maxwell,” replied a man dressed in the simple grey robe of a student. “Is there something I can help you with?”
“Why did you destroy the pavement out on Renown Street?” Pacian asked accusingly, stepping forward to gain the student’s full attention. Aiden’s surprised expression matched that of the students at this sudden and unexpected question.
“I-I had nothing to do with it!” Maxwell stammered, instantly on the defensive.
“He was here all afternoon, the same as I was!” a homely young lady added, coming to Maxwell’s aid.
“Are you Patricia?” Maggie asked in a more conciliatory tone, to which the young lady nodded. “Both of you apparently have access to the laboratory on the fourth floor. We’re not accusing you of anything just yet,” she added, casting a sidelong glance up at Pacian.
“We all had yesterday afternoon off,” another student pointed out. “Both Max and Pat were here with us.”
“So, you were all in on it?” Pacian pressed. “That’s what I’m hearing…”
“You are forgetting someone,” Valennia reminded them, watching the proceedings with disinterest.
“Wait, which one of you is Alan Leonson?” Aiden asked, realising he was unaccounted for.
In Defence of the Crown (The Aielund Saga Book 2) Page 12