Ignoring George’s question, she set about trying to slide the panel back into place when her finger slipped, knocking the interior of the compartment.
“Ouch!” she hissed, pain shooting up from her jammed forefinger. But as the heat simmered, and she regained sensation in her fingertip, she felt something brittle beneath her skin. “Wait a moment!” She glanced excitedly at George. “There’s something still in here, I think!”
“All right, I believe this is the tome Ezarath requested to review. Apologies I took so long to find it.” Master Gautherd’s feeble voice announced his return a second before he stepped back into the room. As he looked up from the thick, old book in his hands, his mouth dropped open. “Duchess! What in the Virtues are you doing to that painting?”
Jax prayed his scholarly curiosity would outweigh his outrage at them tampering with his precious collection. “Master Gautherd, come quick. I think there is still another piece of parchment hidden away in this frame.”
At that, Gautherd’s stooped, frail figure straightened, his gaze alight with intrigue. “Really? How could I have missed such a thing? Here, let me get my tools for extraction.” With surprising speed, the old archivist raced over to a cabinet and collected something from the top drawer.
He arrived at Jax’s side with a long pair of cotton-tipped, needle-nosed pliers in his hand. “Please, try not to touch it too much. The oils from our fingers can be very damaging.” He shooed her out of his way, and Jax gracefully relented, bouncing on her heels as Gautherd crouched so he was eye level with the portrait’s frame.
With a steady hand of a seasoned expert, Gautherd slipped the specialized pliers into the compartment. Jax held her breath as he began to pull his arm back, revealing a yellowed page.
“Virtues, Duchess. You were right.” Gautherd’s eyes widened as the paper slipped from the compartment and onto the worktable. “How could I have missed this?”
Not wanting the archivist to waste time questioning his abilities, Jax patted his arm. “It was stuck against the compartment’s interior. It only came loose because I jammed my finger against it, like a klutz.”
Gautherd’s chin wobbled, either touched by her attempt to soothe his nerves or in shame.
“What does it say?” George asked, standing at Jax’s left shoulder.
Master Gautherd quickly scanned the page, his trembling fingers flying to his mouth to stifle a gasp. “This is what I have been looking for! Come, Duchess, read!”
Jax didn’t hesitate to lean forward and read the faded script on the ancient page, dated early spring in the year 178 after the Rebirth.
My dearest Lorenzo,
Our time has finally come.
The Hestians have repaid the loan in full, and I have skillfully set aside the gold so that it is not associated with the ducal treasury. It will take some skillful review of the books for the ducal camerlengo to realize the money is missing, and by then we will be long gone. We have enough to last us the rest of our lives, my love. We may not live in a lavish palace, but we will at least be together. Meet me at the River Luxe, by the delta, at midnight tomorrow. The Hestians delivered the gold to an old storehouse to the east, tucked away in the far corners of the cellar. I’ve had my trusted lady-in-waiting confirm its existence, and she will cover for me for as long as possible while we make our escape.
We will soon be free of my husband’s reach and together, we can begin our new life together.
Until then, all my love.
Your Bella
A surge of emotion swept through Jax, leaving her speechless as she finished the letter. The love Duchess Isabella felt for this Lorenzo seemed to bleed from the woman’s heart onto the paper, surviving the many centuries since it had been written.
Master Gautherd dabbed at his eyes with a handkerchief, clearly overwhelmed by the moment, as well.
George, however, remained steadfast and focused. “Who is this Lorenzo figure? Do you know much about him?”
“I can wager a guess. A man named Lorenzo Bisset was a junior courtier in Duchess Isabella’s court,” Master Gautherd replied. “I don’t know a great deal about the lad. There isn’t much documentation about him in historical court reports, as he did not remain in her service for very long. You see,” Gautherd paused, his eyes glistening once more, “he died rather tragically. A footbridge he was crossing gave way, and Lorenzo fell to his death into a ravine.”
Jax winced. “How terrible.” And how strange that a footbridge would just collapse without warning…
“At the time, it was all assumed to be a horrible accident, but reading this, I wonder.” Master Gautherd frowned thoughtfully at the love letter.
Jax’s gaze darted between the trembling archivist and Duchess Isabella’s letter that still lay on the worktable. “Wonder what?”
“Whether it was really an accident. The Prince Consort, Duchess Isabella’s husband, is historically portrayed as a volatile figure. He was very possessive and demanding of his wife. He hated that she held the title of Duchess without him being crowned Duke. He feared losing what little power he had.” Gautherd clasped his hands together, nervously wringing them. “If he ever found out his wife planned to leave him for another…well, he wouldn’t have acted favorably.”
Jax nodded with grim understanding. “You suspect he had Lorenzo murdered?”
Gautherd pointed at the date notated at the top of the page. “Lorenzo Bisset was found dead at the bottom of the Luxe Ravine the next day.” He frowned. “Curious, indeed. I wonder how this letter ended up in the Troissaints’ possession?”
“The Luxe Ravine? As in the River Luxe?” George repeated. “Then he must have been on his way to meet Duchess Isabella.”
Jax’s heart tightened in her chest, making it hard for her to breathe. How full of love and hope Lorenzo must have been, only to have his dreams dashed as he plummeted to his demise.
Master Gautherd sighed. “Not very many scholars know this, but Duchess Isabella took her own life by the end of that same year. The palace tried to cover it up, stating she had fallen victim to a winter plague, but a factual account of her suicide resides in our archives.”
Jax stared at the looping scrawl. She must have been heartbroken to learn of her beloved Lorenzo’s death.
A grim flicker of relief flashed in George’s dark eyes. “Well, this letter proves one very important thing. That Hestes repaid its debt to Duchess Isabella, even if she did not secure the gold in the ducal treasury.” He paused, waiting for his words to sink in. “This means nothing stands in the way of your ascension to the Hestian throne.”
Chapter Eighteen
A weight evaporated from Jax’s shoulders as she gave George a pacified smile. Yet, his simple remark triggered an abrupt realization. “Virtues! It was never about the throne!” A giddy hope washed over her. “It was about the gold!”
“I don’t follow,” George said, tilting his head.
Jax pointed to Duchess Isabella’s letter. “She tells Lorenzo in her letter where she’s hidden the Hestian gold. What if that’s what our thief has been after all this time? The location of buried treasure?”
George’s eyes widened. “That would explain why they didn’t immediately try to escape the Academy after taking the providence documents. They realized the papers didn’t contain the location of the loan repayment.”
“And to buy themselves more time to find where the gold was located, they killed Ezarath to ensure their cover wouldn’t be blown,” Jax finished, adrenaline pumping through her. “Master Gautherd, may we review the essays Ezarath asked to see earlier tonight?”
Gautherd pointed to the tome he’d placed on another nearby worktable. “Have at it. But be gentle, please. They may only be Academy documents, but they are part of our history, nonetheless.”
Pledging to be careful, Jax hurried over to the hand-bound book. Flipping open the cover, she was greeted by a table of contents, denoting the subjects covered in the book.
“Astrology, clo
ud-reading, weather patterns, migration patterns…” Jax rambled off a list of contents.
“Essays about the natural world?” George surmised.
She did her best to ignore his warm, solid body pressing against hers as he tried to get a closer look. Instead, she flipped the book open to a random page and began scanning each page.
For several moments, nothing jumped out at them. Jax was beginning to think it was time to bring Master Gautherd upstairs to be with the others when George grabbed her wrist as she absently moved to turn a page.
“What’s this? There’s something wedged between the next page,” George murmured before flipping the page himself.
Jax stared at the unbound piece of paper that seemed to serve as a bookmark for this particular entry.
George flipped the parchment over, finding several words inked on the page.
“I hope this finds you and the others well. Regards, Leudonious.” George read aloud.
Leuodonious? Jax had never heard the name before.
George set the note aside and studied the page it had been bookmarking. His forehead wrinkled with concentration. “Hmm. This seems to be an essay about the merits of homeopathic remedies for mental distress.”
Jax, too, skimmed the essay. “Look at who wrote it!” She pointed to the signature at the end of the entry. “This Leudonious character.” Her gaze dashed between the unbound note and the essay. “Leudonious must have been one of Ezarath’s students.” A hunch growing, she straightened and turned toward Master Gautherd, who was still enthralled by Duchess Isabella’s letter. “Master Gautherd, does a scholar named Leudonious sound familiar to you?”
“Johanne Leudonious?” Master Gautherd tugged at his beard. “Funny you should mention him, Duchess.”
“Why?”
“I had a visiting researcher stop by the Academy less than a month ago, requesting to review some reports written by Master Leudonious. He was a professor here for some time, before retiring to the Beautraudian countryside a few summers ago.”
Jax’s heart rate quickened. “Who was this visitor?”
Master Gautherd sighed. “I’m afraid my memory isn’t what it used to be, my dear. I can recall facts about historical figures at the drop of a hat,” he said, pointing to Duchess Isabella’s letter, “but not what I had for dinner last evening. His name escapes me. The only thing I remember about him was that he had a peculiar tattoo on his forearm. It struck me odd because when I asked him about it, he covered it up in a haste and left shortly afterward.”
“Do you remember what the tattoo looked like, Master?” George asked.
“It wasn’t anything fancy, mind you.” Gautherd gave a soft chuckle. “In fact, I thought it looked like a scripted X, but for the life of me, I didn’t know why anyone would have that inked onto their skin.”
George’s arm brushed against Jax as he visibly stiffened at her side. She met his intense, fiery stare. They both were well acquainted with the symbol Master Gautherd had just described. They’d seen it burned into flesh not a year ago, in the days leading up to Jax and Perry’s wedding.
The Shadow Brethren.
Why was a member of the realm’s elusive criminal guild researching the work of Master Leudonious at the Academy?
“Do you recall the documents this traveling scholar reviewed whilst they were here?” Jax asked as she studied the essay in front of her.
Gautherd issued a perturbed grunt. “My mind is not so addled that I’d forget something having to do with my own archives, Your Grace. Let me fetch them.”
Jax smiled to herself at his stuffy indignation.
The old man bowed his head and disappeared out into the stacks once more.
As soon as he vanished, Jax placed the note they had found tucked between the pages and held it against Johanne Leudonious’s name inked at the end of his lengthy essay.
It was a perfect match…almost.
“The ‘I’ isn’t dotted in the book.” Jax studied both names intently.
George picked up the signed note and held it up to the light. He gave her a sheepish shrug as he met her questioning gaze. “Just checking to see if the dot could be a blemish in the parchment.”
“Here we go,” Master Gautherd announced as he returned carrying several scrolls. “These are some treatises Leudonious wrote while teaching here. His expertise was in aromatherapies and how they can heal the body and mind.”
Jax raised her eyebrows in surprise. She would have expected such a topic to be promoted at a bathhouse or spa, not the strait-laced Academy.
Master Gautherd spread out the scrolls, allowing Jax a better look as the looping script.
“It seems Leudonious did not make it a habit to dot the I’s in his name.” Jax pointed to every instance where the professor had signed off on his work.
George still held the mysteriously placed note in his hand. “Then why dot it here?”
Jax puzzled over the situation. A member of the Shadow Brethren arrives to review treatises written by Johanne Leudonious. Then, weeks later, the headmaster asks to examine a collection of essays, bookmarking one written by Leudonious himself, only to end up dead shortly thereafter. Could Ezarath have left this note behind in a hasty retreat? It had to be part of a lengthier correspondence.
She thought back to the two missives Ezarath had received during dinner. One had most certainly been from Vyanti…could this be the author of the other?
She continued to study the short message signed by Leudonious before sucking in a breath. “This is a forgery.” She pointed to the signed letter in George’s hand. “The headmaster came down here to compare the signatures of this note with an essay he knew Leudonious had written when he was Ezarath’s student.”
Master Gautherd’s bleary eyes widened. “Why would anyone forge Johanne’s name?”
Jax did not want to upset the archivist with her growing suspicions. “Master Gautherd, we should secure you and Duchess Isabella’s letter immediately.” She turned to George. “We need to find Lord Ashcroft and ensure that Gautherd is well-protected.”
George tucked the forged letter into his breast pocket. “Master Gautherd, is there a way to safely transport Duchess Isabella’s letter without damaging it? We must rejoin the others.”
The archivist wordlessly found a small capsule container and rolled the important historical document to fit inside. “Lead the way, Captain Solomon.”
Jax studied the unassuming container in Gautherd’s grasp. Given the value of its contents, appearances certainly could be deceiving…
She gasped as a sudden thought occurred to her. “I want to search Ezarath’s office one more time, once Master Gautherd is under Ashcroft’s care.”
George kept the hundred questions dancing in his eyes to himself and led them through the shadowy archives.
Out in the corridor, Gautherd locked the door behind them, and George saluted the Praesidio knight who still stood watch.
“Everything all right?” the sentry asked, cocking his head.
“Yes, everything is fine. It just took a little longer than expected for the master to gather his things,” George assured the lad as they hurried away, leaving him looking a bit perplexed.
Jax, George, and Gautherd arrived outside the grand study a few minutes later, winded from their hurried trek.
Lord Ashcroft himself stood watch at the study door, his gaze narrowing as he spotted them approaching. “I thought you were to remain inside the grand study with the others, Duchess.” He had clearly been waiting for them to arrive.
“I’m sorry, Lord Ashcroft, but we couldn’t leave Master Gautherd alone in the archives, even under guard.” Jax lowered her voice. “Not after what we’ve learned.”
The Lord Praesidio looked as if he wanted to ask her more questions, but he pressed onward. “The professors are all in the study. No one was missing from their rooms when I went to collect them, nor did we find any evidence on any on their persons of them having been involved in an altercation w
ith the headmaster.”
“Have they been told why they’ve all been summoned at this late hour?” George asked.
Ashcroft shook his head. “No. I figured I’d let them stew in their discomfort to see if anything comes of it.”
“Excellent.” Jax nodded her approval. “Let’s keep them in the dark a bit longer, then. I’d like to take another look around the headmaster’s office before we confront our culprit.”
Ashcroft’s jaw slackened. “You know who the killer is, Duchess?”
“Not quite, Lord Praesidio. But if my hunch is correct, I should have a name for you soon.” Jax motioned toward Master Gautherd. “Until then, I want this man protected as if he were the realm’s greatest treasure.”
Ashcroft’s eyes widened at the request, but he nodded his acquiescence. “I shall see to it personally, Your Grace,” he said with a bow.
Confident that Master Gautherd would be kept out of harm’s way and that Duchess Isabella’s letter was safe, Jax grabbed George’s arm and pulled him down the corridor toward Ezarath’s office.
“Care to explain to me what’s going through your mind?” he asked, a wry smile on his lips.
“It’s a muddled mess at the moment, but it all comes down to us finding a forged signature of an old Academy scholar tucked away in a book the headmaster had been reviewing before his death. I’m willing to bet that this Master Leudonious was used as a reference for one of the new professors. We know Ezarath had reached out to them in light of the stolen providence documents. We saw him receive a response from Master Vyanti. What if he received a response from Master Leudonious, too?”
“Or someone pretending to be Master Leudonious.”
Jax smiled, glad George had easily caught on to her budding suspicions. “Exactly. And clearly, Ezarath wasn’t satisfied with the response he received from an old colleague, which is why he asked to review that book of essays down in the archives. He wanted to compare the signatures.”
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