A House of Cards Read online

  Table of Contents

  Dramatis Personae

  Trifienne

  Synopsis

  1. Pulling Strings

  2. Out of Control

  3. Relative Intelligence

  4. Vindication

  5. Reckless Abandonment

  6. Miranda Warnings

  7. Cloak and Dagger

  8. Poetic Justice

  9 Fiat Lux

  10. Sacred and Profane

  11. Reinforcements

  12. Visitations

  13. Reversals

  14. Machinations

  15. Haunted

  16. Some Dissembling Required

  17. Exeunt

  18. A Little Friendly Advice

  19. Trumped

  20. Indecent Proposals

  21. Face-Off

  22. Dusty Old Skeletons

  23. Apprehensions

  Acknowledgements

  Glossary of Terms

  About the Author

  Also by Douglas J. Bornemann

  Dramatis Personae

  Albert Graves

  Curator of Profanities in the Holy City; the Primal’s confessor

  Alexi Reysa

  Dona’s classmate at Exidgeon University

  Alistair Nevinander

  Aging patriarch of the Nevinander family

  Alphonse

  Alexi’s fencing buddy

  Amanda Merinne

  Dona’s mother and Rayen’s sister and caretaker

  Amehtan Shoruga

  Hathaway Professor at Exidgeon University; Shunese defector

  Arerio

  Marguerite’s manservant

  Arietta Charwick

  Dona’s gangly and unpleasant classmate

  Armand Goodkin

  Monsignor who arrives to investigate the disturbance at the University

  Aunt Olivia

  Nathalie Nevinander’s sister

  Captain Dunsmore

  Captain of Trifienne’s militia

  Caroline Caldor

  Dona’s classmate

  Chancellor Wiggins

  Chancellor of Exidgeon University

  Clarke Reston

  Professor of History at Exidgeon

  Constable Connelly

  Constable of Trifienne; Miranda’s father

  Count Laslo

  Blond-haired advisor of Crown Prince Nathan

  Crown Prince Nathan

  Sovereign of Trifienne

  Crown Princess Irina

  Wife of the Crown Prince

  Damien Nevinander

  Alistair and Nathalie’s eldest son

  Darron Goodkin

  Primal and brother of Monsignor Armand Goodkin

  Dominick Everson

  Professor of Grammar at Exidgeon

  Dona Merinne

  Daughter of Henry and Amanda Merinne; student at Exidgeon University

  Dreamweaver

  Legendary niece of Phrendonian, reputed to have invented Daemonology

  Eloise

  Nathalie and Alistair Nevinander’s maid

  Francesca Harcourt

  Mother of Jonas and Mathilda; they call her ‘Nanna’

  Father Cartier

  Priest of St. Sophia’s Church in Trifienne

  Garvin

  Caretaker at St. Sophia’s Church

  Giles Boothby Harcourt

  Jonas and Mathilda’s dead father

  Gregory Delauren

  Dona’s friend and sometimes classmate; an up-and-coming tenor at the opera

  Helena Dunkirk

  Dona’s friend and roommate at Exidgeon

  Jamie

  Nephew of Father Cartier, waiter at Tabalaria

  Jonas Mapleton Harcourt

  Traveling merchant dealing primarily in spirits

  Josephus Vane

  Inquisitor with a reputation for ruthlessness and discretion

  Magister Celeric

  A Magister at the Academy

  Magister Treust

  A Magister at the Academy, former mentor to Michlos, creates Amulets

  Magister Wellsbrough

  Provost of the Academy

  Marguerite Serrola

  Matriarch of the Serrola family

  Mathers

  Librarian at Exidgeon University

  Mathilda (Tilly) Harcourt

  Sister to Jonas, owns and runs a brothel in Trifienne

  Michlos Serrola

  Son of Marguerite and Spiros Serrola

  Miranda Connelly

  Dona’s friend and roommate at Exidgeon; Constable’s daughter

  Miss Maxtine

  House mother of the women’s dormitory at Exidgeon

  Morissant

  Gregory Delauren’s wealthy patron

  Mr. Lop Ears

  Dona’s childhood stuffed toy

  Mrs. Caldor

  Mother of Caroline, Member of the Venerable Assembly of Church Mothers

  Mrs. Laverne Temrich

  Hard-of-hearing member of the Venerable Assembly of Church Mothers

  Mrs. Muscany

  Member of the Venerable Assembly of Church Mothers

  Mrs. Myra Curtsik

  Member of the Venerable Assembly of Church Mothers

  Mrs. Tibbleman

  Senile but lovable member of the Venerable Assembly of Church Mothers

  Nathalie Nevinander

  Alistair’s wife; Member of the Venerable Assembly of Church Mothers

  Newcomb

  Princess Celeste’s manservant and personal guard

  Ordinal Bittern

  Close ally of Ordinal Laitrech

  Ordinal Cronsett

  Eldest of the current crop of Ordinals

  Ordinal Isrulian

  One of Darron’s more recent and regrettable appointments

  Ordinal Kuypers

  One of the current crop of Ordinals

  Ordinal Laitrech

  Advisor of Primal Darron Goodkin; one of his more recently appointed Ordinals

  Ordinal Lavicius

  Charming and rapacious Ordinal; A patron to the Accipitrines

  Ordinal Marius

  One of the current crop of Ordinals

  Ordinal Shelby

  One of the current crop of Ordinals

  Ordinal Stohl

  One of the current crop of Ordinals

  Phrendonian

  Legendary codifier of Phrendonic Heresy

  Princess Celeste

  Sovereign of the Island that is home to the Artist’s Colony

  Professor Amberton

  Scrawny Professor at Exidgeon, confidant to Professor Reston

  Professor Bartholomew Driessen

  Professor of Geometry at Exidgeon University

  Professor Fenton Tamry

  Professor at Exidgeon, confidant to Professor Reston

  Randolph Brent

  Bursar at Exidgeon

  Rayen the Magnificent

  Dona’s uncle; subject to occasional seizures, he believes they reveal the future

  Reginald Nevinander

  One of the twin sons of Alistair and Nathalie

  Spiros Serrola

  Marguerite Serrola’s dead husband

  Stuart

  Former caretaker at the Academy

  Terulla Kardell

  Dona’s classmate at Exidgeon

  Thaddeus Nevinander

  Alistair and Nathalie’s youngest son, younger brother to Verone

  The Old Priest

  Thurman’s mysterious ally

  The Widow Bainbridge

  Reston’s unexpected visitor

  Thoren Theratigan

  Famous Demon hunter

  Thurman Goodkin

  Armand Goodkin’s son and ass
istant

  Venji

  Verone’s horse

  Verone Nevinander

  Daughter of Alistair and Nathalie Nevinander

  Zachary Hepplewhite

  Professor of Rhetoric and Theology at Exidgeon; old friend of the Monsignor

  Trifienne

  Synopsis

  A House of Cards is the second volume of the Heiromancer Trilogy, to which The Demon of Histlewick Downs serves as a stand-alone prelude that sets the historical stage. The trilogy’s first volume, Practical Phrendonics, recounts the adventures of Dona Merinne, a college student at Trifienne’s Exidgeon University, when she encounters a secret society of scholars led by Professor Reston intent on researching magic, a practice the Church forbids. When, together with classmate Alexi Reysa, Dona finds Reston’s copy of the heretical text Practical Phrendonics glowing in the library and runs off with it, she becomes the target of threats and a failed kidnapping attempt. The chief suspect is Professor Dominick Everson, who, until recently, had been Reston’s uneasy ally. But Professor Everson has himself fallen prey to the machinations of Verone Nevinander, scion of a powerful heretical family, who wants the book for her own purposes.

  The situation is complicated by the appearance of the Church’s Inquisitor General, Monsignor Goodkin, and his son Thurman to investigate reports of heretical events on campus (instigated by Verone). Dona meets the Monsignor when he sits in on some of her classes, including one in which she gives a presentation about a woman who, unbeknownst to Dona, turns out to be the Monsignor’s mother.

  Dona soon learns Alexi is Reston’s assistant, and Alexi attempts to recruit Dona to Reston’s cause during a date at the legendary Sultan’s Respite restaurant. Before Alexi clinches the deal, mysterious heretic Michlos Serrola disrupts a meeting at the next table between Thurman and Jonas Harcourt, a local ne’er-do-well. In the ensuing commotion, Thurman glimpses Dona wearing a glowing necklace Alexi gave her (which marks her as a heretic), the Respite burns to the ground, and Dona is injured. Jonas assists in her rescue and offers to let Alexi and Dona lie low at his sister Tilly’s brothel.

  On returning to the University, Dona receives a ransom note that seeks Reston’s book in exchange for releasing her good friend Gregory Delauren, and she demands that Reston’s society help rescue him. When their rescue fails, out of desperation Dona enlists Michlos’s aid, despite knowing almost nothing about him. While Michlos temporarily neutralizes Everson as a threat, Dona and Alexi learn that Gregory was never actually kidnapped.

  Alexi and Dona regroup at the brothel, whereupon it is raided by the Inquisition. Jonas and Tilly’s mother Sacrifices herself to enable their escape, and the four of them go into hiding. Dona’s absence causes Reston to contact Dona’s mother, who then unexpectedly arrives on campus to search for her. A chance meeting between Verone and Dona’s mother (and her seizure-prone Uncle Rayen) alerts Verone that Dona is missing, and Verone offers the aid of her church group to find her.

  When the Primal (the Monsignor’s brother) calls the Monsignor back to the Holy City, the Monsignor leaves Thurman in charge of the ongoing Exidgeon Inquisition. Thurman aggressively ramps up the Inquisition—an approach the Monsignor had taken great pains to avoid. When the Monsignor discovers this development, he rushes back to Exidgeon, but on arriving, Ordinal Isrulian (who is complicit in Thurman’s deal with Jonas) arrests the Monsignor on trumped-up charges. On his assistant Cartier’s advice, Thurman flees to the Holy City to report the deed, leaving Cartier in charge of the Inquisition.

  Meanwhile, Dona learns that Thurman has engaged Jonas to rob graves in support of a clandestine project, and she convinces Jonas and Tilly to return to Exidgeon. The four of them, together with Michlos and Reston’s society, seek a way to use this information to blackmail Thurman and the Monsignor to abandon the Inquisition. Before they can implement their plan, however, a battalion of Inquisitors arrives outside Trifienne, bound for the University.

  Chapter One

  Pulling Strings

  It was mid-morning before Verone finally got a chance to take a break. The ladies of the Venerable Assembly of Church Mothers had been enthusiastic when she suggested they carry signs to help search for Mrs. Merinne’s missing daughter, but she had not anticipated how competitive they would be—each group wanted its sign to be a little better than everyone else’s. Whenever someone came up with a new idea, all the teams rushed to incorporate it. After several groups had started over more than once, Verone finally insisted everyone make exactly the same sign. By the time they were prepared to strike out across the campus in search of Dona, Rayen had recovered enough from his seizure to accompany them and generously offered to take Verone’s place.

  Verone’s break was short-lived. She barely had enough time to touch up her nails when the chapel door creaked open.

  Mrs. Tibbleman called out querulously. “Hello? Is anybody here?”

  “I’m here,” Verone said, “but it seems the rest of your team has already left.”

  Mrs. Tibbleman’s brows drew together in puzzlement. “Did we win already?”

  “It wasn’t that kind of team. They went to find Miss Merinne.”

  “Oh, yes, of course—such lovely signs. I’m sure they’ll find her in no time. But what am I to do in the meantime? I so wanted to help.”

  Verone patted the elderly woman’s gloved hand. “Perhaps they’ll come back for you once they realize you are missing.”

  “I’m missing? Where did I wander off to this time?”

  Verone tried a different tack. “Perhaps you’d like to join my team to help find Miss Merinne?”

  “Oh, that would be splendid, especially since I seem to have misplaced my other team. I do so want to be helpful.”

  “I don’t recall assigning anyone to watch the entrance to the University. Maybe we could be of some use there?”

  “Oh yes—it wouldn’t do at all to have her leave while we’re trying so hard to find her.”

  “Agreed, but if you’re going out in the sun, you’ll need a proper hat.”

  Mrs. Tibbleman’s hand went to her tulle-wreathed head. “Oh, I completely forgot about my veil—is it time for services already?”

  “Not until after we search for Miss Merinne, which you can’t do while wearing that. Fortunately, I brought a spare hat. You wait right here, and I’ll get it.”

  From her things near the sacristy, Verone produced a hatbox. Inside was an enormous straw hat festooned with fake pansies and draped with two lengths of lavender sateen for securing beneath the chin. Humming tunelessly, she slipped a small glass vial from an internal pocket of her pinstriped jacket, uncapped it, and sprinkled its contents over the pansies. Then, she pulled two fist-sized rocks from her leather case, weighed them in her hands, nodded, and shoved them back inside. After tidying her ginger-blonde coiffure and smoothing her coat to ensure it showed her ample figure to best advantage, she snatched up a much smaller box sporting a little purple bow. With the case tucked firmly beneath her arm, hat in one hand and box in the other, she rejoined her companion.

  Mrs. Tibbleman clapped excitedly at the sight of the purple bow. “Oh, is it my birthday again already?”

  Verone proffered the hat. “Not quite yet, but the gift of a fine hat is an occasion unto itself. Why don’t you try it on?”

  “Oh, how adorable. I used to have one just like that years ago—they were all the rage when my little Eva was married. I even learned how to make the paper flowers.”

  Verone helped Mrs. Tibbleman remove her veil. “Let’s get this on you, and then we can be on our way.”

  Mrs. Tibbleman inhaled deeply. “Why, this is delightful. It not only looks all floral, it smells that way too. I wonder how they manage that with paper flowers?”

  Verone flashed a little half smile. “They are amazing, aren’t they? Shall we head out?”

  Clear skies had done little to banish the evening chill, and while Verone welcomed the relief from the heat, Mrs. Tibbleman shivered whenever the
y passed through a patch of shade.

  “You poor dear,” Verone said. “I’m not taking another step until we warm you up.” She stopped at a bench, put down the box, and rummaged through the leather case. “Aha—this should do it.” She draped a floral wrap over Mrs. Tibbleman’s shoulders. “Now, please try to remember—the University is not as safe as once it was. While we all want to do our best to help Miss Merinne, we don’t want to get ourselves in trouble.”

  Mrs Tibbleman adjusted the wrap. “Surely not. Isn’t that why we have teams?”

  “Indeed, it is. Now, we’re coming up on the gate, and I think we can best keep an eye on it from just over there by that hedge. You see it?”

  “I do—is it honeysuckle?”

  “Very possibly. Now, I have a quick errand to run, but I’d like for you to stand right over there by the honeysuckle and keep a close eye out for Miss Merinne. Could you do that for me?”

  “Of course. Oh, I do hope she drops by.”

  “And remember—while I’m gone, if you see anything suspicious, promise me you’ll get back to the chapel just as quickly as you can.”

  Mrs. Tibbleman grew misty-eyed. “Things aren’t like they were in the old days, are they? Why, I remember—”

  “Mrs Tibbleman—do you remember what you are to do if you see anything out of the ordinary?”

  “You mean like this hat?”

  “No. I meant more like something threatening or suspicious. Do you remember what you are to do?”

  “Why yes, very well. I’m to return to the church at once.”

  “Chapel,” Verone corrected.

  “Oh yes, of course.”

  “Perfect. Now, I’m going to run my errand. I’ll be back just as soon as I can.”

  Mrs. Tibbleman made her way over to the hedge. “Never you worry. No living soul will pass that gate without me knowing.”

  Verone retraced a few steps and then ducked into an alley. Circling behind buildings, she positioned herself next to Dexter Hall. From there, she could see Mrs. Tibbleman dutifully standing guard. She faced entirely the wrong way, her attention focused on the hedge, apparently attempting to confirm if it really was honeysuckle. Taking a deep breath, Verone stepped out into the open and made a beeline for the front door. It was unlocked, and before Mrs. Tibbleman had any chance to spot her, she slipped inside.

  Verone was immediately confronted by a young man arrayed in the embroidered vestments of the Inquisition. “Sorry, ma’am, these premises are not open to the general public.”