A House of Cards Page 5

  “That’s what it looked like. A ‘Miss Nevinander’ was in charge.”

  “Nevinander?” Jonas and Reston said simultaneously.

  Alexi nodded.

  “The Nevinanders are one of the most powerful families in Trifienne,” Jonas said.

  “And, if I recall correctly,” Reston added, “Everson’s new girlfriend went by that name. I guess that explains where he learned the Sleep spell. Come to think of it, he was pretty sophisticated with his little scavenger hunt, too.”

  “But why is my mother still here?” Dona asked. “Professor, didn’t you tell her to see Hepplewhite?”

  “I did.”

  “They went,” Alexi said, “but it sounded as though they had just gotten back. Apparently, the Monsignor was with him at the time, and both said they had seen you yesterday.”

  “Odd,” Reston said. “Why would the Monsignor be closeted with Hepplewhite in the middle of this mess?”

  Dona buried her face in her hands. “So now my mother is stranded here too? I can’t just leave her to the Inquisition.”

  Jonas harrumphed. “An even more interesting question is how does Dona’s mother know this Nevinander woman? I can’t say as though I recall Dona ever mentioning her before.”

  “I don’t have any idea,” Dona said.

  “Seems pretty coincidental, wouldn’t you say? Here you are all lovey-dovey with your Enforcer friend, and now it seems Mom has one of her own? I thought you said they would never work together.”

  A chill went down Dona’s spine. All eyes had turned to her, and in many, she saw alarm. Jonas’s prattle was clearly having an effect. “I swear—I’ve never even heard of her before.”

  “Well, now that we really need him, just where is our Enforcer friend anyway?”

  “They locked the gates. He can’t get back in.”

  The room felt suddenly unfriendly. Even Tilly was eyeing her dubiously.

  “Dona, where is the book?” Reston asked quietly.

  “It’s locked away in my hope chest.”

  “You’re sure it didn’t somehow make its way into Everson’s hands?”

  “I’m sure.” Dona’s mind raced, but she could think of nothing else to say to reassure them.

  “If you’re telling the truth, then having my copy of Practical Phrendonics at your dormitory is a huge threat to you, and we should get it out of there before the Inquisition finds it. If, on the other hand, you’re using it in some sort of nefarious Nevinander plot, we’ll know soon enough. Alexi, are you up for taking another walk?” Reston picked up his coat. “We’ll be back shortly. I don’t suppose I need to tell you to lock the door behind me, do I?”

  Jonas just smiled and puffed on his pipe.

  . . . . .

  “Ladies,” Verone called out. “Ladies, if I might have a moment of your time?”

  The Venerable Assembly of Church Mothers gathered round.

  “After considerable thought, I’ve decided to declare our efforts a success.”

  Polite applause broke out.

  “Have we found the girl, then?” Mrs. Caldor asked.

  “Not precisely, but we now have it from reliable sources—one of them a Monsignor no less—that Miss Merinne was safe and present here on campus as recently as yesterday. While we’d all dearly love to see the girl and her mother reunited with our own eyes, we certainly don’t want to get in the way of an ongoing Inquisition. Therefore, I’d like everyone to be ready to leave by dawn tomorrow morning. I’ll arrange with the nice Inquisitors to open the gates. Any questions?”

  “Oh, I have one,” Mrs. Muscany said. “Will the girl be leaving with us?”

  Verone blinked twice before answering. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  Mrs. Caldor stepped forward. “Would it be all right if I took my daughter with us? I’m not sure I want her attending classes here in the middle of an Inquisition.”

  “If she’s here and ready on time, I doubt the Inquisitors will object. Anyone else?”

  “If I may?” Rayen asked. “I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the tremendous work you and the ladies have done on our behalf. You are as compassionate as you are beautiful.”

  Once again, polite applause broke out. Verone seemed momentarily at a loss, A hint of color tinted her cheeks, but she recovered quickly. She drew herself up and executed a dramatic bow. The ladies responded by increasing their applause, which continued until Verone gave in and bowed again.

  “That’s enough of that. Go to bed. Dawn comes early. Now go.”

  The applause faded, and the ladies went about their business.

  Verone’s mother Nathalie was waiting for her by the Chapel door. “He is a handsome one, isn’t he?” she said, eyeing Rayen.

  “Mum, don’t start with me.”

  “What?” she asked innocently.

  “You know very well what.”

  “Well, you can hardly blame a mother for trying.”

  Stepping outside, Verone once again scanned the ground for rocks. She slipped several that suited her into her leather case, checked to be sure it also contained the floral wrap, and stalked off into the twilight.

  . . . . .

  Alexi, Dona, and Reston approached the dormitory through the darkness. They detoured several times to avoid being seen, since the campus was unusually active. Apparently, the Inquisitors were not finding it trivial to locate reasonable accommodations. While many had chosen to occupy classrooms, some diehards had pitched tents and started small campfires as though stranded in the wilderness. The flickering flames begat sinister shadows that danced among the buildings.

  The dormitory, by contrast, was uncharacteristically quiet, and the reason became clear when Dona tried the door—it was locked. She knocked for several minutes before Miss Maxtine’s throaty voice called out, demanding she identify herself.

  “It’s Dona. Let me in.”

  The cacophony of turning bolts and dropping chains suggested Miss Maxtine had wasted no time in taking the necessary steps to ensure the safety of her charges. Finally, the door swung inward.

  “It’s so good to see you, child—we were worried half to death.”

  “Since when are we locking the door?”

  “I’ve instituted a curfew. Under the circumstances, you can’t be too careful. Of course, since you haven’t been here, you couldn’t have known, but until this unpleasantness blows over, I’m insisting everyone be in by eight o’clock sharp. Oh, and that means no visitors after curfew either.” She eyed Reston and Alexi.

  “Oh, I’ve forgotten my manners. Allow me to introduce Professor Reston and his assistant Alexi.”

  “Pleased to meet you,” Miss Maxtine said.

  “Professor Reston has agreed to help me with an extra-credit project, and I need to pick up some of my textbooks.”

  “Oh, that reminds me,” Miss Maxtine said. “You had a visit from the campus librarian some days ago.”

  “I did?”

  “Yes, his name was ‘Mathers’ or some such. He was an odd-looking man, nasty scratch on his face, but very polite—”

  “Excuse me, ma’am,” Alexi said. “Do you happen to remember which side of his face?”

  “Let’s see. It was on my left as I was facing him, so that would be on his right, I think. Anyway, I wouldn’t normally have let him in, but he had a warrant from the Chancellor, so I didn’t have any choice.”

  “You let him into my room?”

  Alexi caught Reston’s eye, and traced a line along his right jawline with his finger, mouthing the word “Everson.”

  Reston nodded, and his eyes narrowed.

  “Well, I wasn’t happy about it, I can tell you,” Miss Maxtine said. “But whether I like it or not, I don’t have the authority to override a warrant from the Chancellor.”

  “What did he want?” Dona asked.

  “He was looking for a library book. Said it was a rare one and never should have been lent. I suggested he just wait for you to return it, bu
t he would have none of it. I should warn you that he was obliged to break into your hope chest.”

  “You just stood by while he broke in and took it?”

  “Well that’s the odd thing. He never did find any book, and he looked mighty hard for it. I know because I insisted on watching him the whole time.”

  “So, he took nothing from Miss Merinne’s hope chest?” Reston asked.

  “Nothing.”

  “Did anyone else have access to her room?”

  “Well, her mother tried to get in for a look-see, but I couldn’t let her. It caused quite a row when I mentioned that I had to let the librarian in because of the warrant. I see her point, but my responsibilities on the matter are clear.”

  “And it was locked when the librarian tried to open it?”

  “Yes, it was. He had to force the lock with a pry bar.”

  “That can’t be,” Dona cried. “I put it in there and locked it myself.”

  “I’m only saying what I saw.”

  “And what day was that?” Reston asked.

  “Last Tuesday morning, I think”

  “I can’t believe you let some stranger paw through my things,” Dona said. “And then you let it sit there unlocked for a whole week? That does it. Out of my way.”

  Dona forced her way past Miss Maxtine, but the startled housemother recovered in time to block Reston and Alexi.

  “I’m sorry, Professor—rules are rules.”

  Dona rushed up the stairs to her room and threw open the door. Miranda and Helena looked up in surprise—Miranda from her reading and Helena from her stitchery.

  Dona inspected the chest’s broken lock and ran her fingers over the pry marks. The contents had clearly been rummaged. A copy of the Chancellor’s warrant lay on top.

  “Miss Maxtine said Mathers searched it for a book,” Helena said. “Neither of us was here when it happened. Where have you been?”

  Dona ran to the windowsill and retrieved the key. It was exactly as she had left it. “All right, where is it?”

  “What’s gotten into you?” Helena asked.

  “One of you has it, and I need it now.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “My book. Which one of you took it?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. If there’s a book missing, Mathers almost certainly made off with it. Why don’t you try yelling at him?”

  “Miss Maxtine was watching. He didn’t take it.”

  “Well, it was clearly locked when he got to it, or he wouldn’t have needed the pry bar.”

  “Exactly, which means one of you must have gotten to it first.”

  “That’s a terrible thing to say. We’re your friends. We would never violate your privacy like that, would we, Miranda?”

  Dona folded her arms.

  “Miranda?” Helena asked.

  Miranda hunched down behind her book. “Don’t hate me.”

  Dona’s eyes narrowed. “So, you do have it.”

  Miranda lowered her book, nodding slowly, her lip quivering.

  Dona sighed in relief. “I don’t hate you. In fact—I love you. If they had taken it when they broke open the chest, I’d be up to my neck in hot water. Now quickly, get it for me.”

  “I don’t have it here anymore.”

  “What?”

  “When I heard about all those Inquisitors arriving today, I thought it would be too dangerous to keep it here, so I hid it.”

  “Where?”

  “In the library—in the theology wing near where you spent all that time on your talk. I just slipped it into the stacks.”

  Dona whirled to go.

  “Are you coming back?” Helena called after her, “…ever?”

  . . . . .

  Downstairs, Reston and Alexi waited patiently for Dona to reappear. Miss Maxtine had politely but firmly closed the door in their faces and had just finished the arduous task of relocking it when they heard Dona’s voice on the other side. After several more minutes of bolt-flicking and chain-sliding, the door stood open once more.

  “I’ve found it,” Dona said. “It’s in the library.”

  “Inside or out.” Miss Maxtine said.

  Dona stepped outside. “Sorry.”

  Miss Maxtine had barely started the relocking process once more, when they heard her sigh. In a few more moments, the door stood open again, and Caroline Caldor emerged, accompanied by a lady who resembled her so strikingly that she simply had to be her mother.

  Alexi and Reston stepped aside to let the women pass, but once Caroline’s mother saw Alexi in the light from the doorway, she paused.

  “Look, Caroline, it’s the young man I was telling you about,”

  “Oh, that’s just Alexi,” Caroline said. “I have some classes with him.” She held her hand up in a shy little wave. “Hi, Alexi. Feeling better?”

  “Hi, Caroline,” Alexi said. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

  “Oh, and that’s her, right there.” Caroline said. “That’s Dona Merinne.”

  Mrs. Caldor squinted through her spectacles. “Is it really? Oh, now that you mention it, I really do see the resemblance.” She took Dona’s hand. “I’m Mrs. Caldor, Caroline’s mother. I’m so happy to see you safe and sound. I know it’s late, but you really must come to the chapel and let your poor mother know you’re all right. She was dreading leaving tomorrow without seeing you. It would mean so much to all of us.”

  “Leave?” Dona asked. “How? The Inquisition closed the gates.”

  “Well, I don’t know all the details, but Miss Nevinander assured us we’d all be leaving at dawn. I confess this Inquisition has me on pins and needles, so Caroline is coming with us, at least until things settle down. Maybe you should come with us too.”

  “Perhaps I shall. Listen, I have a few things I need to get ready first, but I’ll try to visit the chapel a little later, if that’s all right?”

  “The ladies will be so excited. We’ll go let them know. Come along, Caroline.”

  Once the Caldors were safely out of earshot, Reston eyed Dona and stroked his beard. “It seems you’ve acquired a bit of a fan club.”

  “Yeah, it’s a little weird,” Dona said. “Now, about the book—it turns out it’s not here.”

  “So you said. You expect us to believe Mathers took it, even though your housemother was very clear that he didn’t?”

  “No, that’s not it—Miranda swiped it out of my hope chest first, so it wasn’t there when Mathers, or whoever he really was, searched for it. I know it seems far-fetched, but it’s the truth.”

  “Miranda Connelly?” Reston asked.

  “Yes, she’s my roommate.”

  The sound of Miranda’s name jogged something in Reston’s memory, and he recalled the troubled look on her angelic face as she asked him about Dona’s Practical Phrendonics extra-credit project.

  “Anyway,” Dona said. “I know you think I’ve double-crossed you, and now I can’t even get you the book like I promised. Still, you deserved to know what really happened, even though it’s too wild a story for you to possibly believe. So, I guess I’ll just leave tomorrow morning with Ma, then.”

  The pain in Alexi’s eyes broke Dona’s heart. Without Reston’s trust, she couldn’t stay, and as long as Alexi felt his reckless behavior with Reston’s book made him responsible for endangering the Society, she knew he’d never leave them. Blinking back tears, she turned to go.

  “I believe you,” Reston said quietly.

  “Wait—you do? Why?”

  “Corroborating evidence,” he said mysteriously. “Shall we continue our discussions in a less public place? We don’t want to risk happening across any more of your fans, do we?”

  Relief flooded through her, followed by something else. Now that she had to face the decision head on, the thought of turning down the opportunity to leave with her mother filled her with dread. Stay with Alexi and brave the maelstrom or abandon him to save herself? She’d have expected the answer to be obvious
, but the thought of choosing—now that both options were before her—left her paralyzed. She’d only just learned she had fans, but already she felt unworthy.

  “No, I suppose not,” she said.

  . . . . .

  Sitting at their window overlooking the front door, Miranda and Helena exchanged puzzled glances.

  “What was that all about?” Helena asked. “And why would Professor Reston think Dona double-crossed him?”

  “I’m not sure,” Miranda said. “But did you hear Mrs. Caldor say they’d be leaving at dawn?”

  “So?”

  “So, have you seen any militia here from Trifienne?”

  “No,” Helena said, “why?”

  “Because there’s no way the Crown would have allowed the Inquisition to gather such a big force here without militia oversight.”

  “Aren’t they supposed to work together?”

  Miranda pulled out a canvas bag and began tossing things into it “In theory, but in practice, it almost never works that way. If the Inquisition brought this many people here without permission, you can bet there’s serious trouble brewing. Daddy will need to know.”

  “What are you doing?”

  “Unless I miss my guess, those gates are not going to open very often in the next few days. If they really are going to let people through at dawn, I intend to be among them.”

  Chapter Five

  Reckless Abandonment

  Jonas slapped his hand over his face and shook his head. “Are all academics this naïve? So, she tells you her roommate hid it somewhere, and you believe her? I suppose you also give her full credit when the dog eats her homework.”

  “Her story was corroborated not only by the house mother,” Reston said, “but unintentionally by Miss Connelly herself, and before any of us knew anything about a Nevinander being involved.”

  “Either that or the roommate is in on it, and the book is still hidden in her room.”

  Tilly could contain her annoyance no longer. “I’ve had just about enough of your attempts to sabotage everything, mister. You sit here and talk big like you have some sort of superior insight, but you contribute no reasonable alternatives of your own. Well, just for the record, your ‘superior insight’ destroyed my livelihood, got us branded as heretics, and got our mother killed. I think I speak for everyone in this room when I say that if you can’t come up with a constructive suggestion, keep your trap shut.”