The King of Staffs

Sometimes, things are frustrating. And by sometimes, I mean mostly when he is around. Jonny is one of the most important members of the council. The House of the Seal seems to know everything happening in town at all times, and the only person I’m aware of more vigilant about those crossing the Veil is the Queen of the Blade, who actually has sworn to keep them in check. Jonny, as far as I can tell, just does this all for fun. The combination of being a member of the House of the Seal and being so vigilant about any trespasses does make for a very frustrating sort of person. Especially since there is no way to tell what he’s actually thinking or feeling.

I send a message to one of the lesser members of the House of Staffs, to come meet me in my office, before getting back to finishing off my grading. I will have to meet with my Page at some point, so she can disseminate the direction about Faerie-magic disturbances on this campus. But Kendra will have to wait, because if the Knight of the Seal is concerned about some random family of tourists, then we should keep watch on it. Because tourism is the purview of the Chalice, and so the Seal being involved alone spells trouble. The Seal involving those outside the Seal means the trouble isn’t merely criminal. That fact that he came to me rather than the Queen means Jonny is genuinely near certain that this Thorsen family will use magic while here. One of my grad students and a member of the House of Staffs walks in. Fred Hilbert. Fred has a focus on anthropology, and is a member of the Wing of Seeing. Not particularly high up in the Wing, but he is skilled enough to find, and track these newcomers, and I know he is free this weekend. “Fred,” I say coldly.

“Professor, what is it?” he asks, genuine curiosity.

I shake my head. “Not today,” I inform him.

Fred nods. “King. What am I to do?”

“I have been informed of a family closely tied to the Viel in town for a vacation. There are interested parties concerned they will act without going through the proper channels. You are to observe and report.”

“God it, boss. How’s the book coming along?” he asks.

“Adequately for the moment. How are your studies going?” I counter.

“Which studies?” he muses.

I stare him down. “I already said, I’m not your professor today.”

He sighs, then nods. “Not great. But this should help. Some practical use might help me think more clearly about the theory.”

I nod. He’s right, of course. At a certain point, you need to practice magic to get better at it. Because the Veil reacts differently to every person, which means the only way to learn the complex rules of how it works for you is to see them in action. “You may go now,” I inform him.

He nods once more. “King,” he says before leaving. I wait for him to be out of the door before sighing. Because I need to keep up the appearance of calm intensity. Keep the threats from within my House at bay. I open up my current draft and collapse back into my chair. I would start actually writing, but between heading out to meet with Kendra after she finishes teaching her class and the inevitable rearrival of Derek, there won’t be that much time. Instead, I begin to take down some notes on what I’ve already written, to try to find what other hints I need to lay out so readers can figure out the mystery on their own, before the end reveal. Some people think a mystery should be impossible to solve before the investigator of the story solves them. Those people don’t understand psychology too well. People like feeling smart, and figuring out a puzzle. So you make it hard enough to feel like an accomplishment, but only so hard that casual readers can’t figure it out, while anyone trying to figure out the puzzle can. I’m pretty close. I feel like in the next two chapters, if I just include one more indication, and one more false path that hints towards the twist, everything should be planted.

As I’m trying to decide what exactly to include, there’s a knock on the door and Derek walks in. “Hey, um, Professor. Are you done with your grading?” he lets the question fall out of his mouth.

I look up at him, keeping my face kind but detached. Pleasant but uninviting. “Yes. What was your question?”

“If you don’t mind too much, I was hoping to work towards an, um, econ minor? Just, like, to, you know…” he trails off.

“I can help you sign up for some economics classes, but if you do this, understand, it will be time consuming and the lower level econ classes are intentionally difficult.”

Derek looks confused. “Why?” he spits out, the first time today he hasn’t stumbled through his question.

“I do not know for certain, though my friend in that department says it is because of the number of people who believe it to be an easy major to earn money,” I answer clearly and concisely.

He sighs. “Okay, but still, um, how is that like done?”

I go over the process of applying to the program as a minor, and what classes he’ll need to take early, then send him the links. He asks me to go over so many minute things that he should know, my mild frustration starts to seep through my veneer of cold pleasantries. Finally, he notices the frustration and tells me, “Alright, I got it. See you in class after break?”

I nod, and he heads out. Once again I wait for the second door to close before collapsing back into my chair with a heavy exhale. Checking the time, I have about five minutes before I should head out. Saving all my documents, I make sure the grades are all in the system, then shut down my desktop. Then, shutting my laptop, I put it into my bag and head out of my office. After locking my office door, I take a couple minutes to reset all the alarms that the Knight intentionally tripped. Because he, unlike others of the Council, refuses to use front doors, where the alarms are automatically resetting.

Leaving the building, I head over to the Linguistics building. The Page heads out, having just finished her class. “Kendra,” I say with a slight wave, “Let’s walk and talk.”

Kendra laughs a lively chuckle. She is almost as good as I am at putting on a front. Being a former member of the Wing of the Mind will help with that. “I’m heading for my car,” she says, “I’ve got a date later.”

I laugh. “That’s great,” I say, keeping my face friendly for the onlookers. We are ostensibly friends, after all. “I wanted to talk about this break.” Too many eyes are on us to speak openly, but I need to convey this information.

“Is something important happening?” she asks.

I shrug. “Maybe. Remember that guy I see sometimes.”

“Which of the three?” she replies, instantly understanding that I’m talking about a councilor.

“The irritatingly talented but forgettable one,” I joke.

From her laughter, I know she gets exactly who I’m talking about. After a few moments, she adds, “What about him and break?”

“Well, I got a message from him saying he’s going to be around here during break,” I explain.

She looks a little concerned, turning towards me. “And how do we feel about this?” she asks. She’s wondering if this is some kind of declaration of war. Good, that is exactly what she should be asking.

“We feel okay. He’s just here for his work, so I figure there won’t be any problems as long as I give him space,” I reply.

She nods. “Don’t worry,” she says, “Staying away is probably for the best where he’s involved.” We arrive at her car. It’s locked. There’s a note in her driver’s seat simply reading ‘Rude.’ I groan. She shakes her head, slowly enough that I know she’s also scanning around for people. “So we just stay away and ignore that sort of disturbance?” she asks.

If she feels comfortable enough to talk, there’s no one around who might accidentally be closer to the Veil than the average person. I close my eyes, and manipulate the Veil subtlety with my mind, establishing a telepathic connection with my Page. ‘I no, that’s what I want him to think you’re doing. Track every goddamned move that bastard makes, magically speaking, and report every detail to me.’ Out loud, I reply, “No need to change anything you do that much, just ignore that kind of disturbance around here.”

She nods. “I guess. Seems too little.”

I open her car’s door for her. “Good luck with your hot date,” I say, partially genuine, but mostly sarcastically. Kendra pretty much exclusively dates outside of the veil-touched. Which means she can have a lot of fun, but the relationships rarely last longer than a couple of months due to all the secrecy. And, given how long this one has been going on, we both know the ending is fast approaching.

“I hate you,” she jokes as she pockets the note. “Good luck avoiding yours,” she shoots right back.

I smile, say, “I hate you too,” and slam the door shut.

This done, I need to get in touch with the Page of the Chalice as well. Because if we’re following a tourist, even one who is fully embraced by the Veil, of which there is not yet confirmation, it still technically falls under his house, until and unless the tourist casts a spell. He is going to be busy today, preparing for the concert this evening. Which means right now, he should be at the venue, bothering and micromanaging the setup. Getting to my own luxury sedan, I drive over to the arena.

I park outside. There’s security, making sure people don’t get in. but that doesn’t really matter for me, because they’re stationed outside, and I know the area. Muttering a few syllables, I vanish from the parking lot and appear in the women’s bathroom of the arena. I take a deep breath and wash my hands before heading out towards the floor.

Samuel Booker is, indeed, talking with the random people setting up the stage in the center of the arena. “Hey Mike,” I say quietly as I point at him underhandedly. He prefers to go by his middle name among friends.

He turns to look at me, and whispers back, “Zoey, what’s going on?” I gesture and we meet up away from the staff, who seem confused, but happy that they get a break from him. Once close enough to talk, he says, “Since you made it past security without them checking with me, I assume this ain’t a social call.”

I shrug. “It is and it isn’t,” I admit. I explain, “Some tourists are maybe veil-touched, according to an irritating but reliable little bird. His frustrating ass asked me to watch the family, so you might notice one of my grad students spying on some tourists. Figured I’d give you the heads up.”

“Thanks for the heads up, I’ll pass that along to the King,” he says, “Not totally necessary, cause I’m guessing you’ll only act if they actively cast, which means it’ll be your problem anyways.”

I chuckle. “Not even. I have the kid on observe and report only. If they do anything unsanctioned, I’m going to have it be a council action.”

“Any real reason for that?” he asks.

I cock an eyebrow in his direction. “What do you think?”

“I think that you know the Knight of the Seal is working against you, but you don’t know how or why, and you believe the Queen of the Blade is as well. Because while they both are touching the veil, they don’t love how much we utilize it. And so any pretense you have for calling us together and looking them in the eyes, you’ll take. You’re wrong, of course, on the former part. Haven’t got a good read on the Queen yet, he’s too new, but as long as you avoid the Faerie side of things, Jonny will let you be.”

“And you know this how?”

He looks around and shrugs. “Maybe because I’m the only one of us who actually likes and hangs out with his weirdo butt.” He’s right, of course. The house of the Chalice gets along with everyone, almost too well. Then, shaking his head, he says, “So, you coming to my concert?”

I feign offense, though I keep a smirk up. “And be caught having fun? How will everyone react? There might be a mutiny right then and there.”