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But it was a risk, too: they would all be presenting similar information; they would all become each other’s rivals the moment they stepped into the assignment hall.

The more Fern watched them work, the more it became obvious that they were not all contributing in equal measures. The Ferrows seemed to lead the group, with Orsini and Baudet focusing on the research.

And as for Lautric… most of the time, he was nowhere to be seen.

It took Fern twodays to decide on her list.

She selected some obvious choices: five of the seven Divine Transmutations, Iosis, Inversion and Annulment symbols. Then she included some unlikely choices with unique case studies and some symbols she could trace back to Sumbra and its entities, since she could back those up with her own research.

Reluctantly, she included several transgressive symbols, too. Blood Alchemy was illegal in most countries, but it was undeniably powerful. Death Alchemy, like most forms of magic involving death, was taboo, but Fern would be going up against candidates like Lautric and the Poison Tower twins. They would make bold choices without concerning themselves too much with ethics, so she could not afford to let her scruples hold her back.

On the third day, Fern began her research.

It was several hours after the dinner bell, just after the other candidates had retired for the evening, andFern was perched precariously on top of a ladder on the upper floor of the Alchemy Wing when she heard voices below.

Fern froze, debating whether to announce herself. She was deep within the confines of bookshelves, the ladder leading her up into shadows. She had a perfect vantage point over the lower floor of the wing, and when she saw who had walked in, she closed her mouth and grew completely still, listening with intense concentration.

Lautric had just entered the room, Vittoria Orsini following him. He closed the door and they stood close together to speak. Though they were quiet, Fern’s position made it easy to overhear them.

“Sentinels?” Lautric asked.

Vittoria shook her head. She was a beautiful woman, dark-skinned and dark-haired, and together, they formed a well-matched couple. But before Fern could wonder if she was witnessing a dalliance, Lautric pressed on.

“Do you have them?”

Fern frowned.

“Of course,” Vittoria said.

Reaching into the elegant leather bag she carried with her everywhere, she pulled out three books. Fern leaned forward in the shadows, her eyes fixed on the books, but she was too far away to see the titles. Lautric took them, turning them over in his hands.

“You cannot keep them for too long,” Vittoria said, closing her satchel. “The Sumbra Wing is well-monitored, and my pass has a short lifespan.”

Lautric nodded, putting the books away into his own bag. “Thank you for this.”

Although his voice was wan and quiet, there was true relief in his tone. He was genuinely grateful for the favour Vittoria had made him—grateful for the books he had just put away.

Which only made Fern’s desire to know the titles of those books flare brighter.

“Don’t forget our deal,” Vittoria said to Lautric.

“I won’t.”

They left without another word. In the silence that ensued, Fern’s mind raced. Vittoria’s field of research wasn’t Sumbra, and besides, all the candidates were working on the alchemy assignment.

How had she convinced her mentor to write her a pass? She had clearly done so for Lautric, but why? What had Lautric promised her in exchange? And what couldhepossibly want to know about Sumbra, and why had he not asked his own mentor, Dr Auden, for a pass?

Fern remembered once more her journey back from Santico. Hector and his henchman, the short and unpleasant fight, the Lautrics’ entitlement to the stolen book of Gateway symbols.

So the Lautrics had an interest in Sumbra; nothing surprising there. The Gateways and their cosmic entities, with all the knowledge and incantations they were capable of offering, always attracted the ambitious and the power-hungry. How could it not?

Only now, the youngest Lautric scion had made his way into Carthane, which famously housed several Gateways, and he was making deals with other candidates to get him Sumbra books. Whatever Lautric wasup to, it was almost definitely why he had tried to ingratiate himself to her earlier.

Whatever Lautric was up to, it could not possibly be good.

Fern would have paid handsomely to find out the names of the books Vittoria had purveyed for him. She could not ask Vittoria herself without alerting Lautric, and she could not ask for a pass to the Sumbra Wing until her absent mentor returned, hopefully sooner rather than later. To find out those titles without having to wait, Fern would need to access the Sumbra Wing in secret to check its borrowing registers.

Lautric had plenty of power to wield, but Fern had not entered Carthane without a trump card of her own.