No Class Found

The ink dried wrong on the third letter of the morning, and Kaine set it aside to be recopied rather than sign something that would look rushed to whoever read it next.

Five days had passed with no sign of Cassira. As the search expanded, Kaine had reassigned several magisters to help cover the surrounding region.

Elric knocked once and entered without waiting, a habit Kaine had never corrected because it saved time.

"Northern patrol's back," Elric said. "Nothing. No tracks past the second ridge—the snow's covered whatever there was to find."

"The eastern route?"

"Same. Captain Dorn wants to know if she should push the search radius out, or hold the line and wait for something to change."

"Tell her to hold. Five more days of empty ground won't tell us anything the first two didn't."

Elric set a second folder on the desk. "Thornwick Rest. The Goblin Innkeeper has been held for three days now. His wife is confined to the property and not permitted to leave."

Kaine opened the folder. It contained the usual formal language: the owners of Thornwick Rest were being questioned because the princess had been taken while staying under their roof. On paper, the scrutiny was reasonable. He read the report to the end, then closed it.

Mira Thornwick was one of his students, but Kaine had met her parents only once, at the start of term. It was not enough for him to judge whether they were innocent.

"Nothing to be done about that from here," he said, mostly to himself, and set the folder with the others.

Elric lingered at the door instead of leaving. "Archmagister. The Imperial investigator's carriage came through the east gate ten minutes ago."

Kaine looked up. The appointment wasn't for another two days.

"He's early."

"He's already in the courtyard."

Kaine rose and crossed to the window rather than go straight down. His office looked two directions at once — old Glasshold stone on one side, the Imperial courtyard on the other, a compromise built into the architecture before he'd ever set foot in it. He'd found that fitting, once. Today it just felt like a room with two doors and no good reason to prefer either.

He went down to receive his guest rather than make the man wait for an escort.

Investigator Crasus Marius looked to be in his mid-thirties. He wore a court-cut coat and carried himself like a man more accustomed to offices than fieldwork. His bow was formal, though noticeably shallow.

"Archmagister Kaine." He bowed. "Crasus Marius. I was sent under Imperial writ to investigate Princess Cassira's abduction from Thornwick Rest."

"You weren't expected for another two days."

"The matter could not wait."

Marius offered no further explanation, and Kaine let the matter rest for now.

"The princess's abduction cannot go unanswered," Marius said. "I've been given authority to strengthen Glasshold until she is found."

"What does that mean?"

"The Imperial garrison South of the city will be brought within the walls. The full force should arrive within a month."

Kaine kept his expression neutral.

"That is no small order."

"No small crime."

"The garrison has remained beyond the walls for longer than either of us has held office. By whose authority is that changing?"

"By order of the High King," Marius said. "The princess's abduction gives him sufficient cause."

Kaine let that answer sit.

"And the Academy?"

"The soldiers are being sent to protect Glasshold, Archmagister. No one intends to occupy your lecture halls."

"The Academy is governed by its own charter. No troops will be quartered within these walls without my consent."

Marius inclined his head. "Understood."

"Then there is the outer district," Kaine continued. "It has been under curfew since the kidnapping. Do you intend to march an entire garrison through streets already under guard?"

"Their route will cause as little disruption as possible."

"That was not my question."

Marius's jaw tightened.

"His Majesty wants the princess found before this becomes more than an embarrassment. I assumed you would want the same."

"I do," Kaine said. "I'll have quarters prepared beyond the Academy walls. You may begin your investigation today."

Marius bowed and left.

Kaine returned to his office.

Two years earlier, in that same room, he had asked Serin Valen whether Cassira had been sent north to bridge the divide or deepen it. Neither of them had known, and Kaine had allowed the question to rest.

The High King had every right to act now. A princess had been taken from inside Glasshold, and the search had found nothing after five days.

That did not mean the opportunity had gone unnoticed.

The garrison would enter the city lawfully. Whether it would leave as easily was another question.

Kaine sat and drew the recopied letter toward him. The ink had dried cleanly this time.

He read it once more, then signed his name.

The tenth morning brought another empty report.

Elric placed it on Kaine's desk. "Same as yesterday. No trail beyond the ridges and no ransom demand."

Kaine left the folder closed. Nine identical reports, and a tenth wouldn't be any different.

"The detachment?"

"Two hundred soldiers entered through the south gate this morning. The remainder will arrive over the next month, according to the High King's order."

"Where are they being quartered?"

"The old barracks near the southern wall. They've also requested the Barracks beside the outer district."

Kaine looked up. "Requested?"

"For now."

"Who commands the detachment?"

Elric hesitated. "Drage Varro."

Kaine set down his quill.

He knew the name. Varro had spent the last decade pressing Imperial claims along three different borders, advancing soldiers and officials farther than the treaties allowed. Twice, the Emperor had recalled him before those disputes became wars.

Sending Varro to Glasshold was no accident. The High King had found his reason to move soldiers into the city, and handed them to a commander known for testing how far his authority could reach—a warning aimed north, at the Clans. Kaine understood exactly how it would land.

"Has he entered the Academy?"

"No. He sent word asking to meet with you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow will be soon enough."

Elric nodded, though he did not leave.

"Something else?"

"A watchman was struck in the outer district last night."

"With what?"

"A stone. It opened the side of his head, but the healer says he will recover."

"Was anyone taken?"

"No. No one admitted to seeing who threw it."

Which meant the entire street had seen.

Kaine leaned back slightly. "Have the magisters return from the district before nightfall. They can continue the search beyond the walls, but I will not have Academy robes caught between the watch and an angry crowd."

"That will leave fewer hands searching the city."

"It will also leave fewer chances for this to become worse."

Elric inclined his head. "I'll see to it."

Before leaving, he placed two letters beside the unopened report.

One bore the Imperial seal. The other carried the crest of the Northern Clans.

The Imperial letter demanded the Academy's full account of the abduction, along with every statement gathered from Thornwick Rest.

The Northern letter demanded an explanation for the failures that had forced the High King to send soldiers into Glasshold.

Both required an immediate answer.

Kaine read them once, then placed them side by side.

Neither asked whether Cassira was still alive.

He signed nothing that day.

Sixteen days, and the room was full for the first time.

Kaine took the seat at the head of the table because someone had to, and he had no intention of letting Marius claim it.

The investigator sat to his right, his papers arranged neatly before him. Commander Varro remained standing with his arms crossed, dressed more for inspecting soldiers than attending a council meeting.

Elder Halvard Stonebrand had chosen the chair farthest from both men. The old man wore plain, undyed wool and had not spoken since entering.

Serin Valen stood near the window, her arms folded tightly across her chest. Captain Drex remained beside the door.

Kaine looked around the table.

"What do we know?"

Drex answered first. "We questioned Garrik Thornwick nine times and Elara six. Every known fence and fixer in the outer district has either been questioned or placed under watch."

"And?"

"Nothing. No one sold information about the princess's movements. We found no unusual payments and no local contact tied to the abduction."

Varro looked toward him. "Your conclusion?"

"Whoever arranged this brought the kidnappers in from outside Glasshold." Drex's jaw tightened. "This wasn't local work."

The room fell quiet.

"An outside contract," Marius said. "Someone paid to have her taken without telling anyone here why."

"That's what the evidence suggests," Drex said.

Stonebrand spoke for the first time.

"Convenient that no one in Glasshold knows anything."

There was no accusation in his voice, but everyone at the table heard it.

"You have another explanation, Elder?" Marius asked.

"No." Stonebrand kept his eyes on him. "Only a longer memory than most people in this room. I've seen inconvenient truths buried beneath convenient answers before."

Marius placed both hands on the table.

"Sixteen days have passed without a ransom demand, a message, or a body. Standard methods have found nothing. The Crown believes it's time to try methods that will."

Varro uncrossed his arms. " That many rounds of questioning, and nothing to show for it”

Kaine looked at him. "Meaning?"

"Meaning give the interrogations to soldiers who know how to get answers out of people who don't want to give them. Thornwick and his wife first. The rest of the outer district, if it comes to that."

"They've already told the watch everything they know," Drex said.

"Then they'll tell my men the same thing. Only more thoroughly."

"It's the same nine answers, extracted with more pain and no more truth in them." Kaine kept his voice level, though his hand tightened around the arm of his chair until the wood creaked. "Captain Drex just told this table the trail ends outside Glasshold. You cannot beat information out of people who never had it to begin with."

"We can beat certainty out of them," Varro said. "Which is more than we have now."

Stonebrand leaned forward, both hands flat on the table. "And when your soldiers finish with the innkeeper and his wife, where do they go next? My people live in that district too."

"If your people have nothing to hide, Elder, they have nothing to fear."

"I've heard that sentence in three languages, Commander. Always from men about to prove it a lie."

Serin spoke before Varro could answer him. "Garrik Thornwick has given the watch the same answer nine times. Break him for a tenth and you'll get nothing new, because there's nothing new left in him to give." Her voice didn't rise, but something underneath it had gone thin. "And every soldier spent proving that is a soldier not out looking for her."

"This decision does not belong to you, Battlemage Valen," Marius said. "This isn't your—"

"It is exactly my business."

No one answered her.

The door opened without a knock.

A watchman stood in the doorway, breathing hard, snow melting across his shoulders. He looked first at Drex, then at the others, as though the number of people in the room had scattered whatever report he had prepared.

"There's a wagon approaching the east gate," he said. "Gnoll escort. Trade markings. And there's a banner flying from it."

Drex frowned. "What banner?"

"Yellow. It has some kind of creature on it." The watchman struggled for the description. "Round body. Flat yellow beak."

The room stared at him.

"I don’t know what it is, " the watchman replied. "I’ve never seen one before. But the gate guard says there’s a girl riding beside the driver who matches the princess’s description."

For a moment, no one moved.

Then Serin was past him and through the doorway.

Drex rose. "Was the sighting confirmed? "

"The gate captain confirmed it before sending me."

Kaine stood so quickly that his chair scraped across the stone.

Marius half-rose, leaving his carefully arranged papers forgotten. Varro began issuing orders to the soldiers outside.

Stonebrand alone remained seated, watching them rush toward the door.

Kaine did not wait for anyone else.

He was already moving.

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