Whitesmoke

The next few days were a blur. The Headmistress had found us lugging Fairburrow around like a piece of discarded luggage, and after a bit of persuading on Arthur’s end, we only got sent back to our rooms while they investigated.

Without Fairburrow to back them up, a lot of his lies fell apart pretty quickly.

The wedding ring Headmistress Alaxa accused me of giving Isaac turned out to have been bought barely a week ago, and half of Fairburrow’s apparent sources didn’t show up.

What did show up were documents found in Fairburrow’s office describing a plan to lure Isaac into a trap.

They let us go after that.

“Catch!”

I looked up from our bench in the courtyard as Val tossed Mary and me the day’s paper. “What’s this?”

“First page. Looks like the press found out about Isaac’s lab.”

“And were allowed to release it? Now there's a surprise…” I ruffled the pages open. The words ‘Prince Isaac’s secret research discovered!’ were printed in big, bold ink. “You got a summary?”

“The school raided his lab after Fairburrow’s investigation. Apparently the Church didn’t do a fantastic job of raiding the place.”

“Probably didn’t want to get scolded for causing a fuss.” I scoffed. “My bad.”

“It’s not all leaking at once, but right now they’re reporting that Isaac may have had evidence that the Church’s teaching on Prismas isn’t accurate.”

“May have?”

“It’s Vertana, I’m shocked they’re publishing that much.” Val plopped down in the seat next to me and leaned back. “They seem to discover something new about his research every day.”

“More like they’re drip-feeding the news. Better than covering it up.” Though, I do wonder how much of this is the royal family getting pissed at the Church over Isaac’s death. They’ve surely connected the dots by now.

“We’ll see how far they get. How are the two of you holding up?”

“Fine…” Mary muttered from my right. “I sent a messenger back to Everbit updating them about the situation. Things may get a bit loud when that arrives.”

“A bit? Knowing my Dad, Vertana’s going to be thanking the gods the city’s still standing once he’s had a word with them.”

“Looking forward to it. After everything they’ve put us through, Vertana deserves a bit of pushback,” Val said. “I’m sure the Headmistress is still fuming about everything.”

“Last I saw her, she was screaming at some government official.” I didn’t hate the Headmistress. Sure, she was strict, and didn’t understand my incredibly advanced interpretations of magical mathematics, but at the end of the day she clearly meant well.

Still, she’s been remarkably cordial considering I’d demolished her office.

“If there's anybody I trust to get everything back to normal, it’s her. But oh well, not our problem for once.”

“Doesn’t mean we won't get called in for another million interrogations. Speaking of, when’s Arthur supposed to get back from his?” I asked.

For whatever reason, Arthur had been summoned by the Church’s investigators for interrogations more than the rest of us combined. I guess he is the most connected of the bunch. Val, even with her Fairburrow connection, is just a commoner; I’m a foreigner, and I doubt they’ve bothered to look up anything more than Mary’s name.

“Right here.”

“Gods!” I practically jumped as Arthur tapped me on the shoulder. “Since when could you sneak around like that?”

“Sneak around? I was just walking up to say hi.”

“Maybe all this has screwed up my senses a bit.” I needed to work on that. Arthur was about as stealthy as an armored knight most days. “What did they want to talk to you about now?”

“Isaac’s lab work.” Arthur leaned against a nearby pole. “They’re officially calling them confidential Church documents, though they’re currently scrambling to find out how the press got access to a few of his papers.”

“Maybe look at your own buffoons for that.” I rolled my eyes.

“Told them none of us had anything to do with those leaks. Maybe this time they’ll finally realize we're right.”

“Only the eighth time they’ve asked. I wouldn’t have much hope,” Val said.

From what little I’d been able to gather, Fairburrow kept practically everything to himself. The Church didn’t have anything on what Prisma he was hunting, what ones he had killed in the past, or any of his methods.

Isaac seemed to be the only exception, though judging by how scattered the documents about him were, Fairburrow had been halfway done with disposing of those papers as well.

Thank the gods he never bothered to mark down my name. I couldn’t hope to have as many interrogations as Arthur, but in the seven I’d had, they hadn’t mentioned me being a Prisma.

Their latest theory was that Fairburrow was targeting royals as some kind of serial killer. I didn’t bother to correct them.

“Still, weird they haven’t mentioned anything about Isaac being a Prisma. You think Fairburrow just never wrote that one down?”

“They haven’t brought that up?” Arthur’s face darkened. “They’ve brought it up in every meeting of mine, always asking if I ever saw any signs of Isaac using any anomalous magic.”

“How did you answer?” I asked.

“With the truth.” Arthur shrugged. “I didn’t ever see him using any feminine magic.”

“Well, maybe it's best to leave them in limbo.” I don’t want them connecting the dots.

Fairburrow killed Isaac because he was a Prisma. Now his research was coming out, and not a single person knew he’d been writing about himself the entire time. It feels dirty keeping this in the dark.

But I didn’t have a choice. If someone really started to dig into Isaac, my name was next on the chopping block.

One day, Isaac. One more secret for when the time is right.

“Oh, right!” Arthur cut in. “I forgot to mention, Val, that my father found some documents with your name on them hidden away. He hasn’t opened them yet.”

“Really…” Val stayed quiet for a second. “Tell him to keep them closed. I don’t think any of us want that can of worms opened just yet.”

“Val, you sure?” I asked.

“Positively. That man’s left a stain on my life that’ll take a decade to forget. I’m ready to move on.”

“Speaking of your father, I still have questions about that lie of his,” I muttered.

Arthur didn’t answer for a second. “According to him, Fairburrow said it was for the good of the Church. He hasn’t apologized yet. I have my doubts that he will.”

“Who knows, time heals all wounds. Moving on…” I glanced around the courtyard. Can’t say I ever got the chance to know you well, Isaac, but thank you. Thank you for giving us this chance. “I’ve made a decision.”

“O-Oh no…”

“What do you mean, oh no, Mary? It’s a great idea!” I rocketed back up. “I have no idea what the future’s going to throw at us, but I know that Isaac would encourage us to tackle it all head-on.”

“What are you planning, Princess…”

“To be the best student I can! Isaac was top of his class, so I’m going to match him.”

“You are?” Val tried not to snicker. She didn’t try particularly hard. “Good luck with that.”

“I won’t need luck. I’ve made up my mind, and Mary can tell you personally how hard that is to change.” I started to walk off. “Now come on! Our notes aren’t going to write themselves.”