Trial By Fire (Going Down in Flames #3)(79)
“You may go. I’ll warn the guards that they aren’t to remove anything from the cases.”
“How do you know the books are safe?” Bryn asked.
“We don’t,” her grandfather replied. “But Miss Enid wears gloves when she works with them.”
That didn’t seem like enough of a safeguard, not that anyone asked her opinion. If touching the books was safe, was the information inside of them harmless? The symbol she’d seen in the book before it had crumbled was the same symbol tattooed on the dead boy’s wrist in Dragon’s Bluff. To her grandfather, that symbol meant treason. The fact that Bryn had found a drawing of it tucked away in her mother’s secret hiding place made her think it hadn’t started out bad. Perhaps, it had once been a symbol of free-thinking. After the attacks on innocent people, though, it definitely meant something deadly.
“There’s something I forgot to mention about one of the books. The one that fell apart when I touched it.”
Her grandfather glanced at the medic. “Let’s talk over here, so we aren’t in the medic’s way.”
Worked for her. Valmont followed along, and her grandfather didn’t object. Once they were across the room, Bryn said. “The page I tried to turn had the same symbol the dead boy had on his arm in Dragon’s Bluff.”
Her grandfather’s eyes narrowed. “And why are you just telling me this now?”
“I wasn’t keeping it from you. In all the excitement of finding the room and calling you to make sure you had a chance to investigate before Ferrin, it slipped my mind.” That should earn her some bonus points. “Plus, it disintegrated so there wasn’t anything to show you.”
“It’s good you remembered and that you shared the information with me.”
Bryn breathed a sigh of relief. Interactions with her grandfather could be exhausting.
“You should go to class now.”
“Can I ask you a question first?”
“I may choose not to answer, but you may ask.”
“In the book, family names were listed by the different symbols of the elements. Was there ever a time when that mark didn’t mean treason?”
“Originally it represented the elements, but a group of rebels repurposed it to mean dragons who fought against the status quo, against the Directorate.”
“So that book wasn’t necessarily bad?” Bryn asked.
“No. It was more than likely a ledger where family traits were recorded. I don’t have to tell you not to share any of this information with your friends, do I?”
“No.” That didn’t mean she wasn’t going to share with Clint and Ivy. One other thought bothered her. “What about Jaxon?” Not that she felt the need to share with him, but she knew he would ask. “He’s persistent, and sometimes it’s easier to share with him just to make him go away.”
Valmont said something under his breath she didn’t quite catch, but she bet it wasn’t complimentary.
Her grandfather actually grinned. “It’s good that you’re coming to understand one another.”
“You have no idea how frightening that concept is to me,” Bryn said and then laughed because she didn’t want to tick her grandfather off.
He patted her on the back. “In time you’ll become formidable political partners much like your grandmother and I. Feel free to share with him what you wish, but I advise you to always keep a few details to yourself. Most of what happened here this afternoon will go into a report, which Ferrin and the other Directorate members will read tomorrow morning. So Jaxon will hear about this through his father.”
“Is there always a bit of espionage between the Directorate members?” Bryn asked.
“It’s what makes life interesting.” He checked his watch. “I’ll make your teachers aware of why you missed class. You’d best be on your way to lunch.”
By dinner everyone on campus had heard of the guard’s death, but they were divided on how he died: a giant ax beheaded him, a sinkhole opened up and swallowed him, or a sword from one of the cases slayed him.
“With every stupid rumor I hear, my opinion of my fellow students declines.” Bryn sat in her dorm room on the couch with Ivy while Clint and Valmont sat in the wingback chairs. She’d waited for them to be alone to discuss what had really happened in the archives of the library. “Just so you know, you have two choices. I can share the real story with you, or you can be happily ignorant.”
“Everyone knows a guard died. It’s how he died that’s in question,” Clint said.
“Right,” Ivy said, “so I think it’s safe to tell us.”
“Okay, here we go.” She shared the manner of the poor man’s death and the details about the lethal display case, but not the existence of the secret room or the bracelet.
Ivy pursed her lips in thought. “I guess the moral of the story is, if you come across a random display case, do not attempt to open it or remove any of the pretty, sparkly objects inside.”
“I can’t believe it was booby trapped with poisonous darts.” Clint shook his head. “Who knows when those darts were placed in the case? What type of poison is good for decades like that? The whole thing is seriously messed up.”
“Agreed.” Valmont sat with his hand resting on the pommel of his sword. He glanced at Bryn. “Can I tell them about the sword you commissioned for me?”