Return of the Runebound Professor

“I’ve got it. I can get it after this, but you can’t just say that and stop.” Moxie gestured for Noah to continue. “What do you mean?”

“I’m not sure how much I can say,” Noah admitted. “There’s a lot, but when I spoke to Brayden, he seemed to have been expecting the Hellreaver’s death. He wasn’t surprised that it died. The thing that he was surprised at is that I was alive.”

“What? Why?”

“I don’t know,” Noah replied, shaking his head helplessly. “The strangest part was that he didn’t seem to have any ill feelings against me at all. He just thought I was supposed to be dead and was confused as to why I wasn’t.”

Moxie’s gaze drifted down to the gourd at Noah’s hip. “Do you think…”

“I’m not sure. It’s certainly possible, but the note that came with it didn’t look like it came from him. It was a little… girlier, I guess. Brayden probably wouldn’t have given me a note at all. I’m still missing something.”

“Well, that’s not good. If he expected you dead, isn’t there a chance someone tries to assassinate you?” Moxie asked. “Forget the Hellreaver Ape, someone from your own family might be out for your blood. Especially with what happened with Edward and Allen.”

Noah grimaced. “Yeah. You don’t have to remind me. There’s no way to know anything for sure yet. It’s all just speculation.”

“So what are you going to do?”

Noah didn’t respond immediately. He rubbed his chin, staring out the window in thought. Then he shook his head and turned back to Moxie. “Play it by ear for now. Nothing else I can do. I didn’t get the feeling that Brayden would try to kill me, and I’m certain he’s going to try to talk to me again.”

“I don’t envy your position. The book is in my room. I was waiting until you got back to give it to you,” Moxie said. She went to stand, then paused halfway up. A strange look passed through her eyes and she lowered her voice. “I have a question.”

“I have an answer,” Noah replied promptly. Moxie glared at him and Noah cleared his throat. “Sorry. Force of habit from long ago. What is it?”

“You… have it, right? The Master Rune.”

“Depends is that question still part of the Oath? It’s within the time limit, but you’ve already finished it.”

Moxie pursed her lips.

“Damn. I really don’t want to make a second Oath. One is going to be a pain enough. I’m pretty sure this would fall under it, though. Here – just don’t answer that. I know you’ve got the Rune because you killed the Hellreaver, which means I got that information while under Oath.”

“Logical,” Noah said. “So what was your question related to it?”

“How does it feel? I’ve heard stories, but…”

Moxie trailed off and looked at Noah expectantly. He frowned, trying to find the right words.

“It’s terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. They’re nothing like normal Runes. I can’t control it properly at all, though I really haven’t had much time to practice. Every time I use its energy, I’m a little worried that I’ll end up blowing myself up instead of my enemy.”

Moxie snorted, her face returning to normal. “That sounds about right. Try not to get yourself killed before you figure out why the Linwicks want you dead. At this point, I’m too invested in the mystery and it would be a letdown if you kicked it too early.”

“Wow, thanks. I feel so supported.”

“Good,” Moxie replied. She rose to her feet and pushed the chair back into the desk. “Don’t go anywhere. I’ll be back in a minute with the book.”

She left the room, letting the door swing shut behind her. Noah chewed his lower lip, staring at where she’d been sitting.

I need to figure out what the Linwicks want. That’ll help me deal with both problems right now. Keeping close to Brayden will hopefully mean he’ll think I’m innocent of killing the Hellreaver Ape, and it’ll also let me figure out what the Linwick’s true goal is. But how am I supposed to stick close to him if I don’t know the slightest bit about what Vermil was actually doing here?

A minute later, Moxie pushed through the door and thunked a leatherbound book down on the table. Noah jerked his head up, pulled from his musings.

“Here,” Moxie said, tapping the book with one finger. “It’s all yours. I’m not sure how useful it will be, though.”

“Far better than nothing. And nothing’s been what I’ve been doing for too long,” Noah said, pacing over and picking the book up. “Thank you.”

Moxie rolled her eyes. “Yes, do try and keep yourself from getting killed. What are you going to do about Isabel and Todd, though?”

“Keep teaching them, of course. Unless something comes up that stops me, there’s no reason to leave them to rot. From everything I’ve seen, this school doesn’t care about them. Someone has to.”

Moxie’s gaze softened. “It’s sad to agree with that, but you’re right. Almost everyone is related to a noble house in some way or another here – or at least, they aren’t blacklisted from them. If something does happen to you, though, I’ll step in.”

Noah blinked. A small smile crossed his lips and he nodded. “I appreciate it. They deserve better.”

“But maybe what they needed was a crazy bastard. Just don’t get them killed. I’m going to get out of here before I somehow get suspicion cast on me,” Moxie said, raising a hand in farewell. “Seriously. Be careful, and don’t keep leaving me out of the loop. I want to help. Especially if it brings the Linwicks down.”

“I was going to ask about that, actually,” Noah said before Moxie could leave. She paused and glanced back at him. “Why did Brayden recognize you?”

Moxie’s face twisted into a grimace. “You know, that was the biggest giveaway. Before you gave your whole ship analogy, that is. The Linwicks have been at war with the Torrins for years. No outright battles since a treaty five years ago, but we hate each other. Anyone in our families worth their salt would recognize someone from the other on sight.”

“You didn’t recognize Brayden.”

Moxie’s shoulders sank. “I’m not a very good Torrin. There’s a reason I’m out here teaching instead of hunting monsters and living it up with the rest of my family.”

Noah opened his mouth, then let it close. Moxie shook her head and gave him a knowing look.

“Read that quickly. Arbitage isn’t going to wait around for long if they suspect you, and neither will the Linwicks.”

“I will,” Noah promised, giving Moxie a nod as she swept out of his door and closed it behind her.

He turned his attention down to the book she’d left behind. Sitting down on the desk, Noah flipped the cover open, revealing a long list of names and affiliations. He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

Then he started to read.

***

The book was boring. Noah didn’t have any other way to describe it. The whole thing was just one giant list of names and descriptions, along with associations of who was directly related to who and their roles in the Linwick family.

There wasn’t even any information on the runes that the members of the Linwick family used. That didn’t surprise Noah too much, given how guarded that kind of information was, but he’d still been hoping for more than this.

He did manage to go through and memorize the people that seemed to be the most relevant to his immediate situation, though. Noah managed to find Brayden and himself on the same page.

According to the book, they were twin brothers. Noah wasn’t sure how the same woman had popped out Brayden’s near seven foot form and tried to pass it off as related to Vermil, but he wasn’t about to start arguing with a piece of paper.

Not yet, at least.

Their family tree linked them to a man named Father. Named, not titled. He didn't have any other names in the book, so either he'd been born Father, which would have been amusing at best, or he'd taken the title up and had his previous name wiped.

Curiously, Noah couldn’t find any information linking Father to literally anyone else in their family. There were dozens of elder members, and many of whom Noah suspected simply had to be dead by how far back the list went, but none of them showed any association with Father or his small branch.

“Damn it,” Noah muttered, leafing back and forth through the book in attempt to find out what was missing. “Someone is screwing with me. What’s going on here? Nothing makes sense.”

And the more I think about it, the weirder it gets. Brayden says I was supposed to die, and Vermil was apparently in on it. That means Vermil should have wanted to die – but he was drinking a healing potion! So he didn’t want to die at all.

Does that mean he was going to double cross Brayden so he could live? Did the family know that he would do that and poison him intentionally? Or is the poison from a third party? And none of that answers the questions of why Vermil needed so many Runes or what he was hoping to accomplish with his death in the first place.

I just want to fiddle with my Runes and test out combinations. Magic is fun. This is stupid.

Noah let out a heavy sigh and closed the book. The sun was already starting to set outside. He’d spent the better part of the day locked up in his room, studying and memorizing everything he could about the Vermil family – even the tiny, badly drawn pictures of everyone.

Now, there was only one thing left that he could think of.

I need to be on the offensive. If I wait around for Brayden to poke at things, my story is going to fall apart like 1 ply school toilet paper after budget cuts. No, I have to keep him on the backpedal without giving too much away.

He rose to his feet, stretching his hands over his head and arching his back. Then Noah set his jaw and strode out the door, grabbing his coin pouch on the way.

Hopefully, Brayden was thirsty. There was one way he knew was better than any other to butter up a supervisor. Unfortunately, it wasn’t cheap.

It was time to get some real answers.