Early the next morning, Raven was awoken by Van in a hushed voice. He moved like a shadow, as if danger crept around every corner. He waited for Raven to get dressed, and then they departed into the bitter cold night. The wind held a fierce stranglehold on the school courtyard, threatening to drive them back. The ferocity beckoned the call of winter.

  Van slowly pressed into the onslaught, making for Tower Four. The westernmost clock tower of Nine Star Academy was the only building Raven had never entered. None of the masters held classes there, and the doors remained perpetually locked. Van led Raven around to the back of the immense structure, where the wind broke asunder, led down a cliffside. Their hearing returned, released from the torture of the howling gales.

  At the base of the tower, a man stood on patrol, clutching to his heavy coats and shivering. They approached, and Raven recognized Simon LeGee, the old coachman. Upon seeing Raven, all remaining color once again drained from his face.

  He waved his arm in a peculiar, panicked manner, and Raven realized he was giving a sign. He looked up to find a metallic elevator being lowered via a rope pulley system attached to the side of the tower, high up near the level of the giant pendulum bob. When it reached ground level, Van turned to Simon.

  “Is everybody here?” he asked.

  Simon nodded. “All accounted for. Goodbye.”

  He left without another word. Raven followed Van into the lift and closed the makeshift gate. Immediately, they were lifted off the ground. As they rose higher, Raven spied the barest hint of daybreak to the east. The ascent slowed to a crawl, accompanied by the screech of the pulley wheel. A small door had been opened in the face of the tower, just wide enough for them to slip through.

  Raven had no idea what Van wanted to show him; however, the spectacle to which he was greeted proved most unexpected. Criss-crossing wood beams, giant gears, and other clockwork mechanisms filled the wide expanse of the tower top, clicking and clacking as the pendulum undulated back and forth and the great clock ticked off the seconds with its pleasant, subdued gong.

  People filled every standing station within. Young, old, mostly men but some women, people from every Reyk… an incredible, variegated swath of Fallowreyk’s denizens. But they were all dressed similar, in fact very closely resembling Van’s daily preferred wardrobe. Browns, beiges, and blacks; coats with numerous pockets; cloaks and scarves. But the most immediate observation was the collective group’s quietude. What must have been at least two hundred people, some perched perilously high up, said nothing and made no other sound as Van and Raven came forward. They simply stared at them guardedly, mostly at Raven.

  “I always forget what a happy lot you all are,” Van quipped, breaking the dreadful hush. “Did you enjoy my letter? I put a lot of thought into it, but mailing out two hundred letters is a task. Tough to add personal touches.”

  “Can it, Van,” a girl nearby said with a grim expression. She had short black hair and looked quite young. “What are we doing here? And who is he?”

  “Sheesh,” Van said comically. “Can’t your leader even get some small talk in before we move on to business?”

  Leader? Raven thought. But he remained silent.

  “Little Sister is right,” a large Munian asked from the nearest rafter. He crouched, deadly serious. “We need an explanation now, Van. Most of us have come a long way.”

  Van raised his hands. “Now, now. Calm down. You don’t honestly think I would have called all the Thimbles together if it wasn’t absolutely important, do you? Give me a little credit.”

  Raven’s jaw dropped. “Wait, you’re their leader?” he asked aloud. “You lead the Thimbles?”

  “That’s right,” he replied proudly.

  “You?” he repeated.

  His shoulders slumped. “A little more confidence would be appreciated,” he lamented.

  “You’ve only been our leader for a year,” Little Sister replied harshly. “That can change.”

  “Now now, Sis. I’m not lying. This is really important.”

  “Don’t call me Sis. Who is this?”

  Van spread his hand toward Raven. “This… is our new client.”

  All eyes focused on Raven again.

  “Come again?” Raven whispered out of the side of his mouth.

  Van laughed nervously.

  Little Sister’s eyes narrowed. “One client? Why would all of us need to meet in the Roespeye lair for that?”

  “Because he’s hiring all of you.”

  “I am?” Raven whispered again.

  Another nervous laugh from Van.

  But now the wary looks from the Thimbles turned to expressions of honest curiosity. A few came closer and began asking Van questions. It dawned on Raven what Van was aiming for. He shook his head, smirking. If he had known Van actually led the particularly well-respected information brokers known collectively as the Thimbles, he would have asked for this sooner.

  A strange sense of pride came over him as he watched Van jovially joke around one-sidedly with the ill-amused girl called Little Sister. When Raven had first arrived in Roespeye nearly a year ago, he possessed an early shortlist of potential partners that he knew lived in the city and would be enrolled in the school, but Van constantly surprised him with his savvy, his developing courage, and his particularly exceptional groundedness. Raven now felt fortunate Van happened to be the first person on his list he encountered in Roespeye.

  “It wasn’t luck,” Rue reminded him.

  “You are right, Rue. It was providence, wasn’t it.”

  Another Thimble came forward. He was masked over the mouth and nose, but a shock of white hair betrayed his advanced years. A pandora hung like earrings from each of his ears. “How can we be sure he can afford our services?” he grunted.

  “I can vouch for him, Josiah,” a voice called from among the group.

  Another man stepped forward. Raven smiled in amusement when Jack Storne entered the inner circle of the gathering. He tipped his flat cap and extended his hand, which Raven shook.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  “Well, you don’t smell bad at all now!” Jack joked. “But holy wild, what happened to your face?”

  His smile washed away. “You make it sound like I smelled bad my entire life up until now,” he countered.

  “Sir, I don’t think I will ever forget that stench.”

  “What’s this now?” Van asked.

  “Never mind,” Raven replied quickly, giving Jack a harsh look.

  “I can vouch this kid is loaded,” Jack said for all to hear. “He tripled my pay when I got him the info he wanted in Zaliance.”

  “So… Raven,” Van said uneasily. “You want to employ all my boys, right?”

  Little Sister stomped on his foot. “And girls,” he quickly corrected, wincing.

  Raven looked around at all the staring Thimbles. This opportunity would definitely not go to waste.

  “I am searching for the two missing pages of the Star Tome, the accumulated knowledge of Valius Shrale. We believe the pages were probably passed down from Valius Shrale to one of his ten sons. We are not entirely certain, but we have nothing else to go on at the moment. I do believe the pages are somewhere in Roespeye, and thus the search should be focused in the city. I will fund each person’s search at a rate of fifty crowns a day. The person who provides the pages or the information that leads me to them… ten thousand crowns.”

  The reaction was immediate.

  “Fifty crowns a day?” Little Sister repeated, dumbfounded. “That’s more than I make in a month.”

  “And ten thousand crowns to the winner of this job?” Josiah asked. “That’s my retirement. You can really afford that?”

  Jack leaned in to whisper in his ear.

  “The future king of Zaliance?” Josiah shouted in shock.

  Raven shook his head. “I should have known you’d be spying on me that night I completed the Tasks.”

  He shrugged with an awkward smile. “I was curious.”

  Raven produced Rue, holding the pandora up for all to see. “Consider this Class Eight pandora as proof of my ability to fund this venture.”

  Excitement spread, and the formerly dire crowd of Thimbles now began to congregate, chatting animatedly. What once had appeared as a hostile group of strangers now looked like family, headed by the strangest young leader of them all. Van looked like a proud father, beaming from ear to ear.

  “Does Valentine know about this?” Raven asked him.

  Van gave a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. “She knows I deal information. But no… not yet.”

  “I get it. You’re the leader of the most well-known intelligence-gathering organization in Fallowreyk. A major player. That can be dangerous. You’ve kept the secret well.”

  “Eventually I will tell her. Just need to pick the right time.”

  “So why tell me?”

  His comical expression transformed into dutiful sadness. “My dad just died.”

  “I’m… sorry to hear that. But I don’t understand.”

  “Our mission… well, it’s forced me to face my fears. To recognize what I really believe and the path I need to make for myself. When my dad was close to his final minutes, my mom was ready to call in the Provotian cleric. To be ready so my dad’s soul could be turned into a pandora and sold for money. Believe it or not, even being the leader of the Thimbles doesn’t pay well if I want to keep my boys happy.”

  “So, what happened?”

  “I convinced her not to do it. To let him go. It was hard. My mom… she hasn’t been able to understand. This idea. It’s so ingrained in us. A poison disguised as honor. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about it. Watching you and Val… and how you reject the notion. It took a while, but I began to believe as you do. That this has to end. It started with my own decision. And once I made it, well, I guess you could say my borrowed cause became adopted. I truly wanted to do anything I could to make sure we succeeded.”

  “This is a monumental resource. I am elated to utilize it. Hope renews as dusk draws near.”

  “So, now what?”

  “We continue to look for the pages.” Raven looked askance at the Van’s Thimbles who slowly started to disperse, eager to begin the hunt. “We keep seeking out Shrale’s ancestors and other known associates for clues and reading any materials gathered. And we check in with your Thimbles daily. Valentine returns in a little over a week. Hopefully, we find the pages by then, but if not, perhaps talking to Valius Shrale directly will yield results.”

  If only it were that easy.

  “You cannot use it,” Sarratica said simply.

  Valentine’s tired, smudged face dropped with dismay as she held out the second half of the Depths of Thine Spirit. Raven frowned deeply. Caked in dust and sweat, Valentine had quite obviously pushed herself to the brink to steal her family’s treasure and return to Roespeye at breakneck speed. She had achieved a colossal, dangerous ask for the cause.

  Less than ten days had passed since her departure. The search by the Thimbles, while productive, had not produced the ultimate prize. Each day flew by as they searched, a recurrent warning of impending failure. So, when Valentine arrived in the city, disheveled and exhausted, they were elated to return to the Sea of Ennenteley and use the Depths right away. However, Sarratica and Harmony were waiting for them in front of the pedestal, as if they knew the whole time they would arrive at that very hour.

  “What?” Valentine finally protested after the initial shock wore away. “Why can’t we use it?”

  Harmony smiled sweetly. “It’s too dangerous.”

  Sarratica looked straight at Raven. “You should have known what we would say.”

  “Don’t look at him!” Valentine shot back angrily. “You look at me. I knew full well the use of the Depths was a dangerous prospect. I still want to use it.”

  “The odds of failure are too high. Just the slightest misstep in the ritual process and it would cost you your life. I am hopeful that this is simply a matter of you not informing your partner of the true risks.”

  Valentine seethed, but did not reply.

  Harmony nodded. “We thought so. Because I am sure that if Raven knew the likelihood of your death was actually quite high, he would have protested mightily.”

  “Putting words in my mouth?” Raven asked.

  “We understand your hostile reaction,” Sarratica said. “Even so, we must stand firm in this decision. We do not sacrifice the lives of our members for the cause. It goes against everything the Holy One commands.”

  “But we’re running out of time!” Valentine lamented. “I can do this!”

  “You may not understand our reasoning,” Harmony finished. “But we believe your life is more valuable. We will not sway in our decision.”

  Raven bit his lip and turned away. A bead of sweat ran down his face as his mind raced.

  “I know what you are thinking,” Rue said.

  A shudder went through him. “I’ve been trying to avoid it this whole time. But… we have to find the Star Tome, Rue.”

  “If you were ever going to do it… now is the time.”

  He grimaced. Damn.

  He turned back to the women. “What if I could stabilize the ritual?”

  Sarratica and Harmony looked at each other. “How?” Sarratica asked.

  “Using a seal.”

  “No such seal exists.”

  “What if it did?”

  She fell silent in contemplation.

  “You are nervous about something,” Harmony said. “What is it?”

  “The cost is steep… something only I can pay. But I can do it. If so, will you allow Valentine to use the Depths?”

  “By steep, you mean dangerous. So, you would trade peril to her life for peril to your own?” Sarratica replied, displeased. “Nothing is resolved. We still refuse.”

  Valentine shook her head angrily. “Nothing but fear drives this so-called ‘society.’ Why did we even come here?”

  “You say you need to speak to a soul directly. That this will aid in your plans against the Titan. How? Tell us now if we should be so swayed.”

  “Do you request honesty or do you desire wisdom?” Raven asked. “If you want the truth, then our quest is not a direct pursuit of the Titan’s death… he is simply the victim of my scheme. Make no mistake. The day draws near when I shall kill him by my own hands. But for now, nothing else matters as long as his eyes remain fixed on me.”

  “And if we desire wisdom?”

  “There are only two kinds of people in this world I identify. Those who will aid in the great cause, and those who will not. History will remember us for only this. Valius Shrale, the soul inside the pandora to whom we wish to speak, possesses information vitally important: a singular salvation for my dear friend trapped within the most wicked of pandora. But not just a friend; a soul who might bring about Fallowreyk’s very deliverance. She is the key to everything. Wisdom is this: at this moment, you stand as an obstacle, at the precipice of disaster you neither see nor comprehend. Yet, something lingers within the recesses of your minds. Something potent. You can feel it, and that is why we are here. You’re looking for an excuse to aid us without sacrificing your character. You must recognize our desires are the same, if only you would acknowledge it. Put an end to your fear and make straight our path. No one will die except our collective adversary.”

  Harmony looked straight into Raven’s eyes. Again, her gaze penetrated him, powerful in its depths, yet warm as the summer. Then, she smiled.

  “Now I know who you are… I just didn’t recognize you.”

  He tilted his head at her strange statement but didn’t respond.

  “If you can prove the ritual’s dangers can be averted, you may use our half of the Depths.”

  He and Valentine breathed deeply. It was the best they could ask for.

  “I won’t be able to obtain the seal for another eight days,” Raven said. “Can you be ready to assist in the use of the relic the moment I have it?”

  The two sisters nodded. “We will be ready.”