The Drake of Craumont

The bulky table’s top comes apart with a click, revealing a long, narrow compartment behind the drawers. It is a release, a moment of relief, even, because Gods, the last half hour has been miserable. Poking around the rooms, not knowing truly what we’re looking for, simply knowing it is secret and probably has something to do with Delves.

This had better be something. I am sorely tempted to burn these rooms, given the Manor won’t be forgetting them again any time soon. I take in another breath of humid air, exhale, and focus.

“Good eye, Ruby,” I say, closing it again out of sheer curiosity. My scaled palm runs over it, and the seam is damned near indistinguishable from the joining of the blanks composing the desk’s top. “Wouldn’t have spotted that. Doubt any of us would have, actually.”

“Dame and Sir Crawford employed Mir Blackwood,” Ruby replies. She pauses, glances at me, and continues, “Puzzle boxes and hidden compartments. Puzzle boxes are a known fascination of Sir Crawford as well.”

Verity hums a few notes, talons drumming against her hip. “So, what’s inside the compartment? If they’re hiding it here, it’s something they wanted nobody to see... Lena, we’ve got something, you can come back if you’re comfortable.”

“I, ah... I don’t think any of us are comfortable, Verity,” Lena sighs, shuffling back into the room. Her muffling cap is back on, and her nose scrunches as she returns. “Um, Lizzie and I haven’t found anything new, yet, by the way.”

Lizzie slips back into the room behind her, gesturing to us with painted nails. “Quite unfortunate. Your parents stored far too much down here. I’d say I admire their academic diligence, but that would mean complimenting them.”

A strangled chuckle dies in my throat, choked by thick air and dragged back by a heavy heart. I manage to smile at her, though, just a bit.

Ruby opens the compartment again, and delicately removes a march-wide roll of parchment. Yellowed and tattered at the edges, the roll is held together by a thick piece of waxed rope, frayed at the tips but still holding fast. “A scroll. Size is... roughly matched with architectural drafting paper, though this is parchment, not cloth. Hm.”

Peering at the side, I count the layers and toss a few numbers into vague equations. Two and a half, no, three marches long, maybe? I cast my gaze about the room, studiously keeping my eyes away from the center. The cleaning enchantments will handle that later. “Too long to unfurl here without hitting the floor. There’s two drafting desks over there that should be long enough.”

“A secret compartment in a secured research area, in a heavily warded Imperial estate,” Ruby muses, marching on over. “There is much to speculate on.”

“Then let’s dig in, yeah?” Verity strides ahead, rolling up the notes on both sloped desks and setting them aside. She turns, eyes flashing from white to gold for a heartbeat. “And hope we can understand it, honestly.”

My tail clacks on the floor, and I bite back a comment. I can see the tension in her shoulders, and I know damned well it’s matching my own. We wait in silence as Ruby delicately unties the rope and unfurls the scroll, and step forward on either side of her to click the edges into the holding clamps on the drafting desks.

As for the scroll itself? Dozens of circles and countless lines, equations crammed to the sides, labelled diagrams... diagrams I recognize. The scholar in me rears up from the deep, eager to plunge into the theories of Delvecraft.

“They’re modelling Delve formation. No, aperture formation,” I correct myself, pulling my tail up to run my claws along it. My clawtips would shred these notes with ease, and I can’t risk that, even as the urge to touch swells.

My other hand hovers over the side, tracing over the scribbled equations and looping around one of the smaller diagrams. “Pushing open a hole in the World to access the abstract. This anchoring formation pulls it open, but doesn’t let any of the World in. You’d need dozens of Hearts just to get it started, if these equations are right.”

I’m caught between reverence, irritation, and sheer bafflement. Yes, the numbers look right, the structures look fine, but for every elegant line of magical thesis, there’s a symbol or a function that makes me want to rip something in half. “Can’t say for sure, before anyone asks; this is using the Imperial model for some reason. I use Brandt, like most sane people, because I don’t want to model on two axes and then integrate for the volume. When does this let the Delve form? The cost to stall formation would get ridiculous in minutes.”

Verity blinks owlishly, one talon up and toying with the feathers on her face. “I understood some of those words.”

Lizzie covers her mouth, failing to hide her snicker. “She's spent years in academia, dear, and it's a special topic for her. I'd be more surprised if you knew everything she talked about.”

“Oh! Brandt! I read about them in... I think Applied Delvecraft?” Lena shuffles up, her ears arriving in my vision before the rest of her. Her hand comes to rest on my tail as she leans forward, humming. “That is Imperial, wow! Not that, um. Not that I doubted you. I... I understand some of this? There’s a lot of calculus, though, and I’m not great with it.”

“So you understood what she said?” Lizzie chimes in, and suddenly there’s quite a crowd around the scroll. It’s all people I like, though, so it’s not too much of a bother yet. “I know you’ve been devouring her library, dear, so you may be our best hope. Delvecraft is simply not my area.”

“N-no, not... not really,” Lena admits slowly, but she doesn’t sound terribly bothered. Her hand squeezes my tail as she continues, “But it’s fascinating to look at! Maybe you could teach me more sometime, Ivy?”

Verity glances back at Lizzie, and they exchange a look I can’t quite parse. Nor will I try.

“Once this mess is done with? Sure.” I say with a shrug. Lena’s a good listener, nowadays. With that done, my focus snaps back to the scroll. One diagram spins out into many— containment rings with runes, references to a ward schema to serve as the abstract anchoring points, and even an enchantment to ensure the pressure of the abstract doesn’t shred the floor. Eh, alchemically treated material would’ve been better, given there’s less active magic to be interfered with.

“They were serious about this,” I mutter, letting my chest rumble with a growl. “They wanted to pull open an aperture and hold it. This is theory work, though, you’d need a few more iterations to work out the kinks.”

“Meaning this is not the diagram of the... experiment,” Ruby surmises, finally speaking up. “It would not have succeeded at opening the aperture, if I am understanding your general wording correctly?”

I snort. A little more tension escapes my body, bleeding out through my mouth and Lena’s warm hand on my tail. “Trying would’ve ripped the souls out of their bodies and burned them up before the aperture even formed. The theory is sound, the approach needs work. No, this is an early draft, but apparently important enough to hide away. But why...”

My claw stops over something written in a familiar hand. An innocuous sentence, inked hastily but clearly onto an empty space near the top:

This could work! Should keep us hidden from the Regent and her allies, in case they show their hand

And below it, in blockier text:

It’d rip our souls out. The math is atrocious, but it’s a start.

I tear my gaze away from that, picking out a dozen more little exchanges with varying inks, but all distinctly in the handwriting styles of my parents. The last note is a declaration that they’ll need a new draft altogether, crammed into the corner between two crossed-out equations.

None of it really matters, beyond validating my own observations. I turn my focus to the academic. How would opening an aperture keep someone hidden? Unless... hm. I flick my eyes away from that, looking to the far side of the paper.

After the aperture is stabilized, which would take more time than the containment ring was stable, the next step was to introduce structured magic and identify an exit point.

An exit point. Delves don’t have a separate exit point.

“Goddesss,” I hiss out, half wonder and half utter loathing, “What is this? I hate it. The mathematics is insane, the use of enchanting is half-baked even by my limited understanding, and none of it fits together properly.”

The thoughts sink in, and I have to drag the next part kicking and screaming out of my throat. “And it’s genius. A basic, theoretical blueprint for Delveways crossing arbitrary distances, possibly continental, without a God’s intervention. The best anyone’s managed without a God is a few marches. Delveways! This should be at a university or torn to shreds, not locked in my parents’ lab.” I toss my hands up in frustration, twitching at the last moment to ensure I don’t get anywhere close to the bodies of people around me. “It would also kill me on the spot if I even sneezed at the structures, just like the notes say.”

I can hear an intake of breath from Lizzie, matched with a few lurches of her heartbeat. At least someone recognizes Delveways. “Truly, dear? For the less learned, here, Delveways are passages through the abstract that shorten distances between two locations. The Empire was quite fond of them, though most have ceased to function by now. I do believe that they can still be made with Hearts, but as Ivy says, they are... short, and unstable to boot. Whatever magic guides them does not scale.”

“All to hide from, from the Regent,” Lena adds, her voice soft. “Ah, I feel like I should know who she is? Or is this referring to just, a regent? And was this... made by your parents? Ah, I see there’s two sets of handwriting here.”

“Two questions,” I grunt. “And you missed the third big one, but yes. That’s their handwriting in the notes, and they clearly understood as well or better than I do.”

And, Gods, does that rankle. No matter.

Verity clears her throat, an odd sound with the two split tones of her voice . “Adamantine is sometimes called the Sun Regent, or just The Regent. It's not... it's not her favorite title, but it's there. She took the crown and throne of the Sun Emperor, but refuses to replace the God of Order, and that somehow turned into being Regent over the years.”

“I’ve read it a few times, but it really does not come up much,” Lizzie agrees. “Now, cousin, did your parents truly...”

“If they did make it, they’re reckless and stupid, even by their standards,” I start, and now I can answer the remaining questions all at once. Better that way, I think. “That’s their handwriting on it, sure, but they didn’t want a Delveway for the potential to travel long distances. Trains do that with a far lower chance to kill you. No, they did it to... hide, from Adamantine? Why would they be worried about the Gods?”

Ruby frowns, shuffling closer to the scroll. “You implied that Gods are typically involved in Delveway creation, as did Dame Tousavon. Hiding from Gods inside a Delveway seems contradictory, and the motive remains unknown. More information is needed.”

Motion, at the corner of my eyes. Verity’s talons flex, and the feathers on her arm lengthen before a long breath reels them back in. “The easy, and useless answer, is that your parents knew that the Goddess wouldn’t care for their... methods.” The word drips off her tongue like venom from a fang, pushed out with something approaching fury. “But that can’t be all, can it?”

There’s a pause, and everyone in the room shifts. Ruby steps back and sits in a chair, Lena separates to get closer to the door, Lizzie leans against the bookshelf next to the desk, and Verity takes that moment to wink at me while massaging her neck. I let my tail droop to the ground, then curl it back on the other side to avoid cramping.

“Circular logic,” Ruby says finally, brow furrowing slightly. “A motive is required. Significant, likely ego-driven. Ivy?”

I turn her words over in my head, picking them apart before digging deeper into my own memories. Of when I started counting the important days they’d missed, the times I had to step in to help with Olivia’s medicines... and when I gave up on counting.

I’d started counting the stones in the lab, instead. At least that never changed.

“They were followers of the Restoration. Spent a lot of time doing their Service in the Restoration’s name, not much at home with me and Olivia... though, without the bit about Adamantine,” I growl out, gesturing back at the scroll. “Never heard about this. They talked about helping refugees escape suffering, though, so maybe Delveways were part of that Service, too.”

“They did talk about helping refugees from the Caliburn conquests, didn’t they?” Lizzie muses, “Though, in their last years, they didn’t speak much of that. Putting the Crawford name on Delveway creation, if it’s truly what you say, would certainly be a monument to stack their egos upon, hm?”

“Still doesn’t explain why they’d hide it, and— huh.” Verity cocks her head, regarding me with one yellow eye. “The Restoration and Adamantine are on good terms, last I checked... so, why hide it, unless they weren’t really faithful to the Restoration? We’re looping back to the whole hiding thing. Blegh.”

Ruby hums, and the scratching of note-taking fills the room. “More information is required, then. Delveway research. Initial motive of secrecy, unknown central motive. Risk-takers, from subject and manner of death...”

More information is required. That’s the second time she’s used it, and the words come out with the ease and force of a well-worn habit.

Her notes stop with a scrrch, but my thoughts keep moving. Irritation flows, burning in my gut and escaping in a pained hiss. “Bah. They were trying to open a Delveway in the Manor’s basement that night, weren’t they. And if they were confident enough to try it like that, they had a plan, and an exit point that was stable enough.”

The slithering, hissing thing in my gut insists this is important, that we’re getting somewhere, this may lead us to our prey.

“But where?” Ruby frowns. “Likely whatever induces minimum cost for creation. I do not understand the math behind magic.”

“Ah, you only need the math for more complex spells.” Lena frowns, cogs whirring behind her eyes, ears twitching. “They had a plan, and... ah. Elizabeth said the Empire used Delveways, right? Does Craumont have, have Delveways? Or had.”

Verity’s heart thuds, skipping up to a racing rhythm. I turn, taking in her wide-open eyes and flexed talons. She clears her throat a heartbeat later, an odd sound with the twinned tones of her voice. “Bear with me on this one, okay? Ruby and Lena were talking about connections. Maps of the city with lines and marks you couldn’t puzzle out. And Elizabeth, Ivy, you’re talking about attempts to make a Delveway. There’s a lot of talk about Delveways and Ivy’s parents, so what’s the chance Dongbaek is using Delveways to move around the city?”

Really? Stifling a snort, I cross my arms. “My parents couldn’t pull off just the one Delveway, and that was with the Manor’s backing and my expertise.”

And yet.

My eyes flick to Lizzie, and the darkness in her gaze turns my certainty to dread. “Correct me if I’m wrong, dear cousin, but Craumont is ancient by Imperial standards. Ivy, how likely is it that we have old Delveways in the city?”

“Too likely.” I grind the words out in a growl, holding my tail as far away from my friends as possible. It wants to thrash at the thought, to slam and scrape and...

I take a deep breath in the silence that follows. My mind feels tapped dry, words rebelling against a tongue overused. I wait, praying for someone to get on with it.

“They vanished around a corner,” Verity starts, thank the Goddess for that, “I couldn’t pick up their heartbeats. And, correct me if I’m wrong, but with the Delve they—”

“—they just appeared,” Lena cuts in. “Pr... Dongbaek’s group. They just appeared, right? We didn’t see them coming in. And then Elizabeth lost them, and then Ivy and Verity lost them.”

Lizzie mutters something I don’t bother to listen in on, but it’s Ruby that speaks up next. “Possible that the maps indicated Delveway entrances, or possible Delveway entrances. I documented the disappearance locations... I still need more information, but I will trust the theory is sound.”

Gods damn it all. They’d figured out how to cut open old Delveways. It makes... bah, it makes more sense than I’d like. Greater mysteries and absurdities, like hiding from Adamantine, will have to wait. Hm...

“What next?” My tail comes up again, and my claws rake along its length. Delveway theory, Delveway theory... no, practical application, Imperial Delveways are a known factor.

Ruby tilts her head, and reaches into her bag to pull out a map. “We locate Dongbaek’s hideout, and determine how they are accessing the Delveways. Motives are secondary at this stage, given they are aware of us.”

“Isn’t that where we were before the lab, Detective?” Lizzie says sharply, one hand on her hip. “Aside from, I hope, maps from before the fire and the rebuilding of the Wildflower District. Not that we can open a Delveway, I presume, but there’s more to it.”

“Correct,” Ruby says blandly, pointing at her map. “We have sufficient information.”

My lips twitch, and when Ruby doesn’t continue, I clear my throat. “They’re going to need more than that, Ruby.”

Ruby nods. “I see. Some Delveways now exist inside houses, and it is my understanding that Mages of sufficient skill can detect wards, such as Ivy, Paladin Greyfeather, and possibly Dame Tousavon.”

My tail hits the ground with a thump. The urge to hunt slips free of the shadows, rising to the fore of my mind. He’s slipped free of us three times now, but we’re narrowing things down.

“Technically, only Dame Tousavon is a Mage here, and Lena’s a Mage apprentice, so don’t count her out!” Verity says, her smile flickering back into place. “And, if we’re figuring things out— which is great, by the way, good work everyone— how about we take this upstairs?”

“Gods, yes,” I exhale. “Benny has tea, and we could all use a bath.”

A bath. Not a long one, with what needs doing, but a bath. Maybe with the tea, if Benny allows.

We can’t quite leave in a heartbeat, of course. There’s murmured discussion, packing, and quite a bit more paperwork to gather, but it’s all done quickly. We have what we need, and every minute we spend here is a minute Dongbaek can burrow deeper into some Gods-forsaken hole. It’s another minute where Verity’s eyes burn with fury, another minute where Lena looks on the verge of retching... where Lizzie looks at me differently, and Ruby does too.

I don’t hate how they make me feel.