Chapter 65 – Time Traveler’s Antidote

The day after the fire was the 6th of Solen, the day the spies would be killed. Exams were still going forward for students, so everyone except Professor Jei was busy. Despite the stir Mirian had caused, it would still be at least a few days before the illusion of ‘normal’ would be shattered for most people. She was beginning to think of it as the ‘denial’ phase.

Mirian and Jei headed over to the town jail.

She hadn’t been there since the second cycle, and had made it a point to avoid the place. The jail was a small, squat building at the edge of town, quite ugly compared to anything surrounding it. Three lights shone from the barred windows. Two of the prisoners would be the spies; Mirian had no idea who the third was. A short hallway joined it to the Torrviol Guard’s Headquarters, a much nicer building decorated with the orange and white banners of Baracuel, with statues of lions figuring prominently.

She’d seen the captain’s office, the interrogation room, and the evidence storage room the last time she’d stayed. While the Magistrate’s Office on the other side of the block had its own people and rooms for dealing with evidence and investigations, its function was more for the official trials and sentences.

As they approached the entrance, they saw a man working on replacing the front door’s locks. That made sense. The entire Akanan network probably had the keys to the guardhouse by this point.

They made their way to the public lobby of the Guard’s Headquarters. The inside wasn’t all that spacious, since the building was an old converted barracks, but there were several benches for people to sit on, pegs for hanging cloaks, and a desk for the attendant on duty.

The desk attendant seemed busy with paperwork. Mirian had never quite understood what they did all day, but it seemed to involve filling in forms, stamping paper, and otherwise moving things from one pile to another.

Mirian had no idea what one was supposed to say in situations like these, so she said, “Hi, is there a procedure for visiting the prisoners to talk?”

Jei, meanwhile, sat on one of the benches, pretending not to do anything at all.

The attendant looked up at Mirian, annoyed that he had to interrupt his paperwork. “You submit a formal request through the magistrate’s office. The prisoner must also accept your visit. Magistrate Ada must approve it, which she won’t, because the prisoners are accused of being enemies of the crown and state. Is that all?”

Mirian had expected the conversation to take more time. Jei needed a bit longer to finish what she was doing. “Uh, what if I have information that the imprisoned spies might be assassinated?”

“Do you have that information?”

“Yes.”

The attendant frowned. “Should I expect an angry mob? I thought they were mostly angry at Mayor Wolden.”

“No, not them. Some other part of the spy network.”

“You would also report that to the magistrate’s office. What did you say your name was again?”

“Mirian.”

“Oh. You’re the one who… listen, you need to talk to the magistrate. Or the Luminate Order, really, I feel like they’re the ones who have the pedigree to handle, ah, cases like yours.”

She looked back at Jei, who gave her a subtle nod. “Thanks!” Mirian said, and went for the door. As they passed the locksmith, Roland, the guard she’d met so many cycles ago, walked in. He gave Jei a dirty glare, then walked past them heading for the jail.

As soon as they were outside, Mirian said, “I don’t think it’s him, I think it’s just his shift. What was that about? Does he… do you know him?”

Jei shrugged. “No. He doesn’t like me.”

“Why?”

“I am Zhighuan,” she said simply.

“Oh.” Mirian wrinkled her nose. “Oh.”

They took a seat on a stone bench in sight of the entrance, then each cast disguise spells. Most of town was busy in the forum with the plebiscite for the new mayor, so few people were on the street. She could vaguely hear the ruckus coming from several blocks away.

Mirian had prepared a copy of a spell Jei had taught her. It was also part of the illusion sub-school. It involved linking with a small magical device that could pick up sound waves. That would let them eavesdrop on the lobby. If anyone was going to visit the prisoners today, they should be coming from the magistrate’s office, and then they’d need to file the request with the attendant. Mirian and Jei could listen in every time someone went in the front door, while not causing the conditions that might lead the would-be assassin to abort their attempt. Mirian needed to catch them.

She’d decided there was no way the magistrate’s office would move fast enough to save the spies from assassination, even if they did believe her. It was also possible someone from the magistrate’s office was responsible. She and Jei had planned to spy on the guests entering the facility instead. At worst, the responsible spy would be someone already in the Guard’s Headquarters, narrowing down the field considerably. At best, they’d walk right through the front door.

The next few hours were full of interminable waiting. Mirian hated having nothing to do. Practicing magic right there would look suspicious—they were disguised as townsfolk, not students—and if they talked about Zhighua or magic, that would also be suspicious. So they just sat. The weather wasn’t even nice.

Three hours into the wait, two different couriers had delivered letters, but the interaction had sounded normal, and they’d gone right out. The locksmith had finished with the front door and bid his farewell. Mirian discovered the identity of the third person in the jail when a woman stopped by with a writ from the magistrate saying she could visit. Apparently, the man was her husband, and he’d gotten into a bar fight the night before over who the next mayor should be. The squabble had turned into a full-on brawl, and he’d accidentally killed another man. That gave Mirian pause. She hadn’t even considered knock-on effects like that from her actions.

Another hour passed, though, and Mirian was so bored she turned her attention to anything that could be interesting. She was so busy watching a bird flutter about, trying to decide if it was a common redwing or a myrvite rubywing, that she almost missed when another man walked into the mayor’s office. She’d let the eavesdropping spell lapse to save mana, so hastily dug into her bag to open her spellbook and reactivate it.

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“—to check on the prisoners,” the man was saying. The voice was slightly distorted by the spell, but she thought it sounded familiar. Mirian cursed herself for her inattention; she’d missed getting a good look at him before he entered.

“Go ahead,” the desk attendant said.

No writ from the magistrate? Is the desk attendant another corrupt official? Mirian stood. “We need to go in.”

Jei stood with her.

“Ah, you’re back,” the desk attendant said as they entered. “Do you have the writ?”

“Who did you just let in? They didn’t have a writ.” Mirian could hear the door down the hall closing as whoever it was made their way to the jail. She glanced at the logbook on the desk. She could see the names of the other visitors—the couriers who had made deliveries, and the woman visiting her husband—but no new names.

“You know, a bit of polite formality would do you some good,” the attendant said, annoyance creeping into his voice.

“This is important. Who was it?”

The desk attendant rolled his eyes. “I don’t report to you.”

“Aren’t all visitors supposed to sign in? Why didn’t they have to? I think the magistrate would be interested in that,” Mirian said.