Emory half expected Keiran to agree with her. The dean was right, after all. If Keiran had seen just how close she’d been to Collapsing in the caves… Would he still defend her so ardently, knowing she’d had no control?
But Keiran didn’t know, and so he only looked at Fulton with a complacent smile. “All the more reason to take my word for it.” A pause. Then: “The Order is willing to recompense the school greatly if this is kept under wraps.”
“Absolutely not. This needs to go to the Regulators. Ms. Ainsleif will be stripped of her New Moon tattoo and marked with the Eclipse sigil. There will be an inquiry—”
“And what do you think those conducting such an inquiry will say of the fact a Tidecaller was under your nose this entire time?” Keiran interjected. “They’ll say Aldryn College didn’t do its due diligence in testing its students for admission. They’ll interrogate every single professor who never saw the truth of her power. They’ll look into the drownings Emory is associated with and draw conclusions that would taint Aldryn’s reputation for years to come, and yours by association. They’ll gut this school alive, Sybille, unless you keep this secret contained to this very room and let the Order handle the mess for you. Your involvement will forever remain confidential. You have my word.”
A silent battle of wills took place between the two of them. Finally, the dean conceded: “This will require the utmost discretion. Ms. Ainsleif will continue to pose as a student of Noviluna Hall, keep attending all her regular classes as if nothing has changed. No one must suspect. Of course, we’ll have to get Professor Selandyn on board to start training her properly and in secret.”
“A fair arrangement,” Keiran agreed.
“And then there’s the matter of the girl, Penelope West. She’s being brought here as we speak. Is she part of your Order, or is this something else we’ll have to contain?”
“We have a Memorist who can take care of it,” Keiran said coolly. “I’ll have her come here straightaway.”
Horror struck Emory at the thought of someone taking away Penelope’s memory of this—but what other choice was there?
The dean’s eyes found hers. “One step out of line, and I don’t care what they do to me or this school—I’ll send you straight to the Regulators to receive the Unhallowed Seal. Understood?”
“What’s going to happen to Baz?”
“I’ve already advised Mr. Brysden that he’s on academic probation until further notice. But as for the rest…”
Fulton looked at Keiran expectantly, and for a second, Emory feared he would suggest getting the Memorist to wipe Baz’s memories too.
Please, anything but that.
But Keiran only said, “He’s kept Emory’s secret so far. Besides, isn’t he Professor Selandyn’s assistant? That could be useful. And if suspicions were ever to arise, his friendship with Emory provides the ideal cover.”
“Then the secret will be contained to the people in this room, the Order, and those of House Eclipse only. Is that clear, Ms. Ainsleif?”
“Yes.”
Fulton looked at Keiran again. “I’m doing this for the love I bore your parents. But for your sake, I hope you know what you’re doing.”
Keiran dipped his head in thanks and led Emory out of the office.
Penelope stood on the other side of the door, eyes wide and red-rimmed. Her lip wobbled. “Em, I’m so sorry… I don’t know what came over me…”
“Save it, Nel. It’s done.” With the sudden realization that this might be her last shot at the truth before Penelope’s memories were taken away, Emory asked, “How in the Deep did you even find out about me?”
“I don’t know. Em, I swear, I would never do that to you.”
A mirthless huff. “And yet here we are.”
“That’s the thing. I don’t know how we got here. I just remember the party last night, and then I was in your room, seeing you and Lizaveta Orlov… Then it’s just this weird distortion in my head and—”
The dean’s voice cut her off. “Ms. West, please come in.”
Penelope gave Emory one last pleading look before she stepped into the office. Emory banished her tearful face from her mind, trying not to think of what would happen when the Memorist arrived.
She felt numb as Keiran led her through the corridors.
“You didn’t have to do any of that for me.”
“Of course I did.” Keiran stopped her beneath the cloisters, drawing her into a shadowed alcove. “Tides, Ains. The Order is furious. They were ready to shun you completely if this got out. I managed to convince them I could get Fulton to keep quiet. That it was better for everyone this way. Less risky to keep it contained to a single person the Order has influence over than the world at large.”
The lengths to which he was willing to go to fight for her… She didn’t think she deserved it. “How’d you find out, anyway?”
“I was on my way to see Fulton when Penelope came out of her office in near-hysterical tears. It took a little gentle coaxing, but she told me everything: that she’d seen you and Brysden going down to Dovermere, that she knew you were a Tidecaller and had told Fulton.” His throat bobbed with emotion. “You scared me, Ainsleif. I thought the caves might take you this time.”
There was such anguish in his eyes it took Emory aback. “I’m fine. I made it out.” Barely. She rubbed absently at her arms, thinking of Penelope. “I don’t understand how she could have known. I never said anything to her, I swear.”
“Do you think she might have spied on you?”
Emory blew out a laugh. The idea was absurd. Except…
The grief in Penelope’s eyes after Lia’s body was found. The party she’d gone to that was so unlike her usual self. The vehemence in her words as she berated Emory for being such an uncaring friend.
And the book Penelope had been obsessed with, about a Darkbearer who would cloak herself in shadows to spy on people…
Maybe it wasn’t so far-fetched a thing. And it would serve Emory right—she had been a terrible friend to Penelope. Had set her eyes on the Selenic Order and nearly forgotten everything and everyone else in the process.
“I don’t know,” she said at last. “Possibly.”
The worry on Keiran’s face made Baz’s words ring in her ears. And though she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of heeding his warning, she had to ask.
“Why did you get close to me? If it was to get some kind of revenge on Baz and Romie for what happened to your parents…” Keiran stilled, but she kept going: “Is that why you tapped Romie for initiation? You hoped Dovermere would take care of her so the Brysdens would hurt like you did?”
A loss for a loss.
“I can’t believe you’d think that.”
The hurt in his eyes made her want to take it all back.
“I got close to you because I saw you, Ains. I saw you at your most vulnerable when you washed up on that beach. I saw the pain and grief you came back with, the resilience it took to face everyone when your whole world had been ripped away. I see how incredible you are, and that is why I got close to you.”