“I trust you,” she said, and smiled brightly.
Lindon felt a weight leave his chest, and he bowed to her. “Gratitude.”
“So, robbing my mother…” She blew out her cheeks with a heavy breath. “I don’t know if she’d be angry enough to kill me or if she’d be impressed. She wants me to be more ruthless.”
“Pardon, but is this something you want to do? This is about you more than anything.”
“Of course! How embarrassing would it be if I kept letting you and Yerin show me up?”
[Too late,] Dross said, but fortunately only to Lindon.
“I could only make limited plans without knowing where she hides the schematics of your Books. If she always keeps them on her, then our only chance is to convince her to give them to you.”
[Please tell me she won’t! If she just gives them to you, there would be no danger at all.]
Mercy let out a breath. “Just an hour ago, she gave me a lecture on how I need to slow my advancement down. I guess you’re going too fast.”
Lindon had heard those warnings, and he planned to respond by speeding up.
“Then let’s assume she’ll be impressed by your resourcefulness in robbing her,” Lindon said. “Unless the Book is in her personal void space, in which case we’ll have to revert to a backup plan.”
“You have a backup plan?”
Dross projected Plans Two through Seven into the air. Lindon pointed to Plan Two.
“Removing the Book. I’m certain we could keep your level of advancement, though not all your techniques. And that’s easier than modifying a Divine Treasure.”
He moved his finger to the next plan. “Northstrider.” Inside the Hollow Domain, fortified by void authority, Lindon could speak the Monarch’s name without worry. “He has the resources to reverse-engineer the Book, and I’m sure he would love to get his hands on one of your mother’s creations. I don’t know if we can trust him, though, and of course he’s busy with the Dreadgods.”
He started to move on to the next plan, but Mercy looked at them in awe. “When did you have the chance to make these?”
[You’d be surprised how little of their time humans really use,] Dross responded. [You waste so much of it eating. Bathing. Sleeping. Lindon’s dreams are much more productive with me lurking in the depths of his mind.]
Since the rise of Dross’ current personality, Lindon’s nightmares had been much more vivid.
“I’m sorry all that effort will go to waste, Dross,” Mercy said. “I know where the plans are. All the Books are kept in a library here in the city, as part of a trial we have to go through when we advance to Gold.”
“Is there a duplicate Book of Eternal Night there, or are the plans stored there as well?”
“All the information about the Books is kept there. We’re not allowed to bring any of it out unless we bond a Book. They’ll let me in to take a look…” She hesitated.
“You can’t access it on your own?” Lindon guessed.
“…I have to ask. There will be a record, and my mother will hear about it as soon as she cares to look. Some other member of the family will look into it immediately, and they’ll come question me.”
Lindon nodded. That was a surmountable obstacle. “What security measures are there otherwise?”
“Even if nobody sees me, there are constructs watching. And a script-circle. Plus the plans are probably in a restricted void key.” Mercy’s shoulders slumped. “That’s a lot.”
[We will be as ghosts in the night, drifting through unseen.]
“We can do this,” Lindon assured her. “We just need some more observation.”
She glanced out the window. “We’ll be done before the Titan gets here, right?”
“If we’re not, that means the Titan traveled through space to arrive directly. We’ll all have more to worry about than your advancement.”
Charity watched from across the city of Moongrave as the top of a tower was shrouded in blinding light.
That was how her owl, flying around the tower, interpreted Lindon’s barrier. If the owl crashed into that domain, it would create a clash between her authority and his, which he would certainly notice. And she couldn’t fly it close enough to the tower to eavesdrop without them noticing.
But just this much meant Lindon had put considerable effort into speaking with Mercy privately.
Charity clenched her jaw. This was the problem with people advancing too quickly, too soon. An older, wiser sacred artist would work to avoid even the appearance of antagonizing a power like the Akura clan. He was going to try something foolish and damage his own bright future.