“If that’s your wish, that’s fine. But you’ll have to convince your mother at supper.”

  “I will. And if we’re lucky, she might even be able to feel the baby kick.”

  Pace beamed in delight. “How far is Beth along now? Almost six months?”

  “Just about.”

  “Gods, our first grandchild will be here in no time at all! So you know, your mother and I are here for anything you need. If you need someone to watch the children⁠—”

  “We do. We will.” Trent smiled in relief. “More hands around the house would be welcome, and while I know you’re still part of Kallowhorn, you’re welcome in our tribe as well.”

  “So far as we’re concerned, if you’ll have us, we’re part of your tribe now.” Pace grinned knowingly. “Though I plan to stick with just the one wife. Marika’s still all I can handle.”

  Trent laughed. “Give Mom my love. I’ll figure something out regarding your living arrangements when I next speak to Princess Victoria. Until then, stay safe.”

  “We will, son. Don’t worry about us.”

  Trent was grateful his father hadn’t suggested they come live with him. He would have been glad to host them, but having his parents constantly underfoot would also put a considerable damper on what he could get up to with his wives.

  They weren’t going to ever discuss it aloud, but his father definitely understood. Trent realized Sapphire was watching him with barely restrained impatience, then nodded again.

  “Oh, and tell Mom I’m impressed she tracked us down.”

  Pace’s grin turned sly. “Where do you think your tracking skills came from? Sure wasn’t me.”

  Trent waved before looking at Sapphire. “Let’s keep moving.”

  She set off with a clanking of armor. “You sure? There’s no rush to speak to the Enchanter about Ivy’s missing soul. Just the fate of the whole war effort at stake.”

  Trent ignored her needling. He hadn’t expected to encounter his father while walking through the monastery, let alone learn both his parents were here. Accepting a short delay to adjust to that was to be expected. Lachlan could simply wait his turn.

  As much of a shock as it was to discover his parents had tracked him down to a magical monastery in the middle of the Breckenrock, Trent put it from his mind as he followed Sapphire toward the central building of the monastery where Lachlan had made his home. He mentally organized his questions as they passed two alert soldiers.

  If the dagger wasn’t enchanted, how had it harmed Ivy’s shadow servant? How had it cast her soul into the Firmament, if that was indeed where it had gone? And why had the elite devil assassin used a normal dagger instead of one of their enchanted weapons?

  Once they were past the Dalry soldiers at the top of the stairs, they passed some automatons standing at attention below. Trent had long ago decided he would never get used to faceless humanoids made of copper and brass. He simply tolerated them... and rarely took his eyes off one of them if it was in the room with him.

  The sound of voices came from ahead as they approached the large room in which Lachlan now took meetings with Princess Victoria and her advisors. When Trent, Bethany, and Ruby had first discovered the monastery, this room had been empty except for a hidden staircase leading down into the buried chamber where Lachlan had suspended his human body.

  Now it boasted seats and several couches around its edges, a large map table similar to the one in Princess Victoria’s war room in the center, and even a few paintings that Lachlan’s automatons had brought out of storage and hung on the walls. All the elegant furniture and decorations made the place look a bit like an underground palace.

  As Trent entered with Sapphire, he found the room less crowded than he expected. Lachlan was present, of course, wearing fine red robes and the body of Anton, the traitorous spark mage. Anton had lost an eye when captured. Lachlan wore his gold eyepatch today.

  Emerald was also in the room, as were Bethany and Revca. Ruby was nowhere to be seen, which suggested she had retrieved Kari’s books from the Primal Academy’s embassy and then taken them back to her. She would keep Kari company while the rest of them learned more.

  As Trent entered the room, Lachlan turned to face him. His lips feebly attempted to form a facsimile of a smile. It looked like they were having trouble.

  “Sir Marston. Welcome back.”

  Trent politely inclined his head in return. “I wish I were returning under better circumstances. Have you learned what sort of enchantment is on the dagger we brought back?”

  He would start by pretending that Sapphire hadn’t told him anything and see where Lachlan took the conversation from there. He wanted to know the man’s thinking in regards to how he believed Ivy’s soul had been stolen. Playing dumb was the best way to get answers.

  Lachlan’s brow furrowed. “There is no enchantment.”

  Sapphire elbowed him. “Told you.”

  Trent stared calmly at Lachlan. “I don’t understand.”

  “What don’t you understand?”

  “One stab of that dagger destroyed Ivy’s shadow servant. It was visibly glowing. I have also spoken to Xorumon in the Firmament, and he confirmed that the dagger was wielded by a rare and powerful devil assassin who will not be easy to replace. It must be enchanted.”

  “It is not.”

  Trent was tempted to ask how Lachlan knew that, but the man would likely ignore his question while under the assumption that Trent wouldn’t understand any explanation he offered... which was the truth. He decided to go a different route instead.

  “I see. How, then, was that devil assassin able to destroy Ivy’s shadow servant when it stabbed her with that mundane dagger? To cast her soul from her body?”

  “There is no evidence her soul was cast from her body.”

  Trent measured his patience. “Other than the fact that it’s not in there any longer?”

  Lachlan’s expression remained placid, but Trent could see the man was growing annoyed by these questions. “It is possible that Princess Ivy made the mistake of pushing too much of herself into her shadow servant. When it was destroyed, so was her soul.”

  That was a terrifying possibility Trent hadn’t considered until now. He had trusted Kari’s belief that Ivy’s soul was missing, and had assumed she had been cast into the Firmament because that was what the devils had previously done with Ruby and other mages.

  But what if that assumption was just that? An assumption? What if Ivy had been too close to her shadow servant when it died for her to survive its death? He kept his face calm.

  “Are you familiar with how death mage spell forms work?”

  “Only in the abstract. I also don’t know anything about the devil servant you and Emerald destroyed. Its ability to destroy Ivy’s shadow servant, and possibly Ivy herself, could have been some innate power it held as a powerful devil. If its power were innate to its nature, what weapon it used would not matter. Which would explain the dagger’s ordinary nature.”

  Bethany stepped forward. “What if the dagger only works during an eclipse?”

  Lachlan’s features tightened before he seemingly remembered that Bethany, despite not being a mage, was Trent’s first wife. He knew better than to belittle her in front of her husband, who also happened to be Princess Victoria’s first knight. He cleared his throat.

  “Enchantments don’t work like that.”

  “Are you certain? We must assume that the devil assassin was lying in wait for some time. Why did it wait until the eclipse before it attacked? Why not earlier or later?”

  “I suspect that was merely a coincidence.”

  “But we don’t know that, do we?”

  Lachlan crossed his arms. “There is no way to enchant a dagger so that the enchantment only works during a solar eclipse, nor would doing so provide an advantage to the wielder, given the rarity of such solar events.”

  Bethany frowned. “There’s no way you could enchant a dagger that way. Who’s to say these devil mages couldn’t do so? We don’t have any idea what they’re capable of.”

  Lachlan’s features hardened as he shook his head. “It simply can’t be done.”

  The more convinced Lachlan sounded that it was not possible to enchant a dagger to have some sort of magical enhancement that only worked during an eclipse, the more Trent was intrigued by the idea. Bethany was asking the right questions. Why had the servant waited?

  “You know, there’s one simple way to test that possibility.”

  Everyone in the room looked at him in surprise, including Lachlan.

  “Enchanter, Emerald mentioned earlier that you have an orrery. Can it accurately predict the movement of astral bodies, or is it merely a decorative piece?”

  Lachlan frowned. “It is accurate and precise, but⁠—”

  “Then if we can accurately predict the movements of the moon, we can know ahead of time where and when the next eclipse will occur. We can also travel across the realm using the portals here. So, why not predict the next eclipse and then take the dagger there to check?”

  Chapter Eleven

  The way Lachlan was now staring at him made Trent certain the man was on the verge of telling him his suggestion was ridiculous. He half expected Lachlan to lose his patience with them. Instead, the man simply shrugged.

  “If that is a theory you wish to test, you are welcome to do so. The orrery is beneath the monastery proper. Emerald can show you.”

  Emerald perked up and smiled. “Oh, can I! I haven’t been down there to play with that thing in... well, centuries. Even if you’re completely off base about this whole eclipse thing, it would still be fun to see the old orrery. Shall we head down now?”

  Trent smiled to show Emerald he appreciated her cooperation. “Soon. Thank you.” He returned his gaze to Lachlan. “Setting aside whether or not our suspicions about the dagger are correct, can I ask you to take a look at Ivy’s body yourself? At a minimum, perhaps you can confirm Mistress Ambergreen’s diagnosis.”

  Lachlan sighed heavily. “Is that something that must occur today? I have a number of projects I need to finish, several of which were ordered personally by Princess Victoria.”

  Trent somehow kept his features pleasant. “I’m sure the princess will understand, given how important Princess Ivy is to not just our alliance with Corrin, but our effort to unseat Tallun and bring peace to the realm. So, please, Enchanter. You can at least give her a look.”

  After a long moment, during which Trent was worried he would have to insist or, worse, go to Princess Victoria and ask her to insist, Lachlan inclined his head.

  “Very well. Are you going to bring her here?”

  Again, Trent somehow managed to keep his expression neutral, despite some rather unkind thoughts. “Transporting her across the monastery again would be difficult. She’s sleeping in the guest room in my quarters. Why don’t we go there now and have a look at her?”

  “Yes. The sooner we tend to this matter and satisfy your curiosity, the sooner I can get back to more important work.”

  Trent exchanged a quick glance with Sapphire, just in time to see her roll her eyes. Fortunately, he suspected Lachlan hadn’t seen that. The Enchanter might have a human body now, but he still acted more like an automaton than a person.

  They soon left Lachlan’s building and headed back out into the open portion of the monastery. Trent half expected his mother to intercept him now that Pace had likely told her he was back, but he saw no signs of Marika. He would track her down later, after he was done learning all he could from Lachlan about Ivy’s state.

  The walk back to his building was uninterrupted. While Aron’s eyes widened noticeably at Lachlan’s arrival, Pip took it in stride. Trent nodded to both of them as he led a procession consisting of Lachlan, Emerald, Sapphire, Bethany, and Revca down the stairs.

  Assuming Ruby had returned with Kari’s books by now, they would both be waiting in the guest room with Ivy’s body. It would get a bit crowded with everyone trying to fit into that smaller space, so, as they entered, Trent glanced at Bethany.

  “Would you mind getting refreshments for our guests? I’ll show the Enchanter to Ivy, and then we can let him get back to his important business while we figure out our next move.”

  Bethany squeezed his arm. “Of course.”

  As she took charge of the others, Trent led Lachlan across the room. The embedded door to the guest bedroom slid into the floor at his approach, just like every other door at the monastery did now that he carried the Enchanter’s unique token. Trent motioned.

  “After you, Enchanter.”

  Lachlan’s smile suggested he was pleased to have Trent defer to him. Trent would do whatever he needed to get all the information he could from the man. He needed to know everything he could about Ivy’s situation if he was going to rescue her soul.

  He entered after Lachlan, then moved far enough from the door that it whisked closed. Kari looked up from her seat beside the bed, closed her book, and set it aside.

  She stood and nodded respectfully. “Enchanter.”

  “Mistress Ambergreen.”

  As Kari stepped aside, Lachlan strode past her and peered down at Ivy. Trent didn’t see any sign of Ruby, but Kari had her books. Ruby must have come back, delivered them, and then gone out again. Trent would track her down after Lachlan finished looking Ivy over.

  He waited calmly as Lachlan peered at Ivy as if lost in thought. Finally, the man stepped back and turned his one-eyed gaze to Trent. His eyepatch continued to set him apart.

  “Mistress Ambergreen’s diagnosis is correct. Ivy’s body seems healthy, but there is no trace of a soul inside it. Based on that evidence, I do not think it likely the devil assassin destroyed her soul when he destroyed her shadow servant. Her body would have combusted along with it, or there would at least be significant internal damage.”

  Kari smiled calmly. “Pretty much what I said.”

  Lachlan nodded respectfully to Kari, then returned his gaze to Trent. “Given the lack of any enchantment on the dagger, I suspect the devil assassin itself was enchanted or capable of casting a soul into the Firmament upon striking them. You are fortunate Ivy intervened.”

  “I’m aware. So, can you find out where her soul went?”

  “Unfortunately not.”

  “And why not? You found Ruby quickly enough.”

  “Ruby’s unique enchantment allowed me to locate her, along with the bond she shared with you. I have not enchanted Princess Ivy, nor do you have a mage bond with her. To trace her soul to its current location, I need a place to start, and there is no place to start.”

  Trent racked his brain for all he had learned about mages, the Firmament, and how they went there together. “What about her quintessence? If you drank some of Ivy’s blood, could you find her then?”

  “That is unlikely, given her soul has already been detached from her body, but it is possible. You should try it.”

  “You can’t?”

  The Enchanter shook his head. “As I said, I have many duties that require my attention, none of which I can complete if I am searching the Firmament for Princess Ivy. You have learned to enter the Firmament recently, have you not, Sir Marston?”

  “I... have.”

  “Then you have as good a chance as I of locating her soul. I wish you luck.”

  Trent couldn’t think of any more questions he could ask Lachlan, and at least they now had additional confirmation Ivy’s soul was still out there somewhere, lost in a realm of dreams and nightmares. He could still find her. He just had to figure out how.

  “Thank you, Enchanter. I’ll let you return to your very important business.”

  Lachlan inclined his head to Trent, then Kari. Then he strode out without another word. After they were certain he was gone, Kari snorted and walked over.

  “He was a big help.”

  Trent stared at Ivy’s sleeping form. “At least he confirmed Ivy’s soul wasn’t destroyed.”

  Kari raised an eyebrow. “He thought that?”

  “That was one possibility. He also claims the dagger that the devil servant used when it stabbed Ivy’s shadow servant is not enchanted, which I find hard to believe.”

  “He’s an enchanter, though. The Enchanter. You really think he’s wrong about whether some devil dagger is enchanted?”

  “I wish I could say he was, but he was correct about the dagger we retrieved from that devil mage who tried to steal your soul at Stonehew Academy. And the one we retrieved from the devil mages who stabbed Ruby. We’ll simply have to keep looking for some new clues.”

  Kari touched his arm. “My opinion hasn’t changed. You’ll find her.”

  He leaned close and gave Kari a tender kiss. “We’ll find her. Where’d Ruby run off to?”

  “Off to Princess Victoria, I think. Said something about not wanting her to be lonely, and catching up since she’d been away.”

  Trent nodded. Given he was going to report to Princess Victoria next, Ruby had the right idea. Having Ruby present would also ensure he and Victoria had a chaperone... not that they needed one. He wasn’t going to do anything scandalous with his princess.

  Even if the idea of doing something scandalous remained more appealing than he liked.

  “Can you keep an eye on Ivy while I strategize with the others? Also, can any other mage watch her? It’s unreasonable to ask you to monitor Ivy’s welfare all the time. You need sleep.”

  Kari shrugged. “I’ll figure something out. Life mages can see a lot normal folks can’t, so I’m still the best choice, but I suppose anyone can see if she’s still breathin’. You let me figure out how to keep her goin’ while she’s gone, and you just figure out how to get her back.”

  After another lingering kiss with Kari, he walked out to join the others. Bethany and Revca sat across from each other at the breakfast table. Both were obviously eager to hear any news, and hadn’t found anything else to occupy themselves with in the interim.

  Sapphire was standing by the door where she was most comfortable, while Emerald perched precariously on one of their bookshelves with one leather-clad leg folded over the other. She smiled as he returned and brushed back some of her dark hair.