Chatoyant College Book 9: Sundered

Chapter 65: Oak Message

When Corrie and the others found Professor Lal, she was happy to speak to them, and listened with quiet attention to their story of what had happened the night before and then that morning, seeming particularly interested in the differences between what had happened in Roe's vision and what had happened in the actual situation. "I think this is a situation in which telling people about the vision changed it," she said to Roe, who agreed.

It was the four of them whom Professor Lal had originally asked to help, plus Rico; Naomi was nowhere to be found, and when they'd told Annie about it, she'd been very interested but reluctant to get involved in anything relating to faeries, for which Corrie didn't blame her. Especially since it was still obvious—at least, to Corrie—that she still had a crush on Edie, and all this had a lot to do with Leila. Corrie was going to have to talk to her about that at some point.

As Edie wrapped up the tale with Leila's strange comment, Professor Lal drew her eyebrows together but shook her head. "I don't know what she could mean," she said. "How odd. Perhaps Derwen—Ever—can ask her if they have contact with each other. Did you set up a way to communicate with Ever?"

"Oh, did we forget that part?" asked Corrie, laughing at herself a little. "Yeah, she said she could send us messages written on leaves, and said that there's a window always open in this building. That seemed more efficient—that way she can get in touch with you directly."

Professor Lal raised her eyebrows and stood quickly. "Then by all means, let us go check."

They all followed her downstairs to the first floor, where she led them to the back of the building and a smallish classroom. It was freezing inside, probably because of the open window. Professor Lal looked around, then held out her hand in a way Corrie immediately recognized as a magical gesture, though she didn't know what magic the professor was doing. An oak leaf spun up from the floor, the same movement that leaves made falling from trees but in reverse, and smacked into Professor Lal's hand.

"She already sent a message," said Dawn.

"Yes," said Professor Lal, looking it over. She ushered them all out of the room again, for which Corrie was grateful.

"What does it say?" asked Roe. She was obviously trying to peer over the professor's shoulder, but was too short, and from what Corrie could see of the leaf, it was covered in writing too tiny to read from that far away anyway.

"Mardalan is awake, but not fully recovered from the injuries," said Professor Lal. "They are keeping her in some sort of prison. I don't know what kind of prison they could have come up with, but I suppose it's along the same lines as that alarm system. It seems they will decide what to do with her once she is completely recovered, which should happen more quickly now that she is among her kind, instead of attended by a single servant."

"What about the servant?" asked Corrie. "Does she say anything?"

"Yes. It has been bound by oaths, and now it will serve only the one who rules the faerie court—which I suppose is both Belara and Feloc, now. It was already bound by similar oaths; I suppose they have strengthened the binding."

"So it shouldn't affect us," said Dawn.

Professor Lal frowned. "I do not know. We still have no idea who created the book."

"Except that it couldn't have been Mardalan," said Corrie. "I thought maybe she was hidden there or something, but that's obviously not the case."

"Yes, that is true," said Professor Lal. "Someone there must have tried to frame her. And the only ones I can think of who would wish to do so would be Belara and Feloc."

"But why would they want to create a book that would mess us up magically?" Dawn asked. "I mean, they don't care that much about humans, do they?"

"If they are tricky enough to sign Mardalan's name to a book they created, I do not think I can predict their actions anymore," said Professor Lal. "But it is possible that even though they do not care about humans, they want to disrupt things on campus. Hmm." She flipped the oak leaf over in her hand, then began walking back towards the stairs. "It is possible they want to disrupt things for me, or perhaps for Professor Rook or one of the other magic teachers—they could not have known who would have picked up that book."

"They might have," said Dawn. "But if they did, that implies something I don't like."

"What is it?" asked the professor.

"If they expected me to pick up the book, then they know I work at the library. I don't know how they could have gotten that information."

"No," said Professor Lal, frowning deeply. "Nor do I."