Adelaide

"My parents heard about James' mental state and worried it was a contagious disease that I would eventually succumb to as well. So, they sent me here, before I could end up where he is now. That certainly would've damaged their reputation."

"You've mentioned your parents, but what are your own thoughts?" Sapphire murmurs, her wintry countenance all too knowing, "Were his dangers contagious to you?"

Were they?

"I don't think so, Saph," I sigh wearily, running a hand through my tangled hair, "But like you said: as time runs on, I seem to doubt myself more and more."

* * *

After a discordant fallout with her estranged lover James, Adelaide DuPont arrives quietly at the Citadel of Sic Cytisoventi, a boarding school founded on behalf of certifiable teenagers across western Europe. There, she quickly befriends an intriguing tetrad of gemstones: Topaz, Sapphire, Ruby, and Emerald - all of whom appear to possess far more cognizance around the mysterious school than any student should. Advancing past each turn under the certain direction of her reprobate curiosity, Adelaide soon stumbles upon misfortune in the dungeons and finds herself suddenly and inescapably entwined with the gemstones in a deadly murder mystery brimming with tragic discoveries and heartbreak.

#tsc22