Page 193 of Serpent and Shadow

“You’re rich now, Bones,” I said, looking up at him frankly. A faint cynicism reached my voice. “Sure, there are holes, but it’s a plausible story… plausible enough, anyway… especially the way the headmaster just framed it. And they’ll believe it because it’s convenient to believe it. I doubt they could legally touch your money directly, even the King. You being in prison isn’t good for anyone, in their eyes. Particularly with your father dead and the threat neutralized. You can join the ranks of disgustingly wealthy royals, they can tell a pretty story about how you fell in love with one of Magique’s rare hybrids, and they can come to you for money and favors when it suits them. All will be right in the world. In their view, at least.”

Corvid Blackstone let out a very cynical-sounding cough.

Bones stared at me.

I could feel the wheels turning in his mind, right before he looked back at Forsooth.

“There’ll be some that know,” he said. a touch defensively. “Not everyone’s as stupid as you’re pretending. Not even in the King’s court.” He glanced at me. “Or the newspapers, if you’re implying about us what I think.”

Forsooth nodded agreeably.

“Yes,” he said, his voice matter of fact. “Many will know. And a great deal more than that will suspect. You’ll have whispers and rumors shadowing you for the rest of your life, Mr. Bones, with many speculating you are no different from your father. They’ll say you willingly helped him in his obsession to destroy the human and Magical worlds, that you didn’t simply sit in a dungeon for the duration of those five months, but used your magic to kill for him. They’ll call your marriage a scam, your wife a prisoner, and say there was a cover-up…”

He paused meaningfully.

“But which of those stories contains more distortion, Mr. Bones? And which hews far more closely to the truth?”

There was another silence where we all just looked at one another.

Then Bones let out a cynical grunt, leaning deeper into the couch.

After a pause, his mouth hardened.

Both of us were filthy and exhausted. I was bleeding all over Forsooth’s leather, my clothing covered in ash and burns from the ritual fires, and even dirt and grass stains from fleeing towards the Eyrie from the back of the school. My ribs hurt every time I took a breath, and my thigh was already swelling from at least one of the kicks I’d received.

More than anything, I wanted a shower and to sleep for about a week.

Bones gripped my hand tighter, pulling it into his lap.

“What about the Magical degeneration?” he said then, clearing his throat. “You must know, it wasn’t all bullshit, what they believed. It’s a real problem… even if my father’s solution was completely deranged.”

Forsooth nodded thoughtfully, exchanging a look with Blackstone.

“Yes,” he said gravely. “Indeed. It is a real problem. It’s also something being discussed quite seriously in other quarters, not only in the ritual halls of Dark Cathedral.”

Bones frowned, looking between them.

“And?” he said shortly.

Forsooth met his gaze, a faint smile forming at his lips.

“And?” he inquired back. “Were you expecting me to solve this difficult problem for you, Mr. Bones? I believe you are currently sitting in a school renowned for its high standards of magical research and learning. I am also told you and Ms. Shadow are two of the top students of your class. Isn’t your mutual friend, Lucifer Mocking, currently studying an aspect of this exact problem as his dedicated research project?”

Bones frowned, and exchanged looks with me.

Forsooth smiled at both of us as he set down his mug.

Clapping his palms lightly on his thighs, he rose nimbly to his feet.

“I think I have kept you both long enough,” he said kindly, smiling at both of us. “I look forward to reading the proposals for your own project on this matter, Mr. Bones,” he said in a friendly way, holding out his hand. “I assume you plan to make up the coursework you missed, when school resumes in the fall? Or has sudden, extreme wealth rendered your education irrelevant to you, with so many properties to manage?”

Bones snorted involuntarily under his breath.

Releasing my hand as we both rose from our own seats, after pausing to set down our mugs, Bones held out a returning hand to Forsooth, and they shook.

“I think you’ll find me re-enrolled in the coming year,” he said, quirking an eyebrow.

Forsooth glanced at me expectantly, and I rolled my eyes, then nodded.