azaleaellis

Chapter 159 - Sheltered Under Wings of Midnight

Siobhan

Month 3, Day 31, Wednesday 8:00 a.m.

At breakfast time two days later, Sebastien arrived at the Kaiseki Ryori, a fancy restaurant owned by the Nightmare Pack. A quick flash of one of the gold invitation card’s Gera had given her got her silently escorted to a private room in the back. Gera had suggested it as a discreet location to hold meetings, and set this room aside for Siobhan, or anyone that could produce one of an exclusive set of gold invitation cards.

The ...

Ennis Naught Character Card (Imprisoned)

Ennis's charms and good looks have both failed him, and after months of harsh treatment in Harrow Hill, the man has grown bitter and weak. 

Good Advice [Chapter 97 Concurrent]

This is a canonical deleted scene that is set between events of Chapter 97 – “Properties of Explosive Materials.”

Sebastien

Month 1, Day 29, Friday 1:30 p.m.

Though Sebastien hadn’t been keeping tabs on Tanya or waiting for her, she caught a glimpse from afar as the other woman hurried toward the Menagerie gate.

Tanya’s shoulders were hunched, and she look...

Chapter 158 - Projectile Vomit

Sebastien

Month 3, Day 29, Monday, 4:00pm

Sebastien took a half-step back, but reached out to steady the woman when she swayed and heaved again. The arm under her hand was distressingly thin, so little muscle or fat covering the bone that she could have easily wrapped her fingers all the way around with room to spare.

“Oh, no, no,” the woman moaned, then heaved again.

Sebastien’s first thought was that Titus Westbay had arranged this for some impenetrable reason....

Chapter 157 - Shifting Topography

Sebastien

Month 3, Day 29, Monday, 11:15am

Sebastien set The Daily Sun back on the public bench where she’d found it, then stood in thought under the tree sheltering the area as small flakes of snow started to fall, melting soon after they hit the ground. Perhaps in the city below, they would turn to sleet or rain before they made it all the way down. It was always colder at the altitude atop the white cliffs.

The downside to Plan A was that it required a lot of p...

Chapter 156 - Nine Light Filters

Sebastien

Month 3, Day 29, Monday, 10:00am

Sebastien attacked the archives like an extremely respectful hurricane, careful not to do any damage as she familiarized herself with its contents at top speed. She explored methodically, starting from the shelves on the far left of the room and moving right. Many were either translations or copies of the originals, with notes left by the translator in the margins, but at least half remained in their original language, and thus incomprehe...

Chapter 155 - Evidence and Evenness

Sebastien

Month 3, Day 29, Monday, 9:00am

A mixture of euphoric eagerness and stomach-turning anxiety would have kept Sebastien awake, except for a careful dose of calming potion, taken once in the evening, and again in the middle of the night when she woke to refresh her dreamless sleep spell. It might night have been as effective as something like elixir of euphoria, but she liked to think she could learn lessons from her mistakes. No more addictive substances. Especially when i...

Chapter 154 - Experimenting on Humans

Siobhan

Month 3, Day 28, Sunday, 8:00am

Siobhan had taken the time to put on a full face of makeup, learned from watching Ana create her own natural-seeming look in the morning. It was soft and feminine, much like Siobhan’s dress, a bright pastel green with flowery lace and skirts with much too much fabric. She had colored her hair a dark auburn, with the grey streaks looking like sun-kissed highlights instead. The larger prosthetic nose remained, holding up a pair of fake glass...

Chapter 153 - For the High Crown

Sebastien

Month 3, Day 27, Saturday 8:15am

When Oliver arrived at his destination, he offered to have the carriage drive Sebastien back, but she declined.

With the map of the city that she’d attempted to memorize, she was able to find the nearest mail office, where they had letter writing stations and would deliver one’s post to anywhere in the country—for a fee. It was the kind of thing she couldn’t have afforded before coming to Gilbratha. Not that she had anyone t...

Chapter 152 - A Troublesome Revelation

Sebastien

Month 3, Day 27, Saturday 7:30am

Oliver was in a hurry that morning, rushing off to a meeting with some new business contacts across the city, and so Sebastien joined him in his carriage.

She watched him carefully, trying to divine—metaphorically—his secrets, his thoughts, his feelings.

As soon as they began rolling, the carriage wheels and horse’s hooves clattering against the cobblestones, Oliver spoke. “Titus Westbay, commander of the coppers, came...

Immovable Objects (Honeymoon Suite Sequel)

Damien

Month 3, Day 26, Friday 7:15pm

It was in the exhilarating freedom of being post-final-exam that Damien and his friends toured the exhibition’s final day, just like he used to when he was little. Even Sebastien, often so critical and haughty, seemed to be impressed by some of the displays. Damien plied him with food from every stand they passed, loving the expressions o...

Chapter 151 - One Hundred Ways to Die

Sebastien

Month 3, Day 27, Friday 3:00am

Sebastien sat at the head of her dormitory bed, looking through the window. The University was quiet enough to hear the wind. She hadn’t realized how much ambient noise thousands of students could add to a place, even at night when they were all supposed to be asleep.

It was like how many more stars one could see in the night sky when they woke after their fire had gone out along the edge of one of the roads between distant cities.<...

Chapter 150 - Mysteries and Missions

Sebastien

Month 3, Day 26, Friday 8:00pm

Sebastien flipped bemusedly through 100 Clever Ways Thaumaturges have Committed Suicide as she returned to the dorms, skimming the entries and the simultaneously fascinating and often horrifying illustrations that accompanied them. Some of those whose mistakes had been considered worthy entries into the book were turned into Aberrants. More died in a more traditional manner. Just as Sebastien was beginning to get sucked into a grue...

Chapter 149 - Auxiliary Exercises Assessment

Sebastien

Month 3, Day 26, Friday 9:00am

Friday was the last day of the exhibitions, but as first term students all of their tests were already finished, and Sebastien and her growing group of friends could peruse the spectacle at their leisure. The University grounds were transformed, packed with stalls alongside all the cobblestone paths, and temporary stages with amphitheater-like grandstands for the audience.

Sebastien had been too caught up in the workload and stress th...

Chapter 148 - A Tree of Sand and Light

Sebastien

Month 3, Day 25, Thursday 2:00pm

After leaving the infirmary with a bill of clean health, Sebastien and Damien returned to the Flats to give their “after-action reports,” which took a distressingly long time. She was sure most of the other students weren’t treated like witnesses in an investigation, forced to repeat things and dig for detail and motivations over and over again. The proctors taking her report kept making notes and stopping to murmur together, throwi...

The Honeymoon Suite 7 - Twisted Conclusions

Titus

Month 3, Day 20, Saturday 12:45am

The adrenaline of Titus’s confrontation with Lord Dryden had passed, and it had been long enough since Titus’s last meal that he no longer felt hungry, only tired and weak. He inserted his finger between his tie and his neck, pulling side to side to loosen the elaborate knot a little. But no matter how tired he was, his thoughts conti...

The Honeymoon Suite 6 - Deescalation

Oliver

Month 3, Day 20, Saturday 12:30am

Oliver had known from the moment Titus arrived, six hours late to the dinner party he had sent last-minute regrets for having to miss, that something strange was going on. He had not believed Titus’s claim of wanting to thank Sebastien. Despite his genial tone, the man’s eyes had been a little too intense, too assessing.

But Ol...

Children's Rhyme - Harry Harold Had no Hands

[Accompanying Book 4's "Harry Harold Had no Hands"/ Chapter 147]

This rhyme details the life and untimely demise of Harry Harold, who had no hands but cast through his jeweled shoes. In cadence, it is often accompanied by clapping and footwork, or in more ominous tones, recited to children around the fire and as they are tucked into bed.

Verse 1:

Chapter 147 - Harry Harold Had no Hands

Damien

Month 3, Day 25, Thursday 9:45am

As the shield went up around Sebastien, who stood with his hands raised while Professor Fekten threatened him, Damien’s vision swam and his knees almost buckled. He was hyperventilating. Wrapping both of his hands loosely over his mouth, he blinked rapidly as he tried to force himself to take slow, even breaths despite his lung screaming that they lacked for air.

Why. Why? Why? This exam wasn’t even important. It was just ...

The Honeymoon Suite 5 - Retaliation

Titus

Month 3, Day 20, Saturday 12:15am

Oliver was speechless, frozen, so Titus continued. “The investigator I tasked found that some of Princess Krell’s servants escaped the palace before the execution. Some years later, a family of a common name sold some jewelry. One of the pieces was recognized as having belonged to the princess. When enquiries were made, the family di...

The Honeymoon Suite 4 - Confrontation

Titus

Month 3, Day 19, Friday 11:30pm

Hours had passed since Titus sat down to research Sebastien Siverling’s past. After reading the small report, he had gone to the Edictum Council library to explore some historical references. He had found little, but what existed was enough to both perplex and worry him.

As he looked up at Dryden Manor from the front gate, many of i...

The Honeymoon Suite 3 - Assumptions

Titus

Month 3, Day 19, Friday 5:00pm

Three days later, Titus sent Copper Alma to pick up his attempted blackmailer for “questioning and detainment.” The situation wasn’t a secret, but at the same time, it was best to keep those directly involved to as small a number as possible to avoid excessive gossip. Titus didn’t even plan to meet with him. The woman could deal with...

The Honeymoon Suite 2 - Rumors

Titus

Month 3, Day 16, Tuesday 7:00am

When Titus got to Harrow Hill, he called for all the witness statements from Malcolm Gervin’s arrest to be brought to his office. He had read them already, of course, then sent Damien a half worried, half angry letter, unable to spare the time yet to meet his little brother in person. Damien, of course, had replied back that everyone was ...

Chapter 146 - Walk the Plank

Sebastien

Month 3, Day 25, Thursday 9:35am

Sebastien took a deep breath and bellowed, “Down the stairwell! Get down to the ground floor!” loud enough for her voice to echo off the stone around them for several blocks.

Damien flinched, pressing one hand protectively over his ear as he stared at her incredulously.

She hurried to the center of the roof, crouched down, and waved frantically at the others to keep them from actually going down the stairs. Instead, she po...

The Honeymoon Suite 1 - Blackmail [Chapter 140 Concurrent]

This is a side story novelette set near the end of Book 3. It can also be considered volume 3.3

Titus

Month 3, Day 16, Tuesday 6:00am

Titus woke before the sun, only a few minutes before the alarm spell he had prepared the evening before was set to go off. There wasn’t enough time for him to go back to sleep, and yet he wasn’t early enough to get a real head start on ...

Oliver Interlude - Preventative Measures [Pre Chapter 98]

This is a deleted chapter that is set directly before Chapter 98 - "Excessive Force." It can also be considered Book 3.1

Oliver

Month 1, Day 30, Saturday 11:00 a.m.

Standing at the base of the stairs that led down to the basement of Lord Morrow’s mansion and looking around at the small mountains of boxes, old junk, and dust, Oliver had to admit that perhaps he had bitte...

Damien Westbay Character Card

Our favorite amateur detective and really good friend. 

Coming next is Ennis Naught, as always at no particular set schedule, as my main focus is on writing the story. 

In other news, check back this coming Monday for the first of the deleted scenes/bonus content from A Sacrifice of Light. It's going to be a deleted chapter from Oliver's POV. 

Chapter 145 - A City of White Stone

Sebastien

Month 3, Day 25, Thursday 9:00am

As the clear bell signifying the start of the test rang, Sebastien removed her blindfold, blinking as she adjusted to the sudden brightness. Beside her, Damien and Rhett did the same. They stood in a featureless room made of the same white stone that composed the white cliffs and the Flats. All three wore grey, one-piece protective suits provided by the proctors, though their equipment beyond that varied.

The white stone formed the ...

Jan Burberry Character Card

Professor Burberry. Notice the subtle blurring effects of what is likely a glamour spell to "youth-enize" her appearance. Haha I'm so punny guys.

Coming next: Damien

As always, no set schedule for posting these, but I do have a lot more portraits on the hard drive, just waiting to be put into the frame and given a bio. 

Chapter 144 - Alliance Against Curiosity (Book 4 Start)

Thaddeus

Month 3, Day 19, Friday 10:00pm

Thaddeus sat at the desk in his cottage as a storm raged outside, writing the last few pages of a guide to translating one of the more common pre-Cataclysm languages. Such a comprehensive and coherent reference would have been invaluable to him some years ago, but as none existed he had been forced to learn the hard way.

While writing the book, he had idly begun to consider how one might create a matrix of vocabulary and grammatical r...