Evastany

20 IV

20 IV

I write from the best inn Amori Tovia can offer, which is not bad at all in spite of the town’s modest size. We are installed here for but one night, for our search tomorrow will soon take us beyond the borders of the town, I have no doubt.

You will guess from such a statement that Tren’s sanguine hopes were proved sadly unfounded. Let me describe the events of yesterday, as best I can.

Miss Faronni Nallay lives in a poorer part of the town. Her tiny, shabby little house is one of a row of tiny, shabby little houses, most of them ill-kept and unloved. I imagine they usually prove to be rather temporary residences.

Miss Nallay’s house is a little better maintained than some, and the pots of various growing-things around the door speak well of her. We saw nothing amiss when we arrived, but having knocked upon the door some three or four times, waiting a minute or two in between, we were soon obliged to conclude that she was not at home.

Tren immediately conducted a speedy survey of her neighbours, most of whom were found to be in residence. The news was bad: no one had seen her in at least a week.

‘Time to break in,’ Tren decided, and found this task immediately achievable, for a door at the back was unlocked. In we went.

I do not know what I expected to see: a mess, perhaps? The kind that suggests somebody was forcibly removed from the house, protesting all the way? We saw nothing of the kind. Miss Nallay’s house was scrupulously neat inside, and all that was obviously missing was a selection of clothes, for her wardrobe was almost empty.

‘So she left willingly,’ Tren observed. ‘But was she on her way to us, and intercepted somewhere en route? Or did whoever took her give her time to pack, like Susa?’

No way to tell. I abandoned her drab little bedchamber quite quickly, for it had nothing else to tell us.

Downstairs, I conducted a more thorough search of her possessions. I found my own letter to her, inviting her to take up a position with our new bureau. I glanced over it so perfunctorily, it took me a moment to realise that it was not my letter, or not quite. The wording was the same, as far as I remembered, and that was my signature at the bottom. But I had invited her to present herself at our office in Glour City, and given the address.

This letter made no mention of it. It merely stated — in my own handwriting! — that someone would arrive to collect her, and that she should make herself ready to travel.

I handed this gem off to Tren with a disgusted flourish. A filthy trick. ‘Someone has made off with two out of three of our students,’ I said to him. ‘And as if that were not offensive enough, they have been making free with my handwriting, my signature and even my visage in order to accomplish it!’

‘The insult is insupportable,’ Tren agreed, perusing the letter briefly. ‘I have to say, though, as kidnappings go these are fairly low-key. No forcible abductions, no ransom notes, no apparent violence.’

‘All good things,’ I had to agree. ‘But the fact remains that Susa has been taken away somewhere unspecified, by someone who had no right to do so, and Faronni Nallay has been deceived.’

I paused to think, largely fruitlessly. I feel sure, even as I write, that some degree of explanation ought to be obvious. Here we have a pattern emerging: two untrained partial Lokants taken away, most likely to a Library off-world. Both were prospective students at my new school, and shortly due to receive training. Both appear to have gone along more or less willingly, though whether they had any true understanding of where they were going remains in doubt.

It would not be the first time that Lokants have made use of partials from our world. Krays (a tasteless, troublesome individual whose untimely demise is regretted by nobody) has done so before, though the experience did not turn out very well for the people in question.

It is this that troubles me. It ought to be a good thing, if Lokants are disposed to take an interest in us. They are by far the best qualified to teach us; I am aware how much hubris there is in my presuming to set up a school, considering that I am by no means an expert in these arts myself. My grasp of domination is excellent, though I do not think I qualify as fully trained in the business. I can translocate. But Gio is far better equipped to teach such arts than I, and I am entirely lacking in some other Lokant powers — I cannot heal or mend at all.

If I could believe that they simply propose to do a better job of teaching my students than I can, I would have no objection to their interference. But the chances of that are slim. I am persuaded that no Lokant ever did anything for the benefit of others. If they are teaching my students then they are also disposed to use them for something, and it is unlikely to prove to be much to the benefit of Susa or Faronni.

I took the precaution of bringing Bartel along with us, as well as Rikbeek, who goes everywhere with me. This second tracking expedition ended in the same way as the first. We gave Bart some of Miss Nallay’s clothing, and he duly followed her scent out into the street. Her trail persisted just around the corner and… then it vanished.

We spent the remaining hours consulting once again with her neighbours, in hopes that she might have mentioned something — anything — that could help us. I did not hold out much hope, for it does not appear that my impersonator communicated with her at all except by the false letter.

We uncovered nothing new, nothing of note, nothing helpful. Miss Faronni Nallay has vanished into the wind, like Susa, and we cannot follow.

I put down my pen with a view to turning in for the night, for we propose to leave early tomorrow. But Tren asked something pertinent and I feel compelled to note it down.

We had identified three prospective students, but only two of them have been taken. My first thought upon considering this fact was mild panic; what if we return to find that Heliandor has likewise disappeared?

‘Unlikely,’ Tren argued. ‘Clearly, whoever is responsible is well-informed as to our doings. They cannot be unaware of Heliandor’s existence, and I can think of no sensible reason why they would have taken Susa and Faronni already and simply been late to claim Heliandor. I think that the link between Susa and Faronni must be more complex than we imagine.’

‘It is not merely that they are partials,’ I agreed. ‘Considering the fact that I, too, have failed to disappear into thin air, we can conclude that more is required.’

Tren looked worried by this reflection, and I regretted bringing it up. ‘Let’s hope that whatever it is about Susa and Faronni that qualifies them for special treatment is something you lack.’

‘Apparently it is something Heliandor lacks. But what? The frustrating thing is, we know nothing at all about Faronni. Only basic, largely useless facts.’ Nobody we had spoken to seemed to know much about her, either. She was a withdrawn type of person, not much given to socialising, and had no apparent friends in her neighbourhood. And since we have no idea where she works, if anywhere in particular, it will be difficult to find out more about her.

It is a place to start, however. We agreed to learn more about Faronni, by whatever means possible.

‘Considering that there are now two missing students,’ I added, ‘It stands to reason that there might be more abductees, or potential ones.’

‘Sending letters,’ agreed Tren. ‘To us.’

‘Ah. Yes.’ As minimal an exchange as this last part was, I caught Tren’s drift at once.

Who has been intercepting our post, and how?