Illiya Gravewood's Arc

Chapter 2 of 6

Illiya carried the staff down a quiet corridor the next morning. The woman had pointed her toward the records room and left her to find it alone. Illiya pushed open the heavy door and stepped inside. Shelves of bound ledgers lined the walls. She set the staff against a table and began to read. Somewhere in these pages, she was sure, the trail continued. She pulled an old enrollment book from a low shelf and opened it on the table. Her finger stopped near the middle of a brittle page. Illiya Gravewood. The same name. The date was twenty years before she was born. She stared until the letters blurred. Then she turned and saw the wooden board mounted on the far wall, listing students whose studies had ended early. Her own name sat near the top, carved in clean gold paint. Illiya stepped back. Someone had buried this woman under her name, and the college had been waiting, quietly, for her to walk in and read it. Illiya walked the length of the room and found a small desk tucked against the back wall. Brick supports held it up. Glass covered the top, pressing papers flat beneath it. A pen lay where someone had set it down. A small card was nailed to the side. Reserved. The handwriting on the papers matched the cipher she had been chasing for years. Illiya pressed her palm to the glass. The other Illiya had sat here. The other Illiya had left this work unfinished. She lifted her staff from the table and turned toward the door. She would not leave it unfinished again. A portrait hung beside the door. Illiya had walked past it on the way in. She stopped now and looked up. A girl stared back from the frame. Red hair fell around a pale face. The eyes were red too, steady and bright. A small plate beneath the frame read the name Illiya already knew. She did not look like Illiya at all. That was the worst part. The college had chosen this name twice, for two different girls, and meant both of them. Illiya tightened her grip on the staff and stepped into the corridor. She had a face to match the name now. She would find out whose hand had written it down first.