Because the angels experimented on him to make him able to use the Imperial Heirlooms. Crow had said as much from the very beginning.
“Let’s go visit Raven.” Octavia turned away from the entrance to the exhibition hall.
From atop her head, Hat pondered all this for a moment before inquiring, “Why... How did you figure it out? You’re so bright, I’m scared.”
Octavia shrugged. She didn’t think Hat’s words sounded particularly like praise. “I simply thought about what he meant by ‘farewell.’”
“What are you doing, spouting a line that sounds like it’s straight out of a romance novel? At least pick something from a detective novel!”
I couldn’t agree more, thought Octavia to herself. She had no intention of acting out a romance novel. Therefore, she couldn’t allow Raven’s farewell to become true parting words.
After hailing a hansom cab and riding it up to the front of the palace, Octavia noted that the sun had reached its highest position in the sky. Just as she had been told at the police station when she’d announced to the sentries her intention to visit Raven, she was only made to wait a short while before she was escorted to a tower on one side of the palace’s facade. It was a respectable tower, about as tall as the palace itself. But Octavia could sense the presence of an enchantment on its entrance. It seemed that she would be closely observed during her visit.
“When the angels build places to confine people, they sure do tend to build towers, huh? Is it just down to taste?”
The prison the queen had built for members of the imperial bloodline of Ercadia, as part of her castle in the sky, was also said to be a tower. But right now it wasn’t Octavia who was being imprisoned, but Raven. With a peculiar feeling in her heart, she climbed the tower’s spiral staircase to the top floor. No sentries moved from the entrance to guide or observe her, perhaps to maintain the pretense that this was not a place of confinement. In reality, the surveillance enchantment already in place probably made it unnecessary.
But no mere enchantment could track the presence of an Imperial Heirloom. Keeping her voice low so that her words would not echo through the tall tower, Octavia said to Hat, “Just to be safe, I’d like to make it so that we are not overheard.”
“Then you’ll want the curtain, I should think. Its true purpose is to merge with its surroundings, hiding you from sight, but I can also arrange it so that it won’t let your voices pass through.”
“Please do.”
Hat answered Octavia’s wishes, quietly reciting a few words in the language of the empire. She wondered if Raven could hear them. Just as she was thinking this, she reached the top of the stairs.
“Raven.” Octavia called his name.
Raven, sitting in a chair and reading a book behind the hefty bars of his cell, looked up. “Octavia. Hi.” He closed the book and rose to his feet.
Raven’s cell was so spacious and looked so comfortable that it might—if not for the iron bars between them—have been mistaken for a guest room. There was a carpet spread across the floor, a bed, a bookshelf, and even a washbasin. Raven’s complexion also looked healthy enough.
Seeing that Eliza had spoken the truth, Octavia was relieved. “You seem well,” she remarked.
“That’s because I know that the treatment of suspected criminals is ordinarily harsh. But Mrs. Smile was questioned about the case of the doll, and she apparently objected most vociferously on my behalf. And it looks like there are others who have been kind enough to express their concern.”
“Most of your well-wishers are women, are they not?”
“Jealous, are we?”
“Why would I be? Under the circumstances, am I not more likely to be worried about you?”
“Well, you are the only one to have come all this way to see me.” This caught Octavia off guard, and she found herself at a loss for words. While she was searching for something to say, Raven picked up his chair and moved closer to the bars. “I’m only sorry that I don’t have a chair for you.”
“I don’t mind. Once my business here is concluded, I’ll be going home.”
“That’s awfully cold of you. Especially as I seem to have been caught up in a scheme to inconvenience you. First thing this morning, I was subjected to much gloating from Edward; it’s been rather unpleasant. Oh, that’s right—the young lady Jessie came as well.”
“So I’m not the only one to have visited you here.”
“This was when I was taken out for questioning. He had nothing to say that didn’t irritate me.”
Octavia sighed. “I’m hoping you didn’t try to pick a fight with him again.”
“Of course not. I gave him my undivided attention and a smile. But no matter what I do, I seem to remain in Prince Edward’s bad books. Though the young lady Jessie was friendly enough.”
Even in such grave times as these, Raven seemed to be calm enough to tease Edward. Jessie, too, was still inescapably herself. She couldn’t possibly think that she had this man in the palm of her hand, could she?
“I’ve heard that His Highness Prince Henry has found the girl in the photograph. I also heard that his audience with the queen has been confirmed for tomorrow.”
“Not a problem. I’ve also found her.”
It was somewhat pleasing to see Raven, always calm and collected, with his eyes as round as saucers. Seeing him scrutinize her cautiously also felt good, like she finally had him wrapped around her little finger.
“Found her, you say?” he said after a pause. “It would appear that His Highness found her first, so what exactly do you mean?”
“Prince Henry merely produced a fake. I heard from Ashton that, recently, black-haired girls like the one in the photograph have gone missing. I would say that he sought out children with no relatives in preparation for this.”
“That certainly sounds plausible. I did think that he had found her a bit too quickly.”
“Moreover, the genuine article is right here,” said Octavia.
Raven was silent.
Octavia continued dispassionately, “I have a favor to ask of you.”
After another pause: “Of me? That’s a first. But right now, I am kept under lock and key.”
“His Highness the queen’s brother went to the trouble of visiting the Royal Museum of Art to confirm the seal on the music box. He might have realized the same thing I did. That being said, he only heard of the incident secondhand from Edward, so his final act of confirmation is still to come. He cannot be certain yet. So I’ve come to ask you to do your best to obfuscate the matter to the very end. That’s what I came to ask of you.”