Chapter 951: She Did Sense Them

Charlotte paused at Liam’s question.

For a moment, she simply looked at him, her playful smile remaining in place while her thoughts took a slightly different direction.

’I suppose I should have expected that,’ she thought.

She had deliberately kept her earlier observations vague, presenting them as environmental inconsistencies rather than admitting she had already detected concealed individuals. Most students would have accepted the explanation without questioning what she had left unsaid.

Liam, unfortunately, was not most students.

They had both spent their first year studying Tactical Espionage under Lady Seraphina Vale, where omissions were often more revealing than lies. Charlotte knew how observant Liam could be, particularly when something interested him. In certain aspects of their shared field, she considered him at least her equal, if not better.

And now he had noticed exactly where her explanation stopped short.

’Well, there’s no point dancing around it anymore.’

Her smile widened.

"Yes, darling. I can."

Liam studied her for a moment. "You could have mentioned that earlier."

"You never asked the right question."

"I asked what you noticed."

"And I told you." Charlotte tilted her head innocently. "I simply didn’t tell you everything."

"How very Seraphina of you."

"Oh, she’d be proud."

"That’s concerning."

Charlotte laughed before settling more comfortably against the parapet.

"I’ve detected two people I believe were academy observers," she admitted. "One yesterday, and another around dawn today."

Liam’s attention sharpened.

"Separate locations?"

"Mm-hm. Different occasions, too. I couldn’t identify either of them properly. No faces, names, or anything particularly helpful about their identities. But their positions, their behavior, and the way their presence was concealed made me suspect they belonged to the academy."

"Suspect?"

"I didn’t walk up and ask for identification, sweetheart."

"A pity. That would have been efficient."

"And probably ruined whatever assessment they were conducting."

Charlotte’s amusement softened into a more thoughtful expression.

"I wouldn’t assume I can find every observer, either. Some concealment techniques are considerably better than others. Those two simply left enough for me to notice."

Liam considered that.

Two concealed individuals detected under different circumstances. Not proof of a universal weakness, but enough to establish that the observers were not necessarily beyond the reach of student reconnaissance.

"How did you find them?"

Charlotte tapped one finger against her temple.

"Mostly through Spatial Awareness: Echo Location."

The name immediately stirred a memory.

Liam had seen her use that technique before, during a first-year simulation assignment in Lady Seraphina’s class. They had been investigating a room where their target, Biant, was hiding. Charlotte had placed her palm against the door, closed her eyes, and whispered the spell’s name as a faint golden aura shimmered around her head.

A controlled pulse of Myst had passed through the door.

Moments later, she had described the room’s arrangement, the position of their target, several pieces of furniture, and the unconscious victims suspended inside.

Liam remembered asking how she had managed it.

Charlotte had explained that the spell combined Myst pulses with her enhanced hearing and sensory awareness, allowing her to interpret returning echoes and minute disturbances. Even someone standing still could produce detectable changes through breathing, body heat, or the movement of surrounding air.

He had compared it to a walking sonar system combined with a jaguar’s instincts.

’Right. That spell.’

He looked at her again.

"Explain how Echo Location works."

Charlotte raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? Suddenly interested in my extraordinary talents?"

"The technique, Charlotte."

"Such a shame. I was beginning to think you wanted to admire me."

"I was beginning to consider recovering my Myst before you interrupted me."

"And yet here we are."

She smiled at his unimpressed expression before continuing.

"Very well. The simple version."

She lifted her hand slightly.

"I send a controlled pulse of Myst through the surrounding area. It interacts with surfaces, objects, and physical disturbances. What comes back isn’t a picture. It’s a collection of responses I have to interpret."

"Through hearing?"

"Partly. Hearing, sensory awareness, and how the Myst responds. My jaguar senses help considerably, especially with subtle vibrations and sounds that an ordinary person might miss."

She gestured toward the walkway beneath them.

"If someone is standing behind a wall, I might not perceive their Myst directly. But I could notice breathing, vibrations through the surface, or disturbances in the surrounding air. Familiar environments make those inconsistencies easier to recognize."

Liam leaned forward slightly.

"So you aren’t necessarily detecting the concealed individual."

Charlotte smiled.

"Exactly. Sometimes I’m detecting evidence that something is occupying a space where my senses aren’t registering a visible presence."

That distinction interested him more than the spell’s range or power.

"What if their Myst signature is completely concealed?"

"That doesn’t automatically remove their physical presence. But a sufficiently advanced technique could suppress or disguise the disturbances I’m looking for, too."

"And overlapping signals?"

"Troublesome. Crowded spaces, moving water, certain materials, unusual ambient Myst—plenty of things can interfere. Distance matters, as does how much attention and Myst I commit."

She paused before adding, "And before you ask, no, I cannot perfectly identify every hidden person just by sending a pulse around."

"Can you distinguish individuals?"

"Sometimes. If I gather enough information or recognize characteristics I’ve encountered before. But identifying that someone is present is much easier than establishing who they are."

Liam nodded thoughtfully.

"Can someone detect the pulse itself?"

Charlotte’s smile became knowing.

"Ah. Now that’s a better question."

"Answer it."

"Careless use? Absolutely. Someone capable of sensing Myst disturbances might notice what I’m doing. Smaller, better-regulated applications can be subtler, but I wouldn’t assume they’re undetectable."

She studied him for a moment.

"Why do I get the feeling you’re trying to steal my technique?"

"Understanding something isn’t stealing it."

"That sounds suspiciously like something a thief would say."

"A thief with excellent manners, apparently."

Charlotte laughed.

She had explained enough to satisfy his immediate questions, though not everything. Some refinements were worth keeping private, particularly those concerning how she regulated her pulses and interpreted difficult returns. Lady Seraphina had made that lesson painfully clear: an ability became easier to counter once an opponent understood its limits.

Liam appeared to recognize the boundary. He did not press for the details she had carefully avoided.

Instead, he went quiet.

’There he goes,’ Charlotte thought, watching his expression settle into concentration. ’I remember that look.’

She had seen it often enough during their Tactical Espionage lessons. Liam tended to become unusually still when examining the principles behind another person’s abilities.

He was thinking about an application.

Of what, she could not say.

Meanwhile, Liam was comparing her explanation against Shadow Sight.

His technique allowed him to perceive information through darkness, interpreting shadow density, concealed spaces, depth, and irregularities ordinary vision could overlook. It had proved useful repeatedly, but advanced concealment could still interfere with what he perceived.

Charlotte’s approach worked from a different direction.

’She doesn’t always need to perceive the target. She can identify the consequences of its presence.’

That was the important part.

Someone concealing their Myst might still affect the space around them. If Shadow Sight could eventually become sensitive to subtle changes in the continuity or distribution of surrounding darkness, perhaps he could identify similar inconsistencies without detecting the individual directly.

But there were problems.

He had no evidence that dark Myst could provide the particular feedback required. Even if it could, distinguishing meaningful disturbances from ordinary environmental variation would be difficult. Sending probing Myst outward might also reveal his own position, defeating one of Shadow Sight’s advantages.

And Charlotte possessed years of sensory experience and an enhanced hearing capability he could not simply reproduce.

’Different mechanisms. Same general question.’

How could he recognize something hidden by examining what its presence changed?

It was worth exploring.

Not now, however.

He lacked enough information to determine whether the idea was viable, much less how to implement it. Any proper attempt would require controlled experiments, comparison against known concealment methods, and considerable refinement.

’Interesting. But not something I’m solving while sitting on a wall.’

He deliberately set the thought aside.

Charlotte noticed him relax his shoulders and shift back into a comfortable sitting position.

"Finished dissecting my extraordinary abilities?"

"For now."

"Oh, how reassuring. I was beginning to feel like a particularly attractive reference book."

"You volunteered the explanation."

"And you interrogated me."

"Efficiently."

She laughed softly. "Well, I hope you found something useful."

"I did."

Charlotte blinked, momentarily surprised by the straightforward answer.

Then she smiled.

"Careful, darling. That almost sounded like appreciation."

"Don’t make me reconsider it."

"Too late."

Liam adjusted his crossed legs and rested his hands over his knees.

Charlotte looked at him with amusement.

"Ah, you’ve remembered you were supposed to be recovering Myst."

"I would have started quite some time ago if a certain inconvenience hadn’t appeared."

Charlotte gasped theatrically.

"An inconvenience? After I generously shared my time and knowledge with you?"

"Gratitude isn’t the word I’d use."

"You really are impossible to please."

"And yet remarkably easy to leave alone."

She laughed again before pushing herself off the parapet.

"Fine, fine. I’ll let you enjoy your precious solitude. Unlike certain people lounging around on walls, I actually have responsibilities."

"My condolences on discovering how assignments work."

"Such sympathy."

Charlotte straightened her field gear and glanced toward the southern courtyard.

"I still need to review a few scouting reports and speak with the students assigned to the revised routes. After that, I’ll see about finishing my observation-position proposal."

"Get Sheila’s approval before doing anything."

She gave him an amused look.

"Look at you, enforcing command procedure."

"A disturbing development."

"I’ll remember that." Charlotte paused, then added, "I may want your opinion once I’ve worked out the details."

"Then bring me something worth examining."

Her smile widened.

It was not an agreement to accompany her, but it was hardly a refusal.

"I’ll take that as encouragement."

"Take it as a requirement."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, sweetheart."

She started down the walkway, then stopped long enough to look over her shoulder.

"Oh, and Liam?"

He closed his eyes.

"What?"

"Give my beautiful little namesake my love, won’t you?"

"Raven wasn’t named after you."

Charlotte placed a hand against her heart.

"You don’t have to keep hiding your affection."

"Go do your job, sentient inconvenience."

Her laughter followed her as she continued along the wall, eventually disappearing beyond the next watch position.

Liam waited until her footsteps had faded.

Finally.

He exhaled quietly and settled against the stone support again.

Charlotte had given him something genuinely worthwhile to consider. Her ability to identify concealed presences through indirect environmental evidence offered a useful perspective on detection, and her observations of the academy observers might prove valuable later.

But those questions could wait.

Around him, Veyrhold continued functioning. Archers maintained their watch along the battlements, students moved between assignments below, and the distant sounds of restoration work carried faintly from the central district.

For once, none of it required his attention.

Liam closed his eyes.

He regulated his breathing, steadied the Myst circulating through his channels, and gradually opened his core to the ambient energy surrounding him. Eldervale’s uneven flow required careful adjustment, but he accepted the resistance patiently, drawing in small amounts and allowing each intake to settle before continuing.

His thoughts quieted.

The rhythm became familiar.

And with the afternoon’s activity continuing around him, Liam Hunter finally began recovering his Myst.