Some posts come with a desk and a salary. His came with a tithe.
Thomas Mercer takes the literature post at Ashgrave College because it comes with a salary, a study, and no follow-up questions about why he left his last position. The study is adequate.
The students are bright. The headmaster is a problem. Adrian Thorne runs Ashgrave with the precision of a man who signs every document and reads every clause. He does not use contractions.
He does not explain the locked archive, the quarterly sittings, or why the student everyone calls “the Vane boy” no longer speaks. Thomas makes lists when he is afraid. He is making a lot of lists.
The college is old. The institution it serves is older. And the system that has run beneath Ashgrave for centuries has just flagged Thomas Mercer’s name for collection.
Adrian Thorne has never once failed to deliver what the office requires. He has also never wanted to save someone this badly.
