The Drowned Gods, #2
Stranger Skies
by Pascale Lacelle
Contents
Chapter 41: Baz
Overview
Baz and Kai attend Clover’s secret library party, entering a hidden ballroom via password and witnessing an early camera. Baz is publicly celebrated for saving a student, but a near-intimate dance with Kai falters, and Clover’s flirtation stokes Baz’s jealousy. Cordie clashes with Clover over bringing nonmagical Louka, confides her weak magic and family history, then becomes ill. These moments deepen Baz and Kai’s unresolved feelings and expose classist rules and Clover–Cordie tensions.
Summary
Baz and Kai follow Clover’s directions to a hidden door behind a painting in the Decrescens library, opening a secret ballroom stocked with liquor and students in eclectic finery. A hostess offers absinthe; Clover arrives in extravagant dress and ushers them to an early camera for a photograph, alarming Baz about leaving temporal evidence. The crowd recognizes Baz for saving a student from the wards, and the unexpected praise buoys him.
They dance with Cordie and her guest, Louka the tailor. Clover confronts Cordie for bringing a nonmagical guest, and she storms off with Louka. As the music slows, Kai offers Baz his hand; their joking dance turns charged, but Baz, startled by his feelings, pulls away. Clover and Thames arrive; Clover pointedly asks Baz to dance, and Kai steps aside, insisting he and Baz are “just friends,” which stings Baz.
While Clover dances closely with Kai, Thames assures Baz that Clover flirts with everyone, though Thames’s tone hints at his own discomfort. Thames departs to clean a wine stain, leaving Baz unsettled and jealous as Clover leans into Kai. Overwhelmed, Baz escapes the ballroom to the quiet library.
There, Baz finds Cordie in tears. She reveals Clover made her send Louka home because nonmagical people are banned on campus. Cordie confesses she’s a weak magician burdened by rumors and by Clover’s expectations, longing for a freer life outside Aldryn’s strictures. She shares that she and Clover are orphans without surviving family, while Baz obliquely says his family isn’t alive either.
Cordie recognizes the home-like bond between Baz and Kai and invites Baz to her studio, sensing his artist’s bent. Suddenly nauseated despite little drink, Cordie vomits. Baz steadies her and proposes taking her to her room, resolving the scene with quiet care.
Who Appears
- Baz (Basil) BrysdenPOV; attends Clover’s secret party, is photographed, nearly shares an intimate dance with Kai, then withdraws; jealous of Clover; comforts sick Cordie.
- KaiArrives with Baz; flirts and dances; shares a charged slow dance with Baz before being separated; later dances closely with Clover, spurring Baz’s jealousy.
- Cornelius “Clover” CloverHost of the secret party; ushers a photograph; flirts with Kai; clashes with Cordie over nonmagical guest Louka.
- Cordelia “Cordie” CloverArgues with Clover about bringing Louka; confides weak magic and orphaned past; longs for freedom; becomes ill; accepts Baz’s help.
- ThamesClover’s partner; reassures Baz about Clover’s flirtations, masking his own discomfort; exits after a spilled-wine pretext.
- LoukaTailor and Cordie’s guest; nonmagical; forced to leave by Clover’s rules, triggering sibling conflict.
- Reynald DelauneLightkeeper student and photographer; praises Baz for saving a girl; takes the trio’s photograph with the new camera.