The Detective's Damsel

xxi.

COOL. THE WORD seemed to pop from the page as Corinna squinted at it. Apparently, 'cool' did not only mean temperature. It was American slang for something great, interesting, or in style. She rubbed at her temples and pushed the pages away as soon as she saw the word 'awesome'. Ivan had followed through on his word, providing her with a list of words—using what he called a printer—on the language commonly used in the 21st century. And while it appeared she would be staying for the foreseeable future, it was clear her handle on the American language was not improving.

It had been a day or so since Corinna and Knight had returned to AIMA, and already she found her favorite spots on campus to be the study area near the moveable bookshelf and the computer lab, where she spent soaking in all the information she possibly could. Corinna had not seen Knight since they returned—though she knew he was around and knew everything—but at least she knew Ivan was always in the computer lab. Which meant she always knew where to find him when she wished to see Elizabeth. She could not expect him to trust her to be alone with her sister, but Corinna could not help but wonder where AIMA thought they would go if they escaped. She had been doing research, sure, but it would take months before she even scratched the surface of what had changed since her time.

If anything, it was cool—if a bit strange—to see the 435 years since her time condensed into a series of Ivan's slang words and history books. However, Corinna was finding it hard to focus on learning anything when her mind kept returning to the shocking primary suspect in Elizabeth's case: Ferenc.

It was so uncharacteristic of him, so selfish. But the more she considered it, the more sense it made. Corinna knew her sister—knew her attitudes, her personality, her kindness. But with Ferenc, Corinna might have only seen what she wanted to see. She could not remember there ever being a time when she did not feel love for him, no part of her that thought he was capable of malicious intent. Perhaps that is why it made the most sense. As Ivan had mentioned, he held power as a Báthory family member. It was possible he felt inferior to Elizabeth and would have done whatever was necessary to manipulate his odds. The thought made her feel sick. Of the men she knew, Ferenc was one of the few she trusted.

Of course, there was no proof. Between trying not to make a complete fool out of herself in front of the men at the academy and learning as much as she could about this new century, Corinna was also on the lookout for any information suggesting Ferenc had done what Elizabeth accused. In truth, Elizabeth did not know much. Her accusation was merely an inference—a potential lead. Their best bet, as Ivan had said, would be to watch history. If the records shifted and murders began to occur with Elizabeth still very much in the present, it would be more than enough to prove her innocence. But if nothing happened and the murderer was not Ferenc, who was it?

Corinna was starting to understand that there was some truth behind Knight's fascination with detective work. There was something captivating about knowing there was an answer just out of reach. What was bothersome was that Corinna was not sure she would be as captivated once she knew the answer. For now, all that mattered was that Elizabeth was safe and that matters seemed to be normal. Well, aside from Corinna's terrible attempts at assimilation.

She pulled a book onto her lap with a sigh, curling deeper into the chaise. The lounge was empty as most of the men were in classes for the afternoon, leaving the space eerily silent as she cracked open the spine of a history book, skimming the Table of Contents with intrigue.

She started with the American Revolution, momentarily reminded of Ryan's similar explanation: the 13 Colonies fought Great Britain for their freedom and created 50 states, the United States of America. From there she read deep into a section called the Civil War, when the United States had turned on itself, splitting into Northern and Southern factions over something terrible called slavery. Then it was World War I and World War II, though Corinna glanced over those rather quickly. Too soon. Women's Suffrage was next. Ivan had mentioned women obtaining the power to vote, but according to this book, the right did not arrive until 1920. Though it had been almost 450 years since her time, women spent only 100 of those years as equals to men. Corinna was shocked as she lost herself in page after page of frightful images from the Civil Rights Movement. Just as women were not equal to men, those with dark skin were not equal to those with pale skin. Brown vs. the Board of Education, Rosa Parks and the bus boycotts, Martin Luther King, Jr... it was incredible.