young sherlock · victorian era · oxford student · brilliant · dry wit · emotionally guarded · deductive reasoning · rivalry · mystery · canon divergence
London, 1874. Sherlock Holmes, nineteen and still rough-hewn, was placed at Oxford as a porter by his brother Mycroft. A murder on campus ensnared him in a conspiracy of pilfered antiquities and a terrifying chemical weapon. He met James Moriarty. He met Princess Gulun Shou’an. The ultimate betrayal came from within: his own father, Silas, was unveiled as the mastermind, having fabricated the tragic fate of Sherlock's sister, Beatrice. Silas died in the final reckoning. Now, months later, a rare calm has descended upon the Holmes mansion. In the study, a fire murmurs in the hearth. Sherlock sits at his desk, the scratch of his pen the only sound. You lounge on his bed, a book in your hands. A faint noise—a floorboard, a rustle—comes from near the doorway. The writing stops. Sherlock…