Everyone applauded, and Amelia nearly danced up and down. But the professor swiped the chip out of Amelia’s hand and studied it closely.
“Hmm, looks like you got the angle just wrong here,” she said, pointing at something Jak couldn’t see. “Notice it hasn’t begun healing yet.”
Amelia’s face fell, but the professor patted her on the back.
“Don’t worry girl, most don’t make it their first try, you’ll have plenty of time to practice.”
The girl stalked back to her seat, and Jak gave her a half smile and a shrug, which Amelia returned. It didn’t take long for her smile to come back.
Next, several of the others tried their hand, each determined to be the first to stick a proper Healing brand. Finally, one of them managed to heal the crack in the wood. The young man cheered, and many of the other students joined in, waving their fists in the air.
The professor examined the wood closely. “Hmm, well done. You’ve managed to stick the brand. But you’ll notice right here, there’s a slight deviation in the contour that is keeping it from being a perfect Healing brand. Work on that, and you’ll have a mature sapling next time.”
Jak hadn’t really thought there could be some brands that work better than others, depending on the skill of the Gifter. She had thought they either work or they don’t. Lucky Gabriel had been the one to Gift her brand, and not someone else who only partially knew what they were doing.
“You girl, you haven’t come up yet, why don’t you take a stab at it?” The old woman gestured to Jak to come forward.
Jak swallowed but found herself standing and approaching the front of the class. The professor’s face was kindly, but all Jak could feel were the eyes of everyone in the room watching her. They knew who she was by now, even if they hadn’t been present at the cathedral to witness the scene there. Now it would seem they were all on the edges of their seats, to see what the supposed “doubter” could do.
She picked up a wood chip off the table and shut out everything around her, closing her eyes and focusing only on the piece of wood in her hand. The professor was right. This wood chip still had a spark of life in it, lent by the Earth itself.
Activating her brand was no trouble at all, and Jak could vaguely make out the light through her closed eyelids. But instead, she concentrated on the wood chip, imagining every line with absolute perfection. She had grown up practicing this, she had literally practiced with a Flamedancer brand, something the professor said was much harder to do. Surely, she could pull off the easier Healing brand.
The light faded, and Jak thought she could hear whispers among the onlookers. For a moment, she kept her eyes shut, still feeling the life within the wood. As she concentrated, she almost thought she could feel that life increase.
Opening her eyes, she looked down at the chip in her hand. The cut from the knife was completely gone, and small green buds were beginning to emerge from the sides of the chip. At its center was a perfect Healing brand.
“Oh, my…” the professor seemed genuinely surprised. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a student perform a perfect Healing brand on the first try. Well done girl! I don’t think I caught your name.”
“Um... Jak.” She tried to say it softly so the rest of the students wouldn’t hear. Though they probably already knew by now. And if they didn’t, they would figure it out after today.
But as Jak retreated to her desk, she couldn’t help but smile a bit, especially when she saw the look on Amelia’s face. She had done it. She was the only student to pull off a perfect brand. Granted, she’d had a practice that the rest in the room didn’t. But still, it felt good to be the best at something for once.
“That was incredible!” Amelia said, as the class was dismissed and they began packing up their books. “How did you do it?”
Jak shrugged. “I’ve imagined how to give brands since I was a kid. I guess I just learned the shape right.”
“Yeah but still, to get a perfect brand on your first try! And you weren’t even here for the other beginner classes.”
“Your grandfather gave me a few lessons on the way here.” Jak figured that was a good way to explain her sudden adeptness at Branding, even if that was only part of the truth.
“Oh, that must have been amazing. I haven’t even had a lesson with him yet.”
Jak frowned at her as they began walking out of the classroom. “Really? But you’re his granddaughter.”
“I know right! You’d think he could have taught me something. But I’ve barely even seen him since he got here. I mean, I know he’s not supposed to play favorites or anything, but it would be nice... anyway. Can you do it again?”
Jak was taken aback. “I’m not sure we’re supposed to be branding outside of class.”
“Oh please!” You would have thought Amelia’s life depended on Jak the way she begged her now. “I just want to see it, and maybe you could help me get better. Oh! That would be so much fun!”
Jak chuckled. Amelia, for all her quirkiness, had a contagious enthusiasm. “Alright, I’ll see if I can help. But only at night once classes are over.”
“Oh boy!” Amelia rubbed her hands together in glee. “And in exchange, I shall help you understand triangles better.”
Jak laughed, the first time she had done so in days. “Deal.”
Sure, there were problems in the city, and then there was everything happening with the new Water Fae students. She had all but forgotten Seph’s book. But ultimately, those were someone else’s problems to deal with. For now, Jak could focus on her studies and enjoy having a new friend.
Perhaps this place wasn’t going to be so bad after all.
8
The next few days weren’t all that bad. Sure, people still gave her weird looks in the hallways or during meals, but Jak was beginning to get used to that. Having one friend at least made things much easier to endure.
She and Amelia spent several nights practicing and practicing their brands. It took a while, but eventually, Amelia was able to perform a successful healing brand, though it still didn’t sprout like Jak’s had.
The teachers were more than a little impressed, and one even took Jak out of the dining hall during breakfast to ask if he could see Jak’s healing brand. She turned the small, seemingly dead stick he handed her into a blooming sapling.
If Jax were honest, she wished they would stay away and just let her study in peace. It seemed everyone wanted to see her perform a brand. Each time they would marvel as if it were her first time to do it, every time. It was beginning to get old.
Returning from her class in Physicality, she washed and arrived in the dining hall for lunch. Amelia wasn’t with her today. She tended to take a lot longer to bathe. Jak, who was used to bathing in a freezing brooke, took a lot less time.
The first face she saw as she entered the dining hall nearly caused her legs to buckle beneath her.
“Naem!” she almost shouted as she worked to steady herself.
The young Watcher stood waiting for her, fully decked out in his armor, newly polished and looking splendid.
Without realizing what she was doing, she rushed to him and wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders, not truly realizing until that moment how much she missed him.
“Hey!” He laughed as she barreled into him. “I missed you too.”
She broke the hug and placed both hands on her hips. “Where have you been?”
Taken aback by her sudden change in attitude, he stammered. “Uh... here and there. On assignment. Where have you, uh, been?” He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand as he realized how ridiculous that question was.
Jak smiled. “You’ll have to tell me what you’ve been doing over the last few weeks. Want to sit?”
He nodded, and Jak heard the clink of his armor as he sat on the flat bench across from her on the dining room table. Jak forgot entirely about getting lunch, though she couldn’t help but notice the other students staring at them from all sides, probabl
y wondering what a Watcher was doing looking so friendly with the “doubter.”
“Heard there was trouble at the cathedral,” Naem said, noting the student’s behavior as well.
“I don’t really want to talk about that.”
“Fair enough.”
“But where have you been really?” Jak asked again. “I was supposed to train with you. Your General Wilva even said so when I met with her.”
“I’ve been caught up in a few errands for the General,” he said. “Can’t really talk about all of it, though it’s nothing important. Mostly playing armed guard for some merchants and providing security for the ones dealing in foreign imports. Nothing special.”
“And they couldn’t get someone from the Skyecliff militia to do it? A Watcher seems a bit like overkill.”
Naem nodded. “Mostly I agree, but some of the things people try to smuggle in can be dangerous. I’ve even seen at least one Relic since I started. Plus, I think they’re overstaffed here. After what Kuldain did, word has gotten around, and Wilva is calling in as many Watchers as she can.”
“Do you think we’ll see Major Skellig then?”
Naem shook his head. “No, I think the General wants her to stay put since that is where most of the trouble originated. She’s even sending reinforcements and a new Colonel to replace her.”
“Replace Skellig! But she was amazing! She should be Colonel.”
“I agree, I’m just repeating what I heard. But anyway, what’s happened with you?”
“Well, I’ve managed to make a Healing brand stick.” She leaned in close and whispered. “And a Flamedancer brand, though the teachers don’t know about that yet. It’s supposed to be one of the hardest.”
Naem chuckled. “I mean, what happened at the cathedral? Are you okay?”
“Oh, that.” Jak paused, and then shrugged. “I guess I’m alright. They haven’t made me go back, so nothing has happened since, and I haven’t seen that Royal Priest again. He gave me the creeps. Just like Kuldain used to.”
“You don’t suppose he’s a demon in disguise too?”
Jak thought that through. “Could be. It would explain a lot. And if you’re a demon, what better position of power than the nation’s religious leader and advisor to the queen.”
Naem smiled and nudged her across the table. “Want to look into it together? Maybe catch him in his demon tracks?”
His smile faltered as Jak immediately shook her head. “Something like that will come out eventually, and we’ve got a massive number of Watchers here. They’ll take care of him. All we’d do is get in the way.”
“That doesn’t sound like any fun.” Naem deflated from his recent excitement, slouching a bit more in his seat.
“Well, we both have better things to do. I’m best suited here, learning.” Suddenly, Jak remembered the other exciting thing to happen to her since she arrived. “Oh! Naem, you’ll never guess what Gabriel has been up to.”
Then she told him everything that had happened since that day when she travelled down the coast to see the student excavators. She told him about their transformation and the Relic behind all of it.
“So you’re telling me, Gabriel has a Relic that transforms people into fish, right here in the college!” Naem sounded incredulous.
“Hey, Jak!” Jak jumped as Amelia jumped into space next to her. “Who’s this? He’s handsome. What’s this about a Relic?”
“It’s nothing, Amelia.” Jak did her best to shrug it off. “This is Naem. Naem, this is Amelia.”
“Oh, you’re that Naem. The one Jak has been telling me about. She says she thinks your name is funny. But I think it’s about as appropriate as one could possibly have. Glad to meet you!”
Amelia thrust out her hand, which Naem took with some trepidation. “Nice to meet you too…”
Once shaken, Amelia withdrew her hand. “So seriously, what’s this about a Relic.”
Jak cursed herself and Naem for not being more careful. What had they been doing talking about these things in the open? Anyone could have been listening. “I told you, it’s nothing. Just talk.”
“No, I distinctly heard him say that my grandfather has a Relic that turns people into fish. I haven’t seen many fish about. Well, no more than usual. Suddenly she stared at her plate in horror. “There’s fish in my lunch! You don’t suppose…”
“Calm down, Amelia.” Jak grabbed her friend’s arm and pulled her back down. Naem looked like he was using all his willpower to keep from laughing. Jak scowled at him. This was his fault after all. “We live in a coastal city, they put fish in everything.”
Amelia sat, though she seemed thoroughly flustered by her own wild imagination.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you what we were talking about,” Jak said.
“Why not?” Naem asked out of the blue.
Jak stared at him, trying to tell him through her wide eyes that now was not the time to debate this. Naem ignored her. “I mean, she said she’s Gabriel’s granddaughter, right? And she’s your friend, knowing what happens around you, she’ll probably find out anyway.”
“I don’t—” Jak hushed herself. Why was Naem trusting Amelia so quickly? He had only just met her, and already he said she should know about the Fae. Did Naem know something she didn’t? “Gabriel told me that you were the only one I could tell.”
“Well, you have to tell me now.” Amelia’s face looked hurt. “You can’t just say a thing like that and not tell a girl.”
Jak finally gave in. “Okay, but not here. We’ve said too much already.”
They left and retreated to an empty hallway. Once they were sure no one was about, Amelia whispered.“Okay, so what’s going on?”
Jak filled her in, reluctantly at first, but she focused mainly on the new Water Fae and the Relic that had caused it. Naem stood with his arms crossed at the end of the hallway, watching for anyone who might wander into their conversation.
By the end of Jak’s explanation, Amelia’s eyes were wider than Jak had ever seen them. And that was saying something. “So you’re saying that there are more Fae, besides the ones you met in the Hollow Peaks?”
Jak nodded. “I would imagine they could come from anywhere with the right catalyst, like the Relic they found.”
“And grandfather Gabriel has that Relic right now?”
“Yeah, it’s probably in his quarters.”
“Could we see it?” Amelia’s eyes glistened with excitement. Naem seemed interested as well, taking one step closer to the conversation.
“I don’t think that would be a good idea,” Jak explained. “He's hiding it in a box that keeps it from affecting people. I saw the box, you can’t see inside.”
“Ah, come on, Jak.” Naem put a hand on her shoulder. “That wouldn’t have stopped you before. This is a genuine, powerful Relic we have here. Can’t we just take a peak.”
“I don’t think…”
“I know how to get to his quarters!” Amelia all but ignored Jak’s protests. “Come on this way.”
Jak went along with them but regretted every step. “Hold up, someone will see us, and we’ll get into so much trouble.”
But Amelia and Naem didn’t seem to hear her. They rounded a corner and almost collided with none other than Estel.
Jak blinked. What was Estel doing here? This wasn’t the Watcher camp. And as Jak took her in, she realized that Estel was hurt. She clutched at one side with one hand, and the other covered a part of her neck that seemed red underneath.
“Estel?” Naem seemed equally confused. “What are you doing here?”
“Eh, nothing. Just visiting a friend.”
Estel hurried past them, not even bothering to give Jak her signature glare. Something weird was going on.
“Um, guys?” Amelia said. “She was coming from my grandfather’s room.”
“Are you sure?” Jak faced Amelia, locking eyes.
“Positive, there’s nothing else in that direction. This hallway leads exclusively
to the Head Professor’s room.”
Jak swallowed. “Estel didn’t look like she was in the best shape. Let’s see what she was up to.”
They followed the passageway until it led to a large door set in a stone frame. What they found made Jak’s heart skip a beat.
The door was partially smashed in like someone had tried to knock it down with their boot. But the door was still attached to its hinges. If Estel had tried to break in, she wouldn’t have been able to get through the door without smashing it completely.
Naem approached the door. “Why is it only partially…”
“Wait, stand back!” Jak grabbed Naem by his shoulder strap and pulled him backward, just as a jet of fire erupted right where his chest had been a moment before.
They all stood there, wide-eyed until the fire died down.
“It’s warded.” Jak clarified. “I just saw the brand on the stones right before you entered them. There are other wards here too, besides fire. Estel might have set them off.”
Naem was staring at the marks on the stone. “You’re saying he’s keeping people from entering his own room?”
“I’ll bet there’s a way to deactivate them. Gabriel would know, but he’s not here, obviously.”
“We should tell Semwei,” Amelia offered.
Jak agreed. They would have to come up with an explanation for being somewhere they shouldn’t, but this was too important to keep from the Headmistress.
“And I think we should try to see where Estel went,” Jak added.
Naem nodded and turned to Amelia. “Could you tell your Headmistress about this if we follow the girl?”
“Um, me? By myself?” Amelia had never been too comfortable around Semwei.
“You’ll do fine, Amelia.” Jak tried her best to comfort the girl. “You’re just reporting a disturbance. You can say you were going to see if your grandfather was home.”
Amelia didn’t look all that convinced, but a look of determination settled on her face. “Okay, good luck to you.”
Growing Ripples: An Epic YA Fantasy Adventure (Roots of Creation Book 2) Page 8