He stopped in front of Senda and wanted to lift her chin, to kiss her as he once had, but he sensed the reluctance within her and knew that if he did—or attempted to—she would resist. That wasn’t the welcome that he wanted.
“It was a message,” Senda said.
He stopped moving toward Senda and frowned. “Who would send a message using the ancient language?”
“You see the difficulty.”
“I don’t see anything. If someone wrote a message in the ancient language, it would be directed to someone else able to read it.”
“Yes.”
Endric took a step back and studied her. What was she not sharing with him? When she’d served under Listain, he’d grown accustomed to her keeping things from him. Listain didn’t want her to share everything, and even as en’raen, his rank didn’t entitle him to knowing everything that Listain knew.
This felt different.
“Senda. What did it say?”
She sighed. “It should have gone to your father, not to Urik.”
He grunted. “That’s not surprising.” What was surprising would be the fact that his father could read the ancient language well enough to be able to translate a message written in it. There were few who had such knowledge of the ancient language, and he had figured it would be confined to scholars like those in the university or the historian guild, or to the Magi.
Magi?
A message in that room, directed toward his father.
“Tresten?” he whispered.
Senda studied him. “How did you know that?”
“Who else would use the ancient language to send a message? And there’s a reason it was in Urik’s old quarters.”
But Dendril wouldn’t have gone to Urik’s old quarters, and if Tresten knew that Urik wasn’t there, he wouldn’t have left it for just anyone.
It was where Tresten would have expected Endric to look and no one else.
“It was for me, wasn’t it?”
“Endric—”
“What did it say?”
“The message was directed to you, but I can’t confirm what it says.”
“You don’t have to confirm. If it came from Tresten and was directed to me, I need to know what it says.”
“No.”
“No?” That wasn’t what he expected.
“I’m not going to argue with you on this, Endric. In the general’s absence, I’m leading the Denraen. I can’t have you disrupting that.”
“I don’t want to disrupt it. I want to know what message Tresten left for me.”
If there was a message, then it meant Tresten really wasn’t dead. It meant that what Elizabeth had told him was true. It meant there was another reason for the Mage’s absence.
But if there was a message and it was directed at Endric, he needed to know why… and what it said.
“You have to wait for Dendril to return. I’ll let him decide what to do with the message.”
“And you won’t tell me when that might be.”
“I don’t know when it might be.”
He stared at her, frustration rising within him. He took a step back and crossed his arms over his chest. “Why won’t you tell me? If the message is directed at me, I deserve to know.”
“You’ll have to trust me that I can’t share with you.”
“Trust?”
“Fine. A command. Is that what you wanted to hear?”
He frowned. It wasn’t what he wanted to hear. What he wanted was for them to have the same connection they once had shared. What he wanted was for them to work together, and for him not to feel as if he’d returned to something he didn’t know and didn’t fit in.
Instead, he felt there was a greater distance between them than ever.
“I will follow my command,” he said.
Her brow furrowed and she nodded. “I know you will.”
13
Endric waited for Urik on the edge of the barracks. He finished his sparring session, having worked with each of the men willing to face him again, and now remained hidden in the shadows, scanning the barracks. He’d seen how Urik tended to wander. He was confined to the barracks level only, though even that confinement wouldn’t restrict him from leaving were he to really try. He knew ways through the mines, which meant that there was nothing they could do that would completely restrict his movement.
Senda had asked Endric for patience, but that was never his strong suit. If the message was for him, if Tresten were somehow trying to get word to him, Endric needed to know. Senda might think that she were protecting the Denraen by not telling him, but there were things she didn’t know.
Could this be about the Conclave? That had been his first thought after leaving Senda, after she had refused to share with him the contents of the message, but if this had to do with the Conclave, he would have expected the message to have been directed to his father and not to him. Dendril was an integral part of the Conclave and would be better suited to whatever secret Tresten thought he needed to share with the Conclave.
Unless it was something he didn’t feel he could share with Dendril.
Endric didn’t know where Dendril sat with the Conclave. When the Deshmahne had attacked and Dendril had been separated from them, he recalled a conversation where Tresten had chastised Dendril, making it clear that he needed to take a greater role with the Conclave once again. Maybe it was all tied to that.
He saw no sign of Urik.
He could wait. He needed to be patient, and that patience would be the way that he would eventually find Urik and discover what he’d learned from the message.
As he waited, he noted Pendin staggering across the lawn.
He was clearly intoxicated, and it was early. Was this the sort of thing that Pendin had been doing? Was this how he had been spending his time in the days that Endric had been gone?
With a sigh, he hurried across the lawn and grabbed Pendin, dragging him across the yard, propping him upright.
“Endric?” Pendin asked, slurring his words.
“What are you doing?” Endric asked.
“I was trying to find my way to my regiment.”
“You’re in no shape to find your regiment.”
“No shape? I’m fine.” He started to stumble, but Endric held him upright.
If anything, the time spent wandering the mountains with the Antrilii had made Endric much stronger. He had thought himself well conditioned before, but spending time there had disabused him of that notion. Compared to the Antrilii, he had not been well conditioned.
“I’m going to get you away from here.”
“If you do that, I’m going to be docked for behavior.”
Endric grunted. “I think you already deserve that, don’t you?”
Pendin tried to pull away, but Endric held on to him. “Don’t do this, Endric. Just let me go.”
“The same way you let me go when I was acting like an ass?”
Pendin looked over at him. His eyes were bloodshot and his breath stunk of ale. It wasn’t only his breath. Everything about Pendin stunk. It was a foul odor of stale sweat mixed with vomit.
They reached the gate to the barracks and Endric nodded to the soldiers watching it before guiding Pendin out and down the sloping ramp leading away from the second terrace. He had to fight against Pendin the entire time, struggling to keep him from falling over, but managed to keep him propped mostly upright. The farther they got from the barracks, the less Endric was concerned about discovery. What did it matter if others saw him escorting his friend away?
“Where are you taking me?” Pendin looked around and seemed to realize that they had reached the first terrace. “If you wanted to go drinking, you could have just told me. I know the perfect place—”
“You don’t know any perfect place. You’ve been kicked out of all of those places.”
Pendin made a face at him. “Then what are you doing? Where are you bringing me?”
Endric remained silent. He wasn’t certain tha
t this plan would even work, that they would even accept Pendin, but he needed to get him away from the barracks and needed to keep his friend safe somehow. Endric couldn’t watch him, not with the level of intensity that he needed.
That left him with only a few options, but really only one good one.
As they neared the university, Pendin seemed to recognize it. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“I’m bringing you someplace where you can’t cause as much trouble.”
“You’re bringing me to my father?”
Endric glanced over as they reached the gate and shook his head. “No. I’m bringing you to your mother.” He turned and nodded to the two scholars waiting at the gate. Neither had been here the last time. Endric pulled himself upright, thankful that he wore his Denraen uniform, thrusting his chest forward and hoping that his insignia of rank would draw attention.
“I need to see Elizabeth.”
“No, he doesn’t,” Pendin said.
The two scholars glanced at each other before frowning at Endric. “The Denraen have no—”
Endric stepped toward the man who’d spoken. He was shorter and slender. “I’m very aware that the Denraen don’t have jurisdiction. Or at least, that the university convinces themselves that they do not have jurisdiction. Either you’re going to open the gate for me or I’m going to force myself in. If you think you can stop me, you’re welcome to try.”
“You wouldn’t know—”
Endric ignored them and pushed past the two men. They tried to holler at him but he ignored them, hurrying through the streets of the university, making his way toward the same nondescript building Elizabeth had occupied the last time. When he reached it, he knocked, stepping back and waiting.
“You’re a bastard, you know that?” Pendin asked.
“I’m a bastard who cares about you.”
“I would never have done this to you.”
“You would if it meant saving me.”
“Saving me? Is that what you think you’re doing? Bringing me here, to my mother of all people, isn’t saving me. You’re tormenting me.”
“If that’s what you think, I’m fine tormenting you, especially if it means that you’re going to get the help that you need.”
“My mother doesn’t care enough to help me.”
“I think you’re wrong.”
“And you know her so well? The one time that we came here has given you such insight into my mother’s feelings about me?”
Endric shot him a look. “What makes you think that was the only time I’ve spoken to your mother?”
“When else did you speak to her?”
Endric sighed. “It doesn’t matter.”
Pendin tried to pull away, but Endric held on to him. Pendin fought until it became apparent that Endric wouldn’t loosen his grip, and then he relaxed.
Endric knocked on the door again, waiting for Elizabeth.
He hadn’t given much thought to what he would do if she weren’t here. He supposed that he could find Pendin’s father, though that would be a little more difficult. His father would be surrounded by others of the university, which made passing through more noticeable. The advantage of going to Elizabeth was that there wouldn’t be many people to recognize them.
“See? She doesn’t care enough to even answer the door.”
“She’ll answer,” Endric said.
“And if she doesn’t? What you intend to do then?” Pendin tried jerking away but Endric held firmly. “Just bring me back out. We can go to a tavern. You can drink and I’ll watch.”
“No more drinking.”
Pendin grinned. “None? I don’t believe that you will abandon drinking entirely. You like the ale is much as I do.”
“I don’t think there are many who do.”
Pendin sneered at him. “You’re just doing this because you’re upset that Senda outranks you.”
“If that’s what you think, that’s fine. If you were sober, you would recognize how ridiculous that comment is.”
“Is it because your father released Urik? Are you mad that everything we went through means nothing?”
“It means something. We stopped the Ravers from attacking. We maintained peace in the north. And we managed to capture Urik and prevent him from spreading knowledge of teralin, knowledge that he intended to use for dangerous purposes. I know you better than this, Pendin. I know that you see how much we were able to accomplish.”
“I see my friend abandoned me. I see another friend ignoring me now that she’s reached the rank she’s always sought. And I see a traitor roaming the barracks freely.”
Endric glanced over and sighed. “If that’s all you see, then it seems the drink has clouded your vision as well.”
Pendin laughed. “It is ironic that you’re the one who is chastising me.”
“You said that before. I doesn’t change the fact that I am the one here with you. The same way that you were there with me when I made mistakes.”
Pendin opened his mouth but quickly clamped it closed.
Endric knocked again, this time pounding with more force. He needed to get Elizabeth to open the door, needed her to help him.
The door opened slowly and Endric expected the old woman to answer, but it wasn’t her. This time, it was an older man, the same one Endric had seen when they first came to Elizabeth, guided by Pendin’s father.
“You shouldn’t be here,” the old man said.
“I didn’t know where else to bring him.”
The man studied Pendin. “You’re here for him?” He leaned in and his nose pinched as he took a breath. “Follow me.”
The man guided them into the room. Somehow, it had changed from the last time Endric had been here, just a few weeks prior. How was that possible? It was a wide hallway, with portraits hanging along the walls. They weren’t quite like the portraits that he’d seen the first time he’d been to visit Elizabeth. Those had a strangeness to them, a quality that made them seem as if they wanted to draw him into the picture, as if something were attempting to pull on him.
When they reached the stair, Endric grabbed the man’s arm. “No games this time. I need to see Elizabeth.”
The man frowned at him. “Games?”
“I don’t need to be trapped in some hallway with teralin. Whatever test she thought she needed to use on us, I don’t have the patience for it.”
The man watched Endric for a moment before nodding. “No games.”
They made their way down the stair. At the bottom, there was a massive teralin door. It was the same door that they’d seen when they’d come before. The man tapped on a few spots on the door and it slid open.
Endric waited, motioning for the man to lead him.
“I’m not allowed beyond this point.”
“And I’m not going to go through here until I know this isn’t some sort of trick again.”
“No tricks.”
Endric turned to see Elizabeth standing with her hands on her hips. She wasn’t dressed like one of the scholars, but then again, she never had been. She wore a simple gray dress with a locket around her neck. Her eyes darted from Endric to Pendin before she nodded.
“Thank you, Petra. You may leave us.”
When the man departed, she turned to Endric. “Why did you bring him to me?”
“I didn’t have anywhere else to bring him. He’s drunk.”
“I can see that.”
“It’s not even noon.”
“I’m aware of the time.”
“Then you’re aware that he’s far enough gone that he needs help.”
“Just bring him somewhere that he can dry out.”
“Dry out? He’s drunk and it’s not even noon. He needs more than just drying out. He needs help.”
“And what do you expect me to do?”
Endric was shocked by the response. He had expected that she would offer to help and that she would do whatever it took to get Pendin what he needed. He hadn’t expected that she
would refuse. That thought hadn’t even crossed Endric’s mind.
“You’re his mother. I expect that you will try to help him.”
“He left to join the Denraen. The Denraen should be responsible for rehabilitating him.”
“If he stays with the Denraen, and if he remains intoxicated like this, he will wash out. Now, that might be what you want, but I know that’s not what Pendin wants. He’s a good soldier and he deserves help.”
Elizabeth considered Pendin for a long moment, and Endric wondered if she would refuse again or if she would take pity on her son. He wasn’t certain which it would be. Even if she decided to keep Pendin here, Endric wasn’t certain that his friend would get the help that he needed. If Elizabeth was convinced she wasn’t able to help them, there might not be anything he could do to convince her otherwise.
“He wouldn’t want my help,” Elizabeth said.
Endric recognized the hurt in her voice. Pendin’s parents had been disappointed that he’d left the university and had gone to become Denraen. That didn’t mean they didn’t care about him.
“He doesn’t want anyone’s help right now. That’s just the problem. He doesn’t know what he needs. That’s why we need to show him. He can’t be given the choice.”
Elizabeth sighed. “I will do what I can.”
“That’s all I can ask.”
“How will you explain it?”
Endric hadn’t given enough thought of that yet. He could claim that Pendin had been reassigned, but that would require Senda’s cooperation. Would she help?
It troubled him that he had to even wonder. Senda cared about her friends and cared about Pendin, but she was far enough invested in her role that she might not feel as if she could help.
“I’m en’raen. I’ll find some way to explain it.”
“From what I understand, your rank means little since your return.”
He frowned and nodded. “Maybe that’s true. Maybe my rank does mean little, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t still serve as I’m needed to.”
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