He waved but didn’t attempt to call back to them, and only seconds later yet more people came pouring out of a nearby ground level door. The red and gold uniforms of the Royal Guard swarmed us, and their general wasn’t far behind.
“What happened here?” barked Thaddeus, surveying the destruction and both of us. His eyes narrowed and several of the guards moved toward me, but Lucas moved as well. It was only a single step in my direction, a subtle movement, but it aligned us together. The guards halted, glancing between the prince and their general.
King Stellan appeared beside Thaddeus, and the guards all stood to attention while I dropped into a hasty curtsy.
“Lucas! What is this?” The king’s attention remained focused on his son.
Lucas’s back straightened slightly. “The balcony collapsed, Father. We can be thankful there weren’t more people on it at the time.”
Something passed between their eyes, and the king nodded. “I felt your use of power.”
Was the king alluding to the other power? The one that had brought the balcony down? If he had felt that working as well, he seemed willing to pretend he hadn’t and accept Lucas’s public explanation of a simple collapse—at least for now and in front of so many witnesses.
“A fortunate thing you were on hand to soften the fall, Your Highness,” said Thaddeus. “Or we might have had a tragedy.” His eyes dwelled on me in a way that made me think he wouldn’t have found it too tragic as long as I had been the only victim.
“It would have been more fortunate if my son had not been required to draw on his personal store of compositions.” The coldness in the king’s voice made the general stiffen. “It would have been more fortunate if your guards had done their job.”
Thaddeus bowed to the king. “Certainly, Sire. I shall review the situation myself. And I shall dispatch teams immediately to examine the remaining balconies for any signs of instability or weakness.”
I opened my mouth to blurt out that it had not been an accidental collapse, but Lucas’s hand shot out and gripped my arm so hard that I shut it again in surprise. By the time anyone’s attention had returned to us, his hand had disappeared back to his side. But I kept silent all the same.
“It seems to me,” said Lucas, his voice steady and calm, “that a thorough examination of the entire palace might be in order. Preferably with the assistance of a team of creators. After all, it has been generations now since the creators first constructed this place.”
“An excellent suggestion,” said the king. “See to it, Thaddeus.”
The general bowed again and turned to bark orders at the guards, whose numbers had swelled with the arrival of the king. Many of them took off in different directions, and only when the majority had disappeared did he turn back to us.
“Naturally Prince Lucas will wish to return to his birthday celebration,” Thaddeus said. “But I imagine the young lady is in some shock. I can have my men escort—”
Lucas frowned, but at which part of the speech I couldn’t be sure. And before he or anyone else could respond, a new arrival cut in.
“I assure you that won’t be necessary, Thaddeus.” Lorcan had joined us, flanked by Jocasta and Walden. My relief at the sight of their familiar faces surprised me.
“Elena is our student, and we will naturally see her back to the calm and safety of the Academy.”
Thaddeus narrowed his eyes but gave a brisk nod. “Very well. In that case, I have important matters to attend to.”
He strode away, and Lorcan gestured me to his side before bowing to the king and Lucas. “Your Majesty. Your Highness. I hope you will excuse our hasty departure from your delightful celebration.”
King Stellan inclined his head toward all three instructors. “No, indeed. You must accept our apology on behalf of your student for the unfortunate accident. Naturally we will ensure such a thing does not happen again.”
I sucked in a breath. Was he serious? I was the one on the balcony when it collapsed, and I was standing right here. Was he really directing his apology at the senior mage who hadn’t even been present at the so-called accident?
But of course he was. I didn’t know why I was surprised.
I caught Lucas giving me an uneasy sideways look and narrowed my eyes at him. I might have trouble keeping from snapping at him, but even I knew better than to lose control in front of the king.
Coralie appeared from nowhere as soon as the king and Lucas had swept away, and it was only with some difficulty that I convinced her to stay at the celebration.
“I’m fine, truly I am,” I assured her. “Please stay and enjoy yourself enough for both of us.”
“She is in good hands,” Lorcan said with a look of half amusement and half exasperation.
“Go!” I gave her a gentle shove, and she reluctantly disappeared back toward the ballroom.
“Now, Elena, if you please.” Lorcan gestured for me to follow him, and the other two instructors fell in around us.
I couldn’t help the feeling that they were shielding me as they hurried me out of the palace grounds and down the short stretch of road to the Academy. We didn’t bother to wait for a carriage, and I hugged myself in a useless attempt to keep out the cold.
None of us spoke, and I was glad for it, my mind racing too fast to form coherent words. Far too many intense things had happened in the last hour for normal processing.
I let them lead me into Lorcan’s study without protesting, sinking into the nearest chair. For a moment the warmth now enveloping me made me close my eyes. I tried to ready myself for the barrage of questions that was no doubt incoming, but the first comment didn’t seem directed to me.
“Did either of you feel something?”
My eyes shot open to find Lorcan regarding the other two instructors.
“Not either of the prince’s two workings,” he clarified, “but before that. When the balcony collapsed.”
Jocasta and Walden exchanged a look, and Walden shrugged while Jocasta shifted uneasily.
“Maybe? It’s hard to say. There were too many compositions being used at the celebration to be sure.”
Lorcan rubbed his chin. “Yes, that’s what I was afraid of.” He stalked over and collapsed into the chair behind his desk. “Oh, Thaddeus will investigate, no doubt, but I can’t imagine he’ll find anything. Not anything conclusive, anyway.”
I blinked and looked between the three of them. Only Jocasta glanced my way, a frown between her eyes, but she made no effort to address me directly. Apparently the presence of an eyewitness was not of interest to them. Not when the eyewitness was me, at any rate.
I stood abruptly. Walden started and hurried over to grasp my hand.
“And are you truly unharmed, my dear? What a terrifying experience! Thank goodness Lucas was on hand.”
His warmth softened his assumption that Lucas must have saved me—an assumption they all seemed to share—and I managed a smile. I could hardly blame him when he’d been working so hard to help me unlock my powers without success. I even felt a little guilty for not immediately telling him the truth about what had happened when the balcony collapsed.
“Indeed,” said Lorcan thoughtfully. “We must speak with the prince as soon as he returns to the Academy. He may have sensed something given his presence at the scene.”
I narrowed my eyes. I had no such compunction about concealing the truth from Lorcan, and certainly felt no inclination to be open with him now.
“I’m going to bed,” I said, instead.
His eyes swung to me. “Indeed. A wise choice, I’m sure. And I think in future, it might be best if you confined yourself to Academy grounds.”
I raised both eyebrows. “Is that an order? Am I forbidden to leave the Academy?”
Lorcan drummed his fingers on the desk. “Students are not prisoners. Such a thing would be unprecedented, and we are trying…” He frowned. “Let us say that I strongly recommend—”
“I’ll take it under advisement,” I said, m
y voice flat.
Lorcan’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t actually protest, waving a dismissal instead. I left his office and climbed the stairs with my head in a whirl, my feet finding the familiar way while my head was somewhere else entirely.
I had felt power swelling over the balcony as it cracked, I was sure of it. Although apparently the composition had been too subtle—and too lost in a sea of other compositions—for anyone else to be sure of its origin or even existence.
I had also saved myself with a spoken composition. I was sure of that, too, although I had no clear idea of how exactly I had achieved it, and everyone seemed to be attributing my use of power to Lucas, suggesting my second working must have had a little more control than my first.
All I wanted to do now was try again. Perhaps the near catastrophe had unlocked something. I certainly hoped so, since if my power could only be accessed in moments of extreme stress, that was far from ideal.
But caution held me back from attempting anything further tonight, the collapse of the balcony having refreshed the memory of the crushing stones in the library. Better to wait until I could ask for Walden’s help. He could set up some sort of shield before I started experimenting.
Surely now that we had two instances to draw on, we could find some shared aspect between the two that might unlock my ability.
Despite my statement to Lorcan about heading for bed, when I actually reached my room, I couldn’t bring myself to climb into it. Even my room felt too constricted, and I soon ended up pacing the deserted corridor, all of the other first years still at the Midwinter celebration.
I kept my steps to the left side of the staircase, not wanting to intrude on the domain of the second years. Many of them were no doubt celebrating Midwinter with their families, but I didn’t want to risk running into anyone right now. At the first sign of returning first years, I would dash back to my room. I suspected Coralie would come knocking, but I intended to feign sleep. I wasn’t ready to talk about what had happened with anyone. Not until I worked out if I could finally unlock my abilities properly.
It ticked over midnight—Midwinter no longer—but I didn’t expect anyone back that early. No doubt the festivities would continue long into the night. And I knew my year mates had been looking forward to them too much to want to come home early.
Home. The thought stopped me. When had the Academy become home in my mind? I shook myself. This wasn’t my home, and I couldn’t forget that. My thoughts flew to my true home, and I wished I could have seen the look on Clemmy’s face when Jasper turned up to surprise them. How happy they must all be now. How happy I would be if I was only there with them.
I let my mind wander from the mysteries of my ability and the strangeness of the court to dwell in Kingslee instead. It had only been a season and a half, and yet it scared me how much the memories of my home were fading.
A soft sound behind me made me swing around. Had I missed my opportunity to escape before the other students returned?
But the figure that stepped out of the shadows caught me completely by surprise.
“Lucas? What are you doing here?”
He took another step forward, and I took one back.
“Don’t you have a suite with the fourth years? What are you doing all the way up here?”
“Looking for you.” He took another step forward, and I took another one back.
“You shouldn’t be here, you should be at your birthday celebrations.”
He just shrugged and stepped again. This time my back hit the wall, just to one side of the tall window at the end of the corridor. Moonlight bathed us both as he finally closed the distance between us.
“I came looking for you,” he repeated.
“Why?” I asked, my voice coming out more shakily than I had intended. This was the second time tonight I had found myself standing in the moonlight, far too close to the prince.
“Elena.” His voice wound around my name in a way I had never imagined but I knew would now haunt my dreams. “You were standing on a balcony that collapsed. And you saved yourself with your words. Do you have any idea how incredible…” He shook his head. “Clearly you don’t.”
I stiffened, but when his eyes dropped to my lips, for once words deserted me. If only he would step back, perhaps I might be able to think again. Think about something other than how unutterably handsome and commanding he looked, still in his party finery, at any rate. And how much I hated him for looking like that when I disliked him so much.
“You felt it, right?” I forced myself to form the words.
He pulled his gaze up to my eyes, a frown pulling his brow down.
“Your working? Yes, of course.”
“No, before that. When the balcony started to collapse.”
“Oh. That.” He braced himself on the wall behind me with one arm, looking downward to examine my face. “You felt that too?”
“Yes, I felt it.” Somehow the words came out even though I wasn’t sure I remembered how to breathe. I reminded myself he only had one hand up. I wasn’t trapped. I could leave whenever I wanted to. Just as soon as my legs began working again.
“Non-mages can’t feel power, you know.”
“Wait? Really?” That shocked me enough to break through my stupor. How had I not known that before? Because naturally mages don’t write books about common folk and their experiences.
So I couldn’t write safely, but I could feel power. One count for, one count against. I wished I’d known the significance of that all those times I’d doubted myself.
“You are a mystery, Elena.”
He regarded me with such a look of fascination, I put both hands against his chest and pushed. Hard. I wasn’t a puzzle for the entertainment of a prince.
He gave way, dropping his arm and moving back a step.
“The real mystery is who collapsed that balcony.” I gave him a hard look. “And whether they meant for you to still be on it or not.”
His face didn’t change, and I knew he’d already thought this through. But he didn’t reply, and I sighed.
“You didn’t say anything. To Thaddeus. About it not being an accident. About me.”
“Thaddeus is…”
“Your cousin?”
“A Stantorn.”
“What does that mean?”
He shrugged as if lost for words.
I sighed and moved to step around him. “Go to bed, Lucas. Or back to your party. I don’t need or want you here.”
His hand closed around my arm, halting my progress. His eyes found mine.
“It didn’t harm you? That fall? Not at all?”
“As you see.” I made a sweeping gesture down my body, but instantly regretted it when his eyes followed my motion. I still wore the green Midwinter dress, and I wished for my normal sturdy outfit and a thick cloak. This prince brought up far too many emotions in me, and I wished I could hide away from him and never have to entangle them all.
“Do you think you could do it again?”
“What—fall?”
But my sarcastic reply somehow didn’t seem like enough. I considered. “Honestly? I don’t know.”
His lips parted slightly, but he only nodded thoughtfully. I pulled away before he could ask me to keep him updated or something. I owed him nothing.
But as I reached my own door, my steps faltered. I remembered the way he had moved toward me back at the palace, aligning himself with me, halting the approach of the guards. I looked back at him over my shoulder.
“Happy Birthday, Lucas,” I said softly.
The moonlight clearly illuminated the surprise on his face, and I gestured at the dark sky outside the window.
“It’s after midnight. Today is your birthday, right?”
He nodded slowly, and I gave him the smallest of smiles.
“So Happy Birthday, Prince.”
I heard his sigh as I closed my door behind me.
Chapter 18
The trainees had all been given the d
ay after Midwinter off. Many had spent the night with their families, making us a small group over breakfast. Lucas didn’t appear. Had he returned to the palace and the celebration after our conversation?
I was tempted to ask Coralie, but instead reminded myself I didn’t care what he had done. My friend had danced into the small hours and barely made it down in time to grab a plate of food before it was cleared away.
Her exhaustion saved me from an endless string of questions—all of which would no doubt be coming soon enough. But I used her distraction with the food to slip away as soon as possible. I had plans for my free day.
When I pushed open the double doors, I discovered I was the only student to rush to the library on my day off. Which was perfect for my plans. As long as the library head hadn’t also taken the day off.
But when I knocked on Walden’s office door, a bleary, “Come in,” sounded.
“Ah, Elena, I should have known it would be you.” He gestured for me to take a seat across from his desk. “And how are you feeling this morning? Fully recovered?”
I ignored his questions, too on edge for small talk. I leaned forward in my chair, my hands bouncing against my knees.
“Lucas didn’t save me, Walden.”
He blinked and frowned. “I’m sorry, I don’t quite…”
“Last night. When the balcony collapsed. Lucas didn’t save me. I saved myself.” I didn’t mention the power I had felt as it collapsed. They already seemed to have some inkling of that, and right now I was too focused on my own ability to want to be delayed talking about it.
“You…” Walden blinked again and then leaned forward across his desk. “You saved yourself? With a composition. Verbal?”
I just gave him an exasperated look. “No with a written one I had stashed on my person. Of course verbal!”
None of the other instructors would have appreciated my sarcasm, but he just chuckled.
“But Elena, that is incredible news. Why didn’t you tell us last night?”
“None of you asked.” I slid back slightly in my chair and tried not to look like a sulky schoolchild.
Walden shook his head. “That we did not. Our mistake, it seems. But tell me everything. Everything.”
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