A number of trainees already sat there. Some chatted enthusiastically, clearly already familiar with each other, while others sat in near silence, looking everything from morose to terrified. But many of their eyes were focused on our table and two sandy heads in particular. I kept my face in a flat mask, but my interest in the first years instantly disappeared.
I had to pass the two princes to reach Bryony, and Jareth leaped to his feet at the sight of me, forcing me to a reluctant stop in front of them.
“Princess Verene!” He gave me an elegant half-bow. “It is an honor as always. I heard about the, ahem, excitement of your arrival, and I’m delighted to see you looking so well.”
I gave him the slightest curtsy I could manage, trying to decide what was more agonizing—talking to Jareth about my attack when I suspected him of having played a hand in it or talking to Jareth in front of a silent, icy Darius who was no doubt aware and disapproving of every suspicion in my mind.
“I’m glad to have safely arrived,” I said in a carefully neutral tone. “I greatly appreciated the assistance of Captain Vincent.”
“Ah yes.” Jareth smiled. “Vincent has always been an excellent guard, both vigilant and skilled. My grandfather wouldn’t have selected him for the role otherwise.”
“Your grandfather?” I gave him a sharper look, distracted from my discomfort. “General Haddon chose Captain Vincent? I had understood he was assigned here by the king.”
“Well, yes, he was in a way, I suppose,” Jareth said. “My father was the one to insist that if both his sons were attending the Academy, then a new captain was needed to ensure our safety. But my grandfather is the Head of the Royal Guard. He was the one best placed to make the actual selection.”
“That makes sense,” I said slowly.
“Grandfather chose Vincent?” Darius asked, showing interest in the conversation for the first time. “Why didn’t I know that?”
“Didn’t you?” Jareth looked at his brother in surprise. “I assumed you knew. I suppose I must have overheard Grandfather talking about it at some point.”
“So Father requested and later approved him, but Grandfather actually chose him…That changes things,” Darius said in an under voice.
For a brief moment, our eyes met, and I felt the same burning connection that had drawn me to him before the summer. I easily understood his unspoken message. Both sides of the Kallorwegian court had played a part in selecting the captain, which greatly increased the chances of his neutrality—and subsequent trustworthiness. But then Darius’s shutters slammed closed, his indifference returning as he turned his attention to his food without any direct acknowledgment of my presence.
I swallowed, ice chasing the rush of heat out of my body as I scrambled to recover my own mask. Jareth looked from me to Darius, frowning, but said nothing. I forced myself to give him a nod and then urged my feet to move, carrying me further down the table to my waiting friend.
With each step I took away from the brothers, my mind cleared a little. So Jareth had known more about Vincent and his assignment to the Academy than he had ever told Darius. My first instinctive desire was to discuss the significance of that with Darius. But even in the days when we had been open with each other and worked together, I had never been free to discuss my suspicions of Jareth. Darius would no doubt take Jareth’s assurance that he had thought Darius knew at face value and refuse to consider any other possibility.
“What did Jareth want?” Bryony asked quietly when I sank into a chair beside her. She glared down the table at the younger prince, as always far more open with her thoughts and opinions than I was ever free to be.
“To congratulate me on my escape, of course. Ugh.” I began filling my plate with food, not wanting to think about the prince and how he continued to fill me with such unease.
“So you still think he’s involved somehow?” Bryony asked. “And that attack was connected to all the ones last year.”
I shrugged. “It seems the most logical assumption. And there’s just something I don’t trust about Jareth.” I groaned. “Not that I could ever convince Darius of that.”
“It’s hard to be objective when it comes to family,” Bryony said.
“Don’t defend Darius.” I took a large bite. “I’m currently determined to be irritated by him.” Maybe if I could hold on to my irritation, my heart would stop hurting so much every time he looked at me with that distant, disinterested expression.
“My apologies,” Bryony said instantly, although her eyes laughed at me. “Naturally, in that case, his lack of suspicion toward his brother is a sign of gross stupidity and negligence. If he had any sense at all, he’d place all his faith in your superior judgment.”
I chuckled reluctantly. “When you put it like that…”
Bryony grinned and picked up her fork. “If it makes you feel better, I believe you. I think I know what you mean, too. There’s something about Jareth that just doesn’t quite feel right.”
She took several bites of her food before speaking again. “What happened to Captain Layna, by the way?”
I explained my guard’s intentions, and Bryony grimaced when I got to the end. “Your family had better not send word for you to start packing. I’ve committed to three more years here, and I don’t want to have to do them on my own.”
“What? You don’t think Dellion would make a good substitute best friend?”
Bryony rolled her eyes. “You must be feeling recovered from our ordeal if you can make jokes like that.”
“In truth, I’m ready for my bed,” I admitted. “It’s hard to believe classes start tomorrow morning. I feel far too distracted to focus on anything so mundane.”
“A couple of hours of beating someone with a sword will make you feel better,” Bryony said cheerfully, and I groaned.
“Please don’t remind me of your unnatural obsession with your blade. The rest of us don’t find constant sword fighting nearly so invigorating, you know.”
She shrugged. “Your loss.”
The mention of combat class set us to speculating about what we might face in the arena during the year, and the meal quickly passed. By the time I let myself back into my suite, I no longer felt so eager to head straight to sleep.
Instead, I paced up and down my sitting room, playing out every aspect of the attack in my mind. I had binding compositions in one of my pockets. If only I’d used them on the energy mage. If I had, the two captains might even now be interrogating two prisoners. Or I could have requested my guard to bind them.
I sighed and massaged my head. I could do nothing to change the past, but if I ever found myself in another such situation, I would know better.
A knock interrupted my pacing, and my eyes flew straight to the tapestry. I hesitated, wondering if my mind was playing tricks on me. But it sounded again, definitely coming from the hidden door.
I hurried over and pushed the heavy material aside, pulling the door open. Darius stood on the other side, alone, thankfully.
It was such a familiar scene, and yet, at the same time, everything about it felt wrong. His face remained closed off, and he offered no greeting. After a moment, I stepped back, gesturing for him to enter my sitting room. He did so silently.
For several unending seconds, we stood and stared at each other. Something flashed in his eyes as he looked me over, but I couldn’t read it.
“Captain Vincent tells me your guards’ shields held until he arrived.”
I held myself rigidly. “I am unharmed—as I told you in the entrance hall. I’m sure Captain Layna will report to my aunt that your guards provided timely and sufficient assistance.”
“Queen Lucienne will still wish to know who would perpetrate such an outrageous attack.” His level tone conveyed nothing of the emotion that might be expected to go with such words.
“I imagine she will. As do I.”
“I have informed Captain Vincent that I wish to be directly involved in the investigation. We will discover the
person or persons behind the attack.”
I raised an eyebrow. “So it’s not your father, then?”
He moved slightly in what could have been a flinch. “It’s too early to speculate.”
“Excellent,” I said in a caustic voice. “It’s good to know there are so many people in your kingdom who wish me dead.”
This time it was definitely a flinch.
“I offer you my official apologies, Princess Verene.”
I sighed, deflating. It wasn’t official apologies I wanted from him.
I had spent so many hours imagining seeing him again, but now it felt like I was trapped in some sort of nightmare. Where was the Darius I knew? The Darius beneath the careful ice.
A heavy silence fell between us, but I didn’t have the heart to break it. He was tense, I could read that much, holding himself carefully, as if all his muscles were coiled and taut, ready for action. But when he spoke it was in a carefully controlled voice.
“Do you have a message for me from Queen Lucienne?”
I fought down a flush, instantly feeling foolish. I had been so distracted by first the attack and then my own emotions, I had forgotten the issue of greatest interest to him. This must be what had brought him to my room on my first night.
“Ardann will support you and your claim. But my aunt will not commit publicly until you have won legitimacy. She wants nothing in writing and has assigned me as her delegate in this matter. All communication will go through me.”
Some of his tension dissipated, although he didn’t truly relax. “You’ll be staying then?”
My brow creased as I tried to decipher his unreadable gaze. It wasn’t the response I had been expecting. Did it mean that somewhere buried deep beneath that ice, he still cared on some level? Did it mean he wanted me here?
Or was that wishful thinking on my part?
I shrugged. “She hasn’t heard about the attack yet. But as long as I’m safely inside the Academy, I think there’s a good chance.”
“You are safe here in the Academy.” His expression remained carefully controlled, but his voice sounded almost violent.
“I have confidence in Captain Vincent,” I said, curiosity compelling me to add, “Especially after what your brother said today.”
“Yes.” Darius nodded his agreement, although for some reason he didn’t seem pleased with my statement of belief in the captain. “That was reassuring to hear.”
I raised an eyebrow slightly. Reassuring about Captain Vincent, perhaps—less so about Jareth. But I didn’t say anything aloud. The last thing I needed was more of a barrier between us.
“I would send my personal reassurances to your aunt regarding how carefully you will be guarded,” he said, “except you tell me she has forbidden direct communication between me and Ardann.”
“Let’s wait and see what happens,” I said. “Such reassurances might not be necessary.”
“Very well.” He fell silent again.
Sudden weariness descended over me. “At some point we should speak further about exactly what support Ardann might be able to offer you from the shadows. But there is no hurry, and I’m tired after the events of the day.”
“Of course.” He bowed, the deepest one he had ever given me. “I will leave you to rest.”
He turned and started toward the door, but irrational panic flooded me. I couldn’t let him go like that. After everything that had passed between us, surely we hadn’t been reduced to such formality and distance.
I rushed after him, catching him just as he passed through the door. He spun at the lightest touch of my hand on his arm, one foot already through into his own room.
I instantly let my hand drop, my fingers tingling.
“What’s going on, Darius?” I asked, my voice coming out as a whisper. “Why are you like this?”
I had known at the end of last year that he was angry at my mistrust of Jareth, but this seemed like more than that. This felt like something big and heavy and suffocating.
For the briefest moment, I thought he meant to sprint through the door without answering. But then he looked down at me and let his mask drop.
I gasped and staggered back a step. The fire I remembered was all still there, but his expression was twisted and tortured, as if he was now the one being burned.
“I’m scared, Verene.” His voice was a ragged whisper. “I’ve never been scared like this before.”
My hand flew to my throat. “Darius, I…” I reached out to him, but he pulled back, something like horror crossing his face—as if he couldn’t believe what he had just admitted.
“Please forget I said that,” he said roughly, and propelled himself through the doorway, pushing the door closed behind him.
I stayed immobile, frozen with shock as I tried to process his reaction. I had seen Darius angry. I had seen him determined and threatening and cold. And I might be one of the few people in the kingdom to have seen him open and vulnerable. But I had never seen him scared.
If Darius was scared, what did that mean? And, more importantly, what had made him so afraid?
Chapter 8
The morning bell pulled me out of sleep, groggy and disoriented. It had taken me far too long to fall asleep the night before.
I stumbled blearily down to breakfast, amazed at how easily I fell back into the old familiar routine. The dining hall was already full when I arrived, and Bree sat with Tyron, chatting brightly.
I slid in beside them and greeted the Sekali boy. “I didn’t see you here last night. Have you only just arrived? Did you have a good summer?”
He grimaced. “I got in far too late and collapsed straight into bed, I’m afraid. And I’m consequently starving.”
As if to prove his point, he loaded his plate with what looked like it must be a second serving of everything on the table.
“I was just telling him about our summer in Corrin,” Bryony said.
“It sounds much more interesting than mine.” Tyron pulled a face. “And not as hot, either.” He scanned the table. “It looks like everyone made it back. I have to admit, I wondered if we would see you again, Verene.”
“Really?” I frowned at him. “Why?”
He shrugged and then grinned. “I suppose I thought your family might decide you’d done enough penance.”
Bryony laughed. “As if spending time with us could ever be penance! Plus, you’re forgetting I was there with her. I would have dragged her back here one way or another.”
“That’s true,” he admitted. “Your determination isn’t something I would ever doubt.”
He polished off his plate and started serving himself thirds. “I heard some interesting comments about your arrival at the Academy yesterday. It sounds like I missed something exciting.”
“I don’t know about exciting, but it was certainly wet,” I said wryly.
“Verene looked as elegant as ever,” Bryony added, “but I’m afraid I most closely resembled a drowned rat.”
“Actually, I have it on the best authority that I also presented the appearance of that particular animal.”
Bryony looked shocked for a moment at my declaration, her eyes flying to Darius as if she suspected the prince of having raced after me to my room so he could lob insults at my appearance. But a moment later her gaze moved further down the table, and she rolled her eyes.
“Let me guess. Dellion. The worst part is that girl gives the strong impression she has never in her life resembled any kind of rodent.”
“No, it’s a little hard to imagine such a comparison being applied to her, isn’t it?” I eyed the other girl dispassionately. “But I’ve heard rumors that large predator cats live in the high mountains, although I’ve never actually seen one. I imagine them being something like Dellion.”
A startled laugh burst out of Tyron before he immediately looked guilty.
“Don’t worry,” Bryony said kindly. “We won’t tell her you laughed.”
Another bell drove us all away from th
e table, and we streamed out of the dining hall together. Royce, looking no less unpleasant but a great deal more surly than when I met him the year before, rushed past me without speaking. His father was not only Cassius’s cousin but had always been his closest friend. Did Royce’s family know anything of what had happened here last year?
When Wardell and Armand passed me, they both nodded in a way that seemed friendly enough. Given their uncle was Head of the Creators and aligned with the general, I considered the attitude of the cousins to be a positive sign.
Frida and Ashlyn actually called proper greetings, though.
“I heard you were attacked by brigands on the way back to the Academy,” Ashlyn said breathlessly. “Was it thrilling?”
“Not as much as you might think,” Bryony said.
Both girls looked disappointed, but someone behind us snorted. I glanced back to see Isabelle close behind us.
“As if being attacked by robbers would be exciting.” She directed an unimpressed look at the two grower trainees. “It’s obvious the two of you live near enough to the capital not to have to worry about them yourselves.” She transferred her attention to Bryony and me. “Welcome back. I’m glad you’re both unharmed.”
I smiled at her. “Me too. And welcome back to you, as well. I hope you didn’t have any such trouble on your travels.”
She shook her head. “The commonborns on our lands sometimes do, but brigands aren’t usually foolish enough to attack a party of mages.” She frowned. “It’s surprising they attacked you, and so close to the Academy.”
I shrugged. “Perhaps they thought I was wealthy enough to make the risk worthwhile.” I kept my voice light. “We’ve been busy discussing what Mitchell might have us doing in the arena this year. Do any of you three know?”
My distraction tactic proved effective, Frida immediately launching into a far-fetched idea about how we would be battling monsters created by the compositions of our instructors. When we all gave her incredulous looks, she claimed her older brother had sworn it was standard training for second years.
Ashlyn wrinkled her nose. “You should know better than to believe anything he says. I bet it’s just more of the same group bouts.”
Crown of Danger (The Hidden Mage Book 2) Page 7