by Kenna Bardot
"Take your hands off me," I ordered through clenched teeth
He dropped my hair with a cruel smile. "Apologies. I thought you liked being taken advantage of by older men. Or is it you who does the taking of weaker men?"
I grinned at him. "If you think you are even half the man Gaylord Porter is, then you haven't been paying attention, Docent."
I closed my eyes, ignoring his murderous expression in favor of my connection with Air. When I thrust my eyes open, he still glared at me. I ignored the stabby feeling pinching my gut and resisted the urge to tell him the Headmaster would give him something to poke. My feet lifted from the ground, and I hovered about level with his head. Just high enough to spite him and show it wasn't a fluke.
I curled my legs up to a sitting position, letting my Air support my weight beneath me and propped my elbow onto my knee. My chin hit my hand, and I smiled innocently at Frost, silently daring him to push me more when I was beyond the others’ abilities in this one thing.
He walked off to torment another one of his prey.
Students. I meant students.
I lowered back onto the ground with a smile, setting my ass on the ledge where I'd last sat with Lottie. My hand brushed over the stone where she'd sat, a smile gracing my face even as tears pooled in my eyes. Charlie landed next to my hand, and I brushed the feathers on his head briefly. He hopped up onto my shoulder, taking his place in support. We watched the rest of my class fumble their way through trying to fly, but he just settled himself and gave me much-needed comfort.
I had the best bird.
✽✽✽
Vali’s ability to serve as a go-between for the guys and those of us still at InkHaven was important especially as the year wore on, and he had more opportunity to continue his training to eventually become a shadow Docent. When he thundered through the room, making his way to me where I sat in the dining room, I knew he’d already seen Gale or Emerson. He took my arm, hauling me out of my seat and dragging me from the very public space. I pursed my lips, giving Mar a wide-eyed look that she returned with a giggle.
Once we were in the somewhat more private hall, he stepped and cornered me between him and the wall.
“Vali, I’m fine,” I insisted, giving his arms a squeeze.
“You were stabbed,” he said shortly.
“I was not stabbed,” I stressed, fighting an eye roll. “I just had an accident. I did it to myself.”
“You were never this accident prone, Little Bird,” he whispered, tucking a hair behind my ear and pressing our foreheads together.
“I was also never around pointy objects before,” I giggled. He glared down at me, completely unamused.
“I don’t believe in coincidences, Kaia. There are too many things adding up.” He glanced around us, examining the other people lingering in the hall with a suspicious look in his eyes.
“Are you saying someone did those things to me?” I whispered.
“Just be careful. Nothing can happen to you,” he whispered. “Can you think of anyone who would want to hurt you?”
“I-I mean,” I paused, questioning myself. “The only people I really have problems with are Pia and Wella. You don’t think they would…” I trailed off, and he pursed his mouth in thought.
“I don’t think so. Pia still giving you shit?” his voice became snarly.
“Yes, and considering she’s standing behind you with her arms crossed, I would guess that you are officially on her shit list too.” I stifled my laugh, tucking my face into his shoulder when he groaned and let his head fall back to look at the ceiling.
“What do you want, woman?” he grunted. “You’re a serious pain in my ass. Not even remotely worth what I got.” He didn’t even look at her, just tucked me tighter into his frame so I couldn’t even see Pia’s thunderous face.
“He’ll toss you aside too, you know? Just like all the rest,” Pia hissed, and I patted Vali’s arms where they hardened to granite.
I gave her a pitying smile, looking around Vali to stare at her. “I’m not all the rest, and I’m certainly not you.”
“Stop and think for once, Pia,” Vali growled, turning his head to give Pia a glare that should have made her wilt on the spot.” I tossed all the others aside, because they weren’t Kaia. I loved her long before I was old enough to understand what that kind of love was. It was always her for me.” With that he turned back to me, dismissing Pia without words. “Be safe, Little Bird. I have to get back to training.”
“I will. Love you.” He kissed me, swallowing my words.
“Love you too.” He grinned and walked away, smiling at me as he went. When I turned back expecting to find Pia ready to do battle, the spot where she’d stood was empty.
✽✽✽
Mendel and I stuck close to each other, sharing a table in the mostly empty class and leaving Justin off to the side in his own little world of self-pity. He'd taken to avoiding me when he could just as Pia had taken to avoiding him from what I'd heard. Evidently she wasn't attracted to men who got beat up by girls.
Lame.
Though Pia herself liked her victims better when they didn't fight back, so I couldn't say it was surprising. Docent Woods stood at the front of the room, smiling at us with that broad white grin that made him seem friendly despite how much man there was to him.
"Congratulations on your decision at the Choosing Ceremony. You've chosen a path less often walked. There is little fame in the Security sect, and to choose it is a noble decision. Now, all that remains is to see if you will redeclare it at the start of your 5th year and then still choose it during the reaffirmation before your graduation." He paused, waiting for a reaction that he didn't receive. I smiled at him slightly, noticing the way Mendel sort of just stared at him vacantly.
Docent Woods seemed to get that reaction quite often. He may not be cruel, but he was no less intimidating with his prodigious control over Air and his sheer size.
"Soon, you'll begin your training, so today we will discuss Critical Thinking specific to your career in the Security Sect. Let's begin with discussing the difference between the type of work you might do. You could end up as a Temple Guard, those positions are highly coveted and considered a reflection of a close connection with Zeevar. You could also be employed as an Escort, transporting goods and people from one location to another. The most common of these circumstances being the protection of the Matrons as they make their collections. There are perimeter guards at the Temple and Order property. These tend to be the most visibly intimidating of the Security Sect, as it helps to discourage dissent before it even enters Order property."
I nodded, thinking of the fact that my mother had spent the majority of her days with an Air Mage protecting her. Perhaps that would be the best path for me to aim for, in the end.
"Does anyone have any thoughts of which they would like to pursue?"
"Perimeter," Justin grunted. I nearly smiled. One word answer from the brute whose main claim to fame was his size. It was no surprise he would choose perimeter. I hoped, for his sake, he didn't work the same perimeter as Ronan.
"I think I'd like to do Escort duty," Mendel said, surprising me. It was typically one of the least sought after positions within the Security sect - to be around an Inked all day every day.
"I believe that would be a good fit for you, Mr. Caron. And you Miss Shaw?" Docent Woods turned expectant eyes my way.
"I think, escort, perhaps?" I questioned.
He looked at me thoughtfully, before his face broke out in a smile. "I think you'd be well suited to being a Temple Guard, actually."
My jaw slackened with shock. "But, you said-"
"You've achieved in one year what most take four years to do, surviving Trials that should have been far beyond your ability. I think, it is clear to everyone but you that you have a particularly strong connection to Zeevar. I would even daresay he favors you." He leaned back on his desk, his forearms crossing over his chest as he stared me down.
"
My mother was a Matron," I admitted to explain my interest in being an escort.
"Well, I think that certainly explains a bit of that connection. But moving on!" he said suddenly, clapping his hands and standing with a flourish. "You will all complete your on-the-job training within a Temple. The Temples themselves have the widest variety of tasks to be completed, and so they can provide the greatest insight into where each person belongs. You might perform a day or two in another position as a shadow here and there, but the majority of your time over the next two years will be spent in the Temple, provided, of course, that you restate your decision to become a member of the Security sect at the start of your Fifth Year. In preparation, I'd like to spend today getting you into the mind frame of the different ways your thought process will need to differ depending on your objective."
Justin groaned, and it was only out of respect for Docent Woods that I refrained from asking if the idea of thought made his brain implode.
"Now, how might an interior temple guard’s duty differentiate from a perimeter guard’s duty when facing an insurgence of rebellion?" he asked, and Mendel was the first to answer. Justin stared at his desk, shuffling his feet nervously as though he was terrified to be called out in class when he didn't know the answer.
"The interior guards would secure the Temple. Lock the doors from the inside, shutter the windows, and make it all around impregnable from the outside."
"Correct, Mr. Caron. And a perimeter guard?"
"They would try to deal with the threat at the perimeter, but at the first sign of trouble two messengers are dispatched. One to alert the Temple or Order property directly and another to send a message to AirQuarters," I answered when he pointed to me.
"Very good. So for the Security sect you can see, the thought process is very one track. The question a Security asks himself is, 'what do I need to do to protect the Temple?' Should there be an obstacle in the way, all focus is on eradicating that first. What obstacles might stand in the way of an escort doing his job?"
I settled in, feeling how long this course would run on. I had a love/hate relationship with critical thinking. It was critical as an Air Mage, but often seemed so common sense that it was difficult to imagine an entire class on it being necessary. But one glance at Justin communicated that wasn't the case for everyone.
I guess I was just fortunate I had a brain.
Not everyone was quite as lucky.
Twenty-Three
Kaia
Mendel stood at my side, a silent body between Justin and I. He glared daggers at me, having to crane his neck to see around Mendel. After completely sucking at the Critical Thinking class from the day before, I really thought he had no right to hate on me when he had proven he was too daft to become Security.
"See something you like, Judgy?" I flashed an innocent smile at him, meeting Mendel's gaze as he dropped his head. His lips twitched in amusement, and he shook his head.
Like I was the problem.
Pfft.
"You wish," Justin hissed back.
"Ooooh. Nice comeback there. It's obvious Pia likes you for your brain. Oh but she doesn’t like you anymore, does she?" Mendel snorted a laugh, and I peeked up at him before turning my eyes back to Justin.
"Are you calling me stupid?" His brow furrowed at me. The poor thing. What it must be like to live in such confusion all the time.
"If you have to ask, I think you already answered your own question. Can I ask something though? I really am genuinely curious."
"Kaia," Mendel warned, but his voice shook with laughter rather than reprimand.
"What?" Justin asked.
Bless his soul.
"Well, even though she’s discarded you, I wanted to know. What did Pia like about you? I really don't want to know, but you know morbid curiosity? Do you have a really, really big-"
"Alright!" Mendel interrupted. I scowled up at him, pissed I was only somewhat able to enjoy the way Justin's face reddened in anger. "Enough, Kaia," he warned when I opened my mouth to say something. "Give the poor guy a break. Haven't you humiliated him enough?"
“He started it," I argued. "He was looking at me."
"Gods, how old are you again?"
I stuck my tongue out at him, watching as a man exited the massive doors of InkHaven and joined us in the Courtyard.
"Hello. I know you’ve all seen me before, but just as a reminder my name is Hendrix Michaelson. Deputy Head of the Security sect of the Air Mages of the Order of Zeevar." He paused and took a deep breath, staring at the three of us. "I'm impressed. Three in one year is quite unusual." His eyes fixated on me briefly. "You're quite small."
"Still managed to kick his ass," I gestured at Justin with a smirk. Michaelson's lips twitched in amusement, much like Mendel's.
"Fair enough," he observed with a nod of his head. "Today you start your on-the-job training. You'll each go to a separate Temple, where you will continue your training until graduation from InkHaven next year." Mendel straightened, presenting himself in a strict manner as three Mages stepped out of the doors of the Academy.
"To an extent, you will have some say in which Temple you train in. The first option is the Ink Temple, where you'll be trained by Air Mage James Morant," Michaelson waved a hand to the shortest of the three men. Though he didn't look remotely kind, I knew that would be the Temple I chose if given the chance. Strictly because of the proximity it would give me to Ronan who worked as a perimeter guard in that area.
"Second option, Air Mage Dante Christoff at the Fire Temple." He gestured to the African American man with a broad grin who stared us down, as if daring us to choose him. But instead of it being intimidating, that smile promised entertainment. "Last, Air Mage Finn Davenport from the Earth Temple," he gestured to the youngest and tallest of the Mages." My breath caught as I stared at him, confliction racing through me. However younger than the others, he was still older than me, perhaps in his 30s. He was an attractively lithe man who could almost threaten Ronan in terms of height. But my confliction had nothing to do with Finn Davenport, and everything to do with the mention of the Earth Temple.
My mother's Temple.
"Shit," I muttered, worrying my lip between my teeth. A sense of proximity to Ronan would be important to him, I knew. But having that connection to my mother, when all my family was gone from my life?
Could I really walk away from that?
"What do you say?" Michaelson asked the Mages. "Lady first?" At their nods, I swallowed. Half of me had hoped to have my choice taken away from me.
"Earth," I whispered.
Michaelson's head jerked back in surprise. "What did you say?"
"I said Earth. I choose the Earth Temple." My voice was louder, stronger despite knowing my decision would piss Ronan off.
"Are you certain, Miss Shaw?" He gave me a pointed look, as though to remind me there was no doubt a man waiting very anxiously for a sign of me at the Air Temple.
Zeevar, had he told everyone? It only served to strengthen my resolve.
"I'm sure," I returned with a scowl.
"Well then, I suppose you're free to leave with Air Mage Davenport." He looked at the other two and asked them to choose. Mendel chose to go Fire and Justin was stuck in Ink.
I was pretty sure Ronan would enjoy seeing him. Not.
Holding my head high, I strutted over to Davenport.
"Miss Shaw?" he questioned.
"Kaia, please," I returned.
"I'm Finn. Shall we?" I nodded, and he stood close to me. His Air curled itself around us, forming a transport orb as I stood there. Charlie gave a low deep croaking caw in the distance, those white eyes meeting mine from the copse of trees at the edge of the courtyard.
When the orb rose into the sky, Charlie cawed again, spread his wings, and kept pace with us. If Finn thought it odd that I was being stalked by a bird, he didn’t show it.
Charlie stuck by my side at that point.
I didn’t object. After all, only I could say that a f
ucking bird saved my life.
He came and went as he pleased, pecking at the window when he needed to go outside and had a bowl of food and water in my room.
He seemed quite attached to his namesakes’ side of the room, and he was one of the only things that didn’t make my heart clench to watch touching Lottie’s things. Even packed away as they were.
Finn was silent as we made our way through the sky, keeping a respectable distance. I didn’t dare break that silence. Though he seemed friendly enough, Mages were fickle. Some expected students to adhere to the ‘don’t speak unless spoken to’ rule, while others respected tenacity. Who in Zeevar’s name knew which one Finn would be?
When we landed at the Temple, the Orb swept away in a rustle of wind to set us on the ground. My first sight of my mother’s temple took my breath away. Built into the base of one of the mountains, the earth-toned stone nearly blended in with the with the rock surrounding it. Massive, round purple pillars wrapped in vines supported the flat roof that jetted out from the structure. The two massive doors were decorated in violet and emerald swirls of leaves and flowers, and the steps leading up the hillside were imposing. To my back was a hill that dropped further into the valley, more narrow steps that continued through the woods to what I knew must be the Crimson City below us.
We climbed the steps, slow but sure, in silence. The tears that had started forming at the sight of the place my mother loved so much gathered more fiercely when the guards pushed the heavy and massive doors in with a nod to us.
Finn returned their nod, and I turned to whisper to him, “I don’t think that will be a job for me.”