by B. T. Narro
“I’ve never met another person as cruel as her.” He expected them to nod in agreement, but they only looked at him as if he were insane. “She’s like a rabid dog,” Basen continued. “Aggressive and illogical.” Why weren’t they saying anything?
“I don’t think you have the right woman,” Alex finally said. “Sanya Grayhart?”
“Yes, Sanya Grayhart. She spent a lot of time sword fighting as we were growing up. It has to be her.” They still looked skeptical. “She’s not behaving like a deranged animal?”
Alex laughed. “No.” He turned to Cleve. “She seems friendly, doesn’t she?”
“A bit strange, but yes, I would call her friendly.”
“When did you speak to her last?” Alex asked.
“It’s been years,” Basen realized. “I started avoiding her around the castle as I got older. After she stopped sword training with my group, I would only see her in passing. We’d stopped speaking by then.”
“Oh, you’re a warrior,” Alex figured. “You’re without a sword, so I figured you were another class.”
Effie set her plate down next to Alex. He put his arm around her as they shared a brief kiss, filling Basen with a surge of disappointment that he quickly suppressed. Effie gave him a pointed look.
“What are you doing here?”
“How do you know him?” Alex asked her.
“He was flirting with me in our evaluation class.” She spoke in an even tone and took a bite of food as if she hadn’t just said the worst thing imaginable.
Basen’s heart thumped. “I wasn’t flirting.”
Effie laughed and leaned across the table to bat his arm. “I’m joking!”
Alex leaned forward as she sat back. “She likes to stir trouble. You’ll get used to it.”
Basen relaxed and realized he was beginning to like this dark-haired warrior. It was rare to meet someone tall, clearly handsome, and skilled with a sword who didn’t act like he was better than everyone else. Basen had hated the company of his fellow swordsmen when his father had forced him to train with them, but Sanya was truly the worst.
She must’ve finally learned to be a proper adult. More than that, she must’ve drastically improved her skills to be accepted to the Academy.
Sanya was always fair competition to the other young men, but she’d never beat Basen. She complained that his left-handed style gave him an unfair advantage because she was trained to face right-handers. There was some truth to her argument, but Basen disliked her too much to do anything but tease her whenever she brought it up. Now he felt guilty for doing so.
Another woman came to the edge of their table, this one tall—and with pointed ears. They were sticking out of her lush hair that was on the darker side of blonde. Basen forced himself to lower his eyes as she turned and looked right at him. He’d never seen an Elf before…didn’t think there were any left in Ovira.
“Who’s the first-year?” she asked the three on the other side of the table, refusing to sit next to him.
“Basen,” Effie answered. “I still don’t know why he’s sitting here.” Her tone was cold.
He took his plate and stood to leave, but Effie jumped up. “I was joking again! I’m just curious why you were here speaking with Alex and Cleve. I didn’t think you knew them.”
“He doesn’t, but he knows a woman in our group,” Alex said, motioning for Basen to sit again. “We were speaking about her before you came.”
“Oh, is this the female warrior you were talking about?” Effie asked Cleve.
“That’s the one.”
The tall, Elven woman sat beside Basen and introduced herself as Reela while Alex told Effie about Sanya.
“You’re curious about my ears,” Reela said with a knowing smile.
“Are you a psychic?” Basen joked.
“Yes,” she answered to his surprise. “I’m half Elven, which is why my ears aren’t as long. Feel free to tell anyone you like. The sooner I no longer need to explain them, the sooner I can walk around campus without encountering looks like yours when you first saw them.”
As his curiosity faded about her ears, he came to notice her green eyes. They were like pure sartious energy, a beautiful contrast to her creamy skin. As with her ears, he had trouble keeping from staring as she and Effie asked question after question about the female warrior. Eventually everyone was caught up on the subject of Sanya.
The headmaster of the Academy’s voice rang out as he stood on a table in the center of the enormous dining hall. “Attention over here!”
Basen was amazed at how quickly silence followed.
“The Redfield bell will ring soon,” Terren continued. “It’s the signal to meet at Redfield stadium at the center of campus, straight south from this dining hall. It’s where you’ll go every time you hear the bell in the future. Once everyone is there, I’ll finish the announcement.”
The clamor of the dining hall picked up as Terren jumped down with the agility of a young man.
“He’s going to test our loyalty,” Reela told the group. “All morning, the second- and third-year psychics have been questioning each other in groups to ensure we’re loyal. Now we’re going to be questioning the rest of you and the first-year psychics.”
“Well, that spoils my plan to overthrow Kyrro,” Basen quipped, earning a soft chuckle from all but Cleve.
“Don’t worry,” Effie said. “I hear prison is lovely. Isn’t it, Cleve?”
He folded his arms.
“You’ve truly been to prison?” Basen asked. He was still learning to tell when Effie was joking.
“Twice,” Effie answered excitedly.
“You make him sound like a criminal, Eff.” Reela chuckled as she walked over and wrapped her arms around Cleve’s wide shoulders. She pursed her lips and spoke as if he were a baby. “When everyone knows he’s just a wittle puppy in a brute’s body.” She kissed his cheek but coaxed no smile from his lips. Basen wondered if they were a couple like Alex and Effie, or if she was just teasing him.
A distant bell dinged. It was deep and loud, making Basen question whether he could bear the sound of it while he was inside the stadium. Effie startled, jerking forward on the bench. Then her face crossed with anger.
“I hate that damn thing. I’d forgotten how loud it was.”
As they filed out of the dining hall, Alex came to Basen’s side. “We used to wait for the Redfield bell to tell us when to get ready for battle.”
Basen nodded at what seemed to be an explanation for Effie’s reaction.
*****
Redfield stadium filled Basen with awe and a small sense of pride, for it belonged to him as much as it did to any of the other students. The rose-red walls were as tall as Tenred’s castle and curved to as close to a perfect circle as Basen could imagine. A pillar of the same color jutted out from the top of the back of the stadium, a clock on all four of its faces. Basen had seen the pillar from his campus house nearly a mile away. He assumed he would be using the clocks for the rest of the year whenever he needed to check the time.
On his way in, Basen passed by part of the wall that was inscribed with hundreds of names, maybe even a thousand. He noticed others looking at it and heard someone explain that they were students and instructors who’d been killed during the war.
Once inside the stadium, he saw rows of benches wrapped around the sandy arena in the center where Terren stood and yelled for them not to sit but to come toward him.
“Form lines!” the headmaster boomed, gesturing and directing students into place.
Basen weaved around people as he looked for Sanya, unsure why he was desperate to speak with her after all the grief she’d given him back at the castle. Soon he found her and hurried to stand behind her as her line was being formed.
She didn’t seem to notice as she spoke with a small woman with blonde hair so faint it could almost be called silver. Basen was content to listen to their conversation without making himself known for the time being, still som
ewhat doubtful Sanya could’ve completely changed.
“I told you I’m fine, Annah,” Sanya insisted. Her voice didn’t carry the same constant note of irritation Basen was used to. It was also a shade more mature, rich and smooth.
“Even if I couldn’t feel your pain and worry, which I can, I could see from your atrocious injuries that you are not fine,” Annah replied. “At least tell me your duels are done for the day.”
“I hope not. I’ve yet to score a point.”
Basen had heard this from Alex and Cleve. He didn’t know Annah, but she seemed to be a first-year psychic. He wished he knew more about psyche. Reela was the first one he’d met, and there hadn’t been any time for questions.
His father had told him that they could only read emotions and detect lies, but he always guessed they could do more. Basen didn’t have an inkling as to how psyche worked. Something with bastial energy, he assumed.
He realized he’d forgotten to ask Effie about meditation. There was so much to learn, and he was eager to absorb all that he could. First would be meeting the new Sanya.
“Sanya Grayhart?” he asked. “Is that you?”
The moment she turned and her eyes met his, recognition crossed her face. “Basen! I would hug you if every part of my body didn’t ache. I thought we’d never meet again.”
She truly was different. Immensely different. Unfortunately, this left him speechless and gaping like a fool.
Annah laughed. “You put him in shock. How do you know each other?”
“We grew up together.” Sanya spoke tensely, offering nothing else. Basen got her hint to say nothing of Tenred.
“I almost didn’t recognize you,” he said. “I heard you’re putting up quite a fight on Warrior’s Field, but by the looks of you, you’ve done more damage to their weapons than to their flesh.”
He never would’ve made such a remark to the old Sanya, and used it as a test now to see if she would yell or scratch, as had often followed any insult in the past.
She laughed bitterly as she turned to Annah. “In our youth, Basen never came to realize that he could’ve taken any woman to bed if he’d kept his stupid quips to himself.” She looked back and smiled genuinely. “I see that hasn’t changed.”
“And it never will.” He put his hands on his hips with mock pride.
Sanya laughed. In her inquisitive expression that followed, he read that there was much they needed to speak about. Her pouty lips held a grin, showing it was something to look forward to.
Perhaps it was because he’d spent months in the workhouse, sharing a room with only his father, but he seemed to find every woman he’d met so far incredibly attractive. Alabell, Effie, Reela, and now Sanya. The soft curve of her chin and cheeks rounded her face to give her a look of innocent beauty that her wounds failed to mar. This was magnified by her bright eyes, while her smile made him feel at home for the first time since the exile.
“This is Annah, my roommate…who I just met yesterday.”
As he shook Annah’s hand, he could see just as much beauty framed by her argent hair. Her curious blue eyes and full red lips called to be noticed.
“Where did you and Sanya live?” Annah asked excitedly. “I’ve tried asking about her childhood, but she changes the subject every time.”
He wondered how much Sanya would want him to reveal. “That’s because it’s a secret, Annah. But I’ll tell you if you promise not to tell others.”
She huddled closer, her eyes widening. “I’m known among my friends for being the best at keeping secrets.”
“We were raised by Krepps,” he whispered in an earnest tone full of shame.
“You were not!”
“It’s true,” he claimed as Sanya nodded along. “They taught us to spit, hunt, and speak their harsh language before we escaped. Here, we’ll demonstrate.” He cleared his throat and faced Sanya, then grumbled out a line of gibberish: “Muk kori kush tar. Gurra vantok ror?”
Sanya held a serious expression as she replied, “Sah! Muk kori ror.”
“See,” Basen said, “I just asked if she would like to come to my hut to drink goat blood, and she enthusiastically agreed.”
“Goat blood is the finest of all the bloods,” Sanya added. “To refuse would make me an eki.”
“No Krepp wants to be an eki,” Basen explained.
Annah wore a smirk above folded arms. “You two are skilled liars. If only the subject was more believable.” She formed a sly smile. “Or if I couldn’t already discern the truth from psyche. I’m very skilled for a first-year, so you’ll have to tell me the truth.”
Annah had the dialect of a noblewoman, a lofty lilt that made her sound as if she thought she was superior to those around her, though Basen didn’t assume it to be the case. To him, she just seemed like a kind but rich young woman who’d spent most of her life around other privileged people.
Basen came from a noble family as well. But his father, an army strategist, had shed the accent in his youth and didn’t want Basen picking it up from his mother, so she’d dropped it as well.
Fortunately, Basen and Sanya didn’t need to think of something else to distract Annah, as she was next in line. Reela and another psychic Basen hadn’t met were questioning the people in front of them. He pointed so Annah would turn around.
“Oh, I apologize,” she told the two psychics as she hurried forward. Basen noticed instructors in the lines beside him, including Penny, who was being questioned by two psychics beside Annah.
Sanya stretched her neck to put her lips beside Basen’s ear and whispered, “Give me some time to figure out what I want to tell people about Tenred.”
“Cleve and Alex already know you lived there with me,” he whispered back apologetically. “I met them in the dining hall.”
She put her face in front of his to show him a bitter look. “And you told them of your bloodline and exile?”
“Well…”
Her eyelids lowered. Actually, only the one that wasn’t swollen did.
“That isn’t fair,” she said.
“I didn’t know you intended to keep it a secret. I don’t see why it matters.”
“It shouldn’t, but some people will give false meaning to our past.” She shot a look behind her at Annah and the psychics before turning back.
“It won’t matter after our loyalty has been proven,” Basen said.
“I suppose that’s true.”
He shifted his focus to the psychics questioning Annah. They seemed stunned by something she’d said and glanced wide-eyed at each other.
“Let me ask again,” Reela said to the other psychic, who nodded her assent. Standing nearly a head taller than the small noblewoman, Reela leaned toward Annah. “Do you harbor any grudges toward Kyrro, King Kerr, or the Academy? Please answer by stating which of those three you have ill feelings for.”
“I was born in Kyrro and I love this territory! I don’t have any grudges against it, King Kerr, or the Academy. I have no ill feelings!”
Reela looked around and got Terren’s attention with a wave. He rushed over and spoke quietly with the two psychics for a moment.
“I don’t understand,” Annah told them, though her words were ignored. “What’s the problem?”
Terren beckoned and two swordsmen hurried toward him, their clanking armor turning everyone’s heads. The psychics at the front of other lines stopped their questioning to watch. Whispers of confusion and worry spread quickly.
Basen took Sanya’s shoulder and moved her back a step from Annah, who had become pale as her head whipped to each direction. “What’s happening?”
Terren approached her with the guards at his sides. “Come with us.” His voice was firm but not demanding.
“What’s the matter?”
“There’s a problem with your answer. Allow us to take you to Kyrro City so we can sort out this matter.”
“I don’t want to go to Kyrro City.” She spoke in a panicked whisper. “I’ve wanted to join the Ac
ademy my whole life. I’m loyal!” Her voice was now close to a shout. She found Reela between Terren and the guards. “I’m not lying, ask me again!”
“You are lying,” answered the other psychic.
“We both confirmed it,” Reela said. “Twice.”
But Terren put his hand out, signaling for them to be quiet. His thin eyes were now unforgiving. “Come with us, Annah. Don’t put up a fight, or it will end in your injury.”
She seemed too shocked to speak or move, her mouth hanging open. Each guard took one of her thin arms and then practically lifted her as they made their way to the stadium exit, where four more guards awaited.
“Resume questioning!” Terren bellowed. But he put his hand out to stop Sanya so he could speak to Reela and the other psychic.
Sanya looked just as shocked as Annah. “She was living with me. She was in my house…and I had no idea she wasn’t loyal. What’s wrong with me?” she asked Basen.
“Nothing. She fooled everyone but the two psychics questioning her. She must’ve even fooled her psychic recruiter.” Even now, Basen had trouble believing she was a spy or a traitor.
“What did she intend to do by coming to the Academy?”
“I’m assuming they’ll get that information out of her at the capital.”
Sanya shook her head as she took a breath. “Coming here, I was ready for any trouble the warriors might give me, but I didn’t think I would need to be ready for psychic traitors living with me.”
“No one is prepared for that.”
Terren stayed with Reela and the other psychic as he called Sanya forward.
“Bastial hell,” Terren exclaimed. “I hadn’t noticed your injuries until now.”
“I’m fine. They look more serious than they are.”
“Psychics?” Terren asked.
“It’s the truth,” Reela said.
“Fine.” He stepped back and folded his arms. “Let’s finish this dreadful interrogation of my students and instructors.”
Reela stood a forehead taller than Sanya, though she dipped her head to look through the tops of her green eyes. “What’s your name?”
“Sanya Grayhart.”