Nathaniel Grey and the Obsidian Crown
Page 8
He muttered a strangled ‘thanks’ and strode past Brey into the shower room.
Although he couldn’t be sure, Nathaniel thought he saw the girl grinning out of the corner of his eye, just before he ducked behind the wood panelling. Thankfully, no one else had been there to witness his blunder. Waiting until long after the girl’s footsteps had faded away entirely, he lobbed his towel over the wooden separator and began to unclothe with shaking hands.
The men and women shower together? He shook his head. No. The girl had to be playing some trick on him. Or maybe it was that other Lycan, Gabe’s bright idea.
Tentatively, he examined one of the levers that jutted out from the damp, ridged wood panelling, which made up the floor. Satisfied that it hadn’t been somehow rigged against him, he gave the lever several tugs and then placed a hand under the tap that ran above him, feeling his whole body contort.
The water was even colder than he had been warned but he suspected that the Lycans were far more used to it than he. With a reluctant grimace, Nathaniel gritted his teeth and immersed himself underneath, biting down on his tongue to fight back the cry that rose against his throat. As the cold shock began to wear off, he slowly rose his rigid arms to wash himself, pushing aside the strangely erratic thoughts about the girl running amok in his mind.
But she was attractive, a sly voice purred in his head, sneaked quite the peek didn’t you–
‘No!’ Nathaniel hissed to himself, ‘I am promised to another.’
Promised indeed. I’m sure she’ll be waiting with open arms – provided she doesn’t mind the smell of these Lycans – oh! Or the minor fact that you murdered their Emperor.
‘I am no Kinslayer,’ Nathaniel whispered, sinking into a crouch. ‘I am no Kinslayer.’
Chapter 13
Nathaniel had slept terribly.
No amount of preparation could have readied him for what it would be like to share a room, large as it may have been, with dozens of others. Dozens of Lycans.
Not to mention the fact that the girl, Brey, had been more difficult to shake from Nathaniel’s mind than he’d have liked.
They shower together… they sleep in the same room like dogs huddled together in an alleyway…
Though, the fact that the girl’s half of the dormitory was walled off had brought some measure of relief. However, a thousand different thoughts pulled him to-and-fro as he left the dormitory, exiting into the corridor outside. You should have said this, you should have done that… Why are you even thinking about this…? You shouldn’t have gone there at all. The last thought spoke over the others. It seemed to carry his father’s voice, in all its weariness.
Damn him! Nathaniel thought, he left me to die! He backed the Szar over his own flesh and blood! But damn him, wh–
Mid-thought, Nathaniel collided headfirst with a tower of books, which sent him sprawling against the floor, books showering all around.
‘Sorry,’ a deep voice spoke. ‘I didn’t see you there.’
Nathaniel looked up from his seat on the floor and gave a start.
A Scorched boy, about his age Nathaniel thought, and almost as tall as the Samaii Chief he’d met back at the Emperor’s Palace, towered over him. He had a handsome, wide-jawed faced, with dark, hooded eyes. Unlike the Samaii Chief, however, the boy’s thick mass of braids were tied together with a knot behind his back. One arm was outstretched towards Nathaniel, whilst the other balanced what remained of the books that hadn’t been knocked from his hands.
‘I know you, Regal, your name is–’ the boy scrunched up his face, ‘–Nathaniel?’
‘Uh, yeah,’ Nathaniel grasped the boy’s hand and allowed himself to be pulled up. The boy didn’t seem to register the weight at all. ‘Does anyone not know me here?’
The boy blushed.
‘I may have heard a few others speak of you,’ he admitted. ‘Gabriel keeps talking of how he wants to–’
A hand slapped against the Scorched boy’s back before he could complete his sentence. A couple more books toppled from his grasp.
The Lycan that had dragged Nathaniel to Thorne’s office the day before, Gabe, had appeared from round the corridor. The same two thuggish Lycans flexed their arms behind him menacingly.
‘Alright, Sammy?’ Gabe grinned.
‘Samir,’ the Scorched boy corrected him, straining to keep hold of the remaining books.
‘So, you’re still here then, Regal?’ Gabe glowered at Nathaniel.
‘For now,’ Nathaniel said, returning the dirty look the Lycan had sent his way. ‘At least until the wet dog smell puts me off.’
‘What’s that, grey-skin?’ Gabe growled, taking a step closer.
Sat on his haunches, Samir looked torn between picking up the rest of his books and watching the development in front of him.
‘Uhhh,’ Samir began tentatively. ‘Maybe we can just forget about this and go to class–’
The boy’s words fell on deaf ears.
‘You heard what I said, dog,’ Nathaniel retorted.
Gabe’s mouth wrapped itself into a snarl, the Lycan raising himself to his full height, which still fell just short of Nathaniel’s.
A few Lycans, attracted by the commotion, had begun to gather around them expectantly.
‘Not this again,’ a voice rang tiredly across the length of corridor.
The crowd parted instantaneously as two girls stepped through. The first was quietly pretty. Though with her stiff upper lip; cropped dark hair, falling neatly either side of her chin; and her stoic pose, she had done her level best to suppress any aspect that was likely to appeal to the fancies of another. Considering, brown eyes were set upon a narrow face, too pale to be anything but Féynian. Nathaniel had the impression that the girl’s eyes were judging all that fell under her gaze.
The second girl Nathaniel recognised immediately. Brey’s knowing smile made him feel uneasy, as if it had been he in the shower the day before and her the spy.
But I wasn’t spying! Nathaniel thought.
Annoyingly, whatever way his thoughts made his face turn seemed to amuse the girl all the more.
They stopped next to Samir.
The Féynian girl, arched her brows at Nathaniel and shook her head disapprovingly at Gabe.
‘Boys,’ Nathaniel thought he heard after the soft tsk she made under her breath.
‘Yes boys, do leave some of the action for us in the practice room,’ Brey smirked beside her. ‘Hey, Samir,’ she smiled sweetly at the Scorched boy, who muttered a quick ‘hello’ before hiding amongst the books.
Brey had her hair in two separate braids, which fell over the front of her shoulders. One of which she twirled in her hands, a playful smile touching her lips, as her green eyes crossed Nathaniel’s grey.
The towel – although still disturbingly fresh in Nathaniel’s memory – had been replaced by a black chemise, which both the girls wore. The garb was divided in two, like riding skirts, and tied at the waist with a cord that fed into the material itself. Brey’s one however, sat closer to her thighs than Kaira’s.
Stare at your feet if you can’t control your eyes, fool!
Gabe had looked as if he were about to hit him but withdrew his hand, as quickly as if it were his own mother scolding him. The Lycan also appeared suddenly concerned with how he stood.
‘Kaira,’ Gabe said, puffing up his chest. ‘Brey,’ he added with a curt nod to the green-eyed girl.
‘Awhhh, Gabriellll!’ Brey puckered her lips with feigned sadness. ‘Still sore about that little spar we had?’
Going a shade of crimson Nathaniel thought highly funny, Gabe ignored Brey and kept his attention focused squarely on the girl beside her. ‘Got Weapons Wielding today?’ he inquired.
‘I might,’ Kaira replied impassively, her eyes betraying not even the slightest hint of anything. ‘Why?’
There was a saying about Féynians that had reached even the highest peaks of Obsidia – loose with their money, but with their words they tiptoed
across a razor’s edge, as slim as a whisker.
‘Oh… no reason,’ Gabe said innocently as he scratched at the muscle of his tensed arm. ‘Just thought you wouldn’t want to miss the action.’
‘And what made you think that?’ Kaira replied.
‘Well…’
Gabe not so subtly tensed his other arm, encouraging a derisive snort from Brey. Kaira’s lips, on the other hand, didn’t budge an inch.
‘Is that it?’
‘You keep me waiting, Kaira – someone else will have to fall into my arms.’
‘I’m willing to take that risk.’
‘You know where to find me when you change your mind, Kaira,’ Gabe said. ‘See you in the practice room, Regal,’ Gabe growled quietly to Nathaniel. His shoulder smacked into Nathaniel so hard that he almost found himself back on the floor with Samir’s books.
‘Aespora toray,’ Nathaniel cursed him as he passed.
‘I wouldn’t waste your worry on him, Regal,’ Kaira spoke loudly. ‘He’s all bluff and bluster half the time, I wonder how anyone can stand to listen to him.’
Nathaniel doubted the Lycan would simply let the matter go.
Just one day, Nathaniel thought to reassure himself. He could survive in the viper’s nest for that long. Athrana knows what compelled him to stay for even that amount of time.
Reluctantly, he followed the Lycans to the three-arched classroom he’d passed with Brother Marcus the day before. The Scorched boy known as Samir walked beside him, somehow managing to cradle all the books in his arms, whilst burying his nose between an open page.
Nathaniel thought some of the looks he’d received from Gabe and the other Lycans had been unpleasant enough. However, by the time the hour had passed, he realised they didn’t come close to Skew’s murderous stare.
Skew was awfully thin and lanky, compared to his more physically imposing brethren. With black, beady eyes, almost as hollow as his sunken cheeks, which were grizzled with stubble. Long, bedraggled grey locks curtained his face, which seemed to be permanently affixed with a frown, as if the top of his lips had been smeared with dung.
When Nathaniel had dared ask if Skew had a book he could borrow for the lesson, the Lycan’s nose travelled so far up his face it was wonder how it didn’t just fly off.
Most disturbing of all however, was how Skew would grasp the stump of his severed right hand so tightly whenever he caught sight of the Regal.
As if it were my fault, Nathaniel thought.
Indeed, if there were any doubt that the Lycan didn’t like him, Skew quickly dispelled it at the first available opportunity.
‘The Regals first made landfall in the Scorched Isles almost nine hundred years ago but proceeded to lose half their ships to the Isles rocky shores,’ Skew said. He placed a particular emphasis on ‘Regals’ as he spoke.
Gabe and his friends seemed to be acutely aware of this and had to stifle their laughter between their hands.
Athrana’s grace, Nathaniel thought. Is this entire lesson going to be aimed against me?
‘Regal!’ Skew turned on Nathaniel suddenly, snapping the book he was holding against the table. ‘How many of the Scorched were slaughtered by the Regal Armada in the Desert of Amran?’
Putting aside the fact he couldn’t quite recall what his tutor had told him about the Slaughter of Amran, did Skew really expect Nathaniel to know exactly how many had died?
‘Extract your nose from the book, boy!’ Skew cried. ‘I asked you a question!’
Nathaniel could feel the Scorched boy’s eyes upon him.
‘I don’t know,’ Nathaniel said quietly.
‘I’m sorry, Regal?’ Skew said.
‘I said, I don’t know,’ Nathaniel repeated himself.
‘Fifteen hundred, Regal. Fifteen. Hundred. Including women and children,’ Skew rapped the open page of the book with his remaining hand.
Nathaniel was silent.
Skew took it as a challenge.
‘Maybe we’ll have better luck this time, eh?’
Skew mercilessly flicked through the pages of the book, ripping some of the pages in the process. ‘Hmm… let’s see… ah yes. How many Scorched men and women did the Regals bring back to Obsidia in chains?’
And how many slaves were bought and sold by the Free Cities, Lycan?
It was not that Nathaniel hadn’t been taught about the atrocities his kind had committed in the past. Tolken had certainly made sure it was included in Regal education during his rule, but to be ridiculed for it now, for something which had occurred long before even his father had been bor–
‘I said no looking at the book, Regal!’
‘I don’t know,’ Nathaniel said through gritted teeth.
Skew’s lip curled.
‘Pity,’ Skew sneered. ‘How quick we are to forget our sins, aren’t we, Grey?’
Whispers brewed in the room.
Those who hadn’t already had their fill of Nathaniel rose from their seats to get a better look.
‘Grey?’
‘Like, Thorne Grey?’
‘That’s Old Fire-Eyes’ grandson?’
‘I did tell you.’
Nathaniel paid no heed, he was concentrating hard on biting back a retort as he stared into the endless pits of Skew’s eyes. Nine hundred years hardly seemed ‘quick,’ even by Regal standards.
The rest of the lesson was much of the same, no matter how little attention anyone else paid. Although Skew did seem to tire of his efforts towards the end, grudgingly titling him ‘Grey’ or ‘boy’ instead of the usual – ‘Regal.’
Nathaniel was the first to rise from his seat the moment the lesson concluded.
Samir had turned to face him, thumbing his lips thoughtfully.
‘Rega– Nathaniel–’
Nathaniel didn’t stick around long enough hear what the Scorched boy was about to say. All he could think about was escaping the classroom, before Skew could trap him within another of his unfair questions. Although, that didn’t stop Nathaniel from feeling slightly guilty for ignoring Samir.
Ozin’s Throne! Why do you care? He may be Scorched but he’s still a damned Lycan like the rest of them!
Frustratingly, the guilt refused to dissipate.
Nathaniel shook his head and focused his attention on the passageway before him. He had an hour to spend. Most of the Lycans would return to the dormitory, so he quickly ruled that out as an option.
He supposed he could just try and find a way out but how far would he get through the mines? How long before he attracted suspicion?
No, he would play Thorne’s little game and then he was gone.
But where could he go for the time being?
The idea of wandering past hundreds of Lycans, with all their ogling didn’t appeal either – it seemed like there was only one real option.
Chapter 14
The library doors beckoned Nathaniel toward them, whispering grand promises of what lay inside. It was a temptation he simply could not resist and one, now that he was clean, that Brother Marcus couldn’t deny him.
He followed a few Lycans inside. A couple gave him a frown as they went the opposite way.
‘Another Regal?’
‘Wasn’t that Fael?’
‘I dunno… he wasn’t ginger, was he?’
The voices drifted off behind him.
Fortunately, most of the Lycans here were more focused on the books, lying on their laps or on the tables that were set up in rows of three in the middle of the floor. Cushions were dotted about close to the curve of bookcases, which towered over all else.
Either side of where the first bookcases began, two staircases spiralled up to the second floor, and then the third and fourth. The library was even larger than he could have imagined, with more rooms extending off from the other floors.
Still, there were too many Lycans for his comfort. Some of them were beginning to notice him now, elbowing others who still had their heads down and pointing in his direction.
‘Ahhh, Nathaniel,’ the woman beamed underneath her veil. Her smile was her only feature that availed itself to him, other than her nails, polished to a gleam. The maroon dress she wore – simple in design, and yet, beautiful – fell over her feet and, along with the veil, covered almost her entire body. ‘I was beginning to think you would never come!’
She placed the book she held gently on the table before her and rose, flicking a long braid of dark hair behind her shoulders. There was something mystifying, and terrifying all the same, about the woman that Nathaniel couldn’t quite place his finger on.
‘How do you know my – never mind – everyone seems to know my name here,’ Nathaniel said irritably. ‘Who are you? You don’t seem–’
‘–to be a Lycan?’ she suggested.
Nathaniel laughed nervously. If she wasn’t a Lycan, what was she? And what was she doing here, waiting for him?
Waiting for you? Where did you get that idea from?
‘You just seem different,’ Nathaniel shook the thought away. ‘Not in a bad way,’ he added hurriedly.
The woman’s smile had not faltered once but it was what he could not see that troubled him most.
Like with the Shadow, Nathaniel was certain he would have known if the woman had been staring at him a distance away with his back turned to her. No… it was more than that. Having her looking at him wasn’t merely unsettling, it was both glorifying and embarrassing. He felt naked to the core, as if flesh and bone were not a barrier to her hidden gaze. On a whim she could have reached into him and seized his soul, whispering to Nathaniel his sweetest dreams and most solemn secrets.
‘You seem troubled, Nathaniel,’ the woman noted. ‘Are you alright?’
‘I… Yes…I’m fine,’ Nathaniel said.
No, I’m bloody well not! Who are you?
‘Well, I best be off, I think Thorne would worry, if he caught sight of me again,’ the woman laughed softly.
He probably couldn’t stand you looking at him for too long either, Nathaniel mused.