‘Are you okay?’ I asked.
‘I’m not sure. What’s it supposed to feel like?’
‘Warm.’
Reichis nodded. ‘Yeah, it’s warm.’
‘Comfortable, I guess.’
He nodded again. ‘Yeah … that’s the word.’ His gaze softened, the lids of his eyes half-closing. Then he settled himself on his back and stared up at the ceiling, the top of his muzzle and his feet sticking out of the water. ‘Comfy …’
‘You sure you’re okay?’
He stuck out a front paw and gestured over to my edge of the tub. ‘Gimme,’ he said, sounding half asleep.
I wasn’t sure what he was talking about at first, and then realised I’d left the plate there. ‘Are you serious?’
‘Gimme.’
Not knowing what else to do, I picked up one of the butter biscuits. I was going to put it in his paw, but he’d already stuck it back under the water, and instead opened up his fuzzy little mouth. I deposited the biscuit there and was soon treated to the sound of a squirrel cat nibbling on a butter biscuit while moaning rapturously. ‘Oh yeah,’ he mumbled, the words sounding garbled on account of all the chewing noises. ‘This is how I want to spend my life from now on.’
‘What about hunting … I mean, murdering rabbits?’
Reichis swallowed. ‘Right now I just want to murder another one of those biscuits. Gimme.’
I really don’t understand squirrel cats.
I must have fallen asleep because I woke to a knock at the bathroom door. ‘Kellen?’ Seneira asked.
‘Just a second!’
I got myself out of the bath, managing not to kick over Reichis’s stool in the process, which would have led to any number of bites and claw marks on my freshly cleaned skin. I grabbed hold of a towel and quickly dried myself off and then ran my fingers through my hair. There was a mirror above a small sink that reflected my newly washed features. So that’s what I look like.
‘Kellen? I just wanted to—’ The handle started to turn.
‘Don’t come in!’ I yelped, and wrapped the towel around my waist. Ferius had once told me that people in the borderlands aren’t as concerned about nudity as the Jan’Tep, but I’d always suspected she was just setting me up to embarrass myself at some point in the future.
Satisfied that I was maintaining at least some small degree of propriety, I opened the door. Seneira was holding a bundle of clothes that I recognised as my other set. As a Jan’Tep initiate, I’d had all kinds of clothes: school clothes, casual clothes, formal clothes. An outlaw basically has two pairs of the same grubby travelling clothes and that’s if they’re lucky.
‘My father’s gone back to stay with Tyne. I cleaned up your spare garments as best I could,’ Seneira said. ‘They should be dry – I hung them by the fire.’
I considered apologising for having run out of Tyne’s room before, but then it occurred to me that if Ferius had covered for me with Beren, maybe Seneira had believed it too. I guess I just wasn’t ready for her to know what a coward I was. ‘Thanks,’ I said, taking the bundle of clothes from her.
She seemed to be staring at my torso, which was lean and tanned from four months in the borderlands but still wasn’t much to write home about. ‘What’s wrong?’ I asked, self-consciously.
‘You have scars,’ she said.
‘Doesn’t everybody?’ I grabbed at the shirt and put it on.
‘Not when they’re our age. Not as many as you, anyway.’ She caught my eyes then, and I think she felt bad for me. ‘I’m sorry, Kellen, I didn’t mean to—’
‘It’s fine,’ I said. It wasn’t as if I’d spent my life getting beaten or anything, but I’d managed to get into enough scrapes over the past months that I was looking the worse for wear.
Seneira’s gaze went past me then to where Reichis was still lying back on his stool. ‘You bathe with your animal?’
When she said it like that, it sounded much worse than I’d thought. ‘I … Not usually, he just—’
‘Kellen,’ Reichis growled, still lying back in the water, ‘you tell that bitch that if she ruins this for me, I swear to all nine squirrel-cat gods I’m going to pull out her eyeballs and make her eat them.’
‘What did he say?’ Seneira asked.
‘You really don’t want to know.’
She nodded. ‘I should let you get ready for bed. I was just hoping …’
I found myself profoundly aware of my lack of clothing and couldn’t imagine any ending to that sentence for which I was prepared. ‘What is it?’
‘Ferius says you’re going back to the Academy tomorrow. I … My father won’t let me go there. He says there’s too much chance of someone spotting me.’ She held up a small cloth object in her hand. It took me a moment to figure out that it was a child’s toy that looked vaguely like a horse. My people don’t have dolls – they’re too much like the kinds of sympathy figurines used by some mages to send pain to their enemies. ‘Could you take this to Tyne? It was his favourite toy until a couple of years ago. He always says he’s too old for toys now but … I don’t know. Maybe I’m just being stupid.’
Okay, not what I expected.
I took the doll from her. ‘I’ll take it to him.’
‘Thank you,’ she said, and then caught my eyes. ‘Tell him I love him, would you? I don’t think he really understands what’s happening. When I left the hospital, he thought I was running away again, leaving him behind. I never wanted him to think … I’ve made a mess of everything, Kellen.’
I started reaching for something comforting to say, but by then she had already gone, leaving me standing there in my towel. ‘Come on, Reichis,’ I said, as I started to put on the rest of my clothes. He gave me a dirty look but managed to rouse himself, hopping off the stool and onto the edge of the tub. ‘Dry me,’ he commanded, pointing to one of the spare towels.
‘What’s got into you?’ I asked. ‘One bath and you turn into a spoiled house pet?’
‘Dry me –’ he repeated, then got onto all fours and prepared to shake himself, an event that would almost certainly leave me completely soaked – ‘or I’ll dry myself.’
One thing I do know about squirrel cats? They can really be jerks sometimes.
24
The Seven Talents
Reichis tried his best to convince me that a second bath was in order, but I refused, and since nobody but me understands what he’s saying, all his efforts to explain to Seneira what he wanted were interpreted as a desire to go outside. Eventually he gave up, though not before making it clear that unholy vengeance would be wreaked upon all those who’d stood between him and his newfound love of bathtubs and butter biscuits.
By the time I made my way to my bed, I found it so comfortable that I thought I’d pass out the instant I hit the pillow, but something stopped me. Maybe it was just having grown so used to the rituals of the road: the gathering of firewood, preparing the campsite, Ferius setting her traps and the three of us talking nonsense until the stars covered the sky. Or maybe it was because of how bad I felt. Ferius hadn’t yelled at me or even been unfriendly, but we’d hardly spoken since the incident at the hospital. Reichis, on the other hand, slept (and snored) with the devotion of the truly righteous.
I tossed and turned for an hour or so, then found myself going out onto my room’s shallow balcony, which looked over a beautifully landscaped garden. I’m not sure how long I stood there before I noticed Rosie, moving so silently I couldn’t hear her, practising some form of combat, almost as if she were sparring with an invisible opponent. There was an elegance to her movements, so profound that eventually I put on my clothes and went down to join her.
‘What do you call that?’ I asked.
‘Eres trida,’ she replied, without missing a beat, moving with effortless precision along the pebbled path of the back garden. ‘A style of sand fighting.’
‘Sand fighting?’
‘Does one of those words confuse you?’ Rosie made a quarter-turn,
her back foot gliding smoothly along the uneven ground.
‘I just …’
She stopped, though whether because she’d completed whatever routine she’d been practising or because I was annoying her, I didn’t know. ‘Sand fighting. Fighting in sand. Part of the second talent.’
‘The second talent?’
Her eyes narrowed, and I got the distinct sense she thought I was mocking her. ‘I don’t know what that means,’ I said. ‘Honestly.’
‘The second talent. Eres.’ She said the word as if I should know it, then clarified with, ‘Defence.’
‘Oh.’
She came out of her combat stance and stood before me. ‘Name the seven talents of the Argosi.’
That caught me off guard. ‘I … I don’t—’
‘I thought you were learning the Argosi ways?’
‘I thought so too.’
‘Then name for me the seven talents!’
I felt annoyed at her for talking to me as though I was an idiot, and yet somehow didn’t want to show myself ignorant of the things Ferius was supposed to have taught me. ‘I … I guess swagger? Umm … dance, I think?’
‘“Swagger”? “Dance”?’ She shook her head and clicked her tongue with irritation. ‘The seven talents of an Argosi wanderer are: Daring, to brave the world; Defence, to protect oneself and others; Eloquence, to communicate with strangers; Subtlety, to evade ensnarement; Resilience, to thrive anywhere; Persuasion, to compel right action; Perception, to see what others do not.’
‘I … I didn’t know any of that.’
Rosie’s eyes softened, just a touch, and then she bowed her head briefly. ‘Forgive me, this is my error. I assumed when I saw you with the Path of the Wild Daisy … with Ferius … that you were her teysan.’
‘What’s a teysan?’
‘A student … an apprentice in the ways of the Argosi. I thought she was teaching you the seven talents in preparation for you to take the next step towards your path. She and I were both trained by the same maetri – teacher – so I presumed …’
I felt my cheeks flush, both from embarrassment and a rush of anger. ‘She said there wasn’t any specific Argosi training. She said—’
Rosie raised her hands, palms up in front of her. ‘Your pardon. In my foolishness and presumption, I have sown discord where none existed.’
Oh, it existed all right. I just never realised how much.
Rosie frowned. ‘The way of the Argosi is the way of water,’ she said. ‘I would not wish for this to be an occasion where I created disadvantage for another. Tell me, is there something I might do to restore the balance between us? I do not carry much with me, but I have certain mementoes from foreign lands. Perhaps one would—’
‘I don’t want you to give me your stuff!’ The second the words were out of my lips I realised I’d overreacted. This wasn’t her fault. She was just trying to make me feel better. ‘Maybe … Maybe you could teach me some of those fighting techniques you were doing?’
Her expression looked troubled and then she bowed again. ‘I apologise, but I cannot.’
‘Why not? It’s just—’
‘Ferius has chosen not to train you, Kellen, and for this she must have her reasons. If I gainsay her in this, I break the balance between her and me, and that balance is already … precarious.’
‘Great,’ I said. ‘Just perfect.’
Rosie came over and put a hand on my shoulder. ‘The ways of the Argosi are … rigorous, Kellen. They are not for everyone. If the Path of the Wild Daisy has not welcomed you to it, then trust that this is not the life for you.’
‘Sure, fine,’ I said. ‘I guess I’m not supposed to become an Argosi.’
Only what am I supposed to be?
25
The Academy
I slept late and woke up groggy and irritable. Even Reichis somehow knew to stay away from me. If it wasn’t bad enough how quickly things had been falling apart for me lately, now I was going to look like some callous freeloader, eating the Thranes’ food and sleeping till midday in their bed. I’d have to apologise, and then … what? What in the name of all my ancestors was I supposed to do?
I got dressed and went downstairs to find that events had kept on moving even without my presence.
Seneira, Ferius and Rosie were seated around a table.
‘Saddle up, kid,’ Ferius said when she saw me. ‘We’ve got places to be.’
‘What’s—’
‘I’ll explain on the way.’
Reichis trotted down the stairs and Ferius immediately pointed a finger at him. ‘Forget it, squirrel cat. You’re staying here this time.’
Reichis looked over at me. ‘Kellen, tell the Argosi that the next time she points her finger at me, she’s going to have to dig it out of her—’
‘Just … You don’t want to come anyway, Reichis.’
‘How do you know? She hasn’t even told you what you’re doing yet.’
‘Because I’m fairly sure whatever it is doesn’t involve stealing or killing.’
Reichis stared at me for a second, then turned and sauntered up the stairs. ‘I’m going back to bed. Somebody wake me when this stops being boring.’
With that potential crisis averted, I barely had time to put on my belt that held the powders I use for my spell and get my boots on my feet before Ferius was ushering me out of the house. ‘Wait a second. Where are we going?’
‘The Academy. I want to see what we can learn about the place.’
I stopped at the door. ‘Shouldn’t Seneira come with us? She’s the one who knows how the Academy works.’
‘I can’t,’ Seneira said, her tone making it clear she was none too happy about the situation. ‘If my classmates see me wearing a blindfold, they’ll ask questions.’ She pointed a finger to the markings around her eye. They looked a fraction longer than they had yesterday. ‘If they see me without the blindfold, it’ll be even worse.’
‘Come on, kid,’ Ferius said, grabbing me by the shoulder. ‘Let’s move.’
‘Can I have a moment with Kellen before you go?’ Seneira asked.
Ferius raised an eyebrow for a second, but then nodded and went outside to wait for me.
‘What is it?’ I asked.
‘I have a favour to ask,’ she said tentatively. ‘There is someone I’m worried about, and I hoped you might enquire discreetly about their well-being.’
‘I can try. Who?’
‘His name is Revian,’ she said. ‘He’s my … classmate.’
Revian. The name was familiar, though it took me a second to place it. ‘You said his name the other night, when you were having the shadowblack attack.’ When I’d told her to think of the people she loved.
Seneira looked half ashamed and half betrayed. ‘Forget I asked. I shouldn’t have—’
Ancestors, why am I so bad at dealing with people? ‘What does he look like? I’ll look out for him. Discreetly.’
She gave me a grateful smile, then proceeded to describe what sounded like a figure pulled straight out of a painting of one of the old gods of sun and sky. Then she went on to describe his kindness, compassion, dignity, courage and great sense of humour. Whoever Revian was, I hated him already.
As I was turning to leave, Seneira caught my arm. ‘If you see him, tell him I …’
‘Tell him what?’
She shook her head. ‘I’m sorry. Just tell him that I miss him.’
Ferius and I rode the half-mile back to the Academy, then tethered our horses and made our way inside. ‘First stop’s on the twelfth floor,’ she said.
Ferius walks surprisingly fast when she isn’t making a show of walking especially slow, so I had to jog to keep up with her. ‘What makes you think any of her teachers or classmates even want to talk to us?’ I asked.
‘Simple, kid: I’m going to charm her teachers, and you –’ she stopped, and turned to muss my hair – ‘you just try to be good-looking, okay?’
Wow. It really never takes Ferius v
ery long to put me off. ‘How exactly am I supposed to try to be good-looking?’
‘You really want to know? As in, if I tell you, you’ll actually listen for a change?’
I nodded.
‘Right. First off, let’s fix a few things.’ She gently pushed me back against the wall. ‘Make your butt, your shoulders and the back of your head touch the wall.’
‘What’s that going to—’
‘Do you want to pester me with questions or learn how to be handsome?’
‘Fine.’ I leaned back.
‘No, stand up straight. Remember: butt, shoulders, head.’
I contorted myself into an incredibly uncomfortable position.
‘Good,’ she said. ‘Now, pretend you’re completely at ease.’ When I did, she said, ‘No, don’t start slouching again.’
I started to speak but she shut me up with a look. After a few more tries she seemed satisfied. ‘Good, now, give me your best smile.’
I smiled.
She flinched.
‘What?’
‘Stop doing that with your mouth.’
‘You said to smile.’
Ferius pointed to my eyes. ‘Smile from here.’
‘How the heck am I supposed to—’
‘Hang on.’ A girl around my age was walking up the stairs, pretty, with red hair that fell in curls to her shoulders. Ferius went over to her. ‘Miss? You mind helping us out for a second here?’
Oh ancestors, you’re doing this to torture me, aren’t you?
Ferius had the girl stand on the other side of the wide staircase. I guessed classes must be in session because very few people were coming up or down. Those who did, however, smirked at the sight of me standing there like an idiot.
‘Okay,’ Ferius said, speaking to me in a quiet voice. ‘That there is Hadina. I want you to look at Hadina and smile with your eyes.’
‘I still don’t know what that means.’
‘It’s all right, kid, I’m going to teach you.’ She stepped out of the way, still staying close so she could talk to me without the girl … Hadina … hearing. ‘Now, when you look at Hadina, I want you to look into her eyes – but don’t just stare at her like she’s a rock, and especially don’t stare at her like she’s some kind of food. Instead, I want you to look into her eyes and listen to what they’re saying to you.’
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