When their lips met, his eyes drifted closed. The kiss was intense, passionate, and wonderful. He had often wondered what it was like to kiss a girl. There were times when he had wanted very badly to try it, but his shyness always won out. No other girl had intrigued him like Tegan. To kiss her seemed like a dream come to life.
As the kiss lingered, his body reacted. He could hear the pounding of his heart, sending desire coursing through his veins. When she lifted her head and their lips parted, they were both breathing heavily. Sporting a grin, she bit her lip and began to unlace her top. Cameron’s day had suddenly become very interesting.
CHAPTER 12
Brock opened the door to his room and found himself alone. Apparently, Cam was still out training somewhere. He set his pack on the bed and then bent to dig a thick book and some notes from the desk drawer. Exiting his room, he stepped into the entrance of the apprentice lounge. As he expected, he found Benny bent over a table while Parker and Lars were lounging on nearby sofas. There were perhaps a dozen other boys scattered about the room.
Walking to the rounded brick wall that housed the stairwell in the hub of the circular room, Brock pulled the hot kettle from under the caffe filter, finding it half-full. He grabbed an empty cup from the counter and filled it with the steaming liquid.
As he neared the table where Benny was working, he noticed Benny sketching on a large sheet of paper. Craning his neck over Benny’s shoulder, Brock tried to determine what he was drawing. It looked something like his Hedgewick Roller design from the previous spring but with a lot of extra parts. Benny was at it again, busy inventing some contraption that was sure to amaze others.
“Is this your latest creation?” Brock asked.
Benny’s head popped up and turned to face Brock. “Oh, hi Brock,” he said, smiling as his head bobbed. “Yes, it’s a new invention I’m working on.”
“I don’t suppose you’ll tell me what it does?” Brock asked.
Benny shook his head. “Nope. It’s a secret until its ready.”
“Don’t bother, Brock. You won’t get anything out of him.” Lars’ voice came from behind Brock. “We’ve already tried.”
Brock replied, “Hi Lars. Hi Parker. What are you guys up to?”
Parker held his book up for Brock to see. The title read Empire Civil Laws, 1447 Edition. “As you can see, I’m having too much fun for my own good,” Parker replied.
Lars chuckled. “Yeah, me too. I’m reading over equipment care and supply rules.” He smiled, his eyes lighting up. “Budakis asked me to be one of his assistants for the year. Apparently, the one he had arranged hasn’t returned since leaving for summer break.”
“That’s great, Lars,” Brock said, stepping closer to the sofa. “But we’re almost two weeks into the school year. I’m sure Budakis hasn’t been fond of being limited to one assistant.”
Lars chuckled again. “You’ve got that right. I spoke with Jasmine, his other assistant. She told me that he’s been ill tempered. She’s thankful about my coming in to help.”
Brock nodded. He knew well how irritated Budakis could be when things weren’t going as expected. Pulling a chair out at the far end of Benny’s table, he set his book, notes, and cup of caffe down before taking the seat. Pursing his lips, he blew air over the steaming cup before taking a sip. The bitter drink was hot, but thankfully didn’t burn his tongue. He preferred it with sweet milk, but that wasn’t an option in the lounge.
After pulling back the cloth cover that was wrapped about the thick book, Brock stared at it, his fingers tracing the gold rune embossed in the dark red cover, the rune that he now knew was forbidden. He slipped the cloth cover back on and flipped the book open to read the messages inscribed inside, messages he knew by heart. On the left was a message written in mysterious runes and foreign text. The opposing page contained a message he could easily read, one he had memorized. It had taken him days to determine that the two messages were identical. It still amazed him that someone scripted this message to him, knowing he would find it two hundred years later. The fact that Benny’s ancestor wrote the note seemed just as amazing. The man had apparently experienced a major prophetic vision, seeing something in the distant future. Brock and Benny were still trying to understand what was behind the prophecy. While it had become clear that learning to use Chaos was important, they had no idea why. Brock was doing his best, but it was slow going. At the same time, he remained careful not to let anyone outside of his small group of friends know about his abilities or about the existence of the book.
“Have you made any progress?” Benny asked after seeing Brock with the book, knowing quite well what was beneath the cloth sleeve.
“Yeah, but the translation still comes along slowly,” Brock replied, flipping through the volume until he reached his marked page. “You already know what we discovered about the rune for Light with the log in the woods. When we were staying with Cam in Nor Torin, we tested that same rune on safer things while indoors.”
Brock smiled, remembering one of those tests. “Ashland stayed in Cam’s room, which is in the third-floor attic of his parents’ house. One night, we tested the Light rune on a pillow shortly before going to bed. It floated up and wedged itself into the peak of the ceiling. Over an hour later, I was lying in bed trying to fall asleep and I heard Ashland cry out. I ran upstairs to find her sitting upright in bed with the pillow beside her. She said that had just drifted to sleep when the pillow fell, landing on her face and scaring her.”
Benny laughed.
“So, we know how long the effect lasts,” Brock explained. “The next chapter introduced a rune that behaves completely opposite. Heavy makes something many times heavier than normal. We tried it on a piece of driftwood near the docks of Nor Torin. Afterward, I couldn’t lift it or even move it.”
Benny nodded. “Interesting. I wonder how it works from a physics perspective. Does Chaos increase the gravitational effect of the object, or does it actually change the mass?”
Brock shrugged. “I have no idea. I just know it works.” Brock’s eyes lit up. “We found something else about Chaos. I had Ashland test the Heavy rune on a sheet of paper. Afterward, we could still lift it, but the paper felt as heavy as a large brick.” Brock smiled. “Just to see what would happen, I applied my own charge of Chaos to the same piece of paper.”
Benny’s eyebrows shot up, causing his spectacles to twitch. “What happened?”
Brock’s smile widened. “I knew you’d be interested. After I charged the sheet of paper, the table it was resting on crashed to the floor, its legs shattering.”
“Ooo. That is interesting. It sounds like the effects stack on one another.” Benny chewed on his lip, deep in thought. “I wonder if the second effect is added to the initial one or if it’s multiplied.”
Brock’s eyes narrowed. “What?”
“Well, if the first charge makes the paper a hundred times as heavy as normal, does the second charge make it two hundred times heavier, or does it make it 10,000 times heavier?”
Brock shrugged. “I don’t know, Benny.”
Benny was thinking hard now. “Were you able to determine if your use of Chaos differs in strength from Ashland’s?”
Brock shrugged again. “I’m not sure. It’s something we can try to figure out though.”
“Hi, guys.”
They looked up to see Cam grinning at them, his blonde hair disheveled.
“Hi, Cam,” Brock said. “You look like you just woke up or something. What happened?”
Cam’s grin widened. “Something wonderful.”
Brock recognized the look on Cam’s face. He knew the feeling. “It’s a girl, isn’t it?”
Cameron nodded, still smiling.
“Tegan?”
Cam nodded again, his grin somehow growing even wider.
. . .
“Really? Benny flipped that huge stone block all the way up there?” Ashland asked in disbelief.
“Yep. You should have seen how ex
cited he was.” Brock grinned, remembering the day from early spring. “He launched three others, with fifteen minute breaks between each, before the effect began to fade.”
Brock pointed toward the pile of big stone blocks that Benny had fired from the quarry onto the adjacent hillside. He wondered if anyone had come out to the quarry since. If so, they were likely quite confused by the scene.
“What rune did you use?” She asked.
“Power,” he replied. “As you can expect, it’s quite useful and is one you definitely want to learn.”
Ashland slid closer, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. “Is that what we’re working on today?”
Brock smiled, “No. I’ve got something else in mind today.”
His hands gripped the small of her back as he leaned close for a kiss. When their lips parted, he stared into her enchanting blue eyes. A stray curl of brown hair dangled down on her forehead, partially obscuring the fake rune of Order that marked her. She absently flicked the hair aside as she stepped away.
“Well, I assume it involves something other than you having your way with me,” she said with a coy smile.
He laughed. “Yes. Although I could be persuaded…”
“Oh, no. Stay focused lover boy,” she said, laughing.
“Okay. I think I’ve figured out another rune, and I thought it would be good to test it.” Brock drew a piece of paper from his pocket, unfolding it to reveal a rune he had sketched the night prior. “This rune stands for Brittle. I think we can both guess what it does, but I needed somewhere to try it. A rock quarry seemed like a good place.”
Walking to the nearest stone block, he set the paper on top of it. The top of the stone reached Brock’s waist, and its length was nearly twice the height. He reached into a pocket, removing the metal bolt he had taken from the foundry. With it, he began scraping the rune into the surface of the stone. While Brock worked, Ashland watched intently until he had the symbol drawn to match the image on the paper.
He scooped up the paper and looked at Ashland.
She gave him a nod. “You first.”
Brock looked around to ensure they were still alone before taking a deep breath. Needing emotion, such as fear or anger, he focused on the fact that Unchosen had no rights or options for a better life. He then thought of how the Ministry refused to heal Unchosen, allowing those like his mother and aunt to die for no reason. Anger began to stir within. Holding tight to the anger, he also could sense the storm of Chaos all around. Drawing in as much of the frenetic energy as he could hold, he opened his eyes and poured the energy into the rune. It glowed bright red, pulsing briefly before fading. With the emotion and energy expelled, a cold wave of exhaustion washed over him.
He smiled at Ashland. “Would you do me the honor?”
Confusion showed in her eyes. “Do what?”
He smiled. “Someone has to hit it to see if it breaks.”
She glanced at the stone, shrugging. Stepping closer, she gave the stone a gentle kick with her boot. The block disintegrated, crumbling into a pile of fine sand that buried their feet as it slid outward.
Ashland giggled. “That’s amazing.”
Brock nodded. “This could be useful. Would you like to try?”
She nodded. “Definitely.”
CHAPTER 13
There was one Ecclesiastic skill that ran the risk of exposing Brock and Ashland as Unchosen. With their relationship now widely known, it surprised no one when Brock and Ashland repeatedly paired up for in-class divining practice. However, Brock worried that their lack of interacting with others might arouse suspicion.
When Master Varius declared that they were finished covering divining and the details of the Choosing ceremony, Brock felt relieved. A glance toward Ashland confirmed that she shared the feeling. What Varius had revealed during the past weeks left Brock feeling unsettled. While he was amazed at how easy it was to use Order to extract a rune from within a person’s head and imprint him or her with it to mark them for life, the rest of the process felt wrong. Varius seemed quite convincing when she explained why the Ministry dictated which rune each citizen was assigned, rather than imprinting them with whatever might be the strongest inherent trait. She preached that Ecclesiasts had an obligation to the Empire and its citizens and that controlling the number of individuals assigned to each profession balanced natural ability with the Empire’s need for certain jobs, making better lives for everyone.
Brock then remembered that he had been left Unchosen simply because of his ability to channel Chaos. Even if he had been given a rune, it would have been of the Ministry’s choosing rather than from his own desires. He wondered if people choosing their own path in life would lead to a better world. Having passion for a job surely had to yield better results than being forced into a career.
He blinked, trying to clear his thoughts to focus on what Varius was saying.
“However, while telepathy is a useful skill, it is also exceedingly rare,” she said. “In the few cases recorded, every instance involved two people who were very strong with Order and who had established a powerful emotional bond.”
The Ecclesiast Master paused, her eyes directed at Brock and Ashland.
“Interestingly, the limitations and potential applications of telepathy are still not fully known. While we’ve proven that distance has no impact, we don’t yet know the limits of what is possible to share over this connection. Is it just language, or can they share images or even feelings?” She paced before the class as she spoke. “We would very much like to work with another pair of individuals who have this ability. It would enable the Ministry to experiment and document any new findings.”
“Have any of you ever experienced anything like what I have described?” Again, Varius stared at Brock and Ashland.
A feeling of dread washed over Brock. He sent a mental message to Ashland. Don’t respond. Don’t even look at me. Let’s keep this private.
She responded. Agreed. I have a bad feeling about telling anyone.
Brock felt relieved but was careful not to show it. He stared back at Varius, his face void of expression. After a long moment, she continued with the lesson by detailing instances where telepathy had impacted events in the history of the Empire.
Distracted by an internal sense of foreboding, Brock half-listened to what she was saying. The feeling nagged at him until the bell rang.
“Do you want to grab lunch with me?” he asked Ashland as they walked out the door.
She smiled. “I’d love to, but I have to run back to my room first. Can you meet me at our table in a bit?”
Brock nodded. “Sounds good.”
She hurried ahead, soon swallowed by the mass of students in the central hallway. With time to burn as he waited for Ashland, Brock opted to lean against the wall and wait for the crowd to clear.
He found himself thinking about what Varius had said about telepathy. It had been quite useful to Brock and Ashland on a personal level, but he hadn’t thought about how it might be used to make the world better. There were times when instant communication across great distances would be useful and might even save lives. However, the very thought of being separated from Ashland made his heart ache.
Realizing that the hallway was now empty, Brock began his walk toward the dining hall. He noticed Master Pretencia heading his direction from the Hierarchist Wing. Their gazes locked, and Brock could see hatred burning in the man’s eyes.
“Mister Talenz.” Pretencia said, forcing Brock to stop and acknowledge him.
“Hello, Master Pretencia.” Brock said, trying to sound friendly.
“I’ve been watching you, Talenz. I know in my heart that you are a murderer and a fraud.” The man came to a stop just a few feet away.
Brock didn’t know how to respond. “What do you mean, sir?”
“You murdered Corbin Ringholdt.”
“Sir, you must be aware that Headmaster Vandermark found me innocent. It was proven that Corbin was in the wrong, and
I was merely defending Ashland and myself,” Brock explained.
The Master Hierarchist continued as if Brock hadn’t said a word. “When I look at you, I see someone who does not belong. You skirted the rules, bending them to suit your needs. Mark my words, I will find a way to expose you and see you expelled.”
Pretencia turned and walked away, leaving Brock alone. As he watched this man who despised him depart, Brock realized why he had felt a sense of dread.
CHAPTER 14
Cameron emerged from the changing room, unsure of what to expect. The past month had been that way, ever since his first interlude with Tegan. She was beautiful yet bold. Passionate and unpredictable. His stomach twisted in anxiety of what she might do next, yet his heart raced at the mere thought of her.
He stopped in the middle of the arena floor, dimly lit by the late-day sun coming through the glass panels in the ceiling high above. He glanced toward the stands, nodding to Brock and Ashland. Tegan had asked him to be sure to have a healer present. He had found two. The three of them were alone within the building until the door from the girl’s changing room opened.
With her hair tied back, Tegan had her sparring helmet under one arm and wooden sparring swords in the other. Cameron’s heart began to pound as he watched her long lithe legs stride confidently across the open floor. Rather than wearing the traditional sparring vest and trousers, she wore short brown leather shorts and a matching leather vest, leaving her flat mid-drift exposed. He thought she looked stunning.
She stopped just a few feet from him, flashing a devious smile. “Are you ready for this?”
Cam somehow pulled his focus from her body and mustered a response. “I don’t even know what this is.”
Tegan pulled her helmet down over her head. “This is about redemption, Cammy.” She showed a naughty smile, biting her lip. “I’ve had my way with you a number of times now, but not in the arena. Not for real. Losing to you in the championship last year still irks me. It’s time for a rematch.”
The Emblem Throne (The Runes of Issalia Book 2) Page 6