“This is your new guard?” Ashen asked, eyebrows arched. “Hell, girl, first you feed from Nareon, and then you choose a few of Leif’s spylings to protect you… do you have a death wish?”
I slipped a hand beneath where my braid rested against my neck, my fingers brushing the death mark.
“I’m not so incompetent,” I shot at him.
His eyes narrowed, so like mine, yet brighter, more obvious. “The games… I knew it was a death ability that killed those men. That was you?”
I blinked and dropped my hand. How the hell had he known what I was thinking about?
“No,” I lied, my eyes sliding to where Leif still stood sentinel, a quiet shadow. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m a Force-user.”
“Did you know,” he moved out of the store, until he stood on the road, “one of the only ways to kill a person stronger than you is with a death ability?”
He didn’t wait for my reply, merely stalked away. I glanced to Leif’s spot, unsurprised to find him also gone, and then finally turned to the others.
“I can’t believe there’s another Nareon,” I snapped. “One was bad enough.”
I could tell Sweet hid a grin, but the others managed to keep their faces expressionless.
“The reason I picked you,” I said as I walked out of the shop, “is because you treated me as an equal, so don’t bother stopping now.”
“Well then you should probably know,” Teddy said, following after me, “that it’s no use lying to Ashen with Leif around. Leif has a mind ability, and those two are as thick as thieves.”
“Not to mention just plain thieves,” added Quick.
I wanted to laugh. “I thought he looked like a pirate.”
“So that’s the only reason you picked us?” asked Quick. “I was sure it was because we’d seen you in your nightclothes.”
I really did laugh then. “If you know what’s good for you, you won’t be repeating that.”
“Oh my, did the little lady queen just make a threat?” Teddy mocked in horror.
“I just realised. Harbringer isn’t here anymore. I have nothing left to threaten people with.”
“Grenlow could teach you how to fight,” Sweet offered. “Or assign someone else to it.”
“I’m going back to the Academy tomorrow. If I’m still allowed to attend Harbringer’s class, that’s exactly what I’ll be learning.”
“Why wouldn’t you be allowed to attend?”
“A few reasons I suppose… but the main one is that we got into this together, so Hazen’s advisors might want to keep us apart.”
“More likely they’ll want to put you together, just to see how you react to each other’s presence.”
I nodded, finally breaking free of the bustle of the city. “That might happen too.”
As we neared the castle walls, Grenlow caught up to me again, looking harassed.
“Tomorrow night,” he said. “It’s all set.”
“What’s set?”
“Your Throne Test. You might not make it back to the Academy after tomorrow, so you should warn whoever could be expecting you.”
“It could take that long?”
“It’s different every time. Isolde is the one to decide which test to put you through, and the rest of the advisors tweak it, add to it, or remove parts as they please. I wish I could tell you more, but I can’t.”
“Would it help to have Nareon there?”
He looked uncomfortable. “They’ve banned you from calling upon him.”
“Uh oh.”
“Good luck.” He managed a semblance of a smile, and then moved off again.
Chapter Eight
Resisting the Resistance
I awoke the next morning to a tapping sound. When I rolled out of bed, it was to find a mechanical bird flapping at my window. I almost tripped over my sheets to reach the window, and then flung it wide. The bird landed on my bed and I unlatched its tiny scroll case, delicately extracting the roll of parchment. It flew off almost immediately afterward, and I stared down at the note in bewilderment.
The Academy is not safe.
“Nothing is safe,” I muttered, throwing the note to my bed just as Gretal came through the door of my bathing chamber.
Silently, she dressed me in dark tights, dark shirt and boots, as I strapped on my knife harness. I sat still long enough for her to braid my hair, examining her all the while. She was somber, her mouth pressed into a tight line, her nostrils flaring with each sharp breath. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that she was biting back a lecture. Seeing her like this, I began to wonder why she never married, never had children. Teddy, Quick and Sweet were already waiting for me in the courtyard as I approached, and I let them walk me over to the border before insisting that I go on alone.
“They will not react well to three synfee soldiers strolling into their kingdom,” I said, taking a step forward and leaving them all behind me, invisible. There was movement in the trees ahead, and I approached the clearing with caution, despite my bold words.
There were ten Black Guardsmen, all of them unfamiliar: the first bad sign. I immediately wanted to turn back and insist my own guard accompany me then, but they were beginning to move. I was hoisted onto a horse behind a man with blond hair and a squashed-looking face, who neither smiled nor scowled at me, and we rode in complete, foreshadowing silence. Approaching the kingdom, I almost expected them to use the exit behind the Black Barracks, but they looped around to the east at the last moment, and we travelled the edges of the Northern Tiered City, until we came to the gates leading into the Market District.
They let us through without a fuss, but by this time, people had begun to notice me.
“Tainted Creature!” a woman screamed, before slamming her shutters closed.
Mostly they just whispered and glared, but as we neared the Academy, a rock struck me in the back of the head. My guards did nothing, and I curved my arm over my head until we were finally on Academy grounds, and then I slid to the ground, tears prickling my eyes.
Five of the men dismounted with me, while the others looked as if they were going to wait at the gate, and I spotted Cale and Rose rushing toward me. Rose reached me first and threw herself at me so hard that it almost knocked me over.
“Bea! Oh you shouldn’t have come, things are bad here.” She smoothed a hand over my hair, kissed both my cheeks, and then I had to hug her again, because I thought I would start crying.
When I finally had myself under control, I raised my face from her neck and hugged Cale too.
“What happened with Harbringer’s trial?” My voice was strained.
“He was acquitted, but they have him under watch. I think they’re waiting for you to make contact with him. Here…” Cale handed me my book bag, and I didn’t even bother asking how he had managed to get it.
“Thanks.” I linked my fingers through Rose’s and she squeezed my hand as I tried to ready myself. “Alright, lets do this.”
My first class was Domestic Manipulation of Common Specialties, followed by Specialised Elven Elementals and Bender Physics. I quickly noticed two things. Hazen no longer attended Academy lessons, and whoever had sent me that note this morning had been right.
The Academy was not safe.
I was cornered more than once on my way between classes, and each time the five Black Guardsmen that walked with me were forced to intervene. Cale and Rose couldn’t walk too close beside me, or else they were in danger of being hit by the rocks that people hurled at me.
“They’re calling themselves the Tainted Resistance,” Rose muttered as I was forced to shield my head once again. “It started up as soon as it was announced that you’d be coming back to the Academy. Master Savar is trying to contain it…”
“But it’s not working,” I finished for her, stepping into the trail that would take us to the Sand Theatre, and my final lesson for the day.
Out of nowhere, there was a flash of movement in the trees to
the right of where we moved, and I felt a force slam into the side of my head. I stumbled, sucking in a breath as pain ripped through my skull, and then groaned, clutching my temple.
“God, Bea, let me look.” Cale was pulling my hands away, as the Black Guardsmen stood about the trail impassively. I noticed that there was blood on my palm.
“You’ve got a bit of a cut, but it’s not that bad, I think it’ll bruise worse though. Are you alright?”
“I feel dizzy.”
“We should take you back to the healer.”
“No!” I pushed his hands away, swayed a little, and then continued to push down the path. “It’s just one lesson. One more lesson, and then I’m done.”
We had tried to be early, but by the time we got to the theatre, it was almost packed. I knew that the class wasn’t anywhere near this big, but apparently teachers, students and court-officials alike had come to see how Harbinger would react to my presence. I spotted him on the small stage, but he didn’t look at me until we’d moved past the silent mass of people to the front of the arena. His dark eyes touched upon my head, where I could feel the blood dripping down the side of my face, and for just a moment, I saw the spasm of rage that flashed in his eyes.
“Good afternoon everyone, I see my class has grown exponentially in popularity since last week. If any of you are here that do not have signed permission slips from your parents, I’ll have to ask you to leave now.” He paused and waited until a large section of the crowd had begrudgingly moved off.
“You too Brown, Kingsly.” Two more people slinked off, and then he turned back to those of us who remained, ignoring the court officials that ringed the edges of the arena, and my own Black Guardsmen, who hovered just beyond the last row of students.
“Now for today’s lesson, we’ll be continuing where we left off with last week’s offensive and defensive strategies. I’m going to call each pair onto the stage one at a time and give them either a defensive or an offensive role. You’ll be graded for this exercise, so I suggest you take it seriously. If you fall behind a five, you will be asked to discontinue Offensive Training.”
He ordered the first pair onto the stage, and then stepped off to the side, talking quietly with Arrol.
How did you get hurt?
I glanced back at him, but still he spoke quietly, his eyes riveted to the fight.
A rock, I think. I didn’t see who threw it.
I told you it wasn’t safe, did you not get my message? I don’t think you should come back.
My father’s burial…
It will be even worse, Bea. Most of the city thinks you killed him. As soon as Hazen finds out about this, he’s not going to let you anywhere near it.
I felt a tear slide down my face, and found that I couldn’t say anything, in my head or otherwise. I sat there, silently crying through the next six rounds of sparring, until it was time for Cale and I to fight. We walked onto the stage, and I swiped the tears from my eyes. Harbringer should have assigned us roles, but he only stared at me, shaking his head slightly.
“You can’t fight, Miss Harrow. Cale, take her back to the Academy while everyone is still in class.”
Cale nodded and grabbed my hand, his grip a little too tight.
“Aw come on, Professor!” someone shouted—Cudos, I thought—“I wanna see her carve him up like she did her Dad!”
I suffered a flash of darkness so intense, for a moment I feared that I had actually lashed out and killed him, but when I looked, his face was still grinning, eyes narrowed on me.
“That’s enough.” Harbringer’s voice was dark, matching the way my heart felt. “Get her out of here.”
Cale began to tug me away, but my feet didn’t seem to want to move.
“I can fight,” I found myself saying. “I can fight him.” I pointed to Cudos.
Everyone fell silent, and Cale started pulling harder, until I stumbled a little bit.
“You shouldn’t have said that,” he muttered beneath his breath. “Dammit, Bea, come on.”
He managed to pull me a few steps further, and then I dug my heels in again, my voice deceptively calm.
“Let me fight. I can fight.”
Cudos shot up in his seat, the movement a blur, and I felt a stinging pain in my gut. I fell back a step, just as the rock fell to the ground, and I put a hand to my stomach, surprised despite myself that he would throw something at me in such plain sight, in front of Harbringer.
“Come on, synfee scum! Show us what you’ve got!” Cudos was climbing over the seats, moving toward me, and I suddenly wasn’t so sure anymore that I wanted to fight him.
Harbringer stalked to us. “Why is she still here?” he asked Cale, eyes flicking back to Cudos, who was now being detained by Arrol. “Do you have a death wish or something, Harrow?”
I laughed at the question, the sound slightly hysterical.
“You know, Professor, that’s not the first time I’ve been asked that.”
He didn’t answer then, as his arm had just shot out, his hand hovering before my face, a sharp rock trapped between his fingers. He growled, smashing the rock against the ground in an effortless flick of his wrist, and then turned, that black gaze of his trained on Cudos. The boy visibly flinched, and I finally let Cale lead me away, my limbs suddenly trembling.
Thank you, I thought, I’m sorry. I won’t come back.
Rose caught up to us as we were leaving the trail, and we hurried back to the Academy in silence, the five guardsmen trailing behind.
“Someone wants to see you,” Cale muttered as we passed through the gates again.
I looked sideways at him, but his face was tense, and when I looked at Rose, she only shrugged. He walked me to one of the administration buildings, and up a few flights of stairs, before depositing me outside of a door, knocking once.
“Good luck,” he whispered.
The door opened, and my heart sank, just a tiny bit.
“Miss Harrow,” Master Savar drew me into the room and closed the door firmly on everyone who stood outside. “You’ve been hurt.”
His beard seemed to be longer, the strands glinting like strings of steel, weighing down a posture that had always seemed rigid to me, but now appeared stooped. It didn’t detract from the fierce severity of his eyes; a focused, hard slate-stare to match his beard.
I touched my head. “It’s nothing. I want to thank you… for… allowing me to come back.”
He nodded. “That’s not why you’re here right now, Beatrice, though I hate to admit the Academy may not have been such a good idea in general. I had thought that you coming here—unarmed and clearly far from dangerous—would instill just enough doubt in the officials who might have been swayed before your trial. I have failed to contain the Resistance, however, and so I have failed you. I’m only allowed ten minutes with you, and we need to get you back to the border before something worse happens.”
I followed him to another door, which lead into an empty corridor, and then halfway down, he suddenly stopped, tapping the door he now stood in front of.
“This is my supply closet, I think you’ll find it useful.” He smiled at me for a moment. “I’ll be back in my office. Don’t take too long.”
I stared after him until he had disappeared back into his office, and then I opened the door. It was indeed a supply closet, from what I could make of it in the shadows. But then one of the shadows shifted and turned into a person, and I had to clamp a hand over my mouth to cut off my scream. Hazen reached into the hallway and pulled me against him, closing the door with his free hand. I clung to him, disbelieving, smelling something wonderful and familiar that was somehow unique to him.
He had my braid wrapped around his hand, and was hugging me just as tightly as I was him. “You’re hurt,” he muttered, his voice raspy, “what happened?”
“It doesn’t matter, it’s fine. I can’t believe you’re here.”
“You saved my life, Bea, of course I’m here.”
I wanted to
sob then, but couldn’t waste what precious minutes I had crying.
“What’s going to happen?”
He seemed to deflate a little and his arms fell away from me.
“It’s all moving too slowly.” He was angry, frustrated. “They’re trying to track down a man—a mind-reader. He’s the only other person with a mind-ability similar to Joseph’s and my own. He’s supposed to examine you at the trial, but until we find him, you’ll have to stay over the border. The Tainted Resistance is too strong right now. These sorts of groups are as fast to rise as they are to fall. Once we have managed to acquit you, their fuel will dwindle, and they will lose followers. Until then, I’m afraid that they are a very real threat.”
“Who is he? Why can’t you or Harbringer do it?”
“Obvious reasons.” I felt him shift, and tried to make out his expression, but it was too dark.
I wanted to hug him again, but suddenly it didn’t seem so appropriate, closeted off together in the dark.
“Joseph told me he kissed you again,” he said suddenly, his voice changing.
“Did he tell you, or did you see it in his mind?”
“I saw it, and then forced him to tell me.”
I laughed, though there wasn’t any humor to the sound. “You must be sick of seeing my kisses in other people’s minds. You’re lucky Rose doesn’t have a boyfriend. It would drive you insane.”
He didn’t say anything to that, and then finally he sighed, his hand sliding around my side. “Come on, take your hug, and then you have to go.”
I did cry a little bit then, I could feel the dampness of my tears on his neck, as I tightened my arms around him, needing to push to my toes to be able to reach him. I turned and kissed his cheek. “I’m really glad you’re okay.”
He didn’t say anything, so I kissed his cheek again, and then buried my face back in his neck. He made a strangled sort of sound and pushed me gently back.
“Time’s up,” he said, pushing the door open.
I slipped into the hallway, feeling a strange mix of elation and sadness, and walked back to Savar’s office. He was sitting behind his desk, humming to himself as he looked out of the window.
The Soulstoy Inheritance Page 9