Page 67

Malia

I’ll teach Flint’s guards for the first time today, and I’m more nervous than I should be.

I slept fairly well, only to wake up early and start pacing my room, like I haven’t stopped doing since.

It sounds worse than it is, I’ve been tidying everything up along the way to keep me occupied, planning the day while doing so.

I don’t know what Flint has told them about me.

That I’m a prisoner executing his orders? That I’m dangerous and they might have to defend themselves with whatever means necessary? That I’m their teacher, here to help?

I did fight alongside them against the Dark Fraction, but I doubt that will matter to many of the guards.

Most of them have probably lost at least one person to the Shadow Handlers over the years, and I’m the next best thing to blame.

It’s fine.

I don’t expect or need them to treat me as a friend.

I’m here to do a job and hopefully get what I want from Flint. All I need from the guards is respect, and that I know how to earn.

"Good to see you’re awake." Flint enters my cell without bothering to knock.

Since he’s carrying a peace offering – a tray filled with food – I’ll let it slide.

"You’re free to eat wherever you want, you know that, right? Your door isn’t locked anymore. I shouldn’t have to wait on you." I roll my eyes at him as he takes a seat on the chair in my room, setting the tray on the table. "I thought we would do this so we could talk in private," he adds.

"Sure," I reply curtly and sit down as well.

Stars, I’m not being a treat and I can already sense it, but my nerves are wreaking havoc on my poor insides, making me tense.

"As I’m sure you remember, you’ll train your first group of guards today.

It’s a small one and consists of only five people.

We’ll try this out, and you can tell me if it’s a good number or not.

"I want you to teach them how to fight as you do.

First, only without using their powers since that’s how we fight on most missions.

Once and if you think they’re ready, you can teach them to combine the two. You’ve proven to be a good teacher, so I believe you’ll be able to report back good news this evening. You can come to my office from 5 ‘til 7."

"What about my condition?" I ask, trying to tamper my hopes.

"A condition, is it now?" He waits for a beat, maybe expecting a witty retort from my part that never comes, and then goes on.

"Sure, here’s what I’ve been able to do; You’ll get paid, although I’m not going to lie to you, it’s a shitty salary.

Your hours will be counted more or less, and you’ll get your money at the end of each month."

Finally, a sincere smile takes over my face.

Be it a shitty salary or not, I feel so damn happy that my biggest worry has been eliminated.

A salary means I’m an employee. A real part of Arcane, not a prisoner.

"You seem surprised.

Don’t tell me you expected any less than the bare minimum from me?" he teases me.

"I wouldn’t dream of it.

Seriously though, thank you.

Believed it or not but I’ve never been freer than I am right now in this cell." I smile at him, and he returns it.

"Then I’m glad I could help.

Eat up and get to training room 19.

The lesson starts in thirty minutes.”

My former captor and present boss leaves.

So do I, once I’ve finished breakfast.

I want to get there early in case someone is already there.

Every one of them has been told to bring their own weapon since I don’t have time to teach every person how to fight with every possible weapon.

As students at the academy, we’re taught the basics of every option since we still have to find our favorite, but these adults should be past that.

I’ll be bold and say that I’m pretty good with every weapon, courtesy of my father, so I should have no problem instructing today.

This lesson will be more about me getting an idea of this whole thing than creating perfect fighters.

As I think about how I’ll greet my students and whatnot, I mentally stumble over the fact that I’ll be training guards.

Not teachers.

It’s pretty curious of Flint to prioritize his guards over Arcane’s teachers, but I guess he’s in no hurry to start training little worriers. Maybe he still feels too threatened by what remains of the Dark Fraction to think about what’s the most efficient thing in the long run.

All five guards come into the room as a group and not a minute early, reminding me of nervous schoolboys.

Perhaps they were scared of being alone with me.

"I take it you know why you’re here?" I ask to break the horribly tense silence.

Of course, no one answers me as they all just grumpily meet my eyes.

The respect radiating from them is immaculate.

"Exactly, you’re here to learn how to fight from me.

Throw in a little lesson on respect, and you’re all set." The jab slips past my lips before my brain can settle on the best approach here, resulting in a very red-faced audience.

Their silence persists

"Lesson number one, when I ask a question, you reply," I order, my voice even despite the indignation simmering beneath the surface.

"We don’t take orders from Shadow Handlers," one of the men says.

"That’s a good trait.

Neither do I, for that matter, and no one is asking you to," I retort without missing a beat.

The man narrows his eyes. Since he hasn’t bothered to introduce himself, I’m going to call him M for his big mouth and missing brain cells.

"You fight like one of them, and now you want us to do the same," the man to M’s left says.

Let’s call him L since that’s how the alphabet works, and they don’t deserve more thoughtful nicknames.

"I’m teaching you to fight on Flint’s orders.

This is not about turning you into Shadow Handlers but into good fighters, which clearly, your boss thinks you are not." I think I might be doing something here, judging by the pulsing vein on M’s temple.

"We’re good fighters." N, aka the man to M’s right says.

"Prove it.

Come at me." That’s all the encouragement they need.

I roll my eyes to myself as, let’s call him O, comes at me with his katana, being so obvious with his intentions that I can duck away without a problem. As soon as the man stumbles past me, I’m able to kick him in the back, making him fall flat on his stomach.

"You’re out," I say boredly before the next one comes at me.

P is more agile, but I still get him to the ground without breaking a sweat.

"What are you doing? You are fighting like little girls!" M shouts from the place he stands, spitting so much I can see it flying wide from where I am a few feet away.

"There, there, don’t give them such an uncalled-for compliment," I tsk, and the man seems to hate me even more for it, his face turning a dark shade of plum.

I win the fights against L and N and am looking forward to the final one against Mr.

missing brain cells.

"Come on now, don’t be shy," I encourage him when he doesn’t unsheathe his twin daggers.

"You’re in over your head, girl.

I won’t fight you."

"Don’t be scared, I’ll go extra soft on you and your fragile ego," I taunt.

That does the trick since M draws his weapons and comes for me.

His movements are more precise than the ones of his friends, and I find myself half-impressed.

There’s some strength behind each of his blows and he is quick to block counterattacks.

I let this little duel go on for a tad longer, going soft on him as promised, before I roll him over my shoulder and drop him onto his back like a sack of potatoes.

He groans from the impact and his fellow guards head toward him.

"Now that we’ve clearly established that you could use some training, let’s start."

"So, how did it go?" Flint asks when I enter his office in the evening.

I give him a quick summary of the progress of the group, not holding back on a few sarcastic remarks here and there, and finish by telling him groups of five seem to work well.

"Why, if I may ask, do I not start by teaching the academy’s teachers? After all, I teach one of them and they’ll pass it onto multiple students.

The big picture would change a lot quicker and with the Dark Fraction gone, it’s not like we need top guards urgently," I think out loud.

"I’m afraid that is not true.

There have been some curious appear – and disappearances.

Something’s coming and even though we don’t know what yet, I want to be ready."

"What kind of app-" Flint cuts me off.

"It’s not of importance.

I’ve got to get going anyway.

You teach the same group again tomorrow. Bye." He leaves before I can even protest. What on earth? This is his office after all.

With nothing else to do, I head straight to my cell – or maybe it’s a room now that I have a key – high on a sudden wave of happiness.

The first training might not have gone perfectly, but it was a lot of fun.

Also, I’m going to get paid for it!

If I had a phone, I’d instantly call Keahi.

Damn me for not getting one already.

Not that I have any money yet, but I guess you could call me persuasive enough to get one, if necessary. Whatever, they didn’t use to have phones back in the day, so I guess I’m doing this the old-fashioned way. I quickly put on my coat and boots before going out, heading for Keahi’s home.

The moon’s up already and illuminating my way along with her everlasting companions.

The nights are getting colder, but there’s a fuzzy feeling of anticipation in my stomach keeping me warm against the frost.

I’ll soon see Keahi and we can talk about our days like two normal adults.

I’m not worried I’ll bother him, even if it’s already late.

I’ve missed him all day, and I’ll just be bold and believe the feeling is mutual.

Either way, what’s he going to do? Tell me to leave? I honestly can’t come up with a single scenario where Keahi might throw me out into the cold. Not anymore, at least.

When his house is in sight, my strides get longer, more determined.

I want to just burst through the door but considering his history, I’d rather not scare him like that.

Instead, I glance through the window next to his door to see if he’s awake.

At first, I just see his back which means he’s awake.

I go to ring his doorbell when I notice he’s not alone.

Please don’t be Eteri, please don’t be Eteri.

He pulls the person into a hug, allowing me to see their face and recognize Wystan.

Why would – Hang on, is my former friend crying? And Keahi is comforting them? I had no idea they were close.

Or had any contact at all, come to think about it.

I frown, wondering when this happened, but eventually decide not to intrude on whatever is going on and just wait until Wystan leaves.

Can’t be too long, right? I’ll just ask Keahi how long they’ve been friends and why he hasn’t mentioned it later.

I settle down in the grass behind Keahi’s house and look at the stars.

Of all the crimes Arcane committed against me, robbing me of the chance of seeing the stars for five and a half years must be the worst, I decide as I look at the art splattered across the night sky.

I’ve been waiting in the wet grass for two damn hours.

By now, clouds have taken over the sky, leaving me to see nothing of the moon or stars anymore.

I’m cold, no longer feeling excitement or success, but subconscious instead.

What could they possibly be doing in there for so long? I trust Keahi, so I’m sure it’s nothing bad, but my feelings still have the audacity to be hurt.

It’s silly but I guess I was really looking forward to seeing him tonight.

After another twenty minutes or so, I hear the front door opening.

Finally.

I don’t hear what they’re saying, and I don’t try to either. It’s not my place.

I wait a few more minutes after the door closes to make sure Wystan doesn’t see me before heading for the entry, ignoring the discomfort the wet fabric of my pants brings me as it rubs against the gooseflesh beneath.

I peek through the window, but I can’t find Keahi’s silhouette.

The lights are off as well, and if I’m seeing it correctly the door to Keahi’s room is closed. You’ve got to be kidding me.

Did he seriously rush to sleep minutes after his guest left? And what am I going to do now?

I consider waking him, but that seems selfish.

If he’s so tired, then I shouldn’t keep him up.

He might have an exhausting day ahead tomorrow and I should probably get a few hours of sleep as well. Besides, I don’t have anything to tell him anymore. The feelings I wanted to share with him have long since passed, and I feel foolish to have come in the first place.

The academy is quite the walk away, so I decide to stay in my previous spot for the night.

Maybe I’ll catch Keahi tomorrow morning before he heads out to work.

I could come up with some excuse about being near his house and steal a kiss. That would probably make me feel better. My parents are dead, so I shouldn’t be in danger of anything other than catching a cold. With that decided, I settle onto the damp patch flattened lawn and curl up as tightly as I can to get any semblance of heat.

The wind is howling angrily, whipping my freezing hair away from my face before changing directions to slap it back against my skin.

I squeeze my eyes shut, mentally cursing Keahi for not having a chair or lounge anywhere in his backyard.

I’d take about anything to use as a shield right now.

In a desperate attempt, I shrug off my thin coat and pull it tightly around my curled form so I’m mostly covered.

Even so, I’m a shivering mess within minutes, feeling truly pathetic.

This one’s on me and my sucky planning.

Sure, I could still ring Keahi’s doorbell but how would that look and what would I say? "Yes, hi, Keahi.

I came to see you a few hours ago but since you already appeared to be having company, I decided to sit in the wet grass and wait there instead. You were already in bed when I wanted to come in the second time, so I thought I would lie down in the wet grass again. I don’t know how long it took me, but I’m here now, surprise. P.s. I am not a stalker." Yeah, no.

Going back to the academy now also isn’t an option.

The gates must be locked by now, and I doubt there’s anyone awake to open them for me.

If I tried climbing the massive thing, I’d most likely get assassinated by the alarm system, so that’s not a particularly attractive option either.

Where does that leave me?

On my sad patch of dying grass, that’s where.