Page 28 of Death’s Kiss (The Order of the Tide Raiders #1)
“ W ho can tell me the name of the first landmass to fall under the Sol Empire?” Preceptor Chie’s leathery voice inquiries of our class.
I’m unable to so much as raise my hand without searing pain blooming along my sides, so I keep quiet, and one of the western raiders answers, “The Isle of Andesite.”
Preceptor Chie nods while stroking the length of his powder white goatee.
“Why is it that Andesite Isle fell first?” The same raider answers him without missing a beat, “Because of Mt. Zyphos. The rulers of Andesite agreed to an alliance in order to stop the impending eruption from wiping them out.”
Our ancient preceptor nods again, his face grave.
“Correct, the people of Andesite believed the eruption of Mt. Zyphos to be unavoidable, but Emperor Anatolius provided them with an alternative that could not be refused,” he explains, hobbling to the back salt-stained shelves lining the walls of his lyceum.
Each shelf is full of dozens of rows; every row contains countless objects and knickknacks.
Preceptor Chie pulls out something from one of the lower shelves beneath my eye level and stands, turning back to face us.
He holds up what appears to be a mangled bit of rectangular fabric.
I can tell the color of it is supposed to be white, but at this point it's so tattered it looks more gray than anything. From this angle, it’s hard to be sure, but I think fish are beaded into the fabric to give the illusion that they’re swimming up the swatch.
I lean forward to get a closer look and wince at the agony flaring along my ribs.
Kleio’s hand brushes mine, and I glance over to find her eyes brimming with worry.
Shaking my head incrementally, I silently warn her now is not the time.
She bites her bottom lip like she’s debating arguing with me but then turns her attention back to the lesson.
After being unceremoniously ripped from my bed by an angry pounding at our cabin's door in the middle of the night, I was led up to our Grand Preceptor's quarters and made to wait before his freshly lit hearth until the others arrived. The ‘others’ being the accusing party of the South Order. I knew this would likely be the end result. I’m just grateful none of my crew were dragged down into it with me.
I lost control of my affinity. It would have been idiotic to think I might have gotten away with it.
Saubarag had come barreling in, holding her blackened finger aloft and waving it angrily in his metal hand. He claimed it would sabotage his captain’s chances for winning The Vault.
Then hell froze over, and Skelm began questioning my defense.
“Is it not true, Captain Leporem, that you used your own affinity against Captain Boreas here and asked her to kiss your ring?” Corvina was then forced to admit her own hand in the matter leading up to the incident.
“And I am also correct in recounting that you were the one who intervened during Captain Boreas’s and Raider LeRoi’s training round?
Leaving a northern captain unconscious for multiple days before the first pillar trial? ”
By the end of his line of questions, Corvina looked ill, and Saubarag was almost white with rage at the information his captain had failed to inform him of before storming up here .
Skelm had growled angrily at the southern Grand Preceptor.
“I looked the other way with that previous incident, Deverell . I allowed you to punish your charge however you deemed fit—which was clearly not effective. Do not mistake our history for a sign of deficiency.” The skin around his golden-covered eye socket tightened with the warning.
“This is my cardinal, and you are here as a guest. Do not abuse your welcome.”
Corvina and I remained motionless as the two Grand Preceptors stood glowering at each other.
Finally, Saubarag gave Skelm a relenting nod before dragging Captain Leporem back with him to their ships.
I wasn’t stupid enough to think my actions would go unpunished.
Although I was surprised at Skelm’s praise that followed the eight lashings I received, four on each side.
“Impressive bit of affinity work there. Something I believe that both Bealu and Ersatz have worked tirelessly to pull from you these last few years, to no avail.” His one good eye studied me, dripping with blood on the rug before his blazing hearth as I struggled to see straight through the pain.
“Perhaps they simply did not know the right motivations for you.”
A shiver ran through me from the meaning in his words.
When I finally gathered myself to leave, Skelm added sharply, “Don’t go to the sick bay or that leech on your crew for healing until after tomorrow's lessons.”
Dispelling the memories of last night's events, I refocus on the lesson in progress and the tattered piece of material that Preceptor Chie continues to hold aloft for our observation.
“Can anyone tell me what this is?” he asks, his rheumy eyes scanning the rows of western and northern raiders.
I turn in my seat and catch sight of the western Grand Regent, who’s started to sit in on this course as he shifts his weight beside the entrance.
The dark khol around his eyes makes it almost impossible to tell what he’s thinking, but his body angles slightly, seemingly in interest. No one speaks or raises a hand in answer to the preceptor’s question.
I personally have no idea where that swatch of embellished material might have come from .
Chie frowns, and his eyes dim with a nod.
“This is the original flag of Andesite Isle. A flag that is no longer in use as its culture was swallowed up by the Sol Empire. The white of the flag once represented their independence, while the gold-beaded fish depict the auricfins that used to repopulate in great swells near their island.”
He continues his lecture by listing the names of the subsequent islands that fell shortly after.
Within decades of Andesite, we learn that the isles of Rhyolatia, Basulto, Pomice, and Dioriten all melted into the arms of the Sol Empire.
Preceptor Chie tells us, “These first five land masses later went on to become the province we now know today as the ‘Iron Fist’ of the Sol Empire.”
“That sounds like a sexual request, doesn’t it?” I hear Nephthys whisper to Prisca, who tries to smother her laughter with an unconvincing coughing fit.
Kleio gives the twins a look of reprimand, but I catch how her mouth is fighting not to pull upwards. My own lips twitch in respite of amusement.
We leave Chie’s class to make way for the outdoor lyceums, where Ersatz is still making us train even with the rainy season more than well underway. I think she enjoys the way the mud makes our obstacle courses that much more difficult.
My gait is stiff-backed while walking across the trestle, and I fight against the fresh pain along my ribs when turning a bit too sharply at the questioning call of my name, “Captain Boreas?”
Gritting my teeth through the agony, I discover Brisa standing beside the entrance to the open-air bridge. I glance at Kleio and nod, signaling for her to head on with the others to Ersatz class.
“Captain Bedivere,” I return in greeting before striding her way.
Her charm-coiled braids, tied back in a high plait atop her head, give her upturned features a more regal than predatorial appearance today. Those steel-colored eyes flicker to the air above my head before glancing back at my approaching form.
“Your crew is very… protective,” she comments with a small twitch of her lips .
I glance over a shoulder to find Kleio, Herse, and Greer all waiting on the other side of the open-air bridge with gazes narrowed in our direction.
Rolling my eyes, I motion for them to move on with a huff of annoyance.
The three of them look poised to argue but I give them a glare that has them thinking otherwise, and they finally depart for the rainy afternoon with Ersatz.
“They can be,” I admit, meeting Brisa’s gaze.
I don’t mention that the events of yesterday have set my crew atop a razor's edge of suspicion towards every other captain here. I’m not positive I’ve talked Herse and Greer completely out of their brewing plot to somehow shave Corvina’s head.
The twins are incorrigible; they think my use of frostbite was a stroke of comedic genius, and they even asked Captain Leporem this morning at breakfast if they might get to sneak a peek at her new 'accessory'.
“I wondered if we might chat, briefly?” Captain Bedivere asks, her head angling to one of the open alcoves lining the hallway.
Raiders of all levels scurry around us in the brief period between lessons and training.
I eye Brisa with uncertainty. “Regarding?”
She laughs. “I’m not going to use my affinity to throw you over the side of the building if that’s what you’re worried about. I’m actually quite fond of my fingers,” Brisa adds with a knowing smirk before heading towards the open alcove.
Against my better judgement, I follow.
My body is still yelping in protest with nearly every step, but I manage to join her on the ledge overlooking the crashing sea. I shut the glass doors behind me, knowing this might just be my last moronic move. Yet there’s something about the western captain that I feel inclined to trust.
I’m not daft enough to be blind to the obvious threat she poses, but I can’t help feeling her motives are not dissimilar from my own.
“Alright, let’s chat.”
I wait until the end of dinner before cornering Vash.
Well, I don’t so much as corner him, as I do take a page from his book and snag Larceon by the neck of his uniform as he aims to leave the dining chamber. Ignoring his gasping sounds of choking, I drag him roughly into the nearest empty hallway before letting him lose again.
Vash whirls to face me with bewildered eyes. “You yanked ?”