Page 40

CHAPTER FORTY

I wake with a start and thrash against the hand clamped over my mouth. Leicht surges to wakefulness, but then relaxes, and I let my eyes focus in the dim starlight filtering through the skylights.

Jaimin crouches over me, a finger held to his lips, and my muscles untense. He must feel it, because he removes his hand and gestures for me to follow him.

Only the promise of some private personal time with Jaimin could get me out of my warm blankets on a cold night, and even then I take a second to wish we had a cozy bed to snuggle in together instead of having to go find a poky, chilly stone room.

But I follow him anyway. A man has to prioritize.

As soon as the door closes behind me, I reach for him in the darkness. “Next time you want to be spontaneous, can you plan to have a nice, comfortable inn nearby?”

He kisses me, then steps back. “I don’t think you know what spontaneous means. We’re not doing that. I need to talk to Master Samoine.”

What? My brain isn’t awake enough to process this. I create a dim magelight, just bright enough for me to see his face. “Huh?”

“I couldn’t sleep, and I thought of something. I need to talk to him now.”

Rubbing my eyes, I say, “Wait. You woke me because you want me to wake my master in the middle of the night?”

“Yes.” There’s an edge of impatience in his voice now.

“Why?”

“Because I need to talk to him. Now.”

I finally wake up enough to process that this can’t be a good thing. “Can you summarize what you want to tell him? He’ll be less annoyed at being woken if I have the details for him right away.”

“No, I need to talk to him. I need you to let him have control of your mouth.”

I stare at him in shock. It’s not that I’m uncomfortable letting Master have that power—we’ve done it before, and I trust him completely—but is Jaimin really not even going to tell me what the problem is?

“But—”

“Talon, please. I need to be certain nothing is lost in relay, and since you’ll be listening anyway, there’s no point in saying it all twice. I’ve been worrying this thought for hours, and it’s urgent that Master Samoine know.”

I nod—whatever this is takes precedence over my ego. Bracing myself, I knock at Master’s mind, sharply enough to wake him.

“Talon? Are you being attacked?”

“No, nothing like that. J ? —”

“Do you have any idea what time it is?”

“A few minutes later than when I was woken from a sound sleep. Jaimin urgently needs to talk to you—directly to you.”

He’s sputtering when I reach for him, but after a moment, he reaches back, and I grimace at the disconcerting feeling of being pushed aside in my own head.

“Jaimin? Talon said you needed to speak with me.”

“Apologies for waking you, but this is… If I’m right, this is more important than anything.”

“Tell me.”

“I need information about the godsborn.”

I can feel Master’s surprise echoing mine. “Yes, Talon and I have discussed that. I’ll begin searching?—”

“No, specific information. I need any physiological or medical background we might have on the godsborn.”

“ Medical background? They’re gods—would they need medical attention?”

A muscle twitches in Jaimin’s cheek. “That’s what I need to know. Also genealogical and other information for the families they’re born to.”

That shocks me enough that I take back control of my mouth. “Families? I don’t understand—what do you mean by born?”

“If I recall the stories correctly, they’re born human—gods born . They have the power of their godhood, though somewhat limited by their humanity. But they have to be born, not just appear fully grown. If that’s right, I need information about it to confirm or disprove my theory.”

“What theory?” Master asks, and Jaimin hesitates.

“I don’t want to say yet. In case I’m wrong. If I think it gets to the point you need to know, regardless of evidence, I’ll tell you. But for now, I’d rather wait.”

Master and I digest that silently. He’s really not going to tell us?

“Is there anything else?” Master asks finally.

“Power. Anything that might give a clue as to how their power is limited and what abilities they still have. Th-That’s especially important.” It’s hard to tell in the low light, but Jaimin seems more shaken than I’d realized, and guilt stabs at me. This was clearly urgent for him, but instead of taking him at his word, I had to stop and question. I need to show more faith in him in the future, the way he does for me.

“Very well. I’ll begin searching in earnest tomorrow, though truthfully, I don’t even know where to look. I?—”

The stone pulses, and Master stops midsentence. “What was that?”

“The stone,” I tell him. “It has something to contribute, which makes a nice change.” Even as I’m speaking, an image rises in my mind’s eye of a small room lined with cabinets. They take up so much space that even in a mental picture, the room feels claustrophobic. Still, it’s obviously where the stone wants Master to start looking.

“Well, that’s nice, but we don’t know where that is,” I tell it.

“What?” Jaimin asks. “What did it say?”

“It showed me a room, but there wasn’t a locat?—”

“Showed us a room,” Master interrupts. That’s quite a feat when he needs to use my mouth to do it. I think my tongue got tied in a knot. “And I know perfectly well where that room is. I just don’t think anyone’s been in it for about thirty years.”

“Thirty years?” Jaimin’s voice has a peculiar note. “Exactly thirty years?”

Master hesitates. “I don’t know. The archives were reorganized when I was an apprentice, and we were directed to put the most unused and unreferenced documents and relics in there. Things nobody had looked at for over a decade. It’s possible that someone has gone looking in there since.”

~No~

“Or not,” Jaimin says, showing that he heard the stone this time. “It was thirty years ago that the documents went into that room?”

“I… Well, maybe not quite. Sorting and moving things was the task that took up most of the second year after I attained level-2. That would have been… twenty-eight years ago.”

Jaimin nods and repeats, “Twenty-eight years ago,” in that same peculiar tone. “I think it’s imperative that you begin your search in that room—and the stone clearly agrees.”

~Yes~

“I’ll begin as soon as the archives open for the day,” Master promises. “This will help the search considerably.”

Since the archives take up the basement of the entire academy, I’m certain it will.

Master says goodnight and withdraws from my head, and I turn my attention to Jaimin. “Are you okay?” I ask softly. His face is drawn into tense lines, and I wish he felt he could tell me what this is about, if only so I could share the burden with him.

He sucks in a deep breath. “Yes. I’m… This could have ramifications, if I’m right. But even if I am, I’m okay. I’d tell you if I wasn’t, because I believe honesty and communication are vital in a relationship.”

Whoa. This is going in an odd direction. “I do too. Not that I’ve had a relationship before this, but I believe anything you want is vital.”

His lips twitch in a smile, but it’s a pale reflection of itself. “Just… remember that, okay? I’d tell you upfront if I wasn’t okay or if I was… dealing with… problems. And I’d want you to do the same.”

I put a hand on his cheek. “I will. I swear.” I hesitate. “Jaimin, are you sure you can’t tell me what’s worrying you?”

“Soon,” he assures me. “Even if I’m wrong, I’ll tell you soon. I hope I’m wrong, because then we can laugh about it. But if I’m right… I’ll still be okay.”

I just promised to believe that, but I think he needs to convince himself first.

There’s no breakfast the next morning, just tea. Peiris is aghast when they hear.

“I have corn meal! I could have brought it. You should have told me you were low on food.”

I’d agree, but the thought of gruel is unappealing enough for me to concede that I’m not starving yet.

“We need to resupply,” I say instead. “As kind as your offer is, I doubt you have enough extra food to keep us all going for very long.”

They look around at our faces, then up and down Coryn’s big form—and sigh. “True.”

“Are we leaving here, then?” Arimen manages to make the question sound pathetic and gives me big eyes. He’s spent the time since waking wandering around the temple, clearing away debris and spiderwebs. It’s disconcerting.

I shake my head. “Not yet. Until we know where we’re going, it doesn’t seem worth fighting our way out through the hills. Instead, I thought I might take Leicht south along the river to the nearest good-sized village and get some things there. The rest of you can spend the day exploring, resting… mending,” I add, because weeks of travel tend to take a toll on clothes, tents, blankets, and everything else.

“The horses need to graze,” Jaimin reminds us. “So we’ll need to take them up to Leicht’s hilltop.” He gazes toward their makeshift pen, then glances at Arimen. “We might need to muck out, too.”

Mucking out an abandoned building in an abandoned city would seem insane to most people, but he’s right—Arimen will probably insist on it. If we’re staying a while longer, the horses will need a clean space, anyway.

“Do we need to stay here?” Peiris ventures. “I know we’re not sure where to go next, but since we don’t have enough supplies to stay here indefinitely, wouldn’t it be wiser for us all to go to the village and wait there for more information?”

“It would take more than a week to get there with the horses,” I explain. “We’d need to go around the lake and downriver, and there aren’t any roads until the first village.” I glance at Coryn to confirm. “Right?”

He shrugs. “That’s what I was told.”

“So it would be impractical. I’d need to go for supplies with Leicht first just to keep us going.” I definitely don’t want to live solely off winter forest forage for that long. It’s not really enough for the horses, either.

A thought strikes me. “Where’s your horse? Is there any grass there, and is it closer than the hilltop above the city?”

Peiris winces. “I planned to tell you when I was sure you were who I was here to meet, but then we got distracted by everything,” they begin, and I brace myself. “I don’t have a horse.”

“What?” Coryn asks blankly.

“How did you get here?” Jaimin adds—more sharply than is usual for him. He’s still tense about whatever his theory is.

“I sailed.”

We digest that.

“On a boat?” Arimen asks, and I hold back my instinctive need to ask what the fuck else they could have sailed here on.

“Yes.” Peiris nods. “On a boat.”

Coryn’s frowning into his tea. “Did it sink?”

“No, it’s docked in one of the coves to the east of the city. There are some big old mansions there and a fancy stone marina.”

I wish I had a map of this area, but of course we assumed that if we had to come this way, we’d be able to buy one before we left the road—or at the docks before we sailed. Nobody was prepared for the stone’s impulsive whims. Still, east of the city is opposite to the direction we came from, which would explain why we saw nothing.

“You have a boat,” I say, wanting to make sure I understand the situation. “How big is the boat you have that’s close to here and would mean no more camping in the stinking hills?”

“I liked the hills,” Arimen says to nobody in particular. I ignore him, because he likes everything and everybody, including the gloomy rain.

“Big enough,” Peiris admits. “We’d all fit comfortably, especially for a short voyage.”

“And the horses?” There’s a touch of anxiety in Coryn’s voice. He’s very attached to his horse.

“They’d have to stay on deck, but they’d fit… I think.”

I look over to see what Jaimin’s thinking, but he’s not paying attention anymore, his gaze distant as his fingers worry the hem of his shirt. I hope Master finds some answers soon, or this is going to become a real problem.

“What do you think?” I ask Leicht instead.

“I think you should let Jaimin work through this in his own time.”

Uh, what in the holy gods’ turds kind of advice is that? “I actually meant, what do you think about getting on Peiris’s boat and leaving Caimae? But also, you’re wrong. Jaimin’s worries are my worries, even if I don’t know what they are.”

I can almost see his look of disdain.

“Get on the boat. Even if you need to go north, Peiris doesn’t have a horse, so you’d need to sail somewhere to buy them one first. Do that now while you’re waiting.”

An excellent point, and damn the dragon for being the one to think of it.

“If we’re all in agreement,” I begin, “why don’t we sail south today and find a village where we can resupply and get Peiris a horse, just in case we need it later? I think we could all use a night or two in a comfortable inn, as well.” Or even an uncomfortable one. Anything has to be better than sleeping on mud or stone, right? “Then, once we have an idea of where we need to go, we’ll be rested and ready and can set off immediately.”

“Even if we can’t find a decent inn, there are three cabins on the ship,” Peiris volunteers. “They’re not big, but the bunks are decent.”

Bunks. Presumably with mattresses. It seems like a dream.

“The horses really need better feed,” Coryn agrees. “I like it.”

Only Arimen is devastated. “Leave?” he says, his lip trembling. “But we just got here!”

A pang of regret runs through me as I realize that leaving Caimae will mean leaving Caimae . This city has felt very welcoming for me, even in its abandoned state. I wonder if Master will remember to look into the idea that gods can leave residual energy in places, or if he’ll forget in his urgency to find information on the godsborn.

“How far is the nearest good-sized village?” I ask Peiris, who considers the question carefully.

“With the current in our favor, perhaps three hours away?”

“Let’s add another hour to get to your boat and ready to sail,” I muse, even though I have absolutely zero idea of what’s involved in readying a boat to sail. The boat can’t be too big, because Peiris sailed it on their own, but it’s not small if it has three cabins and enough deck space for six horses. “And some time to get settled and find what we need when we get there. We still don’t need to go for another few hours. Arimen, will that be enough time for you to say goodbye?”

At first I think he’s going to burst into tears, but then he squares his shoulders and lifts his chin. “It’s not goodbye,” he declares. “I’ll be back. You’ll come with me, won’t you? When all this is over?”

Me? He wants me to come with him? I’m absurdly touched. “Of course. I like it here too. But how about we sail here on a comfortable pleasure yacht we can sleep on? And come a lot better prepared.”

He nods fervently. “I know priests are supposed to live a simple life, but this might be too simple even for me.”

Peiris coughs, and when I glance over, laughter is dancing in their eyes.

“Living a simple life is a lot more complicated than people tell you,” I say dryly. “Are we all good with the plan, then? We leave in three hours?”

There’s a chorus of general agreement, and as our morning huddle around the fire breaks up, Coryn sidles up to me.

“Talon?” he murmurs, and I really hope he’s going to ask for a hug. “Is Jaimin okay?”

Damn. I’m not prepared for this question, even though I should have been. “Yes.”

He eyes me, gaze full of doubt.

“He didn’t sleep well,” I add. It’s true. “The whole godsborn thing took him off guard.” Also true.

Coryn nods slowly but still seems worried. “Do you think he needs a hug?”

“Probably. I know I could use one.” The me of a few months ago wouldn’t believe I could ever say such a thing.

My big blond friend opens his arms, and I decide that past me was an idiot for a lot of reasons. Hugs are amazing. A genuine hug from a friend has the kind of power no mage will ever be able to harness.

Over Coryn’s shoulder, my gaze tracks Jaimin. He’s methodically packing his things, but his face is drawn and his gaze distant.

I hope Master finds something really soon.