Page 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

I don’t even make it all the way across the gallery before I’m waylaid. Ambushed, you could say. I recognize the faces—they’re all people who normally would have been sitting in on a council meeting. Mage and healer apprentices to the councilors. Riders don’t have apprentices—their structure is more military-based—but they have aides and adjuncts or whatever they call them. Right now, they’re all crowding around me, demanding to know why I was allowed in the meeting when they weren’t.

“Your masters will tell you,” I promise. “They’re coming now. I have to go.” I shove through them all, ignoring the questions. Dammit, I don’t have time for this.

Rather than risk being stopped again, I sneak through some of the lesser-used passages to get to my room. It takes a little longer, but if a master stops me to ask questions, it won’t be quite as easy to fob them off.

When I finally get to the corridor outside my room, it’s no surprise to see Tia sitting on the floor, leaning against my door. She could have gone inside to wait for me—the wards on the door are keyed to allow her entry—but the effect of this is far more dramatic. She wants me to know how pissed off she is. I shut her out? She’s saying fine, you’ve literally shut me out.

Normally I’d appreciate the subtle messaging there, but today isn’t the day for one-upmanship between us. “Come inside. I have a lot to tell you, and then we have to go see my master.”

Wordlessly, she follows, waits until I’ve closed the door, then shoves me against it so hard, I see stars.

“Do. Not. Ever . Do that again. I’m not joking, Talon. Whatever happened to make you react that way, to make every fucking dragon in the valley suddenly get very agitated today, do not ever tell me ‘not now’ and cut me off and leave me to wait for hours, terrified that something happened to you.” Her forearm is against my throat—lightly, but the threat is real. Her eyes, so much like mine, are cold and calm. Anyone else might think she was merely angry, but I can feel her fear.

Fuck. I really am an asshole.

“I’m sorry.” I drop all barriers between us and let her see how genuinely true it is. “I didn’t intend to make you wait so long. Things kept happening, and all my attention had to be on what I was doing. I swear, Tia. I swear it wasn’t on purpose.”

A beat passes, and then she steps back. “Tell me.”

So I do. I start with the headache that made me detour through the Great Hall and tell her everything. At the mention of the life stone, her knees give way, and she sits right there on the floor. I don’t stop, joining her on the rug to tell the rest.

When I’m done, she turns her head and stares out the window. I’m pretty sure she’s talking to Leicht.

“So we’ve been volunteered for this, have we?” she says finally.

“I tried to get out of it.”

She scoffs. “You would. Most people dream of this kind of honor. Being a tool of prophecy? Going on a quest to find the one person who can save us all?”

“Most people are idiots.”

She shrugs. “True.” The silence stretches for another minute, then she sighs and gets to her feet. “I guess we better go see your master.”

I blink and scramble after her. “You don’t have more questions?”

“Of course I do. But you probably don’t know the answers, and even if you did, what difference would it make? In two days, you, me, and some healer we haven’t identified yet are heading south to find someone who can stop a zombie horde. That’s a fact. Between now and then, my job is to make sure Leicht and I are ready to deal with any trouble we might face on the road, including zombies, and to get us fully provisioned.” She pats my chest lightly. “You’re the brains in this little game, brother dear. I’m the brawn.”

“I have brawn,” I mutter. Shit. I didn’t even think about provisions. Maybe she’s the brawn and the brains. How are we even going to do this? With Leicht along, the sensible option would be to fly to where we’re going, but the stone already said no to that. Am I walking? Do I need to talk to every person I encounter, or will the stone be more specific than that? And if I’m walking, what are Tia and Leicht supposed to do? Circle above me the whole way? Because that won’t attract attention at all.

The impatient hum of the stone in my head is entirely unwelcome. It seems distance isn’t any impediment to its ability to read my thoughts.

Growling, I turn to the door. “Fine. Let’s go.”

Master Samoine is waiting for us in his chambers. Tia follows me in, then stops dead at the sight of the open box on the desk and the stone within.

“Holy…” Her exhale is long and unsteady. “Part of me was hoping you made it up.”

I close the door. “I wish.”

“Has he told you everything?” Master asks my sister, ignoring me.

“I think so, but you know what he’s like. He always leaves something out.”

“I do not !” Why is everyone against me today?

The stone pulses in my head, reassuring me that it’s on my side. Somehow, I don’t find that particularly comforting.

While Tia and Master Samoine talk, I sit at the desk and begin making the list of healers I know. It’s not too long, but probably longer than it would be for other mages my age. I’ve had a lot of incidents that required healing over my years here. Plus, you never know when you might need a healer on your side, so I’ve gone out of my way to be friendly when I run into them, same as with the guards and the kitchen staff.

The last name I add to the list is Jaimin Kahwyn’s. It’s not likely to be him—when you get down to it, I can only say I “know” him in the loosest possible definition, and he’s too important a healer to be running around on errands. But this isn’t the kind of situation where I can assume I know the answers, so I scribble his name at the bottom anyway, then push the list away.

“Done?” Master asks, and I look up to see him and Tia watching me.

“Yes. Are you done picking apart every word I said?”

“We are,” he answers gravely. “And well done. You actually did tell her everything.”

Sometimes I hate all the people in my life.

“So… what now? How are we doing this? Is Leicht going to fly us all, or?—”

~No~

“Okay, so not that.” I address the stone. “But you do know that Leicht can fly a whole lot faster than I can walk, right?”

~Yes~

“If I had to guess,” Master suggests, “you and the healer, whoever they are, will travel on horseback. Tia and Leicht will be your scout—they’ll be able to see danger coming from a long way off.”

~Yes~

“Horseback?” I. Am. Appalled. “No.”

Tia sighs. “Talon?—”

“No. No. Absolutely not. I became a mage so I would never have to ride a horse, ever.”

Master blinks at me a few times, then turns to Tia. “This is new information. Can he not ride?”

“He can ride. Passably well, even. Enough not to get thrown off, anyway. He just doesn’t like it.”

“ He can hear you and speak for himself, thank you very much. And I am not riding a horse for days on end.” I shudder at the very thought. “Or at all.”

“It’s unfortunate that you feel that way, since the stone has decided you will, in fact, be riding a horse. For days on end.” Master Samoine pauses dramatically. “Perhaps even weeks or months.”

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” I accuse. “You sadistic old bastard.”

Master cackles. “I truly am. It’s been a very stressful week and a rotten day, but this has brought sunshine back into my life.”

“I’ll choose your horse myself,” Tia promises. “I swear, it’ll be a gentle one, and I’ll find you a saddle that’s broken in and comfortable.”

That’s sweet, but I know from past experience that even with a broken-in saddle and gentle mount, my ass and thighs and every other muscle in my body will suffer greatly.

“And I’ll get the good tents from the riders’ store,” she adds. “The ones that practically assemble themselves.”

My eyes widen in horror. “Tents?” I whisper. “You mean… sleeping outside? On the ground?”

She exchanges a glance with my master. “I’m sure we’ll be able to find a village with an inn most nights. This is just in case.”

I’d feel better if I didn’t know she was lying.

The councilors reconvene early the next morning, just after dawn, but Master and I decided I don’t need to be there. If something comes up that needs my attention, he—or the stone—can let me know.

Master already interrupted my breakfast to advise me that the dean has arranged a meeting in his office for me and the teacher who’ll be taking over my students. Then he interrupted again to let me know that the official announcement would be made to all mages, healers, and dragon riders tomorrow morning—right after our departure. I have permission to give limited information to my students so they’re not taken by surprise when someone new turns up tomorrow.

I refrained from making any comments that could be perceived as offensive to the councilors, thanked my master, and avoided asking if they’d found out who our traveling companion would be. We decided last night not to ask the stone in advance. The last thing anyone needs is another councilor getting huffy that we have access to extra or early information. I don’t really care that much anyway—I’m going to be too busy bruising my posterior and hating my life to chat with whoever’s on the horse next to mine.

Fucking horses. I tried to negotiate for a carriage, or even a wagon, but the stone was adamant. I think it’s just messing with me for its own sadistic pleasure.

I enter the antechamber to the dean’s office. Preet isn’t there, and the door to the office is ajar, so I go over and stick my head in. I don’t have time to waste—my class starts in fifteen minutes.

Preet is sitting in my favorite chair in front of the dean’s desk. The dean, of course, isn’t here—he’s in the council meeting.

“Hey, do you know where the new teacher—” I stop, feeling like an idiot. “You? Oh, thank fuck.” Then, remembering how much I hate teaching, I wince and say, “What I mean is, I’m sorry this is being dumped on you, but?—”

“Shut up, Talon.” She rolls her eyes. “Like I don’t know how important those students are to you. ‘Thank fuck it’s you’ is the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

I don’t think that’s exactly what I said, but the gist is there, so I let it go. Instead, I go to perch on the edge of the dean’s desk. Partly because she’s sitting in my favorite chair, but mostly because he’s not here and I can.

From the way her mouth twitches, I can tell she knows what I’m doing. “Sometimes when he’s not here, I sit in his chair,” she confides.

Hah! I knew it. “You’re going to be fine with my class. Just don’t be afraid to threaten them early. They need to know who’s in charge.”

“I solemnly swear to dangle them over the chasm if necessary. But I think once they learn what’s happening, they’ll fall into line pretty fast.” She shivers. “I regret every single time I ever said I was bored. I would give anything to be bored right now, instead of preparing for this.”

I nod. “Yep. Get that. At least you don’t have to ride a fucking horse over half the continent because a chunk of rock said you can’t travel any other way.”

“What’s wrong with riding a horse?” she asks, confused.

“So much for any chance of us being friends,” I mutter. “Listen, I have to get to class. I’m not worried about you taking over. It’s a relief. I’ll tell them what I can this morning, and get them started on some of the preparatory exercises for support magic. Do you think you can join us for the last hour? Let me introduce you, then help out as they try it properly for the first time.”

“Yes, no problem. It’ll be good for them to see us work together before you go. I don’t want them to think you’re in disgrace or anything.”

I snort. “That might help. I’m pretty sure half of them would stab me in the back. The other half wouldn’t, but only because they’d want me to see it coming.”

She gives me a strange look, then shakes her head. “You better go. I’ll see you in a few hours.”

When I step into the classroom, I’m shocked to see my students sitting silently at their desks, eyes glued to the door. Normally I have to glare at them for a few seconds before they shut up and take their seats. For a second, I wonder if we’re in bigger trouble than we thought, and the zombies are already taking over the City of Knowledge.

No. None of the tales I ever heard mention zombies sitting quietly. Usually they’re killing wantonly.

“Has somebody died?” I ask, checking to make sure there isn’t an empty desk. I should have been notified if there was a serious incident, but sometimes things get missed.

“We want to know what’s going on.” Drey makes the statement with only the barest tremor in his voice. “We know you’re involved. Everyone’s talking about how you were the only apprentice at the council meeting yesterday. And the dragons are upset again. We deserve to know.”

Well. This is… unexpected. For the first time ever, I feel a tiny ray of pride in my students. I squash it down quickly.

“You deserve nothing,” I tell him flatly. “What you know is what most of the mages here know. What makes you think you deserve to know more than level-3 mages? You, who are the most untrained here? The lowest of the low? Most of whom, statistically, will either leave at the end of the year or die before graduation. And you claim to deserve to know more than those who’ve worked and studied and achieved for more than a decade? Some of them for multiple decades?”

Drey shrinks a little in his chair but lifts his chin. “We all deserve to know.”

This time, I don’t squelch the pride. Maybe the little fucker will actually achieve something someday.

“Fortunately for you, everyone is going to know. An announcement will be made tomorrow morning.” Before they can get too excited, I hold up a hand. “My master and I fought hard to gain special permission to tell you some details today.”

This time, I can’t stop the excited outburst of questions. So I stand with my arms folded and wait for them to fall silent.

“Thank you for that extraordinary waste of all our time. I can assure you that you’ll be sorry in a moment, when you hear what I have to say. First, though, let me warn you… if one whisper of what I tell you is leaked beyond this group, the regret I will make you feel will linger with you until your dying day… which may not be too far off. Learning secrets is a privilege, and as a mage, you need to be able to keep those secrets. Learning secrets early because Master Samoine and I put our reputations on the line for you… well, you don’t want to know what will happen if you betray my faith in you.” I skim my gaze along the rows of students, making sure to lock eyes with each of them. “Understood?”

Some of them are pale, but they all nod and murmur agreement.

“Excellent. As I said, I can tell you some things. First is that today will be the last class you have with me for the foreseeable future.”

A protest rises but stills under my glare. They’re learning.

“I’ve been called away. You’ll understand more tomorrow. Your new professor will join us later. She’s a level-3 mage, and I consider her to be outstanding in Talent and personality… a trait many of you still lack. She will also not take any bullshit from you, so don’t waste time trying it. Time is of the essence right now.”

I wait for another murmur of agreement before continuing.

“We’re also going to deviate from the planned curriculum. As I said, you’ll understand why tomorrow. We’re going to begin work on something that ordinarily isn’t taught until third year. There are reasons for that, and the primary one is to keep you alive. So you will follow all instructions to the letter, and you will not do any foolish experimenting of your own. Understood?”

The murmur this time sounds rather frightened, and I sigh.

“Do any of you know what support magic is?”

There’s a moment of confused silence, and then Lenora says, “Isn’t that b-battle magic?”

I nod. “Yes. Today you’re going to start learning support magic. Those lessons will continue for as long as possible, and then you may be called on to use them.” Eyes widen, and I grimace. “I see you’re beginning to understand. We have a lot of ground to cover, so let’s get started.”