Page 33

CHAPTER 33

Sage

Tyon’s words shocked me, not because it looked like he wanted to make an excuse for whatever he was doing, but because he’d actually said something to me.

A part of me wanted to believe it was because he didn’t recognize me, but I was the only person in the Black Tower with bright red hair and it was impossible not to recognize me.

The rest of me was just relieved I’d stumbled across Tyon in the nearly empty library. I shuddered to think what would have happened if I’d run across Durand or Mikel.

Tyon was around my real age of twenty and had spent the rotation running the trail at the end of each class with the bag of rocks. He had shaggy dark brown hair that needed to be trimmed out of his warm brown eyes and a round face that had probably been cheerful before his name had been drawn from the lottery.

I’d used him by suggesting he make friends with Talon and Quill to get special treatment. From what I’d seen, he hadn’t tried to be friends with the captains, but he’d clearly passed on what I’d said, and I’d gotten way more than I’d bargained for with Mikel and his gang.

“I-I don’t know where the dirty books are,” he stammered.

“The dirty—?” What was he talking about?

“You know. The books with the pictures of naked girls.” His cheeks turned bright red. “That’s why you’re here, right? Because you can’t go to Lehyrst.”

He thought I wanted to look at—? Because I couldn’t leave the Gray and have sex?

My cheeks heated as well, probably turning the same shade as Tyon’s. “No, I?—”

What did I say to that? Were there actually books like that in this library? Given that Tyon and I were the only ones here, I suspected the books were a tale to trick the sacrifices.

“If you’re not here for the books, why are you here?” I asked. Best to change the conversation and not have to come up with a masculine sounding answer to the dirty book question.

The blush swept across Tyon’s forehead and down his neck. “To be a better reader,” he mumbled.

I dropped my gaze to the stack of books in his hands. The top one was thin, and I recognized it as one of the early reading books my mother had used to teach me how to read. The next books weren’t marked on the spine, but the last book was a dictionary.

“You’re teaching yourself to read?”

I was seriously impressed. I wasn’t sure how the dictionary would help if he couldn’t read all the words, but it certainly showed his determination.

Tyon hugged the books to his chest. “I can read a little, but I want to get better.”

“You don’t really need to read to be a guardsman.” All he really needed was to be able to read his name and the shift assignment sheet that was posted outside the quartermaster’s rooms, and I was certain that was as much as half — probably more — of the Black Guard could manage. “I’m sure once we’re done novice training, you’ll be stationed in the kitchens.”

I hadn’t seen him in the kitchen during our first rotation, but he’d been an apprentice chef before his name had been drawn in the lottery. The head cook was probably thrilled at the idea of having another skilled set of hands in his kitchen.

“I’d rather go back to work for the Seneschal.”

“Was that your chore last rotation?”

“I just did grunt work, running messages and clean and stuff,” he said, “but I could have done so much more if I’d been better at reading.”

“Would you like me—?” I waved at the books clutched to his chest, wanting to help him learn.

I hadn’t been great at book learning and had needed Sawyer to help me, but Tyon looked so determined and hopeful.

And hope was what all the novices needed to find if they were going to survive as members of the Black Guard. With the exception of those who’d been raised knowing they were going to spend their life in the Guard, all the other novices thought their lives were now over.

The question was, would he want my help? He hadn’t treated me badly like some of the other novices and guardsmen, but, like everyone else, he hadn’t tried to help me, either.

And while I couldn’t afford to make a lot of friends, there didn’t have to be animosity between us.

Except Tyon was too shy and uncertain, too low in status to stand up against the others and make a gesture of peace toward me. I was going to have to take the first step.

“I can help if you’d like,” I offered.

He glanced down at the books then around the room as if to confirm there was no one around — because associating with me was potentially dangerous.

“You won’t tell anyone?” he asked.

“Who would I tell?”

“You’re friendly with Talon and Lord Quill,” he shot back. “And those other fae.”

“Kit and Payne?” More like they’d decided they were going to take care of me, and I didn’t have a say in the matter — for which, if I was being honest with myself, I was grateful. “I won’t tell them, and I wouldn’t say I’m friendly with Talon or Lord Quill.”

Tyon’s expression darkened. “I was surprised they left you there.” He swallowed and inched a step away from me. “But you did threaten to kill Mikel and the others in front of everyone.”

And I doubted that ingratiated me to the guardsmen. I’d probably just made my situation worse. They already thought I was a selfish nobleman because I’d come through the gate after dark. Mikel and the others had gotten away with ambushing me at the log bridge on the running trail because everyone thought Lord Rider’s punishment to clean the stables hadn’t been enough.

If I’d been thinking, I shouldn’t have said anything. Or I should have at least waited until Rider wasn’t in earshot. I’d just been so angry.

Father, it had felt so good to break Ambrose’s nose.

Even just thinking about that crunch and the look on his and everyone else’s faces made me smile.

Except I didn’t know if my threat had worked, or if Durand and the others were going to be more aggressive when they came after me.

And all I could do now was stay alert and pray I could handle whatever they threw at me next.

“N-not that they didn’t deserve it,” Tyon added, his gaze landing on my bruised cheek. “Ambrose must have hit you hard. I’m surprised the swelling hasn’t reached your eye.”

I brushed my fingers over my tender cheek. There wasn’t a mirror in my room or anywhere else that was easy to get to so I hadn’t tried to see how bad the bruise was, but given how it felt — and everyone else’s reaction to it — it had to look nasty.

“Listen,” I said. “You’ve been kind enough to leave me alone. I’d like to repay you by helping you learn. But if it’s going to bring you trouble, I’ll turn around right now and forget we had this conversation.”

“And if I say yes?”

“It can be a one-time deal today, or more, but if anyone else is around, you can pretend you don’t know me.”

I wasn’t sure why I made the offer. Maybe because if I walked out of the library, I had no idea what I was going to do for the rest of the day. Or maybe it was because I needed to feel useful, and helping Tyon learn to read was an easy way to earn that feeling.

I’d been fleeing and fighting and praying since Sawyer’s name had been drawn in the lottery, both in the Gray and the Garden. Spending a little time with Tyon, doing something I knew I could do, made me think maybe I wasn’t a complete disaster.

“All right,” he said as he set the books on the desk and pulled the two comfortable chairs closer together.

I picked up the early reader and sat in one of the comfortable chairs and opened it to the first page. “Have you read this book before?”

“My master in the kitchen had shown it to me.” He sat in the other chair and I placed the book on the chair arms between us. “I was apprenticed in a noble’s house, and the tutor had left it on a table in the kitchen.”

I brushed my fingers over the worn, vellum page. This was a collection of ten simple tales, stories most commoners knew already by heart. Minstrels often performed the tales through dramatic recitation or song but the words didn’t vary much making it easier for those learning to read to recognize the words.

“My favorite tale is the one about the fae princess,” he said.

“Then let’s start with that.” I flipped to the middle of the book and encouraged him to read the first word.

I help Tyon read through the fae princess story and then the next story and the story after that. We were halfway through the fourth tale of adventure when the eighth bell rang, the gong loud in the quiet library.

Tyon jerked upright in his chair. “The eighth bell already?”

I straightened as well and my body screamed in complaint, forcing me to swallow a groan. I shouldn’t have sat for so long.

“I ah— I have to go.” Tyon gathered his books and hurried away without a second look in my direction.

I wasn’t sure if he was going to return them where he found them or if there was a librarian’s desk where he could set them for the librarian to return them to their rightful place. I’d been listening and hadn’t heard anyone else in the library, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t someone who kept the room tidy and the shelves in order.

I eased to the edge of the chair, thankful that Tyon had left so quickly. The fewer people who saw and heard me try to stand, the better. There was no telling if my current weakened state would be used against me.

I huffed a bitter laugh. Who was I kidding? If the wrong person saw, of course they’d use my weakened state against me.

Every muscle in my body ached, having stiffened up from sitting for too long, and I was trembling by the time I’d managed to stand. I hobbled around the small seating area, hoping to loosen up.

I’d promised Kit, Payne, and Lewin that I’d have dinner with them, and I didn’t want them seeing me so stiff, but it was going to take more than a few laps around the tiny space for me to move normally, and I was sure Payne would send out a search party if I didn’t show up.

Ugh. I should have taken the risk of being discovered and soaked in their tub while they slept.