Bright, midday sun flooded through the curtains by the time I opened my eyes. I was once again awoken by
that musical, chattering sound. This time, I recognized it instantly as Willa’s voice.
That got me out of bed quickly.
I threw my single shapeless dress back on — uncomfortably. I’d had to sleep naked simply because I had no other clothes. I hurried out into the living room, where Willa and Max stood somewhat awkwardly. There was a new, nervous tinge to Willa’s voice.
“—And you know how it is, things are just so tense with the invasion of Tairn and all the hostility in Vernaya. Ascended only hope it won’t go to war— Oh!” Willa stopped short. Two sets of eyes turned to me. “Tisaanah. Good morning.”
“Good afternoon is more accurate,” Max said.
“How are you feeling? Oh, your hair…” Her voice trailed off. I wondered if it was good or bad that my shortened hair was enough to reduce Willa to silence.
“Good morning,” I said. “I am much better. Thank you.” “I meant to make it here last night, but with everything
that happened…” She let out a breath, her small, plump mouth thinning.
Something was off.
“What?” I asked.
“Our oh-so-great Queen Sesri’s paranoia cost a lot of people their lives last night,” Max said.
“Paranoia?” Willa’s brow furrowed. “These are difficult times, Max. We can’t dismiss it as paranoia. She’s doing the best she can, under the circumstances.”
Par-uh-noy-uh.
I knew nothing about the queen of Ara — until now, not even her name. The most recent history that my books covered was more than two decades old at this point. Still, I understood what Willa was saying before I walked into the room: war. War could destroy all of my plans.
Or…it could be a chance to advance faster than I would otherwise.
That thought put a nauseous pit in my stomach, and I hated myself for considering the possibility. I was very young when the Threllian Lords conquered Nyzerene, but some echo of my memory still recalled the smell of the capital burning, the chill of the night as my mother and I fled. War destroyed my home. Scattered my people to the plains. Sent me into slavery.
But it also presented an opportunity. I didn’t have the luxury of ignoring that.
Before I could ask more, Willa shook her head as if to clear the unpleasant thoughts and spoke again. “Anyway. That’s not what I came here for. I wanted to bring you some clothes and take a look at those wounds again since you left so suddenly, and all. I wasn’t really expecting her to take you away right then and there, if I’m being honest. That’s— not normally how things are done.”
“Don’t bother,” Max cut in, before I could respond. “She’s not staying. In fact, this is an excellent opportunity for you to take her back to the Towers.”
Ugh. I didn’t understand why he had to be such an ass about it.
Willa’s fingers played around each other. Max, I realized, made her nervous. Interesting.
Max gave her a deadpan stare. “I’m serious, Willa.” “Well— this poses a problem—”
“The only problem anyone should be talking about is the fact that I already told Nura no.” He threw up his hands. “How come no one ever discusses that problem?”
“I don’t care who trains,” I said, growing increasingly irritated with this discussion. “I will train with anyone. I only want to join the Orders.”
“See? Anyone could do it.”
Willa picked more ferociously at her fingernails. “Apprenticeships were assigned six months ago, Max, and with everything happening right now, there’s no one else available who—”
“There’s no way that’s actually true.”
Willa looked so startled at being outright accused of lying that I felt bad for her. “It is true. I checked.”
Shit. I had still been holding out hope that Max wasn’t
actually my only option.
“If you don’t do it,” she went on, “then no one can, at least not for another five months when the current crop of senior apprentices—”
“Then she can wait for five months.”
I shook my head, fiercely. “I cannot wait five months.”
“Both of you need to calm down.” Willa’s voice took on a tone that sounded as if it was meant to soothe cranky children. “I spoke to Nura about this before coming here. Tisaanah, because of your unusual situation, we’re willing to let you do your first round of tests early. The other apprentices have their evaluations in five months. You test with them, and from there, we can see whether you’re fit to move forward more quickly.”
If this was supposed to be good news, it didn’t feel like it. I nodded and tried not to show how tight my jaw was, or the way my fingernails dug into the flesh of my palms. Who
knew where Serel would be in five months? Where any of my friends would be by then? And that was only the start…
Calm down, I told myself. You’ll prove it to them. You’ll find a way. You always do.
“This still doesn’t change the fact that I won’t train her.”
Gods, I wanted to throttle him.
“After five months,” Willa said, somewhat pleadingly, “we can see about switching things around.”
“I told Nura no.”
“Well, Maxantarius, as you know…” She continued to fidget, her voice halting, as if she was very much dreading saying what she was about to say. “You are still beholden to the Orders. You know what the penalties are for failing to uphold your duties. Especially because of your—”
Max raised a palm. Fury seeped into every line of his face, drawing harsh wrinkles of tension around every feature. “Right, I see where this is going. You’re saying I don’t have a choice.”
“All of us have obligations,” Willa said, apologetically.
He let out a scoff, then turned those inhuman eyes on me. “They picked an unusual battle in you, didn’t they?”
I returned his glare with a sweet, accommodating smile. “I will be excellent apprentice.”
Max crossed his arms and went outside without another word, leaving Willa and I staring at each other. I picked up her bag. “Thank you,” I said, then grabbed the skirt of my shapeless dress. “I’m glad to rid this thing.”
That was good news, at least.
 |
WILLA STAYED FOR A WHILE LONGER, helping me unpack the clothes she had brought. In this case, “unpacking” simply meant trying to find a clear surface upon which to place them, but I didn’t mind. I was just thrilled to be able to get
out of this hideous dress. Instead, I changed into a pair of close-fitting trousers, paired with a blouse that wrapped around my body and tied around my waist, both rendered in shades of dusky blue. Simple, but worlds better than that awful chiffon thing.
Before she left, Willa looked at my wounds and seemed pleased with how they were healing. She had me lay on my stomach while she hovered her hands over my bare back, muttering under her breath. Whatever she was doing itched, but didn’t hurt, even when she touched open wounds directly.
“Could all Valtain do this?” I asked her.
“No, just some of us,” she chirped. “Everyone’s abilities manifest a bit differently. Certainly, it is a useful skill to have.”
Then, before she left, she took my wrist and removed the bandage that I’d noticed when I first arrived, revealing a tiny, neat wound.
“I’m sorry, dear. This will sting.”
I winced as she took a small knife and opened the wound just enough to coax forth a few drops of blood, which she captured in a glass vial. I resisted the urge to pull my hand away.
“What is this?” I asked.
“Just for tests,” she said, as if it were nothing. Then she replaced the bandage. “There! Now, what’s left…”
Max didn’t come back inside at all during this entire encounter. Before Willa departed, she pulled me against her in an unexpected embrace.
“Don’t worry,” she whispered into my hair. “Everything will come together.”
“I know,” I answered, if only because I wouldn’t allow myself to consider any other possibility.
And then, Willa was gone, leaving me alone again in this house where I was clearly so unwelcome.
But, there were worse things to be than unwelcome. At least now I had a goal, a plan. And a teacher who, at the very least, couldn’t kick me out.
I found Max out in the garden, clipping dead blossoms from a shrub. He didn’t even look at me as I approached.
This would be so much easier if I could sense his thoughts. Still, I didn’t need magic to feel the anger that surrounded him like a cloud, tainting the air.
“Why do you hate the Orders?” I asked.
“Because they’re archaic and controlling and power-hungry.”
He didn’t look up. Clip. A blossom fell to the dirt.
“I only need for you to tell me what I need to know for the test. Only this.”
Clip.
Max laughed.
“Only this,” he repeated, shaking his head.
“Please,” I said, making my voice small, sweet. “I need your help.” Men loved that voice. All tiny and helpless. Over the last eight years, I’d honed mine to perfection.
Max’s eyes flicked to me only briefly, with a removed coldness that told me he was neither fooled nor moved by my performance.
“I went through a lot to gain my freedom from the Orders. I’m not about to turn around and hand it right back to them. I don’t want to get myself thrown into Ilyzath, so I’m not kicking you out, but make no mistake, I don’t plan on making this easy for them.”
“Ilyzath?”
“It’s a— prison. That’s beside the point.”
Clip.
Max scooped up a handful of browned, wilting blossoms. He didn’t even look down as fire rose from his skin to consume them in his palm.
It took me a few seconds to find the Thereni translation for “prison” stored in my mind, but when I did, I wondered
what Max did to be in such precarious standing that I could get him locked up.
“You can do what you want,” he said, “but I’m not participating.”
I stood up. Crossed my arms. “Fine.”
“I’m glad we understand each other.” He did not look at me.
I didn’t need him anyway.
I had five months. That was more than enough.
