“Breathe,” he said, “in and out,” Aeden guided him.
“Maybe with pillows,” Dan responded, “but it’d have to be all the pillows from the Red Castle.”
Adel’s breathing fell into a normal rhythm. Aeden continued to whisper words of encouragement.
“I know you can do this,” he said. “Do it for those still watching over us. For Thomas, for John,” Aeden paused, “and for Odilo.”
The last was barely a whisper, for in his heart, Aeden knew that Odilo had passed to a place of peace.
Adel took in a steady breath and his face twisted into one of resolution. He nodded once to himself, whispering, “for Odilo,” and resumed his walk up the stairs.
“Break’s done,” Laurent said, following the group up the stairs.
Chapter 15
“The laws of the arkein are nothing more than the mathematical expression of the divine.” Grandmaster Levon – Tower of the Arkein
“Where were you guys?” Garit asked, as the trailing group finally ascended the stairs.
“Sightseeing,” Laurent exclaimed.
Garit’s brow wrinkled in confusion. He had a habit of taking things literally.
“Seriously,” Laurent continued, “the vista from the top of the stairs was breathtaking, you should go back and take a look.”
“It was amazing,” Dan added, nodding earnestly.
Garit looked back at the stairway.
“Ignore them,” Thea said to Garit, brushing past.
A dozen conversations echoed off the finely tiled floor and mural-covered walls. They gave shape to the intricate stonework that covered the first third of each arching pillar that encircled the smaller space.
Aeden found his attention pulled to the detailed patterns painted onto the archway itself. Gold and silver leaves, spanned the archways, in an intricate web of artistry.
“Already forgot about your friend?” Thea intoned quietly, her face a careful mask of indifference.
Aeden’s gaze was torn from the room. He looked momentarily at Thea. A hint of a smile graced her lips before seriousness claimed them. She turned away, presenting her profile.
Aeden’s deliberation lingered. Thea had grown a touch thin from their march up the ten thousand steps of Mystes Mountain, yet her breasts were still proud. They pulled gently against the fabric of her shirt, barely hinting at their form. She still managed to test his self-control.
Aeden could hardly swallow.
The small of her back accentuated her features and drew a line to the nape of her neck. It was there that he could see a few strands of hair had come loose. A strange longing to tuck them behind her ear, overcame him.
What was wrong with him?
He chastised himself for his weakness and closed his eyes for a moment. Thea had been right. He should have been focusing on Adel, his friend, his adopted brother. In the moment it took her to chastise him, Aeden had become irrevocably lost in her form.
Aeden turned away from the distraction that was Thea and looked to Adel.
Adel stood, leaning against a tall pillar beside a beautiful mural. His hands were shaking, but his breathing was almost back to normal. The color was slowly returning to his face. One would have thought he’d just finished climbing the summit of Templas Peak.
“Are you okay,” Aeden asked earnestly.
Adel nodded faintly.
“Too easy,” Aeden probed further.
Adel attempted a smile, “Easy for you maybe.”
Dan and Laurent were lingering nearby. Laurent’s slightly wide-set eyes were fixed on Adel.
“You know what I find interesting,” Laurent said, as he started a new conversation with Dan, “Fear.”
“How so?” Dan asked.
Aeden placed a hand on Adel’s shoulder. He could feel his friend’s rapid breathing and the cool touch of his skin.
“It’s rarely logical,” Laurent continued.
“I disagree,” Dan replied, “Without fear what’s to stop one from walking off a cliff.”
Aeden closed his eyes for a moment and felt a calming energy extend from him to Adel, like the gentle crash of a slow-moving wave. It crested and fell upon Adel’s heart with warmth and peace.
Laurent grunted, “Knowledge for one. We all know that walking off a cliff is dangerous…”
“Because of fear,” Dan cut in.
“Sure,” Laurent conceded, “But how does fear help when it comes to an upcoming exam, or talking to a beautiful girl, or refusing to pay their friend because we’re clearly in a magical tower and you’re,” Laurent concealed a smile and corrected himself, “I mean, hypothetically, the other person is simply unwilling to see it.”
Aeden whispered, “You ready to rejoin the group?”
Adel nodded, his eyes tracking Masters Cassius as he approached.
“Let’s go you four,” Master Cassius said, “We have new masters and student rectors to meet.”
Aeden stepped out from the shadow of the columned alcove, with Adel immediately behind him. Aeden paused and took a moment to orient himself. His eyes darted about as he gathered in the scene. It was a habit that he’d trained in the S’Velt and that had been reinforced under the Jal’s tutorage.
He took in the circular space, ringed by tall, arched columns. He glimpsed the oil lamps that hung suspended at every other archway. He lingered on the murals, depicting ancient scenes of an unknown history, an azurite city upon a hill, the descending levels of hell, each marking the spaces between the tiled pillars. The murals were beautiful. Had Aeden more time, he would have walked about the room examining them.
A few doorways hinted at rooms beyond the central chamber, the Chamber of Light. Doorways, as Aeden knew, were possible avenues of escape, and possible ingress points for those wishing to convey malice. He noted their locations before looking more carefully at those present.
Standing within the columned recesses, in neat formations, were masters, student rectors, and students. They stood, waiting to greet the incoming students from the University of Galdor.
Many fidgeted. Some stood stoically. Most watched the University of Galdor students with curiosity writ upon their faces.
“I knew that buried within that brutish heart was a hint of warmth,” Thea whispered as she sidled up to him.
Aeden glanced down at her and hardly noticed as Master Cassius introduced Master Hob as their new teacher. He saw from the corner of his eye, Laurent fixated on one of the students. He looked like a hunting dog tracking its prey.
“This is Master Hob Towne,” Cassius said with a wave of his hand, “He is the Novus Head, and his student proctor is…”
“Oria,” Master Towne filled in.
Aeden eyed the rather overweight master, who stood there with a goofy smile. He felt rather than saw Oria’s eyes on him. He glanced at her and she looked away shyly. Aeden returned his gaze back to Thea.
What had she said? A hint of warmth in his heart? A brutish heart?
“Who’re you calling a brute?” Aeden intoned half-jokingly.
“You,” she said as she momentarily squeezed his bicep, “this mighty Thane.”
Aeden didn’t see Laurent brush past Oria, the novus student rector.
“Harmon?” Laurent called out, approaching a rather awkward looking student, cutting through the group like a bull through a harem.
Aeden instead, felt a stab of guilt. Thea had called him a mighty Thane. The resounding echo of history pounded away at his thoughts.
Suddenly, Aeden was at the Drunken Pony, at the crossroads of the Old Calenite Road, leading to the Monastery of the Cave. The harrowing call of distant wolf monkeys undercut the scene. Before him was the archduchess in all her beauty. She was distraught. She chewed momentarily upon her lower lip, tugging at it gently. He ached to kiss her.
Her dark hair fell upon her shoulders as she looked about the room. Yet, for Aeden there was only her. He hardly remembered the Bodigan’s hulking mass, Dixon’s angry glare, or Yates with hi
s strong jaw and wavy hair.
What he remembered most was the archduchess’ dark eyes, fixated on him as she spoke, her words reached across the silken expanse of time, “you saved me my Thane.”
The moment ended and Aeden found himself back in the Tower of the Arkein.
Seeking distraction, Aeden looked up, watching the novus student body stand there before him. Laurent deep amidst them, standing before an awkward looking student, Harmon.
Harmon eyed Laurent with apparent recognition and clear discomfort. Harmon’s face was pinched into a look of distaste, as if he had just eaten durian fruit. He played idly with a golden amulet about his neck.
“Laurent,” the student said, as if trying hard to maintain decorum.
Laurent merely nodded, smiling to himself.
“I didn’t know they allowed your kind in here,” Laurent stated matter-of-factly.
Harmon appeared offended but didn’t offer a rebuke. Instead, he rubbed at his eyebrow and looked away, as if searching for something, purposely ignoring Laurent.
“You’ve nothing to say?” Thea rebuked, her hand slipping from his arm, pulling his attention back to her.
What could he say? That he was torn between the idea of love and the hidden edges of desire? That honor berated him whenever he stood close to her?
“How do you think Laurent knows that student?” Aeden asked.
Thea merely glared at him for a moment.
“You truly are thick,” she said, slowly shaking her head in disbelief.
Master Cassius finished mingling with Master Hob and continued walking. He passed an empty space, where a lone oil lamp hung suspended from the apex of the notched archway. Its yellow light permeated the spot and highlighted the mural upon the wall. The mural depicted a beautiful city on a hill, painted in shades of emerald and azure.
Pausing before Master Glass, Cassius turned to face the Galdor students.
Aeden looked back and watched as Dan pulled Laurent away from the novus students, and more particularly, away from a startled and angered Harmon.
“This is Sam Glass, as you all know, along with his rector…”
“Kallon,” Master Glass said, “And I’m the Bijenna Head and Master of Esoteric and Intrinsic Bindings,” Glass said the last with a hint of a smile curling his lips, which tugged at his dark goatee.
Aeden heard a girl from the Galdor group giggle. It was Muriel. She seemed to be staring at Kallon. It was no wonder, for Kallon was tall and handsome, with flowing hair and an easy smile.
“Kallon looks like an ass,” Aeden overheard Laurent whispering to Dan.
“And Master Glass looks like an older Aeden with more facial hair,” Dan retorted.
Aeden looked upon the new group with greater determination. He pretended to study them as Thea stood next to him. Her breast brushed passed his arm and caused his throat to tighten. It took every fiber of control to remain focused.
He saw Master Glass’ eyes narrow momentarily as he turned away from Aeden. He noticed the tan robes and tan sashes marked the bijenna group as different from the novus group. Yet, all he could feel was Thea’s proximity. With every breath she took, the gentle touch of fabric caressed his arm. He remained still as a statue.
“On to the next group,” Master Cassius announced, moving along.
Relief and disappointment settled upon Aeden’s heart.
Thea moved along with the group, leaving Aeden to stand there, struggling to piece his shattered attention together.
He was exhausted. He shook lose his tempestuous thoughts and trailed the Galdor students.
Aeden was already eyeing the next master. The third master was much shorter than the rest, with salt and pepper hair, and a rough look about him. Despite the short master’s stern appearance, there was the faintest hint of a smile lingering just beyond the wrinkles about his eyes.
“Here we have Master Zabal Zabel, the Head of the medius level of students.”
“Hello class,” Zabal said strongly, “You won’t be seeing me for a while, unless you’ve done something wrong. And let me be clear, I will not tolerate student infighting,” his eyes searched the crowd and found Aeden, “or upstart newcomers to disrupt the sanctity of this ancient institution.”
Cassius arched an eyebrow and asked, “Your student rector?”
“Ah yes,” Zabel responded, “Faro,” Zabel looked away and the anger seemed to bleed out of him.
What had Zabel meant? Why had he looked at Aeden when he said that? Was he referring to Caine and his cousin’s tip to the Inquisition?
All thoughts were cleaved away by the knife that was Zabel’s words. Only confusion and a flagging indignation remained. He needed distraction.
Aeden listened as Laurent and Dan continued to whisper to each other.
“Harmon had some interesting things to say,” Laurent uttered conspiratorially to Dan in hushed tones, “about the student deaths…”
Daniel nodded back, leaning ever closer.
Aeden couldn’t make out the next words and instead looked upon the next group of students.
The group was comprised of only one female and one male. They wore grey robes with a black sash tied about their waist. They stood before a man nearly as large as the Bodigan.
“Hello Master Cassius,” the overlay large man said, a smile softening his features, his hand extended in greeting.
Master Cassius shook the man’s huge hand and introduced him, “This is Master Xuban, the avauncen teacher.”
They now stood before the final group, nearly on the opposite side of the stairs, within the Chamber of Light.
“My students are Tilly Steck of Sawol,” Xuban stated, referring to a dark-haired, young woman with close-set eyes and a stern look, “and Rafe of Berkshire,” he said, referring to a man with a charming smile and sly look.
Tilly Steck didn’t smile. She offered a greeting so subtle as to be taken as dismissive. Rafe, on the other hand, shook the hands of a few students and flashed a warm smile. Aeden didn’t like either one of them.
“We best take our seats,” Master Xuban said, “Grandmaster Kaldi approaches.”
“Of course,” Cassius said, swallowing a lump in his throat. “Where do we sit again?”
Xuban pointed to an empty set of chairs. Cassius nodded and thanked him.
“Let’s go,” Cassius said, rounding up the Galdor students with the help of Master Ashdown.
Aeden’s eyes were drawn upward as they moved toward their seats. Above them a massive chandelier hung suspended, low from the ceiling. A series of concentric rings, cast in gold, were highlighted by burning candles. The candles were slowly dripping wax onto the small plates encircling their ensconced bases.
The ceiling above the chandelier was a round dome framed by a large square, wrought in copper and bismuth. Small shapes wreathed the perimeter, circling the dome, which was itself an incredible work of art.
His eyes then fell onto Thea again. He tracked her movement across the room. He watched the way her clothes shifted as she walked. He looked at the expression on her face; carefully controlled with a hint of a smile.
“Careful,” Adel whispered to Aeden.
Aeden tore his gaze from Thea and narrowly dodge a chair, his face turning red in shame.
The chairs themselves were of different shapes and color. They were arranged into four columns. They fanned about, encircling a centrally raised dais. The dais was made of white marble and sat directly under the chandelier.
Yet, for all the remarkable beauty, Aeden was distraught. He was conflicted. His heart was tying itself into knots as a strange sense of honor fought with a budding desire. It was a desire for warmth, for comfort, for a moment’s peace.
He glanced once more in Thea’s direction and caught her eye. She saw him out of the corner of her eye and smiled. He looked away, ensnared by her feminine beauty.
Aeden struggled for distraction and busied himself with the layout of the room. He knew his people were watching him fr
om the immediate beyond. Could they still see him in the Fold? What would Dannon think about his flirtations?
He looked about as his mind struggled with the current shape of reality.
Facing the clusters of chairs were four mini thrones. They formed a spoke about the central dais. The dark-robed masters currently stood behind them; Hob Towne, Sam Glass, Zabal Zabel, and the hulking figure of Xuban.
The masters stood still as mountains.
At the far end of the chamber a door swung open. Aeden couldn’t see who entered, but strangely, he could feel the shift of energy in the room. The small fidgeting movements of the students fell away. The very weight of the room changed as if a new texture was added to the air.
The approaching footfalls were uneven, limping. It reminded Aeden of listening to Odilo approach. He let the thought slip away, fearful of disturbing one who’d already passed into the afterlife.
“Welcome,” a voice boomed, filling the entire chamber, “to the Tower of the Arkein.”
Everyone in the room grew silent. All eyes turned to the dark-robed figure. The grandmaster mounted the steps to the central dais in one smooth motion. Aeden’s thoughts fell away like discarded refuse.
Chapter 16
“Intimacy causes a tension that only love can cure.” Canton of Sawol
A cool breeze swept about Bellas Tower. It tugged at Aeden’s clothing and played with his hair. It whispered at his ear, speaking of fortune’s hand and destiny’s decree.
Aeden shrugged against the breath of the mountain as he worked his way toward the bathhouse. His skin itched from the week-long journey up Mystes Mountain. His clothes felt abrasive and his hair unclean. It was the feeling of rolling in the dust after a long day under the hot sun.
It was early morning, but one wouldn’t have known from the great expanse of sky. It looked as if Enlil had spilled murex dye, staining the heavens a rich Bodigan Purple. Stars shimmered faintly, as if an afterthought, adding a layer of depth to the velvet tapestry above.
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