Thea tightened her grip on Aeden’s arm. It was a subtle reminder of where he was. It reminded him that he was already in trouble and shouldn’t exacerbate the situation. The rising tide of anger ebbed and Aeden felt himself physically relax.
“Your breath stinks,” Laurent stated as he passed Caine.
Caine tore his gaze from Aeden and looked to Laurent, as if he’d never seen him before.
Dan waved a hand before him as if trying to clear the air of a bad smell, “Stop eating so much shit.”
Caine turned red.
Aeden hardly noticed as Thea, Adel, Dan and Laurent rounded the bend as they made their way toward the stairs leading up the Tower of the Arkein, and to Grandmaster Kaldi.
Chapter 25
“Expectations often lead to false assumptions.” Prince Mazin – Adumbrate Peak
The doorway leading into Grandmaster Kaldi’s chambers was simple. Light spilled in from a single window in a simple waiting room. It fell partly across the wooden door, highlighting the grain.
A sense of nervousness ran up Aeden’s spine. He glanced back, seeing Thea standing there with a look of encouragement and concern. Adel stood beside her, his mouth had formed a thin, grim line. Dan and Laurent were whispering to each other and hardly noticed the others in the room.
Aeden had told his friends to remain downstairs. He had told them to not become implicated in his mistake. He didn’t want them associated with his actions. They had refused to listen. He was happy they had refused. Their presence marked their friendship. It displayed their love. It emboldened him.
“Wish me luck,” Aeden said, facing Adel and Thea.
“Good luck,” Adel said in response.
Thea smiled and blew him a discreet kiss. Laurent stopped talking to Dan for a moment, tugging on Dan’s sleeve.
“I’ve got faith in you,” Laurent said.
“One silver dinar’s worth of faith,” Dan chuckled.
Aeden nodded and turned to knock on the door. Yet, as he raised his hand, the door swung open. There was no one on the other side.
“Come in,” a voice reached out, ensnaring Aeden.
Aeden obliged and stepped into Grandmaster Kaldi’s Chamber.
He cast one look back. He saw Thea and Adel’s faces before the door shut behind him.
“Step forward,” Grandmaster Kaldi said.
Aeden obliged and stepped into the center of the room. He took in a calming breath, ready to be expelled. Already, he was thinking of what his next options were. Would he stay in the Fold and try to learn what he could? Would Thea follow him if he were to leave? What of Adel?
“Why are you here?” Kaldi questioned.
Aeden glanced up from the stone floor and to the grandmaster. The man stood before a tall window overlooking Skadoian Valley. The light filtered through the window and cast the grandmaster in a halo of imposing authority.
“I made a mistake grandmaster,” Aeden began.
Kaldi nodded almost imperceptibly as his intelligent eyes studied Aeden carefully.
“Master Zabal Zabel was demonstrating the arkein shirt and asked me to attack him.”
Aeden paused and looked over to the bookshelves lining one wall. They were twice as tall as a man, yet there was no ladder to reach the upper shelves.
“On my third attempt I drew my sword,” Aeden now looked at the grandmaster again, hoping to discern any change in expression. He did not. Aeden continued, “I attacked as commanded, only…I felt that the arkein shirt wasn’t deflecting my attack. I adjusted, but too slowly, and cut the master,” Aeden looked to the ground, angered at having hurt one of the masters, angry at his lack of control.
Grandmaster Kaldi nodded again.
“Was it deep?”
Aeden shook his head.
“Fatal?”
“No grandmaster.”
The grandmaster fell into a pensive silence.
Endless thoughts fought for attention. What was Kaldi thinking? Was this Aeden’s last day at the Tower of the Arkein? Aeden thought on everything he’d wanted to learn. He thought on his failed promise to avenge his people. He thought on the draccus fiend that had killed everyone he had loved.
“Normally,” Grandmaster Kaldi spoke, shattering the silence like fallen glass, “injury to a master requires punishment, if not expulsion.”
The grandmaster was now gently stroking his beard, “but we are living in unusual times.”
A glimmer of hope settled with the weight of a feather upon Aeden’s overly burdened heart.
“Extraordinary times if I am not mistaken. Such times require extraordinary measures.”
The headmaster turned to look out the window.
“Did you know that at the heart of Skadoian Valley lies a labyrinth?”
It was a rhetorical question. Aeden remained silent.
“And at the heart of the labyrinth resides a mystery unexplained by the greatest minds to have ever lived.”
The grandmaster turned to face Aeden.
“The mystery that faces me is the timing of your arrival. I had initially thought it inconvenient, too early, ill-timed. Perhaps I was wrong. There’s a reason, and I may be glimpsing its edges now, as I look upon you.”
Aeden’s brow furrowed in confusion.
“You will not be expelled, Aeden of the Thane, child of Agathon,” Kaldi was slowly shaking his head. “You will, however, be subjected to grueling training in an effort to see if you are worthy.”
Aeden didn’t respond. His mind was alight with new questions and new thoughts. He wasn’t being expelled? Grueling training? What was Kaldi referring to?
“I await my Acquisitions and Ancient Uses of the Arkein instructor. I think you may be of great use to the Fold, and to greater Verold,” he paused for a moment, “There is hope yet.”
Aeden stood, rooted to the spot, not understanding. His mind swirled in thought.
“Seek out Master Xuban,” Kaldi commanded, his voice resonant, “You will begin private lessons with him at once.”
Aeden nodded. He watched the grandmaster, waiting for him to continue. He did not. Instead, the door opened behind him, and the grandmaster turned to look out the tall window overlooking Skadoian Valley.
Aeden knew when he’d been dismissed. He left the grandmaster’s chambers in a state of elated confusion.
Chapter 26
“If love is the glorious pinnacle of humanity then jealousy is the rotten cave below.” Canton of Sawol
The following day was Bellas Day. It was a day of celebration for those who lived in the Fold. It was a day of reverence. Its roots stretched back to before the First Age. The god, Ansuz, had created a day to celebrate his wife, his love, and honor her passing in the most fitting way he knew.
For the students of the Tower of the Arkein, it was a day free from classes. It was a day free from the new routine they had carved into their lives. It was a day of drinking and of revelry. It was a day of mild competition and good foods.
For Aeden, it was a day of conflicting emotions and unforeseen realities. It was the day after he’d talked with the grandmaster, and the day after he’d met with Master Xuban.
Aeden woke late that morning. Late for him at any rate. The night prior he had begun his first private lesson with Master Xuban. It had stretched well past eventide into the deep purpling of night.
Master Xuban had taken Aeden on a partial tour of the living library within the Tower of the Arkein. The master had revealed shelves hidden behind the flowering plume of dahlia. He had slipped past the normal nooks and crannies to the top shelves, hidden in shadow, and to the lowest shelves, hidden behind a wall of lilac blooms. He had shown Aeden what books he expected Aeden to read. He had informed Aeden what parts of what books needed to be committed to memory. He then lectured Aeden on the need for secrecy.
The memories faded as Aeden rubbed at his eyes in an effort to awake. It took a moment for him to adjust to the light pouring through the dorm windows. It spilled across the flo
or with the diffuse weight of purpose.
Across from him sat Adel, wide-eyed. There was a goofy smile on his lips. His bed was already made, and the tiniest corner of parchment poked out from under his bed. Adel had been drawing again.
“Sleep in?” Adel teased.
Aeden merely grunted in response.
“Another late night with Thea?” Adel asked, half-curious with only the smallest hint of jealousy coloring the edges of his tone.
At mention of Thea, Aeden remembered he was supposed to meet with her last night. They were to meet under the arch of kalon flowers in the Gardens of Andir. They were going to talk and, in Aeden’s hopeful mind, make up. Instead, Aeden had slipped away, to his meeting with the avauncen master without so much as a word to Thea.
To say Thea was going to be upset was like saying a screaming mara was going to be loud. Aeden’s stomach tightened at the thought. Yet, part of him knew he had avoided seeing her. He couldn’t face her. Not after her revelation that he’d killed her father.
Once Aeden had discovered he wasn’t to be expelled, other thoughts had bubbled back to the surface. Those thoughts were colored by latent fear and hidden guilt.
“You okay?” Adel’s tone changed as he read the emotions rolling across his friend’s face.
Adel was like an ever-present puppy, loyal and attentive. He was a good friend. At times, Aeden wondered if he deserved Adel. They had shared so much since the monastery of Bodig. They were no longer the wide-eyed youth, excited at the thought of a pilgrimage, or excited by the whispers of Verold.
“I’m okay,” Aeden replied, “Probably just hungry.”
“You and me both,” Adel said, a smile returning to his lips, “I’ve been waiting nearly an hour for one of you to wake up. Dan and Laurent had stayed up arguing who was hotter, Muriel on a bad day or Oria all made up…”
Adel indicated his frustration with a frown and a mild shake of his head. He looked across the room to the beds of Dan and Laurent, who were both sound asleep, before turning back to Aeden.
“Sounds rough,” Aeden replied, a small smile claimed him, “and…who’d they decide on?”
“I don’t know,” Adel shrugged, “I fell asleep.”
Aeden nodded and slipped out of bed. He stretched and strapped his sword to his back. It felt cool and mildly comforting, like a splash of water on a hot day.
“Breakfast?” Aeden asked.
“Does blue demarcate water!?” Adel exclaimed.
The dining room was half empty. The usual din of talking students was but a memory, replaced with a scattering of pupils, who formed quiet pockets of conversation that ringed the great space.
Aeden looked about carefully, looking for any sign of Thea. Relief claimed him as he didn’t see her amidst the smattering of students. Instead, he locked eyes momentarily with Caine, hardly noticing the student beside him.
Aeden’s gut twisted and all the quiet, bubbling rage he normally suppressed, buzzed at his fingertips. Caine’s face fell into a dark scowl, before he tore his gaze away and the moment of mutual hatred was broken.
“What’s the deal with you two?” Adel whispered.
Aeden’s head was clouded by indignation. He finally looked away from Caine and took a breath. Adel was already moving toward the food line, looking back at Aeden expectantly. Aeden followed.
“I don’t know,” Aeden replied, “I don’t understand how he’s not imprisoned for bringing the Inquisition to Galdor,” Aeden was forced to swallow back a lump of rising guilt, “And I don’t understand how people have already forgiven him. How does he already have friends? Can’t they see him for who he is?”
Aeden took a breath, “I can’t help but think, if he tried anything again, it’d simply be easier to kill him.”
Adel didn’t respond immediately. He took his time to digest the information and to grab some food. Meanwhile Aeden struggled with the flavor of conflicting emotion. How much blood was on his hands? Was he hiding from the truth under the guise of rationalized ire?
“I think there’s been enough death,” Adel said quietly, gauging Aeden’s reaction, “I wouldn’t want to see anyone else hurt or killed.”
“But he tried to hurt you,” Aeden said defensively, remembering their encounter in the glade, behind the University of Galdor. Garit, Judd, and Caine had been there, holding Adel against his will, with a knife to his neck.
The memory faded.
Aeden followed Adel as he walked across the open space, passing a few tables, looking for a more hidden table, behind one of the tall, bejeweled pillars. He placed his plate onto the table beside a tall window, out of Caine’s line of sight.
“I know,” Adel began, “but I’ve come to realize that everything Caine has done, has come from a place of insecurity. He’s terrified of what others think of him and even more terrified of how he perceives himself. He needs constant admiration to maintain his delusion and lashes out when he feels belittled. It’s like he can’t help himself.”
Aeden had already taken a bite of buttered bread. He wasn’t fully listening. From his vantage point, he could see Thea. She had just entered the refectory and was walking with another male student. Aeden recognized him as one of the two students in the avauncen class. Rafe had silenced Zabel’s class and then simply walked out. Aeden couldn’t remember his last name, but he remembered his easy smile and charismatic charm.
“What’s his last name again?” Aeden asked, staring intently at Thea and the avauncen student.
Adel twisted in his seat, stopping mid-sentence to see who had captured Aeden’s attention.
“I’m not sure,” Adel said before returning to his conversation, “I think Caine’s greatest weakness is a lack of love.”
Aeden wasn’t listening, for in that moment Thea had caught his eye. There was a strange smile on her face. It was somewhere between happiness, anger, and satisfaction. It was a determined smile of grimly appeased proportions.
“…but I wonder if I should get the manticore steak or try to capture the blud that’s trapped in Laurent’s dresser,” Adel paused, and stared at Aeden until he looked up, “You’re not even listening.”
“I’m sorry,” Aeden replied, “I was supposed to meet with Thea last night and completely forgot.”
It was a partial lie, for the truth was too much of a burden.
Adel nodded and glanced across the dining space, twisting in his seat to see around the pillar, to the food line.
“And now she’s coming to breakfast with Rafe,” Adel said.
“I know,” Aeden replied, “and I’m not sure what…”
“No, I mean she’s coming to a nearby table,” Adel whispered urgently.
Aeden fell silent as he lost some of the color in his face. He leaned about the column to see the twosome approaching. His stomach dropped deeper into his gut as conflicting emotions fought for control. Anger and jealousy duked it out under the watchful eye of detached awareness, while a hint of sadness sat quietly in the corner, waiting for its time on stage.
He watched as Thea sat nearby with her back to him. Rafe sat across from her. Aeden found Rafe’s eye momentarily and a strange smile passed over his face.
Aeden looked away.
“I’m sorry,” Adel whispered.
Aeden only nodded as he looked down at his food. Why was Thea with Rafe? He already knew the answer. She was angry at him. He’d missed their meeting. He didn’t find her in the morning. In fact, he’d hardly said a few words to her since he had talked to the grandmaster.
His mind had been so occupied with finding master Xuban and awash with relief, that he’d temporarily forgotten her displeasure at his apparent nonchalance at her father’s death.
“Morning!” Laurent and Dan said as they approached.
Adel returned the greeting. Aeden merely looked up and gave a curt nod.
“What’s wrong with him,” Laurent gestured to Aeden.
Adel looked over to the nearby table. Laurent followed his gaze and sa
w Thea and Rafe eating together.
“Oh,” Laurent said, “I’m sorry mate, I’d offer to beat him up for you, but that’d seem rather silly considering my lack of skills.”
“Not to mention,” Dan jumped in, “that he’s an avauncen student. Imagine what sort of tricks they’re privy to.”
“And there’s that,” Laurent conceded. “Strange though.”
“What’s strange?” Adel asked, looking up.
“I thought Rafe liked Muriel.”
Dan interjected, “Everyone likes Muriel.”
“True.”
Adel put down his food.
“I thought Muriel’s with Kallon.”
Aeden listened and felt his stomach tighten. He could sympathize with the idea of a man longing for a woman. Thea sat achingly close. Her hair was loosely tied up, exposing part of her neck. She looked so tender and inviting.
“She is,” Laurent said, before looking to Aeden, “Where did you go last night? What happened after you saw Grandmaster Kaldi?”
“You just disappeared without so much as a word,” Dan added.
Aeden tore his gaze from Thea and Rafe’s table and looked at his friends.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
His mind was still with Thea. He felt his anger rising. If she wanted to play games, he could play games. If she didn’t want to see him, then he’d ignore her and spend time with his friends. Perhaps then she could figure things out.
“I didn’t get expelled,” Aeden replied.
“We knew that,” Laurent exclaimed rather loudly with a mouth full of bread.
“I lost a silver dinar,” Dan whispered.
“I’m glad I bet on you,” Laurent continued, spitting out a few crumbs, some of which landed on Aeden’s plate.
Aeden stared at his food for a moment longer before pushing his plate away.
He glanced over at Thea and Rafe’s table again. This time Rafe looked up and stared. Aeden couldn’t take it anymore. He shoved his seat back as Adel was talking and walked over to the next table. Adel fell quiet. Dan and Laurent twisted in their seats.
“This should be good,” Laurent commented.
Into the Fold Page 16
