by Ian Gregoire
“Kai Delano, you may return to sentry duty,” said Fay. “Your presence is not needed here.”
“As you wish, Danai.”
The tall Sanatsai, who had bested her so easily in their hand-to-hand confrontation, promptly marched away from the scene, leaving Kayden alone with Fay and Master Luka outside the office. He walked the corridor with a confident swagger that seemed to mock her as he departed, threatening to inflame her anger once more.
“Now,” said Fay, intruding upon Kayden’s simmering thoughts, “who wants to tell me how an incident downstairs in the lobby culminated in an altercation outside my door?”
“I was coming—”
“We apprehended this apprentice spying at your door,” said Master Luka, decisively cutting Kayden off. “I’d like permission to interrogate her on suspicion of espionage.”
“I’m not a spy!” Kayden’s indignant tone left no room for doubt as to how affronted she was by the accusation, despite being guilty of eavesdropping.
“She’s not a spy,” agreed Fay, sounding weary. “Permission denied.”
“I was waiting outside,” continued Kayden, “trying to decide if my reason for wanting to speak to you was important enough to intrude upon your meeting, or if I should come back later.”
Fay’s eyes narrowed slightly, scrutinising her apprentice. “How long were you at my door, Kayden?” she inquired.
“I had barely arrived before that good-for-nothing sentry you just dismissed sucker-punched me in the head.” Kayden hoped that playing the victim would divert Fay’s thoughts away from concluding, correctly, that she’d overheard things she shouldn’t have. “If you hadn’t come to my rescue when you did he would have broken my arm.”
“I think it’s only fair that I mention,” interjected Master Luka, “Kai Delano’s actions were in response to the apprentice attacking me”—he glanced sideways to glare at Kayden—“for the second time.”
Annoyed by the man’s attempts to get her into trouble, Kayden decided it was time to extricate herself from the situation altogether, while she still could. “Master Fay, I realise I’m the one at fault. This was obviously a bad time to intrude upon you. I’ll leave now, and come back in the evening.”
“No, stay,” said Fay, halting Kayden’s departure. “Master Ari and Sister Idelle are visiting from Temis Rulan. I know they would both be pleased to see you. Go inside and I will join you shortly.”
Feeling as though she couldn’t refuse, Kayden consented with a half-smile, and ambled through the open door when Fay stood aside for her. As she advanced slowly into the office, she was relieved to hear Fay smoothing things over with Master Luka. For now, it seemed, she didn’t have to worry about an increase in her punishment.
With that off her mind, she headed confidently toward her master’s VIP guests. She couldn’t help but smile at the sight of Master Ari and Sister Idelle, seated in two of the upholstered armchairs around the tea table. It had been two years since her one and only time meeting the head of the Sisterhood, but their brief encounter had left her with a positive impression of the elderly Jaymidari. As for Master Ari, she had met him twice, and both times were momentous occasions. The life-changing journey to Temis Rulan two years ago, wherein he had helped her to finally come to terms with the death of her beloved mother, was followed a week later in the city of her birth, Shali, when she was called to testify at the trial of the man who had taken her mother’s life. Ari had taken it upon himself to travel to the Kingdom of Astana to ensure that an investigation would be initiated into the cover-up surrounding Tan’dee Jayta’s murder. His tenacity was responsible for justice being done, allowing her to bear witness to the conviction and subsequent execution of Andro Radulini, her erstwhile stepfather. It had brought closure, at last, to the most painful chapter of her life, and it was all thanks to Master Ari. He even managed to get criminal charges against her dropped when an outstanding warrant for her arrest came to light, on suspicion of arson, attempted murder, and murder. She would never be able to repay him, but she’d always be pleased to see him.
“Master Ari, Sister Idelle,” she said with a smile, halting beside one of the empty armchairs opposite the pair. “It’s so good to see you both again.”
“Greetings my young friend,” replied Ari. “The feeling is mutual.”
“Is everything all right, Kayden? We heard you scream outside,” said Idelle.
“Oh...” She took a quick glance back at the door; Fay was still speaking with Master Luka. Returning her attention to her seniors, she lowered her voice to say, “Apparently, the incompetent sentries in the building were supposed to prevent anyone from coming up here to Master Fay’s office, but they didn’t even notice when I came up. And just now, when two of them saw me waiting outside in the corridor, they attacked me without warning, accusing me of being a spy. Can you believe that?”
Ari and Idelle briefly exchanged glances in response to hearing the assertion.
“Well, that is unfortunate,” said Ari. “But given yesterday’s events it’s understandable that people are being overly cautious, and overreacting to innocent situations.”
“Is that why you’re both here, because of the attack?” she asked. “This is the first time either of you has visited Antaris since I’ve been an apprentice here.” She already knew the answer but wondered if one or the other could be induced into letting slip that she was the intended target of the midnight raid.
“There has never been an assault on one of our campuses before,” replied Ari. “It obviously makes sense for us to be here in person to discuss with your master how to prevent a reoccurrence.”
Now it was time to find out if the two senior figures of the Order would follow Fay’s lead in hiding the truth from her. “I guess the attack really was more serious than we’ve been told,” she said in a casual tone. “Some of my fellow apprentices don’t believe the official version of events—that foreign Sanatsai were trying to steal the training methods of the Order. They think that last night’s raid was actually an assassination attempt. What do you think?”
“Kayden.” Fay’s voice intruding at her side took Kayden by surprise. “Why don’t you have a seat and tell me what you needed to speak to me about.”
Watching Fay step past her to claim a seat in the armchair opposite Ari, Kayden suddenly realised she couldn’t remember why she had come to see her master. “Uh… Well…” She thought back to what she had been doing prior to arriving at the administration building. Instantly, it came to her: she was in the infirmary talking to Sister Daria. Now she remembered what she wanted to speak to Fay about. “It’s a personal matter. Something I wanted to discuss with you in private, Master,” she said. “But you obviously have much more important things to talk about with Master Ari and Sister Idelle, so it can wait. I’ll come and see you another time.”
“Are you sure?” said Fay. “You’re more than welcome to sit with us and have a bite to eat.”
“No, I really should go. My friends are waiting for me in the mess hall.” Slowly she paced backward, away from the three seated members of the Order. “I apologise for interrupting. It was nice to see you again, Master Ari, Sister Idelle.” She turned on her heels, marching quickly to the door and exiting the room.
Outside, Master Luka was standing as still as a statue, looking inscrutable. She frowned at him, wondering why he was still there, before marching down the corridor. He promptly followed, walking silently alongside her.
“My own personal escort to see me safely out of the building,” she quipped. “What have I done to deserve such consideration?”
The Sanatsai offered no response. Glancing sideways at him, it was obvious Master Luka was in no mood for sardonic humour.
A short while later Kayden had made it back down to the ground floor without incident, and crossed the lobby to exit the building. Pointedly ignoring the presence of Kai Delano—back on sentry duty, standing on one side of the rear entrance with his colleague on the other—she ma
rched away from the administration building, setting a course for the mess hall.
“It’s a shame I was interrupted before I could finish wiping the floor with her.”
The overly loud provocation from her tormentor brought Kayden to an abrupt halt. Keeping her back turned on the two sentries, she pursed her lips and clenched her toes inside her boots. As much as she wanted to confront the son of a bitch, she was mindful of the need to avoid testing Fay’s patience, again, after what had transpired outside her office. Besides, Kai Delano had already demonstrated his ability to comfortably best her in hand-to-hand martial combat. And though she knew that nobody on campus, other than Fay, could possibly be a match for her in a battle of Zarantar, resorting to that would be a serious escalation. She’d surely get into more trouble with her master in that event.
“I’m suddenly wondering if she screams the same way in bed,” said Kai Delano. “I bet she does.”
Kayden decided to resume her march to the mess hall for lunch before she heard something that changed her mind. She departed, reluctantly gifting the dunderhead Sanatsai an undeserved reprieve. It was better to let go of her desire for payback… at least for now.
Perched on the edge of her bed, Kayden stared vacantly across the dorm room, looking at the late-afternoon sky through the window, pondering what to do with herself. Several minutes had passed since the campus clock had sounded the arrival of Seventeenth Hour, bringing to a close the final lessons of the day, and she had returned to her dorm to hide away. Under normal circumstances the two free hours between the end of her last class and the evening meal in the mess hall would be spent with Neryssa and Yanina in Timaris, socialising. But an evening out with the ladies was not an option at present. Fay had made it abundantly clear that she wasn’t allowed to set foot off campus without permission, and even if it was granted she would have to accept a group of Santsai following her every move. That was out of the question so she resolved to remain on campus every day until her punishment was lifted.
Kayden did not want to admit or draw attention to the fact she was in the doghouse with Fay. The whole campus regarded her as the favoured apprentice of Antaris’ legendary administrator, and she didn’t want that perception tarnished as it validated her belief that she was the most accomplished apprentice on campus. Between now and the end of term, she would just have to fob off her friends when they invited her to hang out with them outside campus grounds.
Glancing to her left, she observed Danya—the only roommate also present in the dorm—wrapping herself in a grey cotton bathrobe, having stripped out of her uniform. Her willowy counterpart was the only other apprentice who spent as much time, if not more, in the women’s bathhouse as she did. They frequently went there at the same time, albeit not together.
“What are you moping about?” said Danya, looking sideways at her. “Usually you’re trying to beat me out the door to get to the bathhouse first.”
It was, perhaps, a factual observation, though not on this occasion. Kayden had already decided there was little point in adhering to her habitual routine of having a late-afternoon wash. In a couple of hours, once she’d finished eating the evening meal, she would be spending the remainder of her day in the campus stables, mucking out stalls and grooming horses.
“Why go to the trouble of smelling as fresh as a daisy, now, when I’m going to be on duty in the stables later?” she replied. “By the time I’m done I will smell like crap, literally.” Her pre-bedtime visit to the bathhouse would have to suffice.
Danya sniggered. “Falling into old habits are we?” she said, pulling out a towel from her bedside chest of drawers. “What did you do to get yourself into trouble?”
“I’m not in trouble,” she retorted defensively, suddenly wishing she’d kept her mouth shut about working in the stables. How could she forget that Danya was the campus gossip? By the time the clock announced the arrival of Nineteenth Hour, enticing everyone to the mess hall, the whole campus would know. “I volunteered my services to the stable hands.”
“Who are you trying to kid, Missy?” Danya chuckled as she approached Kayden’s bed, towel in hand. “No one volunteers for stable duty,” she declared. “It’s a chore for unlucky low-level apprentices, and those stupid enough to get on the wrong side of the masters.” Sitting down next to Kayden, she casually put an arm around her. “So, tell Aunty Danya why you’re in trouble.”
Eyebrows raised, Kayden gave her roommate a warning look. Predictably, the clueless apprentice failed to take the hint so Kayden shrugged off the unwelcome arm around her shoulder.
“Danya, you do realise that you and I are not friends, right?”
“And who’s fault is that?” said Danya. “I can’t help it if you’re jealous of me, Kayden. We can’t all be born of noble blood.”
With an exaggerated sigh, Kayden wondered how it was possible that she had shared a dorm room with Miss Straw-For-Brains for eight months without strangling her. Then Danya leaned in closer, and for the briefest of moments Kayden thought her aggravating roommate was actually going to kiss her.
“So, getting back to why you’re in trouble,” Danya uttered in a low, conspiratorial tone. “It’s because you were fighting, right? There’s a rumour going around that you got beaten up in the administration building by one of the sentries, and that he made you scream like a bitch.”
Rising sharply to her feet, Kayden glared down at her roommate. “I think you should go to the bathhouse, now,” she said, “before I send you to the infirmary.”
“There’s no need for threats,” snapped Danya, rising just as sharply off the mattress, looking and sounding like the aggrieved party. “No wonder being the administrator’s pet isn’t enough to keep you out of trouble.” Shoulder-barging past, she strutted towards the exit like royalty. “You’d have thought a woman as smart as Master Fay would have known better,” she said, raising her voice. “You can try to keep the apprentice out of trouble, but you can’t keep the trouble out of the apprentice.”
Bemused, Kayden watched her fellow apprentice vacate the dorm room, wondering how in the world Danya had managed to make it seem as though she was the one who’d just been insulted. Slowly, she sat back down, contemplating a visit to the library. Three knocks on the door immediately intruded upon her thoughts. Why is that stupid woman knocking? She thrust out a hand, invoking Yuksaydan to reach across the room and pull open the door. “Why are you—?” It wasn’t Danya at the door, as she had assumed. “Neryssa? Oh… come in, come in.”
Neryssa duly entered the room, closing the door behind her before approaching Kayden’s bed.
“I was wondering where you were,” she said, halting in front of Kayden.
“Oh, I probably should have said something. You and Yanina can go to Timaris without me. I’ve decided to stay on campus today.”
“That’s fortunate,” replied Neryssa. “It looks like we might be in for some rain shortly, so Yanina and I would rather not head into town. I’m guessing you won’t object to lounging around the communal hall this evening, instead?”
“No, I have no objection at all.” Kayden was pleasantly surprised she wouldn’t need to to come up with an excuse to fob Neryssa off. “It beats sitting in the library with nothing to do while waiting for the evening meal to be dished up.” She rose from her bed. “Let’s go!”
Without further ado, Kayden headed for the exit, with Neryssa falling into step at her side.
“So what made you want to stay on campus this evening?” asked Neryssa as they reached the door.
Kayden took hold of the knob, but didn’t open the door. “Oh, I…” What was a plausible reason that wouldn’t tip Neryssa off to the fact she had been disciplined by Fay? she wondered. “I just want to make sure I’m in a position to help, in the event of another attack on the campus.” The moment the words left her mouth she realised she probably should have said something a little more innocuous.
“Given how many extra Sanatsai are still patrolling Antaris, bot
h inside and outside the grounds, it would be foolhardy to attempt a second attack so soon. Why even risk it after failing the first time?”
“Unfinished business,” Kayden replied, not having to think about it. “If you want someone dead badly enough, you don’t give up until you’ve achieved that objective. The man who ordered the attack isn’t going to abandon his objective while the person he wants dead is still right here, living and breathing.”
“You sound paranoid,” remarked Neryssa. “Don’t tell me you believe the conspiracy theory that the masters have covered-up an assassination attempt.”
A half-hearted smile tugged the corners of Kayden’s mouth. “Just because I’m paranoid,” she said, opening the door, “it doesn’t mean someone isn’t trying to kill me.”
The pair left the dorm room together. Their next port of call was the communal hall on the south-side of campus. As they walked through the corridor towards the stairwell, Kayden became acutely aware that though she hadn’t been serious about wanting to be present in the even of a repeat assault on campus, she did need to be vigilant. Being caught unawares could be a fatal mistake.
Time seemed to move like a snail leaving a glistening slime trail on the surface of a brick wall. It wasn’t long before Kayden began regretting the decision to while away the time in the communal hall. The atmosphere was hardly conducive to relaxing, thanks in no small part to how unusually overcrowded it was. From what she could gather, many apprentices were nervous about leaving campus grounds in the wake of the previous night’s attack. They chose, instead, to crowd into the presumed safety of the communal hall rather than risk the quarter-hour walk to Timaris. As for the varied conversations taking place all around her, they were far from stimulating.
Lounging on the end of one of the many couches dotted around the ground floor, with Neryssa, Yanina, and Sinton for company, Kayden’s attention drifted in and out of the discussion between her friends about their level nine classes that day. When she wasn’t daydreaming, her eyes wandered around the hall, taking in the mundane sights. A sedate card game was taking place at the furthest end of the hall, where a group of apprentices had pushed two tables together to accommodate the number of participants. The game was, apparently, interesting enough to have attracted a sizeable gathering of spectators. Peering up at the balustraded balcony that constituted the hall’s upper floor, she saw dozens of nattering apprentices leaning against the bannister, keeping an eye on events below. To her left, a small group of adolescent apprentices had arranged several beanbags into a circle on the floor. They were sitting down, engaged in a juvenile game of spin the bottle. She wanted to roll her eyes at them. When were they going to grow up and stop behaving like children? She settled for a silent shake of the head. At least they weren’t making a spectacle of themselves in the same manner as the shameless older couple smooching up against one of the pillars supporting the upper level.
