by Lisa Cassidy
Then she got back into the saddle and rode to DarkSkull Hall.
Chapter 36
“What possessed you?”
Alyx glanced at Howell. As luck would have it, they’d had their weekly class with him the day after returning from Carhall. He’d pulled her aside almost immediately, pausing only to set tasks for the others to work on. She’d barely slept, her mind still full of what had happened with Dashan, so much so it took her a moment to realise what her master was referring to.
“I was tired, sir, and upset.” She hedged, thinking furiously. It was impossible to know for certain whether Howell knew about the Taliath-hunting. It had seemed to her that only the council and the hunters knew, but Howell wasn’t a fool and it was certainly possible he’d figured things out. It would explain the odd looks and discomfort he sometimes displayed when talking about the Taliath. On the other hand, she wasn’t supposed to know, and if others began finding out, Romas would know it came from her.
“What upset you enough that you felt like you could verbally challenge Master Rothai?” Howell demanded now, sensing her avoidance.
After another moment of hesitation, during which Howell’s expression darkened, she settled for partial truth. “You know my feelings on the council, sir. I struggle with the idea of belonging to the mage order, sometimes more so than others. I was tired from the trip, and nothing I saw or heard in Carhall made me feel better about being one of you.”
He sighed at her words. “You won’t be working for the council when you finish your training, isn’t that some comfort to you?”
He was right, but that time felt like too far off. And what was she supposed to do anyway, go back to Rionn and ignore everything she’d found out? Let Taliath continue to be murdered? And what about the missing mages? Whoever was behind that had probably killed her mother. Was she supposed to walk away from that too?
“I can’t protect you when you so flagrantly breach the rules,” Howell continued when she didn’t respond.
“I’ve never relied upon your protection, sir,” she said honestly. “Because I’ve never felt like I truly had it.”
“You think you know everything, but you don’t,” he said sharply, disappointment colouring his face and tone. “Be careful not to confuse intention with ability, Alyx. I’ve done nothing but try and protect you since you first stepped foot in this place.”
“Sir—”
He waved a hand in disgust, cutting her off. “Go back to the group. I want to work on some more team-oriented exercises.”
Their master said nothing else to the rest of them about their suspension, and Tarrick didn’t bring it up either. The class finished on a heavy note, none of them in good moods. Howell had been far less amiable than usual, and every attempt they’d made to complete his team exercises had failed.
Alyx had been the main culprit, unable to focus to the level required to properly channel her magic. It hadn’t helped she’d spent the entire class checking her mental shield to ensure it was in place—the last thing she needed was Dawn picking up anything about her encounter with Dashan.
“If we want to hold up for more than ten seconds against First Patrol, we’re going to have to do much better than that,” Tarrick said evenly as they walked from class towards the library.
“Thank you, master of the obvious,” Cario remarked.
“Smart remarks from you certainly won’t help.” Tarrick stopped, rounding on the taller mage.
Cario raised both hands in the air. “Don’t blast me to cinders just because you’re angry at the world right now.”
“How can you not care about any of this?” Finn demanded.
“It’s the way of the world, Finn. Bad stuff happens. Nobody is completely good. The faster you learn that, the better off you’ll be.”
“Don’t pretend you didn’t care when you first learned what was going on,” Dawn spoke up, anger tinting her voice. “You’ve just had a lot longer than us to adjust to the knowledge, so quit pretending like nobody and nothing in this world bothers you. I know
better.”
“Stay out of my head,” Cario snarled, fury briefly twisting his handsome features.
“I don’t need to be in your head to know what I do,” she said evenly.
“That’s enough,” Tarrick spoke into the tense silence. “Fighting amongst ourselves is not the solution.”
Cario shook off Finn’s restraining arm. “I’m going to dinner. Enjoy the library.”
“Nothing to contribute?” Finn raised his eyebrows at Alyx once Cario had stalked away.
“I happen to think both Cario and Dawn are right,” she said.
“Of course you do.” Tarrick shook his head.
She scowled. “What is that supposed to mean?”
He took a deep breath. “Nothing. I don’t want to fight. Let’s go to the library.
We’ve got too much to catch up on after our trip to waste time bickering.”
“I agree.” She forced her momentary anger away. “Finn, you’ll help prioritise what we should do first?”
“Absolutely.”
Dawn came over and linked her arm with Alyx’s as they began walking across the lawn to the library. Neither of them said anything.
Alyx and Cario sat on wooden chairs opposite each other, gazes firmly locked. She frowned in concentration while Cario looked entirely relaxed, a slight smile tugging at his mouth. Around them, a total of twenty balls darted through the air, an equal mix of green and yellow. Alyx’s hand rested on her leg, her index finger tapping slightly as she sent her green balls zooming through the air in different directions, doing her utmost to keep them from being caught by the yellow balls.
Howell stood off to the side, expression thoughtful as they battled. Tarrick and the twins stood beside him, watching with equal interest.
Alyx stiffened slightly. A touch of power sent one of her balls darting to the floor just in time to avoid being collected by a yellow one. This was just a feint from Cario though, who sent three more yellow balls diving after another green one. She dived deeper into her magic to be able to respond in time. A few tension-filled moments later and she was settled again, this time gathering the green balls closer together before sending them exploding outwards in all directions.
The watchers gasped with excitement as Cario sent the yellow balls after Alyx, and for the first time she became aware that Dirrion’s apprentice class had gathered to watch too.
Even after several months, Cario was still far better than her—he had exquisite timing and control, and she sometimes wondered if she’d ever be that good. This morning was the longest she’d lasted though, and so when one of Cario’s yellow balls collided with a green one in mid-air a few minutes later, Alyx sat back in her chair and conceded with a smile.
Clapping broke out around them. Cario grinned as he turned to see all the apprentices and teachers that had gathered to watch, but Alyx was mildly embarrassed by the attention. A moment later, Dirrion sharply ordered his students back to work.
“Very good, Alyx,” Howell spoke. “You’re improving nicely.”
“Indeed she is,” Cario acknowledged. “You’re becoming quite the challenge to my own skills.”
“Oh, I’m going to beat you someday, Cario.”
“We’ll see,” he said loftily.
“That will do us for the day,” Howell said tersely, his genial nature still not returned. “Finn, you’ll spend your remaining lessons for the year with the mage healers over in the healing wing. I’ve arranged it with them.”
“Excellent, thank you, sir.” Finn looked pleased.
“There’s not really much more I can teach you. You’ll need tutoring from a proper healer mage now,” Howell said. “As for the rest of you, next year your lessons here will become more heavily focused on your magic. You might want to start thinking about what sort of mage careers you’d like to have after DarkSkull. While I will remain your overall master and supervisor, your magic training over the next t
wo years will spread to other, more specialized, teachers.”
His eyes ran over them, expecting questions, then shrugging when he didn’t get any.
“All right, you’re dismissed. I’ll see all of you except Finn next week.”
Eager to escape the confines of the classroom and escape outside into the beautiful day, they quickly packed their things.
“Alyx, do you have a moment?” Cario asked as the others headed out.
“Of course, what is it?”
He smiled at her, all charm and flashing teeth. “I was hoping you’d agree to accompany me to the festival dance.”
“You’re serious?” Alyx asked in surprise.
“Don’t worry, I have no romantic intentions towards you.” He grinned again. “But think about it, the young mage scion and the high-born Lady Alyx Egalion partnering at the dance? We’d be the most talked-about couple there.”
“And that’s why you’re asking me?”
“Well, I have a certain reputation to uphold,” he said, then hesitated and dropped the charm. “And I would like to go with a friend.”
“So would I,” Alyx said honestly. “I’ll be your partner.”
“Excellent,” he said in satisfaction.
Two nights later, as Alyx was crossing from the dining hall to the stables to check on Tingo after dinner, she diverged her path to the small domed building that housed the Taliath sword. It had been playing on her mind since her return from Carhall, and this was the first free moment she’d had to go there. Tonight, she found someone else already in the circular room, peering at the sword with a distant look on his familiar face.
“Alyx!” Brynn looked up in surprise. His blond hair was shorter than she’d ever seen it, and dark shadows deepened under his blue eyes. He looked older too; there had never been lines in his forehead before.
“I should go.” She turned for the door.
“Wait, please!”
She paused at the door. “What are you doing here?”
“This is where I meet Master Rothai. Not many students ever come to this building, so…”
“I see.”
“You were in Carhall for the council.”
“I was there,” she said bluntly, keeping a tight rein on her spike of anger. “I know about their strategy of murdering Taliath potentials. I heard their thoughts; that you are a spy who helps them track the potentials.”
“I thought as much,” Brynn said quietly. “I was in Carhall, too. I tried to talk to you one night, to explain. But…”
“But what, Brynn?”
He raised a tired hand, as if attempting to physically ward off her anger. “I’m a mage, Alyx. I do as I’m ordered. It’s not my choice.”
“Killing innocent children?” she asked coldly. “I misjudged you badly.”
“I’ve never killed a child, or a Taliath for that matter,” Brynn said hotly. “Never. I just tracked them.”
“You track them, knowing the council is going to kill them,” Alyx said, voice full of accusation. “You’re complicit in their murder!”
“I didn’t know,” he shouted back, his calm breaking. “I didn’t know, Alyx.”
“What does that mean?”
“I didn’t know why the council asked me to track them,” he said helplessly. “I thought they were trying to revive the Taliath order—I didn’t even consider what was really happening.”
“You didn’t work it out when Taliath started dying?”
“I wasn’t aware of the deaths,” Brynn said helplessly. “Alyx, you have to believe me. Once I track a potential, my job is over. I move on to the next assignment. I never saw what happened next.”
“I guess this explains why you were so reluctant to tell me what you were doing, and why you kept reporting in to your masters here at DarkSkull instead of in Carhall. Because Rothai is leading the hunt. Him and Galien.”
“Alyx, please…”
She rounded on him furiously. “My father and brother are Taliath.”
“I know.” He moved closer. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what to do.”
“Are you going to keep working for them?”
“If I don’t, I’ll be in serious trouble. I know too much,” he said. “And my family, they’d be in danger too.”
“So you’ll keep tracking the Taliath, even though you know what will happen?”
He sighed and ran a hand through his short hair. “I’ll ask for re-assignment.”
“You think they’ll give it to you? From what the council said, you’re their best tool to track the potentials.”
“I can only ask.”
“Re-assignment where? Brynn, how can you keep spying for them after this? Your next assignment could be just as bad, or worse.”
“I don’t know what you want me to do!” he burst out. “I’m a mage, and we both know I can’t walk away.”
The sound of footsteps approaching the door heralded Rothai’s arrival. Alyx immediately stepped away from Brynn and they both turned towards the door. The master’s eyes flicked between them as he entered, as if sensing the tension in the air. In no mood to deal with him, she turned and strode out without a word.
Dawn was sitting on one of a couple of benches scattered around the grassy area outside their dormitory building. A mapping class book was open on her lap, but her gaze was distant, far beyond the valley walls that encircled them.
She gave a small sigh when Alyx sat beside her. “Can you believe we’ve been back almost a week already?”
“It feels impossible, doesn’t it, to slot back into regular DarkSkull life after all that happened while we were away?”
“Something is troubling you, and I get the impression it’s about more than what happened in Carhall.” Dawn turned towards her. “You know that you can talk to me about anything.”
Alyx frowned at the note of sadness in Dawn’s voice, suddenly concerned. “The same goes for you. I’m not ignorant of the fact it’s always you taking care of me.”
She shrugged slightly. “You’ve always had a lot more to deal with than I have.”
Guilt swamped Alyx, bitter and full of regret. “That’s not true,” she said. “Talk to me now.”
“I’m worried, about all of us. What we learned is threatening to break us apart, and the only reason we’ve survived here so far is because we’ve stuck by each other through everything.”
“That’s not going to change. I’m angry at Tarrick, but I’d do anything for him, for you too.”
“Then promise me you’ll fix things with us,” Dawn implored, turning towards her. “I can’t do it. Please, Alyx.”
“Hey.” Alyx reached out to take her hand. “I promise I will. What’s really upsetting you?”
“I’m not worried about Tarrick,” Dawn admitted. “Underneath his stiffness he has a big heart. That’s why he joined us last year, and it’s why he’s so fiercely protective of you. When it comes down to it, he doesn’t support the murder of Taliath any more than you do.”
“Then what?”
“Finn is a thinker, he always has been. He prioritises logic and reason over emotion.” Dawn looked away. “I know him better than anyone, he’s my twin. That’s why I’m worried.”
“What are you saying?” Alyx asked gently. “You think he will turn on us?”
“No, of course not,” Dawn spoke so decisively, Alyx wasn’t sure whether she was trying to convince Alyx or herself. “He loves you, and he would never think of hurting your father or brother.”
“But you’re not so sure when it comes to the other Taliath potentials out there?”
“I’m not saying he would hurt them himself...” Dawn trailed off, then gave herself a little shake. “I’m being silly and maudlin. It’s because I’m exhausted.”
“You and me both.” Alyx chuckled and settled back against the bench, glad to change the subject. She wasn’t exactly sure what Dawn’s fears were, but she hoped they were as insubstantial as her friend claimed they were. Finn was her friend
. That would never change, surely?
“I asked Dash to the dance,” Dawn spoke after a few moments. “He told me he was flattered, but that he couldn’t guarantee he would attend and he didn’t want to disappoint me.”
“That’s my fault, I’m afraid,” Alyx said lightly. What would Dawn think of her if she knew that she and Dashan had kissed? Dawn liked Dashan, and Alyx was trying so hard to be a better friend. “He wanted to make sure Ladan was warned in person. He probably didn’t know if he’d be back from Widow Falls in time.”
“He’s a good man.”
“He is.” Alyx agreed completely, but desperately wanted to change the subject. “Oh! Cario asked me to be his partner.”
“He did?” Dawn beamed. “That’s nice. You know Finn finally worked up the courage to ask Jayn? She left him hanging a full three seconds before saying yes. You should have seen the look on his face.”
Alyx laughed. “What a shame I missed that.”
“You’ll do as I asked?” Dawn turned to her, serious again. “Do your best to make things right between us.”
“It won’t be easy, not with the match against Galien looming. We’re all short-tempered and tired. But yes, I promised you and I meant it.”
“Thank you.” Dawn leaned forward and hugged her. “You’re a good friend when you want to be, Alyx Egalion.”
“Yes, well, that’s not exactly a ringing endorsement,” Alyx said dryly, then raised her hand as Dawn’s face fell. “I’m not offended. I’ve spent my whole life with all the people in my circle fawning over me, all except Dashan and Cayr. I’m not practiced yet at thinking of others first. I’ll keep trying.”
“I know.” Dawn closed the book on her lap. “I think it’s time for bed. I’m too tired to concentrate on this any longer.”
“I’ll follow you up in a minute.”
Madam Grange was hovering nearby, sweeping melted snow from the path, and so Alyx felt safe enough to sit out in the darkness, ignoring the cold and allowing her thoughts to run free.
