My eyes fell slightly. “. . . I should probably let someone else explain it to you . . . I don’t think I’d have the most objective view on it.”
Her face turned more serious and she stopped her work to walk over to the counter across. “Are you alright?”
I nodded.
She seemed unsatisfied. “Did Jaden do something?”
I waved my hands. “Oh, no, no, no . . . ,” an involuntary smile crossed my lips. “He was great actually.”
When I looked back up, she had an eyebrow raised.
My eyes widened. “I mean, great for taking me. . . . It was just a nice thing to do,” a smirk crossed her face, “Not really great himself . . . Not that he isn’t,” I corrected quickly, then added, “I wouldn’t know.”
Oh, God, that was bad.
Her brows leveled and she reached for a plate. “As long as you’re okay, that’s what matters.”
I sucked in a breath, knowing I was red-faced. “Oh, yeah, I’m good.”
She grinned, passing me the dish. “Why don’t you grab a bite to eat.”
I lightened at the escape route. “Good idea. Thanks Sophie.”
She waved. “Good night, Evelyn.”
I turned around to search for a seat. The sky outside was deep blue, almost dark. The boys still left reading did so by candlelight.
Derrith sat alone at the far end of a nearby table. I took a seat on the opposite side. He looked up smiling when I first sat down, but then resumed his reading.
I ate peacefully, in silence, despite my blunder with Sophie. So what if I had said that Jaden was great? It wasn’t like anyone was going to start thinking anything. The idea was preposterous.
I contemplated all the reasons that supported this theory through the rest of my meal and all the way back to the study, neatly lining them up in a graspable picture. Unfortunately, one look at the red flame on the center table and I lost my whole thought process. Then I saw the boy in question kneeling over by the bookshelves and an entire case built up on the other side of the spectrum.
“Oh, no,” I muttered.
The perfectly structured face turned to me. “Good, you’re back . . . Did you say something?” His tone was so casual.
I swallowed hard and shook my head back and forth.
He smiled and gestured to the couch. “You can sit down. I’m just grabbing a few things.”
He looked back to the bookcase and my face scrunched.
Blast it all, he’s still being nice. . . . This isn’t good. This definitely isn’t good.
I went to sit on the couch, almost robotically, then narrowed my eyes.
Alright, Evelyn, you’re just letting your imagination get away with you. This is your first real chance to learn magic. Concentrate.
I took a couple deep breaths, just calm down . . .
I really thought I’d managed to . . . until the dark-haired boy sat down on the chair beside me.
I popped up instantly. “I’ll be right back.” I didn’t look to check his reaction, but his responding “okay” sounded a little skeptical.
I picked up some clothes on my way into the bathroom, shutting the door firmly behind me as soon as I was in. I stood there for a moment, then shook my head clear and went to the sink to splash cold water in my face. I really think it helped. Without much fuss I changed into the white tank-top and comfy cloth pants I had grabbed and exited the bathroom confidently.
Jaden looked up as I approached. I forced a determinedly regular expression. “How did it go with —”
“Master Thoran?” he finished for me.
I nodded, then dropped into the couch carefully. The room was dim, and quiet enough to hear the flame hissing.
“I explained to him what happened. . . . He was fairly understanding.”
“You’re not in trouble then?”
Jaden laughed immediately. It was full and unguarded, if not a little grim, very different from the usual. “Let’s just say you’ll be seeing a lot of me for a while.”
I thought about this. “You’re grounded.” My voice was bleak.
He looked back up through dark strands, his mouth tipping easily in confirmation. Then he looked over to the fire.
The flames seemed to curl around the tips at his gaze, distracting me enough to speak without thinking.
“But Ikovos told me that —” his eyes shot to me expectantly. I gulped, already regretting the words. “. . . Ikovos said you hate being stuck at the lodge.” I finished hesitantly, my gaze shifting about.
After a few uncomfortable seconds, he smiled slightly, not sparring with an obvious stare. “Maybe I have a new incentive to stay.”
Before I had time to contemplate what this might mean, a knock came at the door. I looked over to it, then back at Jaden momentarily, he was still smirking, before standing up and walking to the door. “Coming.”
I opened it carefully, easing when I saw that it was Cornelius. His face looked relieved. “Oh, my dear, I’m so glad you’re safe.”
My features lifted, but his tone was way too fretted to smile.
“I just heard what happened. Are you alright?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I’m fine.” His frown grew. “It really wasn’t that bad,” I lied, sparing a glance at Jaden.
Cornelius didn’t seem to notice this. His brow furrowed, eyes dropping. “Sylvanus . . .” my breath shook “. . . I’m sorry that you had to encounter him again.”
My nose started to sting, but I didn’t want to lose it in front of Jaden again. I forced a glossy-eyed smile, shaking my head.
Cornelius’s face became indignant. “Between you and me, I’m quite glad that Jaden punched him.” I widened in sincere surprise. Cornelius caught this and quickly nodded to me. “Of course, don’t tell him that I said that.”
One of my brows lowered now as I tried to decide if I should tell Cornelius that Jaden was right inside and had more than likely heard all that he’d said. “Ah . . .”
A throat cleared behind me. Jaden’s hand pulled the door open further. I released it, looking over.
“I’ll make sure she doesn’t,” he said with as wicked a grin as I’d seen from him yet.
I turned back to Cornelius, a bit worried.
He rolled his head dramatically. “Oh, great, Thoran is going to kill me. Just . . . just don’t tell him I said that . . . please.”
Jaden raised his hands. “Hey, I already got my punishment, no point in dragging you down with me.”
His attitude was still quite lighthearted. He was standing in the doorway right beside me now, form and posture far past picturesque. He looked down again at exactly the wrong moment. For absolutely no reason at all it was enough to make my head spin, my throat dry, and my heart start beating double-time.
I looked away as quickly as possible, catching at Cornelius instead. The robed man was eyeing both of us.
“Speaking of punishment, this hardly seems fitting.”
Jaden shrugged, as I tried to contain my sudden internal daze. “I’m still in the lodge.”
Cornelius scowled at him. “Yes, well . . . I think Evelyn has had quite a long day, so why don’t we both head out so she can get some sleep.”
I didn’t look over. Cornelius tossed his head back and Jaden moved forward.
“Night, Eve,” he hummed. It made my head all dizzy.
“Ah, ni . . . night.”
Cornelius gave a reassuring grin. “Goodnight, my dear.”
I smiled and nodded, attempting to keep my eyes off the boy walking past behind him. When he turned, my forced expression dropped.
My eyes were wide. I turned around and closed the door behind me. Then I walked over weakly and plopped backwards onto the couch, letting out a giant breath.
Without announcement Tanis crawled into view on the couch ledge.
I stiffened, immediately self-conscious.
He squeaked. His big, round, eyes were piercing.
I straightened up nonchalantly. “I’m just tired.”
He leapt onto my shoulder and squeaked again.
I looked over with a darkened brow. “Don’t look at me like that. I’d have to be crazy to —” his eyes seemed to shrink in one me. “Oh! Now I’m arguing with a . . . a . . . whatever you are. I am crazy.”
I set him down softly onto the table, then dropped my head sideways onto my pillow.
After a couple of seconds staring at the fire I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to sleep right now. I grabbed viscously for one of the books Jaden had left sitting in his seat and started reading.
I didn’t fall asleep till at least three hours later. It should have been because my mind was buzzing from all that I’d heard at the meeting. Or because I’d just witnessed a fistfight firsthand. But neither of those were the culprits.
The real reason was much more disconcerting.
~ ~ ~
Chapter 12
Sheep
WHEN I woke up, the sky showing through the bathroom window was a pale blue, not too early and not too late. I had slept wonderfully. With a yawn and a stretch, I smiled at Tanis on the pillow beside me and began stroking his back with my finger. He yawned too, then got up and swirled around in circles, as if to find a more comfortable position, before plopping back down and throwing his tail over his tail over his face.
I scoffed. “You can't go back to bed, sleepy-head.” I nudged him with my finger, but he looked dead asleep. Sometimes it seemed he might be nocturnal. . . .
With another stretch I got up off the couch and shuffled to the bathroom. After rinsing my face and wiping it off with a towel, I looked up into the mirror.
It was now, for absolutely no reason at all, that I remembered the cause of my late night last night. I almost yelped at the reflection, jumping back a good foot.
Seconds passed. I put a hand to my chest and took a deep breath. You were just a little flustered by all that happened yesterday, Evelyn . . . there's nothing to it all.
Feeling somewhat more in control, I turned on the shower and hopped in. By the time I was out, all silly thoughts were gone and I was determinedly ready to sensibly face the day. I changed into a loose white shirt and tanned-brown, leather pants.
I was so excited to start the day that on the way out I almost missed a note setting on the center table. The writing was messy:
*
Evelyn, could you please go to the shop in the woods again for me this afternoon?
I need some things picked up. He'll be expecting you.
Thanks in advance! -Sophie
*
I folded the note up carefully, recalling in my mind my last trip to the shop. It seemed like such a long time ago . . .
That man, Adzama . . . ruha, was it? I smiled shortly, he was so odd.
I put the paper in my pocket and left the room. The prospect of going back to see Adzamaruha didn't bother me at all. In fact I almost looked forward to it, especially now that I was more open-minded to the whole magic thing . . . weren’t there purple sheep?
On my way to breakfast, I ran into Trevor. He was quite excited about getting a high score on an exam he had taken for his etymology class. Supposedly, now, he’d be able to move on to the next level of studies which would involve much more “exploitable definitions” as he put it. We discussed this till reaching our table, then started to eat as the rest of the usual breakfast group joined us one by one.
Trevor, Jacob, Vincent, Nathan, and Derrith were all discussing their favorite class subjects when a coffee cup was set in front of me. I looked up to see that it was Ikovos, he sat down across from me. His face was bright, but unless I was mistaken there was a look of questioning there.
He joined in with the table’s conversation about hand-knives versus axes quite casually, until Nathan started to tell a story about his encounter with a rat the other day. Then he looked over at me intently.
“I heard you had quite the day yesterday.” His voice was quiet. I guess I wasn't mistaken about the inquiring look. His smile belied concern.
I didn't have a response. Thankfully, he spoke again before I could anyways.
“You okay?”
My mouth tilted. “Everyone keeps asking me that.”
“It's because we know you won't tell us if you aren't unless we do.” He smiled. I could hear some of the other boys responding to Nathan's story. “Now that I think about it, you probably wouldn't tell us after we ask either.”
The corners of my mouth lifted and I looked down. He was right as usual. After a few bites of food I grinned back up at him.
“See what happens when you leave me for a day?”
He smirked, eyes grazing over Nathan who was continuing his story. “I think Jaden did enough for the both of us.”
I had to push down a sudden rushing feeling in my stomach, forcing an unaffected look. “Did you talk to him about it?”
“Yeah. I had to fix up the, ah . . . wound.”
. . . The scratch from Sylvanus. It was pretty bad yesterday.
I leaned up eagerly. “So, he's okay then?”
Ikovos gave me a sideways look, like he was appraising me. It was unusual for him. I think I shrunk a little. Suddenly a grin replaced it. “Perfect bill of health, and I'm a bit of an expert on the subject.”
I smiled, glad to see I was just imagining things with Ikovos. The grin grew even wider as I remembered something. “We started training last night,” I stated happily. “Well, we were going to at least, Cornelius came.” Ikovos looked like he was happy for me. “I wonder if he'll want to train today at all. . . .”
Ikovos tossed his head. “We could go ask him. Considering he can't really go anywhere, he's probably in his room.”
I thought about the prospect with indeterminable apprehension. Then a thought came to mind.
“Actually, I have to go somewhere after breakfast.” I couldn't tell if I was glad for the excuse, or deeply bothered by it.
Ikovos looked curious. “Oh?”
I nodded, clearing my head. “Yeah, the shop out in the woods, Adzamaruha's . . . ?”
His eyes widened instantly. “Oh, God. Not that guy.”
I cocked. “Yeah . . . Sophie asked me to. She needs some things picked up.”
“He is . . . just absolutely insane.” Ikovos ran his hands through his hair as he said it. He seemed unnaturally annoyed at the thought of the old man.
“I really don't mind. He seemed nice enough.”
Ikovos looked surprised. “Wait, you've met him?”
“Ah . . . yeah. I went for Sophie like . . . the first day I was here. That's where I found Tanis.”
“By yourself?” he questioned.
I nodded, smiling slightly.”Uh-huh, why not?”
He cocked his head skeptically.”Well, it hardly seems safe.”
I laughed. “You think everything is too dangerous for me.”
He raised an eyebrow. “The guy's a loony.”
I stacked my plate and cup in front of me. “Well, I have to go today, Sophie said he'll be expecting me . . .” I looked up at him, feeling braver than usual “. . . You could come with me?”
He took his last gulp of coffee and set it down on top of my stack.”Wouldn't have let you go any other way.”
I grinned.
*
After saying goodbye to the others at the table, we made our way outside. As we were leaving the cafeteria, I glanced around somewhat subconsciously to see if ‘someone’ had shown up for breakfast.
He hadn't. I think I was relieved.
“Ikovos, did you do exams and training like Trevor and the other boys do?” I asked just as we got outside.
We took a few steps before he replied. “Well, I—” He stopped when a twig hit the side of his head.
“Ow,” he complained curtly, rubbing it.
We both looked up in the direction it had come from. There was someone on the roof: dark and thin . . . the sun was too bright for me to make out who it was.
“What are you doing up ther
e?” shouted Ikovos.
Apparently he could tell.
“Just a minute,” the voice shouted back.
I looked at Ikovos who was shaking his head, then back up.
Just as I did the figure jumped out past the roof. I didn't even have chance to gasp, I was too bewildered. The building was four stories.
He landed softly beside us, crouching on his hands and feet. I knew right away that it was Jaden. The hair was all perfecty.
“Now what did you say?” he asked Ikovos, standing up coolly.
His appearance was somewhat surprising, I guess because the last time I'd seen him he was all dressed in black with dirt smudges on his skin in a rather dark room. Now we were outside, his hair was still wet from a shower, freshly changed, clean shaven . . . that is if he did shave. I didn't really have a clue as to what age it was that boys had to start dealing with that, or how often they did shave once they had to . . .
I shook my befuddled head as Ikovos ignored his question.
“You could have warned me you were gonna do that.”
Jaden shrugged. “I knew you wouldn't let me die.”
Ikovos tossed his head up. “Already getting cabin fever?”
Jaden shook his in response. “Just needed some fresh air. What about you two?” He looked at me then, and though it had seemed to take forever, I was completely unprepared. I dropped my eyes.
“We're going to pick up supplies from Adzamaruha’s shop.”
“Oh. . . . I hate that guy,” stated Jaden flatly. I risked a glance up again. He was looking at Ikovos. “How did you get stuck with that job?”
The light-haired boy nodded to me. “Actually, Sophie asked Evelyn to go. I'm just a tag-along.”
He considered it. “Hmm . . . that's a little cruel.” He looked at me again. This time I didn't freak out as quickly.
Ikovos shrugged. “She doesn't really mind him.”
Jaden raised his eyebrows, displaying the familiar “she's-crazy” face, then walked out towards the woods. “Well, best to get it over with.”
Ikovos eyed him. “You're coming with?”
Oh, great . . . , I groaned internally.
“Might as well, it's better than being stuck here,” he looked back flatly, “what's your excuse?” Without waiting for the answer he turned ahead and continued walking.
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