Riven (The Arinthian Line Book 2)

by Sever Bronny

  When Leera spotted her parents’ markers, she began wringing her hands. They wandered over and stood silent for a time.

  “Would you mind giving me some time?” she asked in a wavering voice.

  He nodded and quietly retreated, leaving her standing at the foot of her mother’s grave. He recalled how much of a similarity the mother shared with her daughter—same freckled face, same sharply arched brows, and same black hair, though streaked with gray. He smiled remembering trying her awful but well-intentioned new concoction.

  He glanced back at Leera’s lonely figure, hoping the memorial ceremony Nana performed back at Castle Arinthian had eased the pain, even if only a little.

  Strolling along the foggy village, Augum stopped now and then to listen to the winter quiet, letting his thoughts wander. Part of him wanted to visit the ruins of Mrs. Stone’s cave, but he figured it would be too depressing.

  “Hi—” Haylee said, making him jump. She had come out of the Goss residence without him noticing. “Sorry, did I scare you?”

  “Oh, hi—it’s okay.” He looked into the fog in Leera’s direction. “Maybe I should go to her—”

  “Maybe she needs some time to be alone. Let her grieve.”

  He sighed. “I wish Bridget could see her family’s graves …”

  “Maybe she can if the healer comes.” Haylee nudged a rock with her foot. “Look, I just … I wanted to say thanks for everything—”

  “—forget it.” He didn’t want to start a discussion with her, especially not about what had happened.

  Haylee gathered her long hair in one hand. “I mean it. I … I learned a lot this last while.” She glanced into the fog and let her hair fall back down. “I know she hates me. I don’t blame her, but … do you think she’ll ever forgive me?”

  “Don’t know. What did you do to her? I mean, I know you hung out with Robin and that gang, but there’s obviously more to it, isn’t there?”

  “I made fun of her nose a lot, and I’m the one who started everyone calling her ‘The Leer’, because she always used to stare at people. I feel bad about it now. But I guess it started before that, back in the academy when I sniffed out she had a crush on Robin.”

  “What? She had a crush on that toad?” His skin prickled with heat. How could Leera have had a crush on that evil little—

  “—yeah, I know, strange, eh? I liked him too, but I guess he didn’t like me that much in the end. Once he became a necrophyte, everything changed between us.” She paused a moment. “But I did something to Leera that was … that was worse than making fun of her nose and calling her names.”

  “What did you do?”

  She kicked the rock a little harder and it tumbled through the snow. “Well, when we first started going to the academy, I made up a mean song about her and taught the whole class how to sing it. Anyway, the academy had a big assembly and our class was supposed to sing a traditional melody, but instead we sang my song in front of the entire school. Everybody laughed and Leera had a big meltdown and ran off. Took the teachers ages to find her. They sang that song for months afterward. It got pretty bad. I felt terrible about it, but by then it was too late.”

  He gaped at her. “Wow, Haylee, that’s just … I can see why she hates your guts, and now that you told me that, I’m not too sure I can forgive you either.”

  Haylee’s face scrunched. “I knew I shouldn’t have said anything … please don’t hate me, Augum, please, you’re the only one here—”

  “I can’t believe you did that to her,” he continued, undeterred. “I should have left you out there in the snow!” He regretted it as soon as he said it, but was too proud to apologize. He crossed his arms and turned his back on her, feeling stupid, angry, and even hurt for some reason. Haylee stood there a moment before suddenly running off, yet all he could think was, how could Leera possibly have liked that toad?

  Unable to come to grips with the idea, he kicked the snow-encrusted rock into the mist before drawing his apprentice robes tighter.

  “Hey, watch it—” Leera said, emerging from the fog, face somber. “What was that all about?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Don’t lie to me, Aug, you’re terrible at it. What did that foul girl tell you?”

  He shrugged. Might as well say it. “She told me about the whole song thing that happened.”

  Leera’s eyes narrowed. “She told you about that?”

  “Yes,” but a different question was on his mind, aching to be asked.

  “She’s up to no good,” Leera went on. “I know it. Did she teach you the words to the song too?”

  “Did you really have a crush on Robin—?” he blurted. He knew he was being immature but he wanted to make her feel bad about it, to renounce Robin in every possible way and apologize for ever liking him.

  Leera’s cheeks reddened as she swallowed. She dropped her eyes and adjusted one of her long black braids, which was slowly coming undone.

  “I …” Then she folded her arms and furrowed her brows. “So? So what if I did! How is that any of your business?”

  He took a step back, making a rude face. “What? How could—I mean—” He wanted to appear as affronted as possible. This was about her liking Robin, not about him! But the truth was, he didn’t know how to answer her question, nor could he explain his feelings. Yet a deep part of him knew that, above all, he wanted her to say that she liked him now, not Robin. “I can’t believe this—” he finally said instead and stormed off, face hot, heart buzzing.

  He crashed through the foggy wood, muttering to himself, trying to get away as quickly as possible. He was angry with her for ever liking Robin, but now he was also angry with himself. As he cooled down, stumbling blindly through the snowy forest, he began to realize how childishly he was acting. Yet he refused to go back and apologize. No, she had to apologize first. But then another part of him thought, apologize? Apologize for what exactly?

  This battle raged on in his mind for some time, until he stepped out of the wood onto a rocky slope. The fog had cleared by then, and he found himself gazing up at Mt. Barrow. Not wanting to head back and face Leera just yet, he began the long climb up.

  Augum marched purposefully, ignoring the scenery, choosing to indulge in the many angry and hurtful thoughts spiraling around in his brain. The higher he rose, the colder and windier it became, until at last, exhausted, cold and thirsty, he slumped down at the lip of his great-grandmother’s ruined cave.

  He stared mournfully at the rubble, wondering what Mrs. Stone was up to, before turning his back on the pile and glaring down at Sparrow’s Perch. The fog had moved away with the breeze, revealing a charred village.

  Suddenly, he spotted movement in the distance. A column of black-armored riders was entering the wood just north of Mt. Barrow, in the direction of Sparrow’s Perch.

  Heart hammering in his chest, he bolted down the mountain, tumbling a few times, sprinting all the way to the village.

  “Leera—” he called quietly. “Haylee—”

  He spotted Haylee standing by the graves and ran up to her. She turned around, revealing red eyes and wet cheeks.

  He beckoned urgently. “The Legion are coming—”

  “Here? Now—?”

  “Just hurry—” He grabbed her by the elbow and practically dragged her along until she took up pace beside him.

  “Where’s Leera?” He asked as they entered the gaping hole in the wall of Mr. Goss’ house.

  She raised the trap door. “I don’t know.”

  “Well, we can’t just leave her—”

  The sounds of horses came from the forest.

  “There’s no time,” she said. “She’s probably down here already anyway.”

  “Oh my, what might be going on?” Mr. Goss asked as Haylee quietly closed the trap door above.

  She placed a finger to her lips. “The Legion, they’re here—”

  Mr. Goss paled. He raced up the steps and pulled on a rope. “This draws a carpet over th
e hatch,” he whispered.

  Augum looked around the kitchen, eyes passing over Bridget’s still form. “Wait, where’s Leera—?”

  “Dear me, I thought she was with you—”

  He felt light-headed suddenly. If it wouldn’t put everyone here at risk, he would lunge at that trap door and climb out of there that instant. Instead, he slid to a crumpled sitting position midway up the steps, back against the clay wall, listening.

  Mr. Goss kneeled before him, smiling in that kind way of his. “Do not worry, Augum, I am sure Leera found a great hiding spot. Let us not underestimate her prowess.”

  Augum glanced up at the trap door. “I shouldn’t have left her …”

  Haylee padded down the steps as Mr. Goss moved on to the kitchen. She lingered near Augum a moment before moving on. He did not meet her eyes. Not only had she done so many awful things to Leera, but now she was wrong about her being down here.

  He caught Bridget staring at him and felt doubly guilty for leaving Leera behind. He tiptoed his way to her and sat in a chair, dropping his head into his hands. “I know, I know, it’s all my fault, Bridge, I left her out there—”

  “I’m sorry, Augum,” Haylee whispered. “I really thought—”

  Augum sighed loudly and she fell silent. He wanted to tell her to shut up. He wanted to be mean and vindictive, but couldn’t do it with Bridget looking at him.

  “I wish you could talk,” he mumbled. “I wish none of this had happened.”

  She only stared at him. A single tear rolled down her cheek, which he wiped with his sleeve.

  There was a moan. When he looked up, he saw Leland standing in the hallway.

  “Shh … we must stay very quiet, son, the Legion are above.”

  Leland made a quiet moan before limping over to sit beside Augum, looking up at him with bandaged eyes that could never see again. Augum wished there was some kind of arcane way for Leland to see, when it occurred to him that he had forgotten about the orb—he could watch the Legion in that very moment!

  He frantically retrieved the engraved pearl, squeezed it in his fist and closed his eyes. Almost instantly he was peering through the orb, the image distorted by its shape. Nonetheless, he was able to count twelve horses tied up to the trees. Black Guards roamed about, searching for clues. Suddenly one of the guards pointed to the ground.

  “Commander, these footprints are fresh.”

  A black-armored man came into view with curly hair and a portly countenance. He dropped to one knee and peered closer. “Spread out and search the place.”

  The men scattered.

  Augum thought there was something familiar about the man but couldn’t figure out what.

  The man slowly began retracing their footsteps.

  “They’re coming,” Augum whispered.

  The curly-haired man retraced their steps to the Goss home, disappearing from view. Augum withdrew his attention from the orb and placed his finger to his lips, pointing directly above. Everyone anxiously glanced upward, even Leland with his bandaged eyes. A moment later, they heard the thud of heavy boots. There was a strong kick and dust sprinkled down from the ceiling. Their eyes followed the sound of the boots walking across the floor, all the way to the trap door.

  A heavy silence descended as everyone froze in place. Augum desperately reviewed all his spells, expecting the trap door to crash open, when there came a distant muted shout and the boots hurried off.

  He quickly peered through the orb. The soldiers were running away from the house. Were they after Leera?

  He distinctly heard the man shout, “Where? Well go!” and then ordering two men to stay behind as he gave chase with the rest eastward, back in the direction they had come from. Augum kept watching the two guards.

  Suddenly he spotted movement in the forest, the curving effect making it look further away than it really was. It happened when the guards’ backs were turned and stopped when one of them glanced in that direction. It happened again as soon as the guard turned away. He was sure it was someone sneaking around them, headed towards the Goss house.

  His hopes surged. It had to be Leera!

  “I see her,” he whispered to the others. “She’s sneaking around.”

  There came a particularly daring moment when she darted across the center of the village while the soldiers searched the far side.

  “Crazy girl,” Augum muttered, barely able to watch as she safely snuck through the gaping doorway. He shoved the pearl back in his pocket and raced up the steps, reaching the top just as a light knock sounded. He yanked at the rope that withdrew the carpet before opening the trap door.

  Leera jumped inside, helping him quietly close it behind her, before slumping down on the steps, panting but wearing a giant grin. He sat beside her, wearing an equally big grin. For a moment, they forgot everything and hugged. He was so happy to see her he kissed her cheek.

  Leera’s eyes magnified.

  He reddened like freshly blown coals, in disbelief with what he had just done. “Sorry, I … it was an accident, I didn’t mean—uh, good to see you safe—”

  He rushed down the steps, almost tripping on the way. Luckily, it appeared no one else had noticed what happened.

  Leera, face as red as wine, descended the steps to sit at the table. She idly fixed Bridget’s braids while whispering something in her ear.

  “Hey, uh, want to peek through the engraved pearl?” Augum asked as casually as possible.

  She took it without a word and closed her eyes.

  “May I inquire as to what that is?” Mr. Goss asked, nodding at the pearl.

  Augum pulled up a chair by Bridget and briefly explained, noticing Haylee watching him. He felt his face grow hot again as he wondered if she had seen the kiss. Whatever, it didn’t matter because he was still mad at her. Truthfully though, as angry as he wanted to be with Haylee, he felt horrible for the things he had said to her.

  Leera opened her eyes. “They’re leaving.”

  “I strongly believe we should stay down here for a while,” Mr. Goss said, “in case the Legion returns.”

  “So what do we do now?” Augum asked Leera. As long as he continued to act normal, then the kiss didn’t mean anything, right? Yet his insides were puddles of anxiety. What if she got the wrong impression? Worse, what if she thought him ugly? He had never experienced these kinds of buzzing feelings before, and tried to hide his wringing hands.

  Leera shrugged as her eyes briefly met his. A light blush came to her cheeks. “Well, why don’t we study the Slam spell with Bridget?”

  “Great idea,” he replied a little too quickly. He had to look away from Bridget’s funny stare. He cleared his throat a bit. “But, um … how?”

  “Like always, silly—except we’ll just pretend Bridget doesn’t feel like saying anything. She can listen, though, and I have a feeling she wants to learn it as bad as we do, isn’t that right, Bridgey-poo?”

  Bridget blinked heavily once.

  “See? She said yes.”

  “She hates it when you call her that.”

  “Yeah, I know, but she can’t do anything about it. Wonder if she’s ticklish …”

  “I could see her rising to kill you for that.”

  Bridget’s eyes flitted over to him. There was a gleam there he could easily interpret. Smirking, he punched Leera in the shoulder.

  “Hey, what was that for—?”

  “That’s from Bridget for trying to take advantage.”

  Leera snorted a laugh as he rifled through the rucksack, retrieving the magnifying loupe and parchment One Eye had given them. He tried to ignore Haylee, who sat herself down in the rocking chair.

  He grabbed a chair by Leera, who helped unfurl the large parchment. Leland felt his way around the table and squeezed in beside her, moaning. Leera pinched his good cheek. “So you want to learn the Slam spell too, do you?”

  Leland nodded.

  “Fine, I guess we can let you sit in …” The way she said it was an obvious jab at
Haylee.

  Augum felt even worse and seriously contemplated apologizing to Haylee.

  “You’re taking too long.” Leera stole the loupe from his hand with a roguish grin. “All right, let’s see here …”

  Haylee kept stealing glances over at them before finally asking, “Do you mind if I learn it with you—?”

  Leera replied without looking at her. “Yes, we definitely mind.”

  Mr. Goss, who was cutting up vegetables for the evening’s supper, looked up. “Now that was not very nice, Leera. Why would you not let Haylee learn the spell with you?” He gave her a disappointed father look.

  “But—fine then, sit there.” She stabbed a finger at a spot near Bridget’s feet.

  Haylee quietly took her place, straightening her plain dress.

  Leera glared at her. If looks could vanquish, Augum knew Haylee would have been dead many times over by now. He gave Leera a gentle nudge.

  “Oh, right … let me start reading then.”

  They began learning the Slam spell, bit by little bit, absorbing and discussing its many nuances, carefully explaining everything to Bridget as they went. Haylee wasn’t allowed to involve herself in any way of course, except to sit there and pick up what she could. Only once did she have a question. Augum, in order to not upset Leera, answered only after Mr. Goss turned around with a kind yet mildly reproachful look.

  It was obvious it hurt Haylee’s feelings to be treated like that, yet she put on a brave face and did her best to appear dignified. Despite what she had done to Leera, Augum continued to feel terrible for what he said to her earlier, and tried to think of a way to apologize without offending Leera.

  With the Legion lurking nearby, they dared not test the spell, remembering just how loud it could be, instead going through the motions and thoughts without actually casting. They made sure to give Bridget focus time to go through the concepts in her head, blinking once if she got a concept and twice if she did not. Needless to say, there was a lot of double-blinking going on, for the spell was particularly difficult to learn this way, especially without someone like Mrs. Stone mentoring. Without the parchment though, learning anything about Slam from the ordinary text book would have been impossible, underscoring just how important apprenticeship was.