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They both avert their gaze and shrug.
“How did you hear about this exhibition?” I ask. “Were you staying with others like you outside the city?”
“I’m not supposed to talk about them.” Geraldine bites her lip.
Max saves her from answering by offering his own brief story. “When I crawled out of the dirt, I thought I was in hell. I’m completely serious. Wait—do you know what hell is?”
“Oh yeah, sure. My mother’s been in Elphyne for thirty years but still talks like an old-worlder.”
“So weird?—”
“And awesome,” Geraldine adds.
Max agrees. “Yeah, and awesome to hear you say things like that. We don’t feel so alone. Or that our life back then was just a random dream.”
My smile hides another plan formulating in my head. I’ll find some manabeeze to power my portal stone home and take these guys with me.
“It was so cold,” Max continues. “I almost died from exposure, but then a villager took pity on me and fed me under the condition that I help on their farm over the summer. They seemed to have recently risen or awoken like us and needed help establishing things. The condition was that I turn myself in for the exhibition.”
“So, you didn’t have a choice?” I turn to Geraldine, but she looks to where four students pass, giving us a wide berth. Their scathing glares are pointed at me.
Word must be spreading like wildfire. I’ve drawn attention to Max and Geraldine through no fault of their own. Alfie’s reasons for staying away from Nothings make complete sense now.
“You know what?” I channel Peablossom’s bright smile. “Maybe it’s better if I don’t go with you to the dorms. At least until the heat cools off.”
Concern flares in Geraldine’s eyes. She’s about to respond, but Max says they’ll be late. We can talk about it later.
“I’ll see you in the Tactical Warfare class.” I’m about to wave them off when I finally find my dagger inside the cape. “Wait.”
Geraldine stops. “You okay?”
Before I lose my nerve, I hand her Rory’s dagger and help hide it beneath her shirt. “Look after it for me. Hide it under your pillow when you sleep.”
I can tell she wants to say something—Max too. But I remind them they’ll be late. She walks backward and suggests, “Maybe we can hang out tonight?”
“I’d love that.”
The walk to the House of Stone tower is cold. I throw the cape around my shoulders to stop the wind from turning the wet, blood-stained fabric to ice against my skin.
I just handed over Rory’s dagger.
Just . . . handed it over.
Fuck. Scrubbing my face, I try to shake off the nerves. For the millionth time, I consider skipping these stupid classes. These people aren’t even hiding they are training mortals for the slaughter. I should focus on the Six or locating manabeeze, not taking classes.
Sighing, I drag my feet to the classroom. The teacher is a male noble with pointed ears and a rotund frame. He’s almost identical to Lord Sylvanar but rounder in his flawless face. He is a Radiant, going by how he carries himself and his lack of charms. He frowns upon seeing my state, writes a note in his palm-sized book, and politely advises me that my infraction has been recorded. That’s basically how my day goes.
I turn up to a class, I receive a violation, people stare, and I ignore it all. There’s only so much hiding behind my hair I can handle.
The day’s class highlight isMonstrous Tactics and Vulnerabilitieswith the House of Moonlight. Each exhibitor receives a copy of a codex outlining various breeds of subterranean nightmares. Interestingly, a few are similar to monsters in Elphyne. They have different names, but I recognize their appearances.
My trouble is following the text. Some ancient runes are a language I’ve never read before. The book is stamped as written by the “Keepers of the Cauldron.” I sense we’re missing vital information.
By the afternoon, my grand total of five uniform violations finds a friend with my new “failure to appear” violation delivered by a raven. The blackbird squawks and drops the folded parchment on my head.
Finally, by the early evening, I arrive at the House of Shadow tower itchy, still in blood-stained clothes, and exhausted. I’malso starving, so when I slam the double doors open and find the tower empty, I growl. I was sure the next two hours were meant for private tutelage time for Shadows.
Was the class canceled, and no one told me? Fine by me. I was going to spend the time being a royal pain in their butts, but at least now I can eat. I pivot but freeze when Ignarius walks in.
