And crashed into another candidate.
I blinked. “Sorry.”
“Whatever,” Lear mumbled as she skirted past me.
All right.Lear was rude to everyone, so I didn’t take it personally. She was one of the candidates who didn’t seem to have any issue with me in general.
The behavior of the other candidates was mixed when it came to me. Some were civil, seeming to respect that I hadn’t quit, but they weren’t friendly. Some were aloof, far too preoccupied with the whole Xalbia extravaganza to particularly care about anything else. Others still watched me with a gleam of calculation in their gaze—more particularly Atticus and his closest buds.
I could admit that Atticus, Seneca, and Bevan had done well so far when it came to Xalbia. Atticus had passed out once while trekking, but he’d come round fast and hadn’t quit. Seneca actually fell off a bridge two days ago—if she hadn’t been godkin, she would have had all sorts of broken bones—but hadn’t let it scare her into quitting. Bevan was damn good at fencing, and he was one of few people who rarely complained; he just got on with it.
As I’d expected, though, the trio didn’t adjust well to having so little say in their routines; to, in Seneca’s words, being ‘treated as human.’ They all whined about it constantly, and they weren’t even being asked to perform any duties around the garrison yet—it was reserved for officiates.
She’d actually yelled at Ajax once, insisting that as godkin she deserved more respect. But after being made to sleep on solid cold ground near the courtyard for a night, she hadn’t made that mistake again.
The tavern’s front door opened, and Talon soundlessly prowled inside. Like that, the atmosphere changed. Became charged. It always did whenever he entered a room.
People straightened. Perked up. Relaxed. Waited for his attention to settle on them.
It was like his presence filled the air with a sense of expectation.The force of his presence was justthatpowerful.
His gaze began to run along the space, so I looked away fast before our eyes could clash. It happened sometimes. Either because I was caught trying to subtly ogle him, or because he was monitoring me—and itwasmonitoring; his gazes were only ever objective and assessing—on behalf of the Sovereigns.
Though I was used to being stared at, I found being under Talon’s scrutiny uncomfortable. Why? Because, regardless of his disinterest, my bodystillthought that having his attention was wonderful. It did lots of fluttering and tingling.
I went straight to the bar, which was currently manned by a Delphiae officiate. Silver goblets lined shelves behind the bar while tankards hung on pegs above it.
The barmaid arched a brow. “What’re you having?”
“Mead, please,” I replied.
A cheer went up from the table where officiates were playing games. Officiates weren’t paid, but their food, lodgings, clothes, and other supplies all came free—as did the drinks at the tavern. As such, no coins were up for grabs when it came to gambling. But losers might have to take over another officiate’s chores for a day or complete a dare.
Jelani materialized at my side, his mouth curved. We’d gotten to know each other over the past six days. He was funny. Flirty. Easy to be around. “Heard you got called into the shack.” He winced. “I remember those days. How’re your legs?”
I felt my nose wrinkle. “They’ll be better once I’m sitting.” I gave the barmaid a smile of thanks when she placed a tankard of mead on the bar in front of me.
Jelani slanted his head. “How are you liking Xalbia so far?”
“It’s the sum of all my hopes and dreams,” I deadpanned. “It’s also kicking my ass.”
“It’s supposed to. That’s the idea.” He propped his hip against the bar. “The Black Tapestry is Deimos’ line of defense. It can’t afford to have any weaknesses. Xalbia essentially snips them off. You’re doing well so far, especially for a human. A lot of us didn’t think you’d last this long.”
“I still have thirty-three days left. And that makes me want to cry, because the past week has felt like a year.”
He snickered. “It was the same for me, I—”
An arm slashed through the space between us, making me jerk back.
His focus on the barmaid, Talon clicked his fingers and pointed at a beer pitcher.
Flashing him the hugest smile, the woman said, “I’ll bring one over to your table.”
With a grunt, he turned away, angling his body to fully face me. He glared at me. As per usual. It wasn’t something that I could be hurt by—he glared at everything and everyone, as if life itself inconvenienced him. And I supposed that Iwasan annoyance, considering he’d feel that he had better things to do than observe and report on a candidate.
I tilted my head. “You know, I feel so connected to you when we stare at each other this way.”
The look he gave me was so droll that I had to bite back a smile.
