“We need to talk,” he rasped.“Now.”
Minutes later, Rolan sat at the small wooden table in the house across from Luc. His stomach churned. He wished he were anywhere else, even back in the woods, stumbling around like a fool.
“Are you… okay?” he asked haltingly.
The Arcanist gazed at him with his one good eye. The light had faded somewhat, but there was still a misty aura about him, cold, icy blue limning his bulky frame.
“Do you need another talon?” asked Rolan, rising. “Will that help?”
He moved toward the chest.
“Sit,”Luc said.
Swallowing, Rolan dropped back into his chair. He sat as still as stone, hands in his lap, and waited.
Finally, dragging in a long, weary breath, Luc stood. He leaned forward, planting his hands on the table. He’d washed off most of the blood, but it still crusted under his fingernails.
“Three rules,” he whispered. “I gave youthree. Simple. Rules.And you break all three of them in one night.”
With great effort, Rolan managed to pry his lips apart and work enough moisture into his mouth so that he could speak. “What rules?”
Luc gazed at him incredulously, then snatched the paper nailed by the door. He slammed it onto the table. “Don’t play me for a fool,boy. I know you snooped through every inch of this house. I know you saw them!”
He planted a meaty finger on the paper, sliding it toward Rolan.
Rolan looked down at it, his throat thick.
“What are the rules, Rolan?” Luc asked.
Heart sinking, Rolan said nothing.
“What. Are. The.Rules?” The Arcanist’s furious voice boomed in his ears.
“I-I don’t…” Rolan hated how weak his voice sounded, like the gasp of a dying fire.
A long silence stretched between them. Luc looked from Rolan to the paper, then down at Rolan again, and Rolan saw the moment the Arcanist figured it out. Understanding flashed in the man’s open eye, and pity.
Oh, how Rolanhatedto be pitied.
Luc sat heavily, the anger melting from his face. “You can’t read.”
Rolan’s head snapped up. “I’m not stupid!”
“I didn’t say you were stupid. I said you can’t read.”
“So?Reading’sstupid! It’s for fancy rich kids with no brains in their heads, so they got to let some flimsy piece of paper do their thinking for them! I ain’t sorry for that!”
Luc just looked at him in his still, patient way, making Rolan squirm until he couldn’t stand it anymore. Rolan jumped up, crumpling the paper in his fist.
“Justtellme your stupid rules! Why d’you have to go around acting like I’m some kind of freak just because I don’t care about some silly little squiggles on some silly little paper?”
Leaning back in his chair, Luc let his hands rest on the table. He looked so tired, so worn and frail, as if all his muscle and bulk were just a facade, and the real Arcanist were as thin as the paper in Rolan’s fist.
“The first rule,” he said, “is follow every order I give you.”
Rolan scoffed. “Well, that’s the stupidest rule I ever heard. The first rule isfollow the rules. Wow. Very clever.”
“The second rule,” said Luc, his voice thinner, “is to never go into the woods alone.”
