Page 131 of Under Restless Skies

The words don’t make sense. Academy? Reassess? Nothing about Auranius and his lair of horrors?

I can’t find a reply amidst the confusion in my mind, so I stare at Mallor, stunned into silence.

He whispers, “Deep breaths and follow me. Crying in the hallways will draw too much attention. In the dorm, too. You’re not in trouble, recruit.”

I manage to get up and nod. If I try to speak, I might break down crying, and his warning was very clear.

As I follow him down the stairs, I start to second-guess his orders, his words. How did he find me so soon? What was he doing near my dorm? The only reason I don’t turn around and run is because I hope that if I get in trouble, Alayel will save me.

Alayel. I don’t think he even saw what happened to Celine, if he was going up the hill when she fell.

Does he know what happens in Auranius’ lair? Is he complicit with that horror? My vision gets blurry and I realize tears are pooling in my eyes again and my breath is getting shaky.

“Compose yourself,” Mallor whispers in front of me.

I want to scream why, want to yell and tell everyone about the gruesomeness I saw, the vile truth about what’s on top of this academy.

Would any of that save me from this pit of pain? Or would it drown me deeper?

At Mallor’s office, I collapse on a chair, but he shakes his head, pushes a bookshelf, and a secret door appears behind it.

“Come with me.”

I follow him, and only when he locks the door behind me do I regret not having run. We’re in a windowless, stone-walled room with a round table and three chairs, lit only by a lumos jar he brought in. It’s more like a dungeon than an office.

“What’s this?” The question slips from my lips, my voice trembling.

“Soundproof.” He sits and crosses his arms, his wrinkled forehead forming deeper creases. “You want to cry, cry here.”

The horror, the shock, the pain still linger in my body, but now fear has replaced them, stilling me, even drying my tears. My heart speeds up as I try to look back at the door. Would Alayel find me in this hidden room? Would anyone find me?

I nod, afraid to speak and say the wrong thing.

“Was it the pretender prince?” he asks.

“What?”

“Did the prince hurt you?”

The question is weird. “No,” I mutter, still confused as to what’s happening.

He takes a deep breath. “Extreme outbursts of emotion are dangerous in the academy. I might not be able to protect you.”

This is so absurd. “My friend died. I can’t even cry?”

“Friend?” He rests his forehead on his hand. “The second-year recruit? The one who couldn’t fly?”

“Celine. She could fly. I saw her.”

Mallor huffs. “She shouldn’t be flying. Shouldn’t even be in the academy, in fact.”

My chest trembles with an angry sob. How could these people not see her value? “She wanted to become a scholar. She was smart, she could… do so much!” I remember the sparkle in her eyes, that yearning for knowledge, for more. Now gone.

“A great loss and I’m sorry. You still don’t want to cry in public. Recruits die. Sentinels die. It’s how it is. Our rules state that recruits with no emotional fortitude shall face consequences. In your case, I could perhaps intervene in your favor, but it would put you on the spot even more. You don’t want to call attention to yourself, especially now, with your betrothal. All eyes will be on you.”

I almost ask whose eyes, but stop myself in time. It doesn’t make sense for him to talk as if he had no say in what happens in this place. “Isn’t Your Highness responsible for this academy?” I attempt the most respectful tone possible.

“Not Your Highness. For the academy, yes, but not for the Sky Guard, not for the palace security, not for the king’s guard, not for the kingdom. My reach has limits, and if I try to push it, they’ll start asking questions.”