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Obtain? I shook my head. "What do you mean by reconstruction?"
"There is much work to be done to bring Comus's vision to fruition," Helene explained patiently. Her tone didn't last. A moment later she snapped again, "The grains."
I sighed and focused on them. Some were long and white, others shorter. Still others were brown. It was on these brown grains I concentrated first. Mixed in with the white, I teased a few out and moved them to the side of the table.
"More than three at once," Helene said. "You should have no trouble dividing them all from the others at one time."
"Maybe if I could eat—"
I wasn't prepared for the strike of magic across my face. Helene struck me with such force, I fell off my stool and onto the cold, stone floor. Before I could catch my breath, or retaliate, I was hauled off the floor by invisible fingers and tugged to my feet.
"If you can't learn discipline, you will never learn this," Helene hissed.
She plopped me back on the stool so hard I yelped.
"Try again." Helene pushed the three grains back to the pile, crossed her arms over her chest and sat back.
Resisting the urge to rub my rear, I drew in more power and gave every drop of my attention to the brown grains. How many were there? Two dozen at least. I pinned as many as I could in place with minute amounts of power. When I couldn't hold any more threads, I slid the grains over to the side of the table. Sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, they shoved the white grains out of the way as they moved.
I exhaled and let go of the threads. Five or six grains remained in the original pile. I braced myself for more harsh words or another blow, but Helene nodded.
"Progress, finally. Go and eat. We'll return to this in the morning."
I glanced at her in surprise. I had expected to have a small break and then get back to it immediately afterward. I didn't bother to ask; Helene would not have explained anyway.
I rose and winced. I would have some nasty bruises. Thank Hades nothing was broken. Should I thank the god at all though? If Helene was to be believed, he was no god, just an ungrateful kid. A dangerous one at that.
"Wait," Helene said before I could take a step. I was enveloped in warmth and all the stiffness and pain evaporated. "We are all on the same side here. I don't want you to forget that."
"Thank you, Hemathea." I managed to speak normally and not through gritted teeth laced with sarcasm.
Helene gave me a gracious nod and waved me toward the door.
I hurried out before the woman changed her mind, and trotted down the few steps from the makeshift classroom, to the slightly less makeshift kitchen and dining area.
Someone, likely several someones, had hauled rocks the size of my head into place to make a large oven. A slab of stone served as a heating surface, while pots hung from the underside, directly over the fire. A tray half full of rolls sat on a table in the centre of the room, a plate of yellow cheese beside it. A bowl of butter and another of honey sat on the other side. Jugs of watered down wine, and goat's milk, both already half empty, occupied the other side of the table.
I grabbed a roll, dashed butter and honey on it and poured myself a cup of milk. I didn't like the bitter taste all that much, but it was too early in the day for wine, and apparently they had no coffee or tea. Heathens.
I slipped onto a stool beside a half boarded up window. It was far enough from the oven that even the heaviest rain and wind wouldn't put out the fire, but gave me a view across the mountains.
I hadn't realised how high we'd climbed until I looked outside. I half expected to see the ocean, but if it was visible from anywhere in the Citadel, it wasn't from here. I saw across from this peak to another even higher. Somewhere beyond there lay the city. Strange that the place didn't seem to have a name, just 'the city'. I would have to ask someone about that sometime.
"Coin for your thoughts."
I turned to frown at Luther, until I realised it was Knox who had slipped into the stool beside me.
"Is it safe to talk?" I whispered.
He shrugged and tore a chunk off his roll. "If we don't act like we're doing anything wrong."
I grimaced slightly. By whispering, I had done exactly that.
"Of course." I laughed as though he'd said something humorous. "I was just enjoying the view. Did you know this place was found eight years ago, while a hunter was following a big cat? They never found the cat, but this is quite the discovery."
Knox seemed impressed, but he glanced around with some measure of guardedness. "I wonder if we should be concerned that big cats lurk around the forest."
"I'm sure you're more than equipped to deal with one," I assured him.
