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Luck, or some other power none of them would have considered?
Casimir is nodding. “They put you into a trance-sleep so your body could finish more of the healing on its own. We thought you’d be safer here than in the infirmary.”
My pulse skips a beat. “How long have I been unconscious?”
“Not that long—about a day.” Alek looks down at his hands where they’ve closed around the bedframe and then back at me to blurt out, “I’m sorry.”
I blink at him. “For what? I’m pretty sure you weren’t the one who stabbed me.”
His stance goes even more rigid than it already was. “No one would have had the chance to stab you if we hadn’t come at you with all those accusations… I shouldn’t have gotten so upset.”
The reasons I went dashing down that secluded hall feel incredibly distant now in comparison to all my other concerns.
My fingers curl into the quilt, but I manage to keep my voice steady. “It seems you were at least right that I was in more danger than I was acknowledging. Was… was anyone else hurt yesterday?”
If I gave in to the strange voice and my magic’s demands inside me despite my best intentions—if my riven power sealed the worst of my injuries to keep me alive—someone must have faced the consequences.
But no sign of understanding crosses either of the men’s faces.
A crooked smile curves Casimir’s lips. “Not long before Stavros had you brought here, a couple of military division students came into the infirmary scuffed up from a fistfight, but that’s nothing unusual.”
No other injuries. No sudden wounds appearing out of nowhere.
I tense my arms against the sway of my body.
Does that mean I really did just get lucky? I managed to resist tapping into my magic at all?
I sink back against the pillow rather than continuing the fight for balance. “Did anyone see my attacker? Do you have any idea who it was?”
Alek frowns and leans forward. “No. You don’t remember anything?”
“There’s nothing to remember. I never saw them—they stabbed me from behind. After shoving me with a blast of wind.”
“The wind,” Casimir murmurs, his own expression darkening. “Stavros mentioned you said something about it—I thought that might be what you meant. I did look over the scroll about the tournaments, but it wasn’t helpful.”
“Someone with a gift for weather or air currents.” Alek’s grip tightens on the footboard. “All of the students we identified with weather-related talents were accounted for the evening Julita was attacked. We’ll have to check their activities yesterday afternoon, just in case.”
But whoever tried to kill me must be the same person who murdered Julita. It seems a bit much to imagine there aretwowind-manipulating nobles running around slaughtering their peers.
Before I can say so, a tremor runs through the floor.
My body tenses all over again. “What was that?”
The men exchange a glance.
“A whole horde of the school’s daimon are acting up,” Alek says, his gaze veering toward the window where the afternoon sunlight is streaming in. “The guards are trying to calm them down… They keep moving around, which means they’re not doing much damage anywhere, but also hard to contain… They seem particularly interested in hitting the foundations of the buildings.”
I stare at them. “And we’re still stayinginthose buildings?”
“They haven’t harmed anyone,” Casimir says quietly. “And the guards insist that they’re managing the situation.”
Alek makes a rough sound. “They know that if we all rushed out of the college, we’d send the inner wards into a panic too.” His gaze flicks back to me. “It isn’t as bad as the ball. So far we do seem to be better off staying.”
I don’t feel entirely reassured by the explanation, but I don’t have much will in me to argue. I just woke up—I’d hope they have a better sense of the risks than I do.
Casimir lifts his hand and then drops it to his side again. “You should focus on fully recovering. Do you want anything? Oh!” He hustles out of the room with his typical grace and returns holding a plate and a glass. “Benedikt brought up food from the lunch spread for you.”
“He’ll come by again later,” Alek puts in. “He wanted to apologize too. And Stavros will obviously be back—he stayed all morning, but they called a staff meeting about the daimon situation…”
