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Several soldiers stand among gawkers, and I spot other dark blue uniforms in the tower around the bell.
I ease Toast closer to Stavros amid the mass of inner-warders. “Do you think it’s the daimon lashing out again?”
Have they moved to the palace now? That… seems particularly unpromising.
Stavros’s jaw has clenched. “If so, it appears the Crown’s Watch is—”
The latest peal cuts off with an echoingcrack.And then a clatter.
The enormous tower bell splits right in two, the pieces banging against the walls.
As my jaw goes slack, one immense chunk teeters right through the broad, paneless window and plummets toward the palace courtyard below.
Thirty
“That was a good attempt,” I say to the military student who’s just come to a panting stop next to me on the training field. I nod toward the cluster of trees where she and her team have been attempting to carry out a mock assassination attempt on the leader of the opposite team. “Sticking low to the ground is an effective strategy, but if you can make your way into the trees, people are even less likely to look up.”
The woman lets out a breathless laugh. “I’ll keep that in mind if we do this again. You’ve conducted a lot of assassinations, huh?”
I let out a laugh of my own, even though I know she’s assuming I’ve never done anything remotely criminal in my supposedly noble life. “Oh, yes. Our keep’s spiders and centipedes lived in terror of me.”
A couple of her teammates jog over to us in disgrace. One of the guys rakes his fingers back through his spiky hair. “All right, this was a lot harder than I expected.” He tips his head to me. “Your tips did help, though.”
I shouldn’t enjoy the glow of pride that lights in me at his acknowledgment, buoyed by the other student’s friendly banter. If I’m gaining some respect as well as enemies while assisting with Stavros’s classes, it’s all based on a lie.
But that doesn’t stop the acknowledgment from feeling good.
In the palace tower across the wall, the smaller bell that’s serving as a temporary replacement lets out a couple of dings to mark the hour.
“All right, ladies and gents,” Stavros calls from across halfway the field. “I think I’ve made my point. I want you to remember that the soldiers you’ll be sending into any actual battle, all the way down to the infantry, are real people with real lives, not mere fodder for your plans. Some risks cost too much.”
He claps his hands and offers a wry smile. “But you successfully got yourselves out of the last half of a lecture, so I suppose it’s a victory on both sides after all.”
He brought his military strategy class out here for an impromptu challenge after the guy who just acknowledged my tips asked why an army wouldn’t simply kill the opposing commander and leave the rest of the enemy forces in disarray. Stavros felt showing them that it’s hardly a simple task would be more effective than merely telling them so.
Or maybe he doesn’t like being shut away in the classrooms any more than many of his students do. He keeps up the same confident, nonchalant air wherever he goes, but to my eyes, he never looks totally comfortable standing behind a lectern.
I give myself a mental shake. I shouldn’t be spending enough time worrying about the former general’s comfort to have noticed.
The woman who reached me first glances toward the bell tower, her expression darkening. “I wonder how long it’ll take them to properly replace that huge thing. It was the daimon running wild that broke it, wasn’t it?”
The guy with the spiky hair chuckles humorlessly. “I heard they had a whole squad of guards over there trying to calm the situation—not that it worked—so I suppose so. I don’t know if we should be glad they didn’t batter the college again or worried what it means that they’re taking their new kind of mischief farther.”
His companion swipes his hand across his mouth, which sets in a grim line. “I’ve heard talk that it’s a sign there’s something’s off with the royal family. The spirits are unsettled by how they’re running things, including the college.”
A soft but startled voice breaks in from behind me. “Who said that?”
I jerk around to see Petra, the standoffish but elegant girl Julita pointed out to me during the hunt, studying the guy with her dark brown eyes. I’m not sure why she’s even sitting in on the strategy class when she’s associated with the leadership division, but maybe whatever territory she’s hoping to rule over is in a contentious area.
The guy who mentioned the rumor shrugs awkwardly. “No one in particular. It’s just an idea people are passing around.”
The other woman grimaces. “I suppose it makes a kind of sense. I’ve never heard of the spirits doing this kind of damage before. It could be a warning from the gods.”
It is a warning, but not because of anything King Konram is doing.
I swallow down the knowledge I know it might not be safe to share. We still have no idea how many students are part of the scourge sorcery conspiracy.
Unless we’ve assumed wrong, and it’s only a coincidence that one or two rogue students are dabbling in those dark arts while there’s a bigger problem provoking the daimon. Stavros said that even the king was concerned that there might be some larger divine dissatisfaction.
