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Beks shrugged. “I’m not a very good pupil, I guess. That’s what he says. He says I need to learn some healthy fear. I guess he was right.”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t know. You don’t seem to have been very afraid of anything that happened tonight.”
“Oh, that’s true.” Beks sounded happy again. “I wasn’t. It was kind of...”
“Don’t say fun,” I warned.
“Fun.”
I groaned. “People dying gruesome deaths and undead children are ‘fun’ to you?”
“Well...” Beks sounded considering. “Those children were just like me. So I guess I feel sorry for them. But also, what happened to them happened a hundred and fifty years ago. And they’re still standing. So it’s also kind of...”
“Don’t say ‘neat,’” I threatened.
“Kind of amazing, right? Don’t you think so?”
I stared at his small back as he continued to march along. “Amazing. Sure. Those amazing creatures...” I swallowed. “Killed my friend.”
He stopped. Looked back at me. “Oh. I’m sorry. That must have been horrible.”
“It was. More for her than for me.”
“I guess so. Well, I guess they’re awful, but it sure was incredible raising that shield with Javer.”
I swallowed hard. He was right. He had shone tonight and had every right to be proud. I didn’t have to take that away from him. “Youwere incredible, Beks. Had you ever done anything like that before?”
“In practice, yeah. But never the real thing like today. We protected people.” His little chest puffed out like a rooster’s. “We held it as long as we had to.”
“You were very impressive,” I agreed, hiding a smile. “You protected us extremely well. Just how large a shield can you make, anyhow?”
“Oh, much larger than that. But Javer wanted us to stay small. He said the prince wanted you shielded and there was no point wasting our energy shielding everyone else. But I could have done more,” he boasted. “I was holding myself back.”
I sighed. “Of course, Javer would say that.” But who knew if Beks was right. Doing such a thing must have been draining for them both.
“Besides, it was too late for him to shield the queen. Once those things came through... Well, everyone down below was too close together. We might have wound up trapping her with one of those children instead. Can you imagine?” Beks gave a delicious shudder.
I sort of could. It wasn’t an altogether horrid mental image either.
I forced myself to stop fantasizing about the frosty Queen Regent being eaten.
“So, shielding–that’s your power?”
“Yep,” Beks said importantly. “Someday I’ll be a court mage like Javer. The best of the best. We’re the rarest power. That’s what Javer says.”
“I’m sure he does,” I murmured. “And you live here in the palace, studying with Javer until then? Do you like it? Are you happy here? Is he... kind to you?”
Beks shrugged casually. “He’s not so bad. He was really angry that day when he levitated me. He doesn’t do that. The prince talked to him and told him he’d lose me if he ever mistreated me again. I know. I was listening in.”
I suppressed a snort. Unsurprising.
“Besides,” he continued. “There’s nowhere else for me to go. The palace is better than where I was.”
“Draven...” Ugh. The name was like poison on my tongue. “The prince mentioned you were an orphan. How old were you when they found you?”
I realized I had no idea who had actually found him. I’d assumed it had been Javer.
“Crescent and Javer found me. Crescent wanted to keep me, but Javer insisted he should have me because my skills matched his.” Beks sounded rather wistful. “He went to the queen and she agreed.”
