Chapter 13
Thirteen
Nobody questioned Lory’s story when she told the others at breakfast that Falcrest had set her on fire with one of the torches from the training room after she’d failed to execute an order.
Only Frost had paused for a brief moment before resuming to slice the fresh figs on his plate and plopping them into his mouth.
“I’ve known he’s ruthless, but this”—Tabi gestured at the pale spots on Lory’s face and neck—“is outright cruel. Does it hurt?”
Lory shook her head. “Not anymore. Hand Nahrit took care of the burns pretty fast.”
“Perhaps she deserved it,” Brycon suggested right as a group of yellows passed by their table, Ricca and Solen among them.
“She definitely did.” Ricca’s gloating laugh trickled down Lory’s back like a lick of ice. “At least, if the stories are true, she did.”
“What stories?” Thal jerked around in his seat, daring the yellow ashling to come up with a reasonable explanation for setting Lory on fire.
The glance Solen and Ricca shared was enough for Lory to understand, Anees and Falcrest had probably told their version of the tale before hers could make the rounds.
Ricca merely giggled, her dark green eyes flashing at Lory. “I knew you were desperate, but that desperate… I hope it was worth it, Lory.”
The yellows laughed as they made their exit, leaving Lory and the others staring.
“What did she mean by that?” Surprisingly, it was Frost who broached the subject.
Lory had no idea, but when she scanned the front of the room for Falcrest, the captain was caught up in conversation with the Master of Steel, a cup of tea in his hand and a smirk on his face.
What did you tell them, prick? Lory wished she could send the thought right into his mind, but Falcrest didn’t as much as flinch as she shot daggers at him with her gaze.
“Whatever he said, I’m sure you didn’t deserve it.” Between the plates and cups, Tabi put a calming hand on Lory’s forearm. “And about what Ricca said—she’s just being a bitch.”
“Second that,” Thal chimed in, turning back to the table and picking up his water glass. “As soon as I master that damned water magic, I’ll pour some over her head to cool that woman off.”
Jarek chuckled over his slice of toasted bread. “Frost could ice her over, just to make a point.”
Once more, Aiden’s eyes met Lory’s. “I’m only icing over people who deserve it.” Lory wasn’t sure she imagined the hint of humor in his tone, but when the others returned to their food, he flashed Lory a small grin.
“So, your magic reared its head yesterday during training?” Jarek prompted, still chewing. “What type is it?”
“Where did you hear that?” Aiden beat Lory to it.
With a shrug, Jarek picked a fresh slice of bread from his plate and smeared it with coconut butter.
“Heard whispers on the way from the dormitories.” The expression on his face darkened.
“I doubt the person who shared the information will be doing so again, though. She was the yellow who was executed this morning.”
The girl with the red hair, whom Falcrest had led at the point of his blade up the stairs of the platform, had missed the second bell and died for it, alongside three others. The memory alone formed a knot in Lory’s stomach that made her put down her spoon into her half-empty cereal bowl.
She leaned back, suppressing the impulse to check with Aiden if he believed it was a coincidence or if Falcrest had silenced someone who might have spilled information about Lory’s type of magic.
When she looked up, Aiden was busying himself with a fig, plucking it into minuscule pieces until his plate was a mess of green and purplish brown.
“I don’t even know if it was magic. Just a flicker of something.
” Getting any more specific could run her into trouble.
She needed to talk to Falcrest before she gave away anything else.
Even if, for now, it was slumbering peacefully in her chest, it could break loose again without a warning, and she didn’t have the slightest clue what to do if that ugly power burst out of her again.
If it looked anything like the inferno of the day before, anyone who saw it might simply run her through with a sword.
“We have Knowledge first today. Maybe Dunveil can tell me more.” It was the most diplomatic way she could phrase her response without actually lying.
Dunveil surely could tell her more about any type of magic, but his answers weren’t the ones she craved.
She needed to know why Falcrest hadn’t sold her out, even when he’d seen the fire.
He didn’t truly believe that had been light magic, or he wouldn’t have forbidden Aiden to speak about it.
He wouldn’t have voiced his doubts to Anees when he’d thought Lory was still sleeping.
“Sounds about right. It will definitely be an interesting class.” Tabi’s words seemed to be coming more from a point of curiosity than from true enthusiasm.
They finished breakfast, cleared their trays, and made their way down the hallways to the blue room where Dunveil liked to summon them for Knowledge.
When they arrived, Aiden falling to the back of the group, Lory spotted Falcrest leaning against the wall in an alcove a few feet from the threshold, his arms casually folded in front of his chest as he scanned the ashlings trickling into the room with suspicion on his features.
If she wanted to confront him, maybe this would be her only chance before the class started, and she might do something that would lead to her immediate death.
“I’ll be right there,” she murmured to Tabi and Jarek, who had broken into an argument about the best types of magic. Nobody but Aiden noticed as she slipped into the alcove, seeking out the man who supposedly had set her on fire.
A surge of heat ran through her stomach as his eyes locked on hers, and for a heartbeat, she was back in the dream.
I could show you, Lory.
But this wasn’t a dream, and in reality, he had spread some lie about her deserving to be burned. A part of her warned her that the dream might not have been all her own, but Falcrest was too smug a bastard to not rub it in her face if he’d been weaving that dream in her mind.
“What did you tell them?” It took all her self-restraint not to reach for the dagger she was now allowed to carry anywhere she went and point it at his throat.
“Easy, Vednis, or they’ll think you’re burning for more.” The smirk on his perfect mouth made a streak of warmth run through her veins, but his words—oh, his words made her burn with fury.
“What do they think happened?” Instead of going for his throat, Lory braced her hands on her hips and stared up at him.
Gods, the alcove was narrow enough that she could smell leather and sage and a hint of glowing embers—his scent, nearly overwhelming as he leaned in an inch.
“You don’t want to know, Vednis, trust me.”
“Trust you?” She stepped back, the wall stopping her retreat at half a foot. “You’re the reason I’m stuck here. You’re the reason people look at me like I’m a criminal.”
“You are a criminal, Gutter Gem. A thief, to be precise.” Something raged behind his cold gray irises, a wildfire threatening to break free, but he leashed it with a wipe of his hand across his face.
“You really don’t have a choice whether to trust me, and while we’re at it, letting them believe you tried to kiss me is a much better option than letting them guess your magic equals that of the eternal torches on the walls. ”
Lory’s gaze flipped to the burning wooden sticks in the steel brackets along the hallway. Then his words sank in, and all blood drained from her head. “You told them what?”
“You did try to show me what your mouth can do, Gutter Gem. Perhaps not yesterday, but the topic has been on the table.” The way his lips twitched into a smirk told her he was enjoying this. “Of course, I had to defend myself from your lustful attempts.”
Had he just winked at her? How dare he?
“I never tried to put my hands on you, let alone kiss you.” That obnoxious prick truly thought he owned her, but two could play that game.
“Even if you wish, Captain Falcrest, you’ll never get to taste that honeysuckle mouth of mine.
” Feeding all her anger into the gesture, Lory half-closed her eyes and ran her tongue along her upper lip, watching with satisfaction how his gaze heated.
“You’re playing a dangerous game, Lory.” He rolled back on his heels, bringing a few more inches distance between them, but she could see the restraint in the way the tendons in his neck stood proud, how he sank his teeth into his lower lip, how he shoved his hands into his pockets rather than allowing them to drop to his sides or wander off on their own accord.
“I’m sure your mouth isn’t the only part of you that’s delicious, Gutter Gem, but as for now, it’s best all those parts remain as far from me as possible.
Let people believe you had a lapse of judgement and I reprimanded you thoroughly.
Anything is better than them finding out what you might be. ”
“And what is that?” She tried not to let his words get to her, tried to tell herself that it didn’t matter what he thought, that it didn’t sting that he made the world believe she’d thrown herself at him and he’d rejected her—better, taught her a lesson with a flash of fire—or that he couldn’t stop staring at her mouth like he wanted to retrace the path of her tongue.
“Let them belittle you, make fun of you. If they underestimate you, you’ll be in less danger.
” He took a step closer, blocking out the hallway until all she could see was him.
The chattering of ashlings rushing to class had long ceased, and no more footsteps echoed along the hallway. “At least, for now.”