Chapter 18 #2
Audra hadn’t realized just how accustomed she’d become to having all three of them by her side.
As she cleaned up in the washroom and explored the common room, it had hit her all at once—this was the first time she’d been alone in weeks.
Since she’d sat on her roof, enjoying honey bread, feeling nostalgic for a life she’d never lead.
Maybe that was why the castle had been so frightening; she’d forgotten how to be alone.
Audra clasped Callum’s hand, the one he wasn’t using to shovel food into his mouth, and then Cersha’s. “I’ve been waiting for you both all morning.”
“We’ve had quite the morning. Callum came to find me, knocking on the common room door like a madman; luckily, I was near enough to recognize his voice! Mist knows how he found our dorm at all.”
“I looked at the map they left in our rooms,” replied Callum with an eyebrow raised.
Cersha continued as though he hadn’t said anything.
“We weren’t sure which guild either of you was in, so we couldn’t just show up, pounding on the doors, so we sought out both the Forge and the Arcane Guild and just awkwardly lingered around each for a while, hoping to see one of you.
” She took a small, dainty bite of toast. “It wasn’t until Callum complained of being hungry that we realized if we hadn’t seen you both by now, then you were probably at the dining hall already!
That was when we found Wilder stumbling down the central staircase, still half asleep,” said Cersha, delicate hands covering her mouth as she chewed.
“You would think being a soldier would’ve prepared me for early rising, but I struggled then too,” Wilder said through a yawn, as though proving the point.
Maybe she should drink the tea. Audra couldn’t stomach eating anything right now, but she’d already enjoyed two cups of the caffeinated beverage.
She was already feeling better, having them all here together.
“What guilds are you in, then, if not Arcane or … What did you call the other one you went to find?”
“Forge Guild. Their common room is in the west wing attic.” She dropped her half-eaten toast on her plate. “I’m in Echinacea. Callum’s in Sabre Guild.”
“So only Audra and I are in Arcane. I’d been hoping we just hadn’t seen you yet.” Wilder pounded a fist on the table, suddenly wide awake. “I despise that they’ve separated us. It’s not right. I doubt it would help, but what if we met with the Archmagistra? Formally request we change guilds …”
Cersha nodded. “I agree. We should be allowed to choose our guild—”
“Absolutely not.” Callum’s voice was shockingly stern, his eyes wild.
Audra looked at him more closely; his eyes were bloodshot, and dark circles pooled beneath the thin, pale skin under his eyes.
Callum continued, his voice severe, “Nothing about this place is right. I know you have the best intentions, but I would rather not draw attention to Cersha or me. It’s dangerous. This place is dangerous. These Zenaidans, dangerous.”
Wilder’s eyes flashed, indignation clear on her features. “I’m not going to burst into her office, sword swinging! I don’t think it would hurt to make a simple req—”
“We aren’t at Fort Royalta. This isn’t the Medoran army.” Callum slammed his hand on the table. “Those in command don’t even see us as people—they aren’t going to honor any requests.”
Wilder sat up straighter, pressed her lips into a thin line.
Callum was massive, and as such, he usually spoke in a low, steady cadence and moved with slow, deliberate movements; even when he was just walking or standing, he never moved too fast, impulsively.
He almost never lost his temper because he knew what a formidable form he possessed.
All at once, Callum seemed to realize just how he’d spoken to Wilder.
He peeled his hand off the table and rubbed it over his face, exhaling a slow, deliberate breath.
“I’m sorry, it’s just—and I know you wouldn’t knowingly put Cersha at risk—just please don’t request anything from the Archmagistra, at least not for us.”
Wilder and Callum stared at each other, the silence lasting a beat, then another.
“I won’t, Callum, enough,” said Wilder, her voice prickly.
Audra wished she could comfort him, but she herself was barely managing to hold it together.
Still, she opened her mouth to say something; she wasn’t sure what, just anything to break the sudden tension at the table, friction that hadn’t ever plagued their group, not even when they’d spent every waking minute together, captives on the ship.
Lottie, however, beat Audra to it, breaking the silence with a shy but sweet smile and an offered hand. “I’m Lottie Nafre.” A drop of ruby blood dripped from a mauled finger, landing on Cersha’s forgotten spoon.
Wilder, Callum, and Cersha returned the girl’s smile, but none of theirs quite reached their eyes as they introduced themselves.
But still, as Lottie chatted, the words tumbling from her like a waterfall, as though she’d just been waiting for anyone who would sit and listen, and now she couldn’t seem to stop, her voice brimming with a cheerfulness that none of them felt, the sudden tension among them began to ease.