Chapter 51
The incessant chime on Audra’s timepiece was a dagger, chipping away at Audra’s deep, restful sleep.
When she awoke, for a single heartbeat, she thought she saw a shadow lingering in the corner of the room—a silhouette that resembled the sharp angles that made up Zhaire. But she blinked, and the corner was hollow and cold, empty.
Like the bed across from hers.
Wilder’s sheets were crisp, tucked in at the corners in her signature tight, rigid habit.
Audra felt a flush of heat. Good, hopefully Wilder had left early, before Audra might have uttered any embarrassing sounds from that … dream.
She reached down and felt the wetness at the apex of her thighs, heat igniting within her at the memory of what they’d done, of his mouth, hot and delicious on her, of the waves of pleasure he’d coaxed from her.
That was no dream.
Still, embarrassing sounds or no, she felt a sudden, sharp disappointment at Wilder’s absence. Her secrets were stones she had been carrying in her mouth for far too long, and she was ready to relinquish them.
Today, she thought, and the decision felt like a cord snapping, the tension dissipating from her shoulders, her chest. She would tell them everything today.
Maybe it was better that Wilder wasn’t here. She could confess everything to her, Callum, and Lottie together.
She would offer them a choice—give them the chance to travel with her to the Veiled Realm.
For she knew, now, that she had delayed for too long.
At least now, if she gave them the chance, they wouldn’t lose their lives to the Zenaidans’ negligence as kind, lovely Cersha had.
Though that pain would live with her always, this most terrible consequence of her inaction.
Callum might be angry that she withheld all this from him for so long, of course, but once he discovers that she had been given a way out weeks ago—a chance to escape Holyvere Academy … he might blame her for Cersha’s death.
Audra would bear the weight of the blame—it would be deserving.
Cersha’s death was a stain on her soul; the guilt a dark, writhing thing. If only she had spoken sooner, been braver, if she had given her friends the respect of making their own choice—perhaps Cersha would still draw breath. But inaction was a poison, and Audra had been imbibing it for years.
And the pain of his blame shifting from the Zenaidans to her—well, it would be worth it, if it meant she might save him, Wilder, and Lottie from Cersha’s fate.
She could have given them the choice long ago, made it with them, to leave here, with Zhaire.
If she had told them sooner, maybe Cersha would still be here.
The timepiece chimed again, a frantic, mechanical heartbeat.
Shit.
That’s why Wilder was missing.
Class had already begun.
Audra spilled from the bed, the floor cold against her bare feet.
She fumbled for a uniform, struggling into the cleanest one she could find.
She’d been unable to drop her clothes at the laundry last Sanctum Day, too preoccupied with finding the truth of the ritual.
Well, she’d found it, and gods, she wished she hadn’t.
She rushed to the washroom, not having time to prime the heat incras, she splashed cold water on her face. The cold was a shock, a slap, a reminder of what punishment may come her way for missing most of a lesson.
She had never missed one before—but she’d learned from other initiates’ infractions that each punishment was tailored to fit each initiate.
She would hurry to class, deal with whatever horrid punishment Haile cooked up for her, and then, at break, she would confess everything to her friends.
Maybe by tonight, they would all be free of Holyvere Academy, of Zenaida, and the entire Veridian Realm.
Audra had been naive; she’d thought she might slip into Scholar Haile’s lecture hall without much incident …
But any hopes of that were dashed the moment she saw Archmagistra Syleste waiting for her at the bottom of the Arcane stairwell.
“Initiate Evers, you’ve finally descended from your tower, have you? I was just preparing to send an acolyte to fetch you.”
Audra swallowed a groan of confused annoyance, her hand flexing on the railing as she slowed to a stop on the last step.
This was a little dramatic, wasn’t it? The Archmagistra herself coming to collect a tardy initiate?
If it had to be anyone, she wished it could have been Twyla waiting for her instead.
Or, Mist, even crochety, Scholar Haile would’ve been preferred.
“I’m so sorry,” Audra apologized, trying to sound earnest.
The Archmagistra, her eyes cold and hard as steel, wasn’t swayed by her apology, it seemed, but at least she scribed a quick incra, and the chiming on Audra’s wrist fell blessedly quiet.
Audra smiled weakly. “Thank you, but there was no need to come and fetch me, I was just heading to class now.”
“Follow me, Initiate,” was all the Archmagistra said.
Audra fell into step beside the tall female, the only sounds the clip of her heels on the marble floor, the swish of Audra’s boots.
Audra tried to fill the silence. “I think with all the excitement of the excursion in Green Barrow yesterday, I somehow overslept.”
The click click click was all the answer the Archmagistra gave.
Audra began to slow when it came time for her to turn down the corridor that led to Haile’s lecture.
“No need, Initiate, we are headed outside, to the courtyard.”
A warning began to blare within Audra in place of the timepieces chiming.
“Aren’t punishments usually chosen by the scholar, Archmagistra Syleste?”
Something wasn’t right. This wasn’t right.
And then she realized, silence.
It was too quiet. Even if most initiates were in class right now, there might still be some milling around whose guild was on a different schedule than hers. Or acolytes on errands. Or even the tinny sound of scholars lecturing, their voices carrying through the oak doors.
But the Academy was completely silent, almost as if—
“The rest of the faculty and initiates have been instructed to wait in the courtyard.”
“I see,” said Audra. Though she didn’t see at all. Her heartbeat picked up a drum behind her ribs.
“Did I miss an announcement for an assembly of some kind?”
“They are waiting to witness your punishment, Initiate Evers.”
Audra felt real fear then.
The last initiate to miss a class had been ordered to help in the kitchens for a week, waking up before dawn to prepare meals, and working in the kitchens long after dinner had been served. The Echinacea initiate was still expected to complete all assignments and attend all their classes.
Audra was only going to be late, quite late, but she still would have made it to class before it was over—this initiate had missed the entire class and the entire school hadn’t been gathered because of it.
In fact, Audra only knew of the transgression and subsequent punishment because Cersha had whispered the story when they’d seen the initiate refilling the buffet, their eyes red-rimmed from crying, their head bowed from the shame of it all.
Why, then, were they making Audra’s punishment so public?
Her gut told her to run, but she told herself to settle. She hadn’t been caught using her magic; she’d been extremely careful.
Unless … unless Noel told someone about the two males who met them in the tavern.
Audra had been so rattled, she hadn’t even asked him not to say anything …
“I shouldn’t think you would want to keep them waiting outside in the cold much longer, do you?”
“I—no, no of course not,” Audra managed to utter, though her mouth had gone completely dry.
She forced her body to move, to follow the Archmagistra outside into the interior courtyard.
All eyes on her. Audra could barely stop herself from stumbling when she realized that it wasn’t just the initiates and faculty, it was the acolytes too, and even priestesses, standing in the center of a bare garden, their visages like specters of golden death.
Audra began to shiver, not from cold, but dread.
What if they were going to hurt her?
But she tried to quell her worries; no one else’s penance had been physical; hers wouldn’t either.
The initiates parted, and Audra followed Syleste to the bare garden, beside the priestesses.
Audra bowed her head, too embarrassed and terrified to scan the crowd for the familiar faces of her friends.
Audra didn’t know what to expect, but it wasn’t for Archmagistra Syleste to call for her opinante.
“Stand there, Twyla,” Archmagistra ordered when the acolyte appeared.
Twyla moved to where she pointed, right beside Audra.
“Closer, acolyte.”
Twyla, cheeks flushed, embarrassed to have so many eyes on her, shuffled a step closer.
“I’m sorry you got involved in my punishment, Twyla,” Audra murmured.
Twyla gave a slight smile and shrugged. The acolyte didn’t seem to know any more than Audra about the details of the chastisement, nor what her role would be.
Archmagistra Syleste pulled out a simple glass vial from within her cloak and held it out to Twyla.
“Hold this, while I explain to Audra what her punishment will be.”
The Archmagistra pursed her lips and gave a slight nod of approval when Twyla did as she was told.
“Audra Evers of Arcane Guild missed her first class this morning. As such, she will be punished. Her opinante has graciously agreed to help us, as she also just wants what’s best for Audra, and that is for Audra to follow Holyvere Academy rules.
Twyla will drink this vial, and Audra will use her knowledge of incras to heal her opinante.
If Audra fails, her opinante will succumb to the poison—she will die. ”
The world tilted.
“Twyla, don’t you dare drink that,” Audra hissed at her opinante.
Louder, she addressed the Archmagistra. “Archmagistra Syleste, ask Scholar Khari, I am inept at healing incras—I couldn’t even make a sapling grow a new leaf.
I will fail at this task, and Twyla will be injured as a result of my failure.
Please, punish me in another way, without harming an innocent. ”