Chapter 17
Damien
I followed the other students as they filed out of the lecture hall in stunned silence.
Astrid Brunisenda’s desperate expression still burned in my memory.
The Imperial Guard’s unexpected appearance transformed our usually boisterous exit from Mundise’s lecture into a subdued funeral march, with everyone speaking in hushed voices as if afraid they might summon the guards back.
I scanned the colonnade for Lukhan, but he’d disappeared the moment Mage-Instructor Mundise dismissed class.
He’s probably heading for one of his hiding spots to calm down, I thought.
My chest felt tight with unease. Seeing the guards drag Miss Brunisenda away had turned my stomach.
She’d looked so terrified, and the worst part was watching how quickly her classmates—including several people she’d studied with for nearly a year—had edged away from her as if her minuscule amount of Fae blood might be contagious.
The similarities to Lukhan’s situation weren’t lost on me. My friend had always feared his secret would be exposed someday…
But despite all his precautions, somehow Miss Fishwife had seen right through him. Her knowledge hung over him like an executioner’s blade.
A group of first-year commoners passed me, talking in low, worried tones. I caught fragments of their conversation.
“—can’t believe they just took her like that—”
“—she made it all the way to second year without—”
“—are they going to test us all?”
Lukhan wasn’t the only one living in fear now.
When I’d first met him last autumn, I’d been drawn to his confidence, the ease with which he navigated the academy’s complex social landscape… and later, the loneliness behind his charming facade that mirrored my own experiences.
Growing up, Father’s military postings had taken us to a new province every eighteen months. We’d moved so often that I’d never had the chance to put down roots.
As soon as I’d made any friends in our new home, it was time to pick up and move again.
After a while, I stopped trying to make friends. What was the use? Especially since the future that Father planned for me involved enrolling in the Imperial Military Academy as soon as I was old enough, followed by a commission as a junior tribune in one of Father’s legions.
Then, my magic had awakened, to Father’s horror and Mother’s quiet despair.
Lukhan had been the first person to look at me and see someone who wasn’t just General Corvellan’s disappointing mage-son. In my first year here at the academy, Lukhan had been my lifeline.
Now I wondered if our friendship was built on my unquestioning loyalty and his need for it.
Around the next corner, I spotted Talisa and her younger sisters. The three of them huddled together, Talisa’s arms around the twins’ shoulders as she spoke to them in low tones. They were surrounded by a dozen other first-year commoners, all of them listening intently to whatever she was saying.
I slowed my pace, curious.
This close, I could see thin pink scars across her forehead and cheeks, and the way she held herself stiffly as if her injuries still pained her.
But even injured, even after her recent brush with death in the channeling lab, she stood straight-backed, her expression fierce with conviction as she spoke.
She wasn’t exactly beautiful, but she radiated kindness and passionate caring. Every first-year who spoke to her received her full attention and a respectful reply free of the sarcasm and condescension I was used to seeing among my fellow aristocrats.
For a moment, I wondered what it would be like to be part of Talisa’s circle rather than Lukhan’s.
Her companions leaned in, their body language open and engaged.
They weren’t warily watching each other for social cues or jockeying for position the way Lukhan’s other friends always did.
Instead, they looked at her with genuine admiration and affection, nodding or murmuring agreement with the things she said.
It was a warm and easy camaraderie I’d never known, but instantly longed for.
How can I even think such disloyal thoughts?
My stomach twisted with sudden shame. Lukhan was my best friend. He’d trusted me with his most dangerous secret. And here I was, envying a commoner troublemaker for having… what? Better friends?
Disgusted with myself, I turned on my heel and almost collided with Lady Beatrix.
“Mr. Corvellan!” She looked flustered, her usually perfect hair slightly disheveled. “Have you seen Lord Lukhan? I haven’t seen him since class ended.”
I shook my head. “No, I think he needs some time to himself. You know how he gets sometimes.”
She nodded, understanding flashing across her face.
“This thing with that Astrid creature has everyone on edge. Ormond told me he heard the Genealogical Inquest Office plans to review all the student records.” Her voice dropped to a near-whisper.
“Do you think they might find… you know, something about Lukhan’s family? ”
Ice crystallized in my veins. “Why would they? Everyone knows his family’s bloodlines are impeccable,” I lied.
Everyone except the members of the Imperial Council, I thought. They had to know why the dominus had banished Baron Murad of Demirkalé to his estate all those years ago.
Were there rumors circulating that Lukhan might have Fae ancestry?
The thought of the Genealogical Inquest Office’s inquisitors turning their attention to my friend made me feel sick with fear.
Beatrix shrugged, but her eyes remained watchful. “No reason. Just wondering. Everyone’s being extra careful now, that’s all.”
She hurried away, leaving me standing in the colonnade, a cold sweat breaking out between my shoulder blades.
For the first time, I truly understood that Talisa of Bernswick held Lukhan’s life in her hands. One word from her about his Fae blood, and he’d be the next student dragged away by imperial guards.
No wonder he’s so desperate to silence her!
Ahead of me, Talisa and her friends dispersed, heading to their next classes. As usual, Ferraro stuck close to her side like a lovesick puppy. Today, he behaved like a bodyguard, his gaze darting all around as if expecting an ambush.
I watched them go, an unexpected hollow feeling in my chest.
Lukhan was my friend. I loved him like a brother. And I’d do anything to protect him.
∞∞∞
Lukhan
I stood before my mirror, carefully applying the black hair dye that would keep my secret safe for another fortnight. The acrid scent of the mixture burned my nostrils as I combed it through the strands from roots to tips.
Hours after Astrid Brunisenda’s arrest, my hands were still shaking—a weakness I couldn’t let anyone see. Outwardly, I had to continue being the confident, charming Lord Lukhan FitzMurad, son and heir to the barony of Demirkalé and the leading student of the second-year class.
Inwardly, my head throbbed with the start of another one of the crippling headaches that had plagued me ever since encountering Miss Fishwife for the first time. Watching the Imperial Guard drag Miss Brunisenda from Mundise’s lecture had made me feel sick with terror.
Nine hours had passed since her arrest. Nine hours of watching my fellow students divide into whispering factions, of listening to increasingly wild speculation about who might be next.
An entire afternoon and evening of forcing myself to smile and nod when a grinning Ormond and his obnoxious cousin Montplaisir made smug comments about the Genealogical Inquest Office “finally cleaning house” and “getting rid of the filth infesting the academy.”
I finished with my hair and began the more complicated process of reinforcing the glamor that hid my telltale Fae eyes, slit-pupiled like a cat’s eyes.
Father had purchased this glamor for me when I was just a baby. It was bound to the pearl earring in my left ear, an earring I never removed. It was a complex spell, way beyond my current skill-set to cast, and powered by a constant, low-level pull on my life-force.
Since speaking with Ormond, I noticed Custodes Sanguinis members everywhere now, their silver and garnet thorn-rings winking at me from aristocratic fingers in all my classes and labs.
And over it all hung Ormond’s comment that Brunisenda had been betrayed by an aspiring Custodes member as part of the initiation rite.
“I think you’ll find what’s about to happen most educational,” Ormond had told me, smiling, moments before the imperial guards showed up in Mundise’s lecture hall. “Observe what we expect of you before you join our ranks.”
I’d nodded and forced myself to return his smile. What else could I do? Betraying any signs of worry would’ve marked me instantly as someone with something to hide.
And knowing that the Genealogical Inquest Office inquisitors were currently reviewing student records, that was tantamount to suicide.
Now would be the perfect moment for Miss Fishwife to go to the inquisitors and tell them what she’d guessed about me.
A fresh stab of pain pierced my temples.
A sharp knock at my door interrupted my spiraling thoughts. I hastily tucked my wet, freshly dyed hair behind my ears and called, “Enter,” in my most confident tone.
The door opened to reveal Damien, his expression carefully neutral. We hadn’t spoken since the incident in the Fundamentals of Magecraft lecture this morning. I’d run away like a coward, unable to face any of my peers with Miss Brunisenda’s terrified expression still burning in my memory.
“You’ve been avoiding me all day,” he said, closing the door behind him.
“I’ve been busy.” I turned back to the mirror, pretending to adjust my lace-edged neck-cloth. “The Custodes have plans, and they’ve asked me to help.”
“More plans like the channeling lab?” His voice held a sharp edge I’d rarely heard before.
Guilt stabbed through me.
With an effort, I met Damien’s eyes in the mirror. “It wasn’t supposed to happen like that.”
“But you knew something bad was going to happen.” It wasn’t a question.