Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
A good opportunity to ask Olive about leaving campus never presents itself during dinner. My unusually subdued roommate sports pink-rimmed, bloodshot eyes. When I ask if anything is wrong, she shoots me down, claiming she just received some bad news—nothing big—in one of the letters from her family. I don’t pry. I simply let her know I’ll be around if she decides she wants to talk.
Once we return to our room, she motions for me to sit on her bed. “How do you feel about breaking the rules?”
I settle on her mattress, considering her proposition. “How big of a rule are we talking?”
She pulls a small bottle from beneath the mattress and holds it up. “Oh, nothing major.”
In the dim light, I can’t tell what she’s holding. “Is that some kind of drug?”
“No.” She snickers. For the first time this evening, she appears more upbeat. “It’s just nail polish. Against the rules, sure, since it’s not part of our military uniform. But I thought we could paint our toenails. No one will ever know.”
I can’t care less about painting my nails. I do care about Olive, though, and if such a simple task chases the shadows from her eyes, I’m more than happy to agree. “Let’s do it.”
While we paint our nails scarlet, we giggle and gossip, much like Leesa and I did back in our bedchambers as children.
Gods, how I miss my sister. But I’m grateful for this time with Olive. These moments are so…normal, so reminiscent of home.
I finish my first coat and pass the bottle to Olive. “When you mentioned breaking the rules, I thought it was going to be something way worse. Like sneaking out.”
“Don’t put it past me.” She dips the brush in the polish before painting her big toenail. “But where would we go? We’re pretty secluded here.”
I shrug. “I don’t know. Back home, I would sneak out at night and meet with a guy I run a food pantry with. And sometimes, when I got too stir-crazy, I’d slip out and wander around town.”
Her jaw drops. “Seriously? You’re quite the little risk-taker.”
“Seriously. If my mother found out, she’d have been livid, but I was sneaky.” I grin, and Olive flashes a smile of her own. “Speaking of family, I’ve been meaning to ask you about your brother…if you don’t mind.”
She sucks in a breath, face sobering. “I don’t usually talk about my brother. Did someone say something?”
“I overheard some fledglings mention you and your brother. Since I had to hurry back to class, I didn’t hear much, but I got the impression something bad happened.”
Her eyes glisten.
My heart squeezes. “I didn’t mean to upset?—”
“It’s okay.” She brushes away the tear sliding down her cheek. “No one at Flighthaven knows what I’m about to tell you, so please don’t repeat it.”
“Of course not.”
She makes a pained sound. “Flighthaven wasn’t a good fit for Gregory, and, well, he defected.”
“Pardon my ignorance, but what exactly does that mean?”
“He couldn’t stand it here, so he left. He went home.” She lowers her gaze. “Nothing my mother or father said could get him to come back.”
“Not even the threat of the king taking away your family’s titles and lands?”
If what Olive said happened, she wouldn’t be a noble any longer and wouldn’t have to serve here unless she enlisted.
I want to ask about that but wait for her to speak.
At last, she shrugs. “Even our family losing everything couldn’t convince Gregory to return. The king did confiscate some of our lands, but he allowed us to retain all of our titles so we wouldn’t be complete pariahs.”
Or because he had Olive to take Gregory’s place?
Given her distress, I should change the subject, but I can’t. If Leesa defected as Gregory did, I need to know what consequences await her…what befell him.
“Where’s your brother now?”
“He’s…he’s dead.” Her face crumples. “He ended up in a ditch with his throat slashed. Thieves weren’t responsible. Gregory still had his ring on and a pocket full of coins. My parents are convinced the king sent royal guards to assassinate him.”
My mind spins with Olive’s revelation. Her family believes King Xenon killed her brother?
“I’m so sorry.” I remove the bottle of nail polish from Olive’s quivering hands and put the contraband away. “I don’t know what to say.”
“He…he didn’t deserve that. Greg was…such a kind soul.” She drops her face in her hands as sobs wrack her body.
I scoot closer, pulling her into a tight hug. “If he was anything like you, I’m sure he was amazing.”
Although I don’t doubt Olive’s belief that the king ordered her brother’s death, would he really do such a thing? The few times I’ve met him, he’s always been kind to me. Always asked me questions about my life and listened as if genuinely interested in the answers.
If Leesa deserted Flighthaven, would Xenon send his guards to hunt her down? Surely not.
I shiver. None of this makes any sense.
Olive sniffles before swiping her tears away with her sleeve. “You know what this night calls for?”
“What’s that?”
“Distraction by way of booze. Lots and lots of booze.”
I hesitate, but one more glance at Olive’s pink-rimmed eyes has me agreeing. What I really want are answers about the king and what happens to deserters, but that can wait. Olive needs cheering up, and I need help figuring out how to leave campus without landing myself in a heap of trouble.
Two birds, one stone. I ignore the sharp stab in my gut over the idea of taking advantage of Olive’s vulnerable state. Nothing I ask will put her at risk. The only person who stands to get hurt by my questioning is me.
I rub her back. “A distraction sounds good. Something to take your mind off everything tonight. Any idea where we can find alcohol?”
Pulling away, Olive exhales a hiccupping breath and jumps to her feet. “Come with me.”
My throat tightens as I place my hand in her outstretched palm. For a moment, I see Leesa’s face as she tugs me down the castle stairs, persuading me into yet another game of hide and seek or spying on one of the cute guards entertaining a lady friend in the garden. I blink, and Olive returns, a tremulous smile on her face.
She yanks me out our door, where we narrowly miss a collision with our third roommate. A scowling Helene tells us to watch where we’re going. That only makes Olive giggle as she continues to tug me through the hall, down the stairs, and onto the first floor. She pauses halfway down the first-floor hall to knock on a door.
A disheveled Abel appears. “Ladies. How can I be of service?”
He opens the door wide enough for us to squeeze by. Olive waits for him to shut it behind us before answering. “You still have that bottle of whiskey?”
“Nope. We finished that off a couple weeks ago.” Olive starts to wilt. “Luckily, my uncle sent me a new bottle in the past mail drop.”
Olive screeches and whacks him on the chest. “You jerk! You could have led with that.”
Abel winks. “Now, what would be the fun in that?”
Nick sits up on his bed. “We drinking tonight?”
Olive nods. “Yes, please.”
Nick and Abel exchange a glance. Nick shrugs as if to say why not , prompting Abel to grin and rummage in his armoire. He produces a large jug of brown liquid. “Same spot as last time?”
Upon spying the jug, Olive wiggles her hips. “Works for me.”
Nick leads us out of the dorms to a small, crumbling building that I never noticed before, situated on the far edge of the grounds. Cobwebs and expensive but rotting furniture from an earlier era populate the interior. Moonlight streams through the windows and missing chunks of roof.
Eyeing the dubious stains on a torn velvet couch, I scrunch my nose. “Wouldn’t outside be better?” Spiders don’t bother me much, but I’m pretty sure I spy rat droppings on the floor, and I’m not a big fan of rodents. Their pink eyes and long naked tails get to me.
“If you want us to get caught, sure.” Nick fixes me with a look that says I’m hopeless as a badass.
“Rat hole it is.”
The others drop to the floor. After using my boot to sweep my area as clean as possible, I sit too. Nick and Abel pull cups from their pockets. Abel fills them with generous pours of whiskey, and Nick passes them around. Then Nick empties his cup first in one huge gulp and holds it out for a refill. After tasting hers, Olive screws up her face like she just stuck her hand in a bucket of poisonous snakes.
“That good, huh?” I laugh before taking a swig of my own drink.
The liquid burns my throat, transforming my laugh into a sputtering cough. I shiver at the bold, smoky flavor, which in my opinion isn’t quite as terrible as eyril or my suppressant. At least the warmth in my belly balances out the not-so-great flavor.
Soon, the whiskey loosens our tongues and we share stories. Somehow, we latch onto the topic of past loves. Olive tells us about the first boy she had a crush on, and how they would sneak into the forest to kiss and hold hands. Abel waxes poetic about an apprentice baker he dated when he was sixteen who made him blueberry muffins every week.
Not to be outdone, Nick boasts about his girlfriend’s talented mouth, making my eyebrows shoot up and Olive screech.
I elbow him in the ribs. “Enough!”
He swivels toward me with his eyes halfway shut, his lips stretched into a loopy grin. Between his relaxed pose and the whiskey dribbling off his chin, he presents as decidedly un-Nick-like, and I notice that his cup is almost empty again. “What about you? Did you fall in love with any of the lords’ sons who came courting?”
My stomach sinks at his question. Mother didn’t introduce me to any lords’ sons. No one ever came courting. I’ve never been in love before. At the castle that served as my prison up until I came here, potential suitors were in short supply.
To buy myself time, I suck down more whiskey. “My first kiss was with the stable boy when I was twelve and he was fifteen. All I can remember is him tasting like the grass he always chewed.” The ridiculous faces Olive and Abel pull draw a laugh from me. “In retrospect, that doesn’t sound nearly as appealing as I thought it was at the time.”
Olive takes a generous gulp of whiskey. Her pink cheeks and glazed eyes suggest that the alcohol is having an impact. “What about after him?”
“After him? I set my sights on the other stable boy who ate cookies.”
Everyone laughs, and the conversation moves away from former loves. Thankfully.
While everyone else refills their cups and grows progressively tipsier, I nurse my drink, biding my time until I spot a lull in the discussion. ‘Hey, why don’t we play a game? Truth or dare?”
Nick snorts so hard, he almost drops his cup. “What’s next? Musical thrones? Pin the horn on the alicorn? Goddess says?”
Olive pokes him in the shoulder. “Hey, don’t make fun of my roomie. She’s the best.”
She leans over to give me a hug and topples into my side. I squeeze her back before pushing her upright again.
Abel rolls his eyes. Besides me, he’s the only one who isn’t acting blitzed. “I’m in.”
Everyone stares at Nick. I clasp my hands in front of me and stick out my lower lip. “Please, Nick? I’ve never played before.”
Olive’s eyes bug out. “Seriously? How could you have never played truth or dare before?”
I fake a casual shrug. “My mother could be a little weird about who we socialized with, so I didn’t always spend a lot of time with my peers.” Talk about an understatement. And since Leesa and I didn’t really keep secrets from each other, there was no point in playing back then. Now, I wonder if I still know my sister at all.
Nick groans. “Fine, I’ll play.”
My shoulders relax a little. So far, so good.
After beaming at Nick, Olive claps her hands. “Yay. Lark, why don’t you start? Since it was your idea and you’ve never played before.”
I tap a finger to my lips, pretending to search my brain for a suitable question while doing my best to hide my growing nerves. “Oh, I know. Nick, have you ever left campus without permission, or do you know of someone who did?”
Nick blinks. “Leave campus?” A furrow dips between his eyebrows, as if my question doesn’t compute.
I feign a sip of whiskey to hide my grimace. His reaction leaves me feeling less than optimistic.
Olive shakes her head. “Hells, no, none of us have snuck off campus…because we’re not morons! And only a moron would try.”
Nick nods. “She’s right. The chances of getting caught are like, two hundred out of ten.”
That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but I get the drift. My odds of successfully sneaking off campus are basically non-existent. Great. Just the news I hoped for.
Abel cocks his head to one side, regarding me with the faintest frown. “I’ve never heard of someone even trying to leave campus without permission.”
Dejection settles into my bones. “Not even if you somehow managed to steal a couple tokens?”
The rule book outlined the procedure for how to request a leave of absence from campus. After stressing that permission would only be granted in the case of a family emergency or other extreme, extenuating circumstances, the guidelines went on to say that any student leaving campus must make a formal request. If granted, the student would be issued two tokens, to be displayed at all times. One hangs around the mount’s neck, the other around the student’s.
What the guide didn’t specify was where to obtain those tokens.
Abel guffaws. “Steal tokens? Who’s gonna steal tokens from Thorne? If he catches you, you’re liable to lose an arm.”
My heartbeat quickens. “Thorne has them?”
“Last I heard, anyway. I guess it makes sense, since he’s in charge of the alicorns.”
Nick chortles. “Poor alicorns. I know he’s an amazing rider and all, but Thorne is one grumpy bastard.”
“He’s not grumpy all the time. And he’s super gentle and patient with animals.”
I recognize my mistake too late. All three of my wide-eyed friends swivel to gawk at me. Olive gasps, while Nick begins to sing. “Somebody has a cru-ush!”