Chapter 36 #3
My fear, not his. I remembered being unable to calm myself down at graduation. His anger. Shit.
“We’re sharing more than just a heartbeat.” I kept my voice low in case Corra was close enough to the door to overhear.
“I don’t know when it started,” Zevrial confessed. “But yes. It seems some of my emotions are bleeding over to you when we’re nearby, and vice versa.”
That wasn’t good. We still didn’t know anything about this Skinscript we shared, and it was evolving. “Do other Skinscripts change over time?”
He thought about it for a moment. “Sometimes with practice, you can hone them. With Agility you might run slightly faster initially, and if you keep using it, increase your speed more substantially. I knew someone who used their Skinscript enough to reach its upper limits.”
“But a glyph doesn’t change the magic it bestows.” I had to hear him say it.
He paused, mulling it over. “No, they don’t. But I did notice this.” He tugged down the edge of his sleeve until I could see the Skinscript on his chest. The lines near the middle were longer, and a series of smaller whorls looked like they’d appeared around the edges. “The glyph changed.”
I hadn’t bothered to look at mine since the first few nights after it appeared. Pulling down my own neckline, I peered down. Sure enough, my Skinscript had morphed as well. It was still identical to Zevrials, and different from when it first materialized.
Super. This Skinscript was wild, unknown magic that didn’t follow any normal rules. It appeared by itself without Starshell ink, imprinted on two people at once, and changed its magic over time. Next it would grow horns and gore me.
Even if we knew what the glyph meant, it could mean something else in another few months when it transformed into an entirely different glyph.
The Skinscript was changing, and it could change us with it. Would I even recognize myself a year from now? I stiffened.
“All the more reason for you to stay close,” he said, breaking me out of my musings.
“We don’t know how it might manifest next.
And Sarina can’t help you if it changes again.
On top of that, you’ve been identified and branded as a troublemaker.
” He stared pointedly at the Luck glyph on my forearm.
“We need to find out why. And based on the Skinscript they gave Sarina, she’s been targeted too.
Being close to her might even be why you were singled out.
Or she might’ve been targeted because of her nearness to you.
Staying by her won’t make things better for you. ”
“And she’s not the only questionable character you keep around. I felt most of what you did during the final trial. I think that’s when these shared emotions started.” He moved toward me, gripping my chin in one strong hand. “And whatever happened during that trial, you’re going to tell me.”
Stubborn pride had me crossing my arms and preparing to argue that his own character might be the most questionable of everyone around me, but he kept going before I could.
“Because you were terrified. More than the test by itself could have done. You’re not safe, and that means neither am I. We need to stay close until we figure out this glyph.”
He was right. I hated to admit it, but some permanently inked glyphs on my body were a constant reminder that I couldn’t know what would happen next. And that someone among the Ascendancy didn’t like me. “And the fact this means I have to be around yo–”
A lurching movement had me scrambling to hang onto the desk as my stomach did a flip. Beyond the windows, I could see the shore twisting away from us. The Arc was moving. Evidently, having most of the crew aboard was enough to pilot the ship, even without all of us actively participating.
“We can talk after you get situated,” Zevrial stepped away from the windows, crossing to the door as if the moving floor bothered him not at all. “But soon the rest of the cabins will be filling up with the other graduates. Let’s not wait until the one next door is taken.”
He said it like it was already decided. I breathed my frustration out through clenched teeth. He smiled, picking up on my irritation. Opening the door, he ushered me out to where Corra stood waiting. “Get moving. Time’s wasting.”
I clenched my fists, swaying as I walked toward her under the unfamiliar rocking sensation. Corra’s expression had gone from expectant to disappointed when she saw my face. “Tell me you’re not rooming next to him,” she said.
“I won’t lie to you.”
“Fine, then I’ll take the cabin on the other side of yours.” She turned on her heel, storming off further into the ship, I assumed to find Sarina go repack their things.
The clamoring of footsteps nearby told me that my new crew mates were heading down the stairs from the main deck to claim cabins. I turned, eyeing the room beside Zevrial’s like it might stab me as I stepped into it.
It was empty, a near copy of Zevrial’s room but devoid of the personal touches. Setting my bag down, I began unpacking.
My brow creased. I didn’t have a headache anymore.