Chapter 5
Reading the red book turned out to be easier than I had originally thought, the words coming easily—almost deeply—from my chest, as Adis stood with his back to me. Markus and Syrus leaned against the wall behind where my knees kissed the cold stone floor.
I couldn’t deny the questions that bubbled up after the events of the days prior. Would reading the red book increase the wind power? Something told me that was not the case, but I kept the thoughts to myself as I read line after line in my deep voice.
Like with the black book, I was soon hoarse, forced to push the book aside, but to my surprise, a green one was tossed roughly at me the moment I set it on the stones. For the amount of pressure the viscount placed on me to read, he certainly didn’t value the books at all.
Which made me wonder if they were the sources of the magic, or I was.
Swallowing, I studied the new book, just as I had the red one. This time, the words didn’t seem foreign at all, but I didn’t tell the viscount that, afraid the book would be snatched from me and I would be returned to my room early.
As my gaze absorbed line after line of text, I found myself even more confused than before.
Like the black and the red book, the green one wasn’t necessarily profound.
Rather, it was a collection of blessings and short lessons, similar to fables—like one would read to their children.
How that connected to the wind power which was now flowing through my veins, and that of the viscount, Markus, and Syrus, I was unsure.
“Viscount?” A deep voice came from the doorway.
Before I could blink, both the red and green books were snatched from me and tucked away, out of sight, and a kick was embedded in my ribs, causing me to keel over on the floor.
Previously, I might have hastily righted myself, but due to being on my monthly menses, and the lack of food and vigorous hours they kept me working, I found myself unable to do so.
Instead, I was forced to peer at the intruder from the odd angle where I lay against the cool stones.
Maybe something was wrong with me, as I found the cool stones soothing. I closed my eyes, wondering what the purpose of this room had been prior to my arrival.
“Am I interrupting?” the deep voice asked. I recognized it, but couldn’t say from where.
“No. Just punishing an imbecile,” Viscount Adis hissed. I was kicked again for good measure.
“Hm.” With that noise, it all came rushing back. General Otho was the deep-voiced stranger.
“What can I do for you, General?”
The stone against my cheek vibrated as someone moved across the floor. “We are losing sorely to Malheim. The last wave of men from the village was nothing more than twigs in soldiers’ clothing. We need to retreat so I can properly train more. That, or we need to take their offer of peace.”
The last string of words struck a chord deep within me.
Why was the war continuing if Malheim had offered peace?
Though I hadn’t taken to university as speedily as my brother, everything I had learned since leaving my home that fateful day was contrary to what they told us students.
Until Viscount Adis had shown up at my door, I had no idea Ralheim had even been at war.
And now there was a peace deal on the table?
Why wouldn’t we automatically accept it?
“You know as well as I do that we need their tax income. Ralheim is failing and cannot sustain itself on the current population, General.”
A sound akin to a growl came from the general’s mouth. “Perhaps that is a result of your one-child policy and the fact that you pull all the young men into useless wars after they come of age. It’s hard to maintain a population on females alone. Especially when each home can only keep one child.”
A pause, then, “Are you questioning my decisions, General?”
I could almost hear his hesitation, even though I couldn’t see his face from my current position. A cramp curled in my gut, stealing my breath, and I bit my lip to keep from emitting a groan.
“No. But I will warn you, we are on the losing side of this battle. It would be wise to cut our losses now and attack again when we are once again stronger and our numbers have replenished themselves.”
“Thank you for your input, General. I will take it into account.”
Maybe I had been spending too much time with the Viscount Adis, but I knew from his tone that he would not consider the general’s words at all. I cracked open my eyelids just in time to see his feet, clad in black boots much less shiny than those covering Adis’s feet, treading toward the door.
A shoe dug into my ribs for a third time, and I couldn’t prevent the groan that passed my lips.
The black boots paused. “Perhaps your servant would be more efficient if he were not beaten so severely.” He didn’t wait for Adis’s response before exiting the room, the wooden door closing behind him and his deep voice.
The last kick had been strong, and I ached to feel my ribs, to see if one was broken, but I knew better than to move, the threats from the day before coming to the forefront of my mind.
That was all, apparently, as the rough process of returning me to my room commenced, Markus and Syrus forced to each carry one of my arms as I stumbled between them. They weren’t any less rough as I was deposited in my room.
I lay motionless until the door was closed, before fighting to climb into a sitting position. I needed to check my cloths.
It was painful, the movements required to push my pants down my legs, and my ribs twinged in protest beneath the bind. I wanted to remove it, but knew better than to do so. It would be leaving far too much to fate.
Breathing heavily through my teeth, I groaned as I realized I had nearly bled through the second set. I would need to wash again the next morning. Meaning my sleep that night would be fitful at best as I attempted to force my body to wake before dawn.
I lurched myself roughly on the cot, struggling to loosen the binding just a little so I could get in a proper breath. Of course, as soon as I did, and I felt the twinge in my side, I knew the rib on the left-hand side of my ribcage was broken.
Strangely enough, I had broken a rib before, when I was quite young and had fallen from a tree.
Collum and I had been flying a kite, as it was my day to be Milo, and when it caught in a tree, I had climbed up to get it without thinking of the possible consequences.
Suddenly, the rough bark of the tree wasn’t beneath my hands, causing me to tumble to the ground.
So surprised by my own fall, I hadn’t caught myself with my hands, but with my side.
We hadn’t been far from home and Collum took off running to get my parents.
My dad returned with her to carry me home.
They had bandaged my ribs as I sat on my bed, silent tears tracking down my cheeks, Milo watching from his own, his gaze partially blocked by his fingers as usual.
Because rib injuries weren’t visible, Milo hadn’t had to break his own rib to keep our ruse; he just had to be cautious not to do anything too physical or astounding for a few weeks.
The same couldn’t be said when he had burned his elbow on the wood stove when we were fourteen.
My fingers brushed over the raised scar on my elbow in memory. I grimaced as the images of my father with the metal rod alight in his hand.
“You must look exactly the same.” I whispered my father’s words to no one as my eyelids became heavy and I drifted into a world of nightmares with sharp kicks, hot metal rods, and brothers who didn’t realize the sacrifice that had been made for them.
I jolted awake in a panic, relieved to find my room shrouded in darkness. I still had time to do laundry.
Moving quickly, I rebound my chest, much to the protest of my ribs, and swapped for my last clean cloth. It had been a mistake to bring so few.
Like before, I opened the door cautiously, peering out before rushing down the hall toward the laundry room. At least this time I knew exactly where to find it.
I performed the exact same routine, filling a bucket from the pump before scrubbing the cloths with all my might.
I thought I was being quiet, and I was so engrossed in my task, it wasn’t until a throat cleared in the doorway that I realized I wasn’t alone.
A sword of fear struck my heart and the lie bubbled to my lips as I turned to find the part-giant cook leaning against the doorway, her eyebrow quirked up nearly to her hairline.
I opened my mouth, but she raised her hand to silence me.
“Don’t lie to me; I recognize the same cloths for my own collection.
” She gave me a quick once-over. “I don’t know what you are doing dressed like that, but I don’t want to know—too much liability.
Your secret is safe with me, just make sure you put everything back this time, otherwise the laundress comes complaining to me, asking me to sleep in the hall to protect her washboard from nighttime thieves. ”
I swallowed, wringing out the cloths with as much speed as I could muster. Words escaped me as I returned everything to where I had found it before walking toward the door. The woman’s large frame remained in my way, which was the only way I knew she had something more to say.
“I’ve been working here a long time, but I’ve seen the abuse Adis doles out. Be careful you don’t show how hurt you are, as he will call a healer at some point, and the healer may not be as discreet as I am.”
“Thank you,” I breathed, standing there awkwardly shifting my weight from foot to foot. I wasn’t sure of the protocol here, whether I should introduce myself or just leave.
She made my decision for me. “Name’s Astrid; I’m the head cook. Don’t be throwing my name around though, you hear?”
I nodded. “I won’t.”
“And you are?”
“Milo,” I answered automatically. While I knew this woman was aware of my secret, it was still too risky to give her my real name, lest she call it out on accident.
She seemed to know she was being lied to, but said nothing as she stepped aside. “Nice to meet you, Milo.”
I moved forward to make my way into the hall, but she blocked me with her arm.
“We have a secret signal, us servants.” She peered both ways down the hallway before leaning down to whisper directly into my ear.
“If you get in trouble, and need the help of a servant and not another one of Adis’s spies, place this pebble outside your door.
” She pressed something round and smooth into the palm of my hand.
“One of us will come. We will knock, unlike the guards, so you know it is us.”
I nodded furiously, though the knowledge of the system didn’t provide the relief it should have. I was too nervous that my secret had been found out so soon. If she knew, who else would?
“Now, hurry back to your room,” she urged, not giving me time to answer any more questions.
It wasn’t until my back was pressed against the wooden door, the cloths in my hand dripping onto the stone beneath my feet that I opened my palm to find a single bright blue stone.
Something fluttered in my chest. I wasn’t sure what the feeling was, but it was warm, like a hug from my mother before her death. And somewhere, deep down, I knew things were going to be okay. Somehow.