Chapter 14
The days blurred together again, as I fought to eat enough to keep myself from passing out during the reading sessions with Adis. We had almost finished another book, and I was beginning to grow nervous at what power Adis would have next.
Collum brushed all my concerns aside, not seeming to care that I was barely surviving, falling asleep instantly on the floor every night (or at least the nights I didn’t have the cot) yet still struggling to make it to the reading room the next morning.
She was already planning the third reading to the servants the moment Adis finished with this book.
I still hadn’t told her about the black book hidden in the walls, and I was beginning to feel less guilty about it with the more time that passed, especially because Collum didn’t seem to notice my apparent pain.
Or she did and thought I should remain in it for a couple more years.
As the planned night approached, I grew nervous.
I wasn’t sure why, as we had successfully read to the servants twice already.
But something whispered in my ears that I should stay in my room, rather than attend—even if it meant not getting to see Leif, whose company I was starting to enjoy.
While I knew there could never be anything more between us, I still enjoyed talking with him—something I hadn’t been able to do all week.
As the sleeping potion was added to plates and passed among the guards, I lay on the cot, fighting sleep.
“Stay awake.” Collum nudged me in the side. It didn’t hurt as it once had, though the ribs there were still sensitive to my cousin’s sharp elbow
“Can’t I stay here?” I whispered. “I’m just so tired.”
“No,” Collum snapped. “You need to read this time; I’m tired too.”
It wasn’t a lie—her voice was almost as hoarse as my own. Though I had been told magic didn’t require anything from the person reading, other than the ability to read, something was definitely wearing us down. Likely the lack of rations, but I was still skeptical.
Reluctantly, I rose from the bed, ensuring my wrap was in place before Collum and I repeated the process we had been perfecting for a fortnight now, stepping over the sleeping guard and sneaking down the hall to the large estate kitchen.
When we arrived, there were only a few servants milling about, most looking just as tired as I felt.
We waited a few moments, but no more came, something which put me on edge. I told myself it was just because Leif was one of those absent, but that didn’t calm my nerves. There were far fewer servants present than there had been at the other readings.
“Where is everyone?” Collum asked Astrid, whose eyes were drooping as she sat with her back against the wall, off to the side.
“It’s been a long week, preparing for the coming holiday. I think many thought their sleep more important.”
Collum frowned, and I could tell by the way her jaw shifted, that she was hiding her anger. “And they don’t think gaining magic is important?” She crossed her arms over her chest.
“We do.” Another servant I had never spoken to before piped up. “It’s just that it is dangerous, and it’s hard to be on your best behavior when you are tired. One mistake could get us all killed.”
“Hmph.” Collum pursed her lips and I could tell she was unhappy with their valid point. “Well, the next power is the power of attracting metal, so I hope you will all stay for that.”
The servants shifted, a couple of them rising from their seats and leaving the room. Astrid was one of them. Collum’s eyes narrowed.
Wanting to avoid a conflict, I took the book from her hand, opening it to begin reading.
“Losik um ratumin und—” My voice was strong despite the weeks of abuse, and I found myself getting sucked into their rhythm.
It wasn’t long before the book was half done, several of the servants’ eyelids’ beginning to droop.
We would have to stop soon. Glancing up to make eye contact with Collum, who I had last seen leaning up against the back wall of the room, my eyes found deep black ones instead, a sneer on his face.
Viscount Adis.
My heart and voice stopped simultaneously, and it felt like all of the air was sucked from the room. Puzzled by my sudden stop, many of the servants following my gaze, their own faces paling at what they saw standing at the back of the room.
My only conscious thought was where the hell was Collum? She had been on lookout duty.
Then all hell broke loose.
Knowing that Adis couldn’t punish them all, the servants broke into action, many fleeing the room out of the many doors.
Some into the courtyard, others through the door that led to the exterior garden and pond.
I swore I saw some head into the pantry, which made me cringe, but I knew it didn’t matter.
Viscount Adis was just one person. The only man who hadn’t been given a sleeping draft on any of the nights we planned to read. Meaning, he could only punish one person.
Me.
I stayed still as his pristine black shoes stomped across the room. I stayed quiet as his palm came up and struck me across the face. He called for guards, but no one came. Then he was dragging me down the hall and out the front doors.
This was it. This was the end.
We crossed the yard, then he dragged me through the front gate. But he didn’t let me go yet.
No, he didn’t let me go until we reached the barracks when we stopped in front of a large wooden door, the barest amount of candlelight flickering from within, visible through the crack below the door.
He knocked. “What?!”
“Open up the door now!” Viscount Adis shouted and I wondered for a moment why he hadn’t just kicked the door down. But the sound of a lock turning confirmed my suspicions.
The door opened to reveal a man I had never seen before, his blond hair tied at the nape of his neck.
He was broad-shouldered and broad-chested, which was noticeable in the simple undershirt he wore.
He was taller than Viscount Adis, but he had the same black eyes.
His jaw was set in a hard line, though he didn’t appear to have been sleeping.
“Karl, where is Otho?”
The large man, presumably Karl, crossed his arms over his chest. “Sleeping I presume. Or did you think that your prized general was required to work around the clock?”
Viscount Adis grumbled under his breath, and I couldn’t help but think I liked Karl already.
“Fine. Well, I have this new recruit for you. No training. Put him at the front lines starting tomorrow.”
Karl looked me up and down in a manner that was so familiar yet foreign. “He won’t last long there, not without at least some basic training.”
“That’s the point.” Adis sneered, giving me a swift kick to the shin.
It hurt, but I refused to let him have the satisfaction of seeing me fall, so I bit my lip and breathed through the pain.
Karl raised his eyebrows. “Policy is at least three days training for new recruits.”
Adis’s face grew red, and I felt fear for this Karl even though I had only known him mere moments. “Fine. Three days. But if I come back in three days and find him under this roof, I’ll have your head on a platter.”
Karl’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “Yes, sir.”
Adis twisted on his heel and headed back the way we had come, leaving me standing in front of Karl’s door.
“What about his things?”
Adis visibly tensed before calling over his shoulder. “He will be brought them tomorrow, though he won’t have use of them for long.”
Karl sighed. Though I knew I should feel afraid—afraid that my life would soon be snuffed out—I knew I had learned something very valuable.
While Adis marked me a traitor and called for my death, he also hadn’t done it himself.
Something that was strange considering the sword that banged against his hip as he walked away.
Something had prevented him from beheading me directly.
Karl watched his retreat, waiting until we heard the exterior door slam before he turned to me. “Your name?”
“Milo Potson.” I considered asking him to alert Otho that I was here, but I was still unsure how far the General was willing to go to protect my secret.
“All right, Potson, I’ll show you to your cot.
” His lips settled into a frown as he motioned me down the hall and around the corner into what could only be called one massive sleeping room.
It was dark. The moonlight shining through the uncovered window, the only reason I could see anything at all.
There were bunkbeds against the wall and in a line in the middle of the room, the cacophony of gentle snoring reaching my ears, letting me know that I wasn’t the only who was assigned to sleep here.
Karl crossed the room and pointed to a bottom bunk against one of the walls. There was a folded blanket on top of the bare mattress and a small chest peeking out from underneath. “Get some sleep. Your stuff goes in the trunk when it arrives tomorrow.”
His voice was low, but not low enough to go unnoticed as a few of the snores went quiet, dark eyes of weary men peeking over the edge of the top bunk before landing on me. “Bathing room is there.”
I nodded, hoping the cloth I wore now for my menses would be enough until daylight when my things arrived.
“If you have questions, ask your lead officer, Askel. He will answer them.” He pointed to a top bunk across the way before walking away, his footsteps quiet despite the fact he wore the same standard-issue boots I did.
I waited until his shadow disappeared from the hall before I leaned back on the mattress and pulled the blanket over me. It wasn’t very comfortable at all, but it did beat sleeping on the floor of the room Collum and I shared.
I grimaced as I thought of my cousin. Despite the fact we hadn’t gotten along the past few days, I hoped she escaped unscathed—even if this had been her idea to read to the servants in the first place.
Either way, it didn’t matter.
My journey was coming to an end.