Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Dante
“A ball of light to save us all, that’s what my father keeps muttering now. It’s been days since he last uttered a coherent word and I fear he’s broken beyond repair.”
– From The Official Record of House Avus, As Recorded by Atticus, Son of Eximius
“Five casualties and one deserter,” the glowing man in front of us said.
His lips were curved downward in a deep frown, his eyes sparking with something worse than disappointment, as he crossed his office to stand behind his desk and glare at us.
“That’s the worst result of a simple scouting mission I’ve ever seen, Valin. ”
I fought my wince as Valin raised his chin and met the rebuke with dignity.
“We lost a Geist, Captain,” the Commander snapped, eyes blazing as he turned.
His golden hair, shorter than the others but long enough to be tied back, shifted over his shoulders as he strode to his window and looked down at the training yard below.
I knew who drilled there, who he watched as they kicked up the sand rushing at one another.
Castor and the rest of the squad would be near exhaustion by now, having been tasked with sparring until they reached their physical limits and then forcing themselves over the edge.
Valin had barked that whoever survived training could remain on his squad.
The rest he’d leave for their gods to sort out.
Their gods. I hadn’t missed the choice of words.
The ones Valin had spoken to me over the body of a dead deity still haunted me even now.
“Aigeus was a great warrior and would have someday made a great Commander,” the Commander was saying now. I snapped back to attention as he continued. “His power was strong. We'll not see his like again.”
Valin said nothing, but I couldn’t help but shift on my feet in discomfort at the obvious grief in the Commander’s tone.
Had they known each other? Had they been friends?
How much of his mourning was for someone he cared for and how much was over the loss of one whom he deemed superior to the rest of us?
Somehow, I doubted the Commander was in any way affected by the death of Erki, the human boy with a mentor that willed him to survive, a mother waiting for him to return, and an older brother who would forever feel guilty for surviving missions his brother had not.
“How shall I punish you, Captain?” the Commander asked, more quietly this time, but when he turned back to face us, that same fiery rage was still plain in his divine eyes.
“I trust your judgment in regards to my fate, Commander,” Valin said serenely, dipping his chin in respect to the man’s authority.
I couldn’t help but gape at my Captain. Punishment?
We were ambushed. The riders had clearly been waiting for a scouting party from the City of the Gods to come sauntering by.
I imagined they could hardly believe their luck when they discovered one lone god amongst our ranks as well.
They had the element of surprise, the advantage of familiar terrain, and experience on their side.
Besides Aigeus and Valin, our party was made up of no more than boys, new recruits out on their first scouting, men who hadn’t yet had the time or opportunity to be made into soldiers at all.
I hadn’t realized it before, how unprepared we truly were to face the enemy outside the walls.
But the way my fellow soldiers had reacted, shaking in their boots, falling easily, fleeing even easier, showed me we were no warriors.
And perhaps never would be. But was that the fault of Valin? Or was it the method of recruitment?
I turned my gaze back to the Commander and found him watching me, thoughtful expression on his face.
“You’re the Victor, aren’t you?” he asked, curiosity overshadowing his grief. “The Viper.”
“Yes sir,” I replied evenly, holding my head high in an approximation of Valin’s dignity.
“And you survived,” he said. “Because of your Blessings?”
I considered the battle and realized for the first time I’d hardly used the abilities I’d been given at all.
“I—no sir,” I confessed. “I’m still learning how to utilize my Blessings properly. I fought with my spear as my fellow men did and hardly more than that.”
“That’s disappointing,” he said with a frown, his gaze snapping to Valin. “The boy should be trained to use every advantage he has.”
“I am—” I started, intending to tell him of Kleio, but Valin cut me off.
“Yes, Commander,” he answered with a bow.
I turned to him again, brow furrowing in confusion.
Why hadn’t he defended himself? Why hadn’t he told the Commander the truth, that I was being trained in my abilities?
It wasn’t his fault I hadn’t thought to use them, that I was proving a rather disappointing pupil where my Blessings were concerned.
And yet he bore the blame for my ineptitude as well, bowing to this man and remaining silent about my training.
“You will take a leave from your duties, Captain,” the Commander ordered.
“Castor will lead your forces for the next two weeks.
You'll remain in your quarters, shamed, not participating in any training or expeditions. Perhaps, in that time, you can figure out how one of my brightest, oldest Captains managed to be outsmarted by the savages.”
“As you wish, Commander,” Valin said simply and then bowed once more before turning and walking from the room.
I nodded my head in submission before following after him.
Neither of us spoke as we made our way through the ornate halls of the massive estate which housed the military Commanders, keeping silent as we nodded to the guards we passed on our way to the exit. But once we were outside, back into the hot desert sun, I couldn’t hold my tongue any longer.
“It wasn’t your fault,” I said the moment we were out of earshot of anyone else. “It was an ambush. You couldn’t have possibly known—”
“I'm the Captain of my squad,” he told me, voice low and firm. “My men and the situations they find themselves in are my responsibility, regardless of what I could or could not have known. The results are what matter here, Viper, not the intent. And my result was the loss of five men.”
“But—”
“He’s my Commander. It’s his duty to punish me for the dishonor I bring him with my ineptitude. We lost a Geist. All things considered, my punishment is rather light.”
I frowned but didn’t seek to argue again. I knew there would be no use.
“Why didn’t you tell him about my training?” I asked.
Valin stopped walking, every muscle stiffening as he glanced around to ensure no one could overhear us.
“The time you spend with Kleio is not something to discuss with anyone who’s not already aware of it,” he said and then turned to walk away again.
“Why?” I asked, following after him. “Is it a secret?”
“For now. You, me, Castor, Kleio, and the Council are the only ones who know of it.”
And the Lord of the Geist’s sister, I thought to myself but said nothing.
“Why?” I asked instead.
“I’m just following orders, Viper,” Valin replied, obviously tired of the direction of this conversation. “I suggest you do too.”
Then he stalked away from me, on his way to his place in the barracks and his two weeks of ordered solitude.
I watched him go, letting his words wash over me.
Orders. So someone had commanded Valin to keep my training with Kleio a secret, even from our Commander.
It must have been someone very important then.
One of the council members themselves, perhaps?
But why? It seemed it could only be a positive thing for my Commander and the men I fought beside to know I was learning to defend them better.
“There you are,” someone spoke suddenly.
I whirled to find Kleio standing in the dust a few feet away. I was so stunned to see him out of his cabin I nearly stumbled on the dry dirt.
“Kleio,” I said, unable to hide my surprise. “What are you doing here?”
“I’ve come to fetch my pupil,” he informed me, “seeing as he never showed up for his training.”
He raised a brow and I sighed.
“I’m sorry,” I told him. “Valin and I had to meet with the Commander.”
“I heard about what happened,” he replied, lips slipping into a frown. “Come. We can speak of it inside.”
I followed Kleio back to his cabin in silence.
He didn’t say a word as he entered before me, waited for me to step inside, and locked the door at my back.
I glanced around his organized chaos at the familiar scattered maps and papers and did my best to ignore the blood stains on the carpet he hadn’t quite managed to remove.
My heart rate increased at the thought of another healing training session but was calmed somewhat by the lack of appearance of a certain Lord of the Geist’s sister.
“Phasing,” Kleio said simply, and I breathed a sigh of relief. “You’ve done it.”
His expression was serious as he passed me on his way further into the common space of the cabin. He turned to face me a few feet away, watching me closely as he spoke.
“The ninth Trial,” he spoke quietly but firmly.
Every muscle in my body tensed.
The ninth Trial. The one they’d questioned me about, the one that seemed to be dangerous for me to recall, the one where something had happened that had even the gods off kilter. Kleio’s tone was clear. He was going to instruct me in this, as all others, but I needed to be careful.
“How did you discover this ability?” He asked easily, folding his hands behind his back and pacing away from me in a way that might have been casual if his shoulders and back weren’t so tense.
“Ad—my partner did, actually,” I confessed.
Kleio’s gaze flicked up to me briefly before he asked.
“How?”
“It was an accident. She was having an argument with my…with a former friend of mine. I guess it got heated and the girl tried to attack her. Adrian phased away before she could.”