Page 18 of Crime & Punishment
Silence.
I brace for the walls to crumble.
“Understood,” Coal says finally, his voice deflated.
“Then I’ve said my bit as your commanding officer, though I little envy you River’s wrath. If Headmaster Sage learns of it… It would be better if that didn’t happen.”
“I’ll be careful. On all counts.”
“Good.” Shade snorts. “Though as your friend, I’d say you need to lose your mind more often—not with a cadet, but withsomeone. You look better than I’ve seen you since we pulled you out of the islanders’ dungeon.”
“And you look worse.” Coal’s voice drops lower, until even I can barely make out the words. “You look like bloody hell itself. For a moment there, I wasn’t sure whether it was you or Lera who I’d worked to exhaustion today.”
Silence. Steps. A soft growl matching a second, equally demanding one.
“It happened again, didn’t it, Shade?” Coal says. “You lost time.”
“No.”
“How long was it?” Coal demands.
“Lady Leralynn?” The door to the treatment room swings open after a brief knock, and Rabbit—one of the Academy’s young pages—slinks inside. The boy takes one look at my half-naked body and drops the parcels he’s carrying.
Heart still pounding from both the males’ conversation and Rabbit’s unfortunate interruption, I take a deep breath before schooling my face and voice to something that passes for civility. “Yes?”
“I-I was asked to bring this to you,” Rabbit sputters, thrusting the first of his dropped packages into my hands, his eyes darting about in search of someone else. Someone who he clearly little wishes to find. Ever. “Master Coal—”
“Is unlikely to smite you on sight,” I say, ignoring the boy’s “you know nothing” look. Glancing inside my bag, I find a set of my own clothes, as River promised.No gray uniform in sight, thank the stars. “If the other delivery is for him, I’ll make sure he gets it.”
Rabbit skitters off before the words finish leaving my mouth. In the study, the males’ conversation has gotten too quiet for even my ears. Damn. Letting the blanket fall to the floor, I pull out the delivered dry clothes and don the soft black pants, their warm, thick fabric soothing against my skin. I pull out the vibrant tunic next, jumping slightly when something heavy slips between the cloth and falls to the marble floor with a high-pitched clink.
Following the item down, I feel my whole body go rigid as I behold a round rune-inscribed disk spinning like a top on the marble. Even here, in the mortal realm, the disk’s magic sings to me, naming itself precious. Beside it, a scrap of paper nearly flutters from the tiny breeze.
Picking the paper up with shaking fingers, I unwrap the scrap.
I think this is yours.
No name.No signature. Just a note and the key to Mystwood.
16
Lera
Questions and excitement thunder through me, my hands fumbling in the hurry to tuck the precious disk away before anyone might see it. With the trousers unfortunately missing pockets, I slide the key into the waistband, covering it quickly with the provided tunic. The clothes are mine, so whoever put the precious amulet there had access to my room. Or else intercepted Rabbit on his way to deliver the clothes.
Still, who? Gavriel is the only one who knows the truth of my situation, and he’d have little cause to hide the artifact in some clothes. The note itself sheds no information, but I throw it into the fire nonetheless, lest someone recognize the handwriting that means nothing to me. With what Gavriel and Coal have both confirmed about the situation, just being associated with the fae-crafted disk could land someone in a dungeon.
Reality thuds through me.I have a way back.It’s real now—I’m leaving. Leaving the males and going for help. It’s the right thing to do.
Isn’t it?
“Master Shade!” The smooth, musical voice comes from the corridor just as the flame finishes lapping up the note. A fist knocks against the doorframe. “Master Shade, we need your help!”
The side and front doors to the workroom open together, one to admit Shade and Coal, the other to reveal a horde of five young women all circled around Tye. In his training grays, Tye holds his shoulder, which looks utterly in the wrong place, his face tight with pain. Seeing me, the male’s emerald eyes focus through the glaze.
“Are you all right, lass?” Tye asks.
Princess Katita’s flashing teal glare is hot enough to burn me, though her porcelain features smooth to concern as she turns to put a hand on Tye’s back. “Can you see to Tyelor, Master Shade?” she asks again. “He’s injured himself in training.”
