Page 55 of Great Falls Cadet
“Impressive,” Katita said, ending her applause. “I’m not sure what Master Shade would say about stressing the shoulder, though.” Dressed in a pair of billowing black pants and a short silver jacket that let a sliver of taut belly show, her blond hair tied up in an elaborate nest of coils and braids, Katita was accustomed to drawing the eye of every male at the Academy. Yet her toned body failed to captivate Tye in the least. Not that it would be polite—or wise—to inform her so aloud.
Tye summoned a grin wide enough that he knew it made his green eyes seem to dance—which usually confused people long enough to give him time to escape. He didn’t like to abuse his effect on others, but sometimes it was worth it. “What Master Shade doesn’t know can’t hurt him. You wouldn’t be in the mood for reporting on a friend, would you, Kit?”
“My name is Katita.” A mix of annoyance and pleasure.
“Is it?” Tye hopped back on the bar, which had the dual benefit of ending the conversation and making his shoulder burn. At least pain was a feeling. A something.
These days, feeling was a privilege. No matter how many people surrounded Tye, how he laughed or jested, a great slice of Tye’s soul seemed to remain trapped away in some dungeon. And no matter how hard Tye pounded on the door, he couldn’t get to it. Couldn’t feel the range of emotions, not outside those glorious moments of flying.
With one notable exception.
Leralynn’s lilac scent woke Tye’s soul as only soaring above the earth did, his heart and breath quickening with the merest shift of wind if it carried the smell. Made him drunk on it. Unfortunately, it also made him stupid. Especially in the time following that first awkward run-in in the courtyard, when he’d followed Lera into the woods and let his cock do too much of his thinking. The part in question twitched even now just at the bloody memory.
At least Tye had manned up a few days ago, laying the reality bare before Lera. Tye could not get involved. With anyone. And whenever he was tempted to, he needed only to recall what happened with his fiancée Tiga, and the misplaced lust dissolved to reality.
Unlike the Academy’s other students, Tye was common born—with only his talent for athletics bringing him in contact with his betters. Athletics were his life—it and the fiery, passionate Tiga whom he’d been promised to since childhood. With both of them growing up, Tiga had been certain Tye’s competitions would stay behind. There was, after all, no place for a common-born peasant to go.
Until Great Falls Academy invited Tye to enroll and represent them at the Prowess Trials. Until Tye had accepted, standing firm through Tiga’s tears and pleas.
The morning after the argument, Tye awoke to a note on the pillow freeing Tye of all obligations. No destination, no address, no promise of return.You made your decision,Tiga’s loopy handwriting leaked with hurt.And now I’ve made mine. I hope you find it worth it.
A week later, Tye returned from a grueling run to learn that a villager had found Tiga’s body at the bottom of a ravine. A note tucked into her bodice said goodbye to no one in particular.
No. Tye was never doing that to anyone again. Not getting involved with anyone he didn’t wish to hurt. Training and relationships did not mix at all.Heand relationships didn’t mix.
Which all still left the void Tye struggled to fill with what he could. Tempting gravity, tempting fate, even tempting River. He’d go over the Academy’s wall again in a moment, no matter how many beatings it earned him. Feeling pain was better than feeling nothing at all, and the thrill of Lera’s nervous excitement—the first he’d felt with any woman since Tiga—was worth any amount of discomfort. Tye could still feel the heat of Lera’s body, her pulse beating hard enough to be heard, her eyes widening as he slid his hands along her hips.
Lera, that small, glorious lilac girl, was so alive that even Tye’s locked-away soul sang in her presence. Her similarity to Tiga in appearance little hurt either.
Keep your cock to yourself, you bastard,Tye told himself as he completed a twenty pull-up set and hopped back to the soft sand.Flowers are to be savored, not trampled on.
The last dinner bell sounded from the keep tower, and Tye’s stomach gave a dissatisfied rumble at being out here when food was elsewhere. Well, it could join his cock in complaining, Tye still had things to do. A run, to start with. Then more strength and flexibility work. He could always talk a cook into some bannocks later, but with the others busy eating, there was no one to tell him what he should and shouldn’t be doing with his shoulder. Katita might tsk and fawn, but she wouldn’t interfere. And she certainly wasn’t going to run with him.
Tightening his laces, Tye looked toward the moat of woods planted to create the illusion of a forest instead of a wall, his attention catching on a small body sprinting fast as a frightened squirrel past Katita and into the training corral.
No, not a squirrel—a Rabbit.
11
Tye
Catching the lad, Tye crouched beside him. The small, curly haired boy was panting, tear tracks plain on his dirty face.
“What’s keeping you from dinner?” Tye asked, narrowing his gaze on Rabbit’s trembling shoulders. Tye had been small as a boy as well, and knew firsthand that only events of grand magnitude could make the lad skip a meal. “Have the guards been giving you a hard time?”
With no family, Rabbit had somehow talked his way into a position as a page at the Academy, mostly running messages around the grounds. With no other children employed, the adults had differing ideas on what the boy’s exact role should be—especially since, despite months of regular meals, Rabbit couldn’t help picking the pockets of anyone careless enough to leave valuables there.
Tye understood that as well, and, being of a belief that anything worth doing was worth doing well, was unlikely a good influence.
“Le—Leralynn. Nolan and his… Surrounded.” Rabbit’s skinny chest heaved with panting breaths that left him unsteady on his feet. “Puckler. Rik too.”
A chill spread down Tye’s spine, the world around him suddenly silent. Irrelevant. “Where?”
“The stable, I presume.” The cool answer came from Katita, now standing beside them, her turquoise eyes cold, her blond hair gleaming in the setting sun. She snatched Rabbit’s ear to pull the boy away. “At least that is where my cousins took this rubbish to discuss his recent activities. He must have escaped.”
A flash of heat lit Tye’s blood. “Let him go.”
To Tye’s relief, Katita released Rabbit’s ear, her gaze turning slightly amused as she folded her arms over her chest. “Better?”
