Page 18 of Tell No Tales
"No." Vadim shook his head. His parents could have been conscripted as he said, but Empress Delilah had shuttered the academy after Hesse's death, the year Milton was born. "Fourteen years ago, they wouldn't have let you inside." If Delilah had known of any clandestine training during her rule, she would have put a stop to it.
"There was a secret entrance from the docks. They put us on longboats and steered us through the canals beneath the city until we reached the academy."
Vadim had arrived at the academy the same way, but he had been eighteen.
"Some of the children were so young, they were trying to grab at the young women escorting us, looking to be fed."
Gods. That was far too young to be on a longboat to the academy. "Who was your instructor?"
"We didn't have instructors until five years ago." That coincided with Delilah's death. "We had older kids who had already manifested their powers. Niall and I have been talking. He says we lived a lot like the kids in the orphanages."
"The older kids kept the younger in line," Niall chimed in to agree. Vadim had forgotten Niall was there, and apparently listening to their conversation. "No adult supervision. Lots of empty bellies and grifting in the streets."
"If we got out of line, they threatened to take us to the library basement." Milton's shoulders shook as he hugged himself. "I was only down there once."
"What's down there?" Vadim asked, dread pooling in his gut. Something niggled the back of his mind, and his healing magic itched along a seam he hadn't known was there.
"I don't know," Milton said. "I couldn't see. A healer locked me in a cage and took away the light. Then, they said a command word, and I swear things tried to get me inside the cage. I tried to stay as small as I could in the middle and waited for morning. I never disobeyed them again."
Vadim and Hesse had used the library's cellar doors more than once to sneak Hesse past his constant barrage of courtiers. Beyond that, Vadim didn't remember spending time there. It had been musty and damp, even with the reinforced water and earth weaves to protect the books.
"Who knew you were there?" he asked to change the subject.
"General Coryn," Milton said. "That's how I ended up on your boat."
Milton had been one of the air weavers Coryn had brought with her from Hearthstone, then. Milton and the two older men had been scared out of their wits in her presence and signed Vadim's contracts without question. All three of them had lived. The two older men were now in Glamiere, thanks to Olivia.
"You signed a contract to Coryn?"
"I signed a contract to the emperor."
Vadim nodded. "You signed with me, as well. If you're here to betray us, I won't give you a warning."
"I want no part of what General Coryn is planning," Milton said. "That's why I'm here."
Vadim searched the young man's face and found only open honesty. "We're glad to have you," he said. "The winds are finicky this time of year."
"They are." Milton grinned. "Thank you."
"For fuck's sake, Vadim, get off my deck," Efren called.
Milton glanced up at his sail, which had gone slack while they'd been talking.
"Or don't," Efren continued. "We'll roll into Hearthstone sometime after the spring thaw."
"I'm going, I'm going." He nodded to Milton. "We'll talk more later."
He still didn't have anywhere to go, per se, but he had a new purpose. He needed to review his journals from five years ago.
∞∞∞
Klaus
Klaus was already bored out of his mind after two hours of reading. He felt Vadim come closer before he heard his footsteps on the deck stairs. Then, his shadow crossed the doorway. Klaus heard the slam of a trunk in the hold and the shadow returned.
"May I share this space without you pawing at me again?"
"Fuck's sake, Vadim, don't make it sound like such a hardship." Klaus looked up from his pages, up the long, shapely form of Vadim's boot-encased legs, his tight pants, and his tunic, still pulled free from his waistband. Vadim was right to question him. He already wanted to rub himself all over the death weaver and scent-mark him like a cat.
