Page 67 of Guiding Desire
“This is it?” Orrey asked at the sight of a wide-open space full of people. He found himself scanning the heads poking out above the crowd, Guardians all who stood out easily, although he was looking for a shock of black hair.
“Yes. The East Courtyard. The trees are twenty-four different varieties, each one very old and planted when Wilan and his people first settled here. Their genetic material has been much used in the fast-growing woods we use for essentials to this day.” Col shrugged. “That’s the lecture part. It’s also where fun stuff like this happens.” He looked toward a Guardian standing off to the left, chatting to a group. “Bank right. Let’s try not catching his eye.”
“Who?”
“Guardian Alesa Yun, leader of team one.”
“That’s the Agricultural Team, right?”
“Uh-huh. And Alesa is our definition of a cocky A-classer.”
Guardian Alesa spotted them when he turned aside to let out a bout of barking laughter. When his eyes met Orrey’s, it was an almost physical jolt, not unlike zapping someone with a touch and static blooming from your fingertips. Alesa excused himself from the group and walked over to them.
“My favorite, Conduit Coldis. Who have you been taking berry hunting? He’s looking a little worse for wear.” His eyes wandered over Orrey in an assessing manner that was entirely uncomfortable.
“Guardian Alesa. I hope your Covenant Week has been peaceful. This is Conduit Orrey Acton, Senlas’s imprinted.”
Orrey lowered his parasol as far as he could without it being rude. With the Guardian standing almost three heads taller than Coldis and him, carrying a parasol revealed a whole new appeal.
“Ahh,” Alesa said. “I heard but didn’t know if I could really believe it. You’d think if he was to imprint on anyone, it would have been you, Conduit Coldis.” He laughed, not caring he did so alone. “You must be disappointed. And over a protector, no less.”
“Oh, on the contrary. I think of Orrey as my little brother.”
Alesa’s grin looked friendly on the surface, but Orrey had been a protector long enough to know the friendliness didn’t run much deeper than that. “Little brother? You two look nothing alike. You know, Coldis, there’s always a place in my team for you. We’d take good care of a skilled Conduit such as yourself.”
Col laughed as if Alesa had made the most hilarious joke, then put his arm around Orrey’s shoulders. “Oh, that’s funny. But my team was a handful even before Orrey here, and he interfered with one of the bombings two days ago, largely foiling it. So I’ll be kept even more busy than usual.”
“Oh?” Alesa said. “Guardian Warrak let his imprinted get hurt like that? I thought he found him looking this way, but… Well. Is that why he’s left you to wander the Wandering Garden unsupervised, Conduit Orrey?”
“I, ah—“
A shadow fell on Orrey’s parasol, and he shifted it only to see Vin standing there.
“There you are. Alesa, keeping our Conduits again?”
Alesa shrugged. “They looked a little lost.”
Vin snorted. “Col’s never been lost a day in his life. We need these two, so if you’ll excuse us.”
“So nice chatting with you, Guardian Alesa,” Col said in turning, pushing Orrey to move with a hand on the shoulder. “Oh, and please remember to address me by title. Enjoy the rest of your Covenant Week.”
“Apologies, Conduit Coldis. And welcome to the Grounds, Conduit Orrey.”
“Thanks,” Orrey mumbled, but was quickly whisked away by Vin and Col.
“What the fuck took you so long?” Col said to Vin, who, from what Orrey could see, looked supremely bored.
“What do you mean, what took me so long?” He gestured out at the courtyard. “Do you know how many people there are here? Do you know how long it takes me to pick out any one nervous system in this mess? Luckily Orrey’s about as uncomfortable as Senlas. Less unusual than you’d think, coming out of the Wandering Garden.”
“Excuse me?” Orrey said. They passed under a large tree, the branches hanging so low in places they had to duck under them.
“Vinnie can puppeteer, but he can also tell people apart. Oh, and create mirages,” Col said.
“I’ve never seen anything like that,” Orrey said, and because the day had been what it had been, even before a Guardian had succinctly insulted him, he added, “You could have demonstrated when Taros forgot his bathing suit.”
Col’s laughter was so loud, a family lounging on a picnic blanket looked over at them. Orrey stared too, given they seemed to have four children with them and only two adults.
Vin remained passive. “Taros considers his pantsless self a gift to all those who behold it. If you want me to do anything about that, you have to come up with a suitable incentive.”
