Page 70 of The Eye of the Fifth
As he followed her from the room, she said over her shoulder, ‘Refrain from using magic. They need to see that you are not a threat.’
‘Couldn’t if I wanted to,’ was Gedeon’s stiff reply.
She stopped to look at him and said sharply, ‘What do you mean?’
To admit vulnerability may have been foolish, but he sensed no real threat from Sunsi, despite the precarious situation she had him in. ‘When we were escaping Phaenon, Sekun hit me with something. Some sort of curse… I have not been able to wield any magic without the accompaniment of pain ever since.’
‘But you used magic to escape the Throne Room,’ Sunsi said, eyebrows knitting together.
‘I did.’
A strange look crossed her freckle flecked face, her hazel eyes searching his with mild curiosity as she gave an ambiguous ‘hmm’, and said no more on the matter.
Gedeon had never mingled with the likes of Dracyg’s common people. A potential failure on his part as a prince of Zarynth, and evident in the faces of those who glared at him as he and Sunsi walked into the echoing hall.
‘As you were,’ Sunsi said with authority. Most resumed their conversations, though Gedeon was sure the previous topics had been forgotten, many still craning their necks to get a good look at him.
Dishes of simple stews and steamed grains sat atop long tables on the left side of the hall. The smell was surprisingly mouthwatering, though with a stomach as empty as his, he supposed anything would have been appealing.
‘We are spoiled by your culinary talents, Laori,’ Sunsi called kindly to the middle-aged blonde woman who appeared to be single handedly managing the kitchen, refilling empty pots and restocking clean bowls, the apron over her body spattered with food.
With deft hands and a quick appreciative smile at Sunsi’s compliment, Laori passed them both a bowl. She refused to even look at Gedeon.
They continued down the line, and Gedeon mimicked Sunsi in filling his bowl with everything Laori had on offer. ‘Laori was a student of alchemy at the city college,’ she told him in a quiet voice. ‘Her sister, also a student, was conscripted to join the Empress’ legions for her exceptional talents as a healer. She refused and they killed her for it. Laori ran before they could come after her too, for her skill in poisons and potions, and she’s been here at the Base ever since. That was twenty-five years ago.’
Laori did not look up from the pot of stew she was busy stirring, but Gedeon was sure she heard every word.
Bowl filled to the brim, and mouth now salivating with the promise of the hot food in his hands, he followed Sunsi to the furthermost vacant table from the entrance.
It was not quite the decadent, hearty food he was used to eating as a member of the royal family, but the taste on his tongue was by no means unpleasant. In fact, it took a surprising amount of willpower not to shovel it down as fast as he could.
‘You see that young man two tables behind us, with cropped dark hair and a long scar across his neck?’ Sunsi asked. Swallowing a particularly large mouthful, Gedeon peered over his shoulder, following her eyeline to the man in question, (he couldn’t have been past twenty; a boy in Gedeon’s eyes), sandwiched between two girls of around the same age. ‘His name is Jorah. He used to be a waiter for the Staunts. Was one of their best apparently. Good job, paid well. Until one of their many dinner parties went a bit sour.’
Gedeon turned back around.
Sunsi continued, ‘Some drunk fae noble forced himself on one of the maids in the gardens. Jorah heard her cry out and tried to stop it. He got right in between them, but the male slashed him across the neck with a knife and dumped him in an alleyway on his way out. He would have bled out if I hadn’t found him. I brought him here and got him to our healer just in time. He was our latest recruit. That is, until you and Amala came along.’
She put her spoon down, though her food had barely been touched. ‘Every single person here has a story like Jorah’s and Laori’s. The world above is not meant for people like us. It continuously chews us up and spits us back out until we either submit or die. We are nothing to them but cattle.’
‘Youare the sentry captain,’ Gedeon reminded her. ‘You are not so far from the elite as you think. You are above the… cattle.’
‘Gedeon,no oneshould be aboveanyone,’she said, suddenly furious. ‘Do you not see that? Our hearts beat the same, yours and mine. We bleed the same, we fuck the same and eventually we will die the same. The shape of our ears nor the thickness of our skin does not change that. And Iknowyou know this. It’s why you didn’t destroy the city, and why you refused to kill the fledgling girl.’
‘So what, Sunsi?’ Gedeon demanded. ‘You want me to lead a rebellion? To start a revolution? I see a fight raging in your eyes, but itis not a fight you will win. The second these people step outside of this little haven they will die.’
Sunsi fell silent and glared at a spot on the table, as though she knew he was right. Despite his growling stomach, Gedeon pushed the bowl away from himself, appetite suddenly gone.
‘Do you know what happens to the human fledglings you train?’ Sunsi asked, still staring at that same spot after a few moments of tense quiet.
Of course he knew. ‘They become part of her army.’
‘Have you ever bothered to visit those you trained? To see them once they graduate from your teachings?’
Gedeon blinked at the bluntness of the questions, the resentment laced in the words. He was beginning to wonder how Sunsi had ever shared his bed; her dislike for him was becoming apparent. ‘I had no need to,’ he replied.
‘If youhadbothered, you would have known the truth a long time ago.’
Irritated, he said, ‘What truth?’
