with
victory. She looked up at Za’in, his weapon now hidden away and his eyes
watching her with smiling surprise.
“That was inventive. But let’s
leave something for tomorrow.” He gently took her hand and eased her to her
feet before ushering her out the door.
Kayla turned back, looking at
the fragments of bone on the floor. “I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to break it.”
“My sweet girl, that would be
impossible.” Sebastian’s hand rested heavily on her shoulder.
She stepped through the
doorway, but immediately spun around to see her teacher’s satisfied features
one more time, her body tired but surprisingly light.
“Saros’ Malak will be occupied
for a while. I hope you will be comfortable in her room during her absence. I
won’t burden you any longer with an escort unless you desire one.”
Kayla shook her head numbly. “I
can find my way back.” She managed a weak smile.
His face was lit with the
excitement she felt growing within her stomach. “I’m looking forward to
tomorrow already, Kayla.”
She nodded a wordless goodbye
before the door closed. As she walked alone down the hallway, she tried to
ignore the regret that their meeting was so brief.
6
Jeremy stepped stiffly through the halls, his scowl
spreading across his entire body. He knew where he’d end up again today. It was
Za’in’s fault for keeping him here without another assignment and separating
him from Kit for too many days. He was bored, focusing on meaningless things, and
all this walking wasn’t helping. That same set of double doors kept appearing
at the corners of his vision and he realized that he wasn’t wandering, but
pacing. With a growl, he changed direction, soon finding an exit that led
outside.
Not today…he wasn’t gonna do it
today. He kicked through the sand as he tread a path around the exterior of the
building, regretting everything about the last week. It started the morning he
brought the Steelryn girl to Za’in, like he was supposed to. He was an Arch and
it was his victory. That should have been the end of it. Za’in had a lot of
useless curiosities and collected plenty of worthless things; she was no
different. Sure, she was famous, there was a novelty to that, but after he
delivered her he began to wonder what Za’in had planned for this particular bit
of plunder. Jeremy recognized the rewards that came with his find, but didn’t
he deserve to see what was so special about this girl? He didn’t like the
feeling of being dismissed.
There he stood that morning, his
back to the wrong side of the door, warring with his curiosity, pride, and
little bursts of apathy. After a long stretch of stillness, he moved forward,
finally deciding it would be some kind of vague failure on his part if he
turned back and pressed his ear to the wall. It was then Jeremy heard Za’in’s
laugh. He froze. The sound was muffled, but it was undeniably…affectionate.
What was going on in there? He told himself that was enough reason to
investigate this meeting as he quietly made his way back to the doors.
Leaning into the wall, he
listened carefully, holding his breath. Za’in was going on about something, but
he couldn’t make out the content of their conversation; it just continued at
length with no change in intensity. Jeremy let out a heavy sigh, closing his
eyes. He got worked up over nothing. He slid down the wall, sitting on the cold
floor and lazily keeping his ear to the crack in the door frame.
The voices came closer and he
rose up on one knee, ready to retreat. He was sure he heard the word “weapon,”
and his face tightened as he strained to grasp the meaning of their exchange.
Suddenly Kayla cried out, either in pain or fear, followed by the sound of a
rapid series of sharp crashes, and Jeremy was on his feet, his daggers drawn,
before he acknowledged his own actions. He caught his breath, looking down at
the knives in his hands, and silently cursed his stupidity. What was he gonna
do?