I wasn’t sure if it was fear exactly, or excitement, or some combination. The truth was, he didn’t have to try very hard to convince me. I wanted to go. And I did genuinely trust he could keep my identity secret, from Voltaire, Panzen, Maskey, and Warrington, at least. None of them was skilled enough with magic to pose a threat, especially if I wore my mother’s crystal.
Still, of course it was reckless.
Those four wouldn’t be the only Magicals there. There would be older students, students who were smarter, and who knew significantly more magic.
Bones and I trying to eavesdrop oneithermeeting was reckless.
But he wouldn’t have come to me unless he’d thought it through. He clearly wanted to listen in on the Golden Sun meeting badly enough that he’d decided it was worth the risk. And maybe I’d finally hear something real about Alaric.
A pain hit my chest at the thought.
Had Bones heard anything about Alaric recently? Would he tell me if he had?
Maybe this was his way of proving to me that I could trust him.
I couldn’t help flashing back to how terrified Alaric had been all summer. He’d been more afraid of being caught by Dark Cathedral than I had, and I’dknownwhat they would do to me. Maybe the difference was, I’d known that was a risk whether they caught me spying on them or not. I wouldn’t survive a war won by Dark Cathedral, no matter what I did or didn’t do, whereas Alaric could conceivably hide among the royals and probably come out of this thing alive, as long as he didn’t get labeled a traitor along the way.
“Oh,” Bones said, as if remembering. “There’s a missive by the Priest on Thursday. I thought you might want to listen in.”
“Thursday?” My mind immediately went to the date. “You’re planning to go?”
Bones raised an eyebrow. “Go? Where would I go, Shadow? I’m not talking about a royals party. This is just a broadcast.”
I thought about that, and nodded. “Where do you normally listen? In your room? Or somewhere else?”
His jaw tightened. “I don’t normally listen at all, if I’m being honest. But I was thinking my room, yes. It’d be less suspiciousfor you to be in the Mansion at night, and you could disguise your appearance before showing up at my door. With that and the crystal, no one would blink. Anyway, almost no one wanders about that part of the castle, especially at night.” Still watching my face, he added, “The Priest tends to broadcast late. Usually around eleven. Just come to my tower around ten or ten-thirty. That should be plenty early.”
But I was staring at him again.
“You don’t normally listen in?” My lips pursed. “Why not?”
“Why would I?” he scoffed. “I’ve been listening to that rubbish since I was old enough to crawl. I don’t need to be indoctrinated, Shadow. That’s been my father’s main purpose with me from the day I was born.” He studied my eyes. “But I imagine it will be plenty instructive for you. And maybe I can fill in some of the gaps, like I said.”
I gave him another puzzled look, and he rolled his eyes.
“You don’t have to come,” he said, sounding annoyed. “It was an offer. You can stop looking at me like you think it’s some kind of nefarious trap.”
“No, it’s just…” I trailed, staring at him. “Don’t the other royals wonder that you don’t go to listen to the broadcasts with them?”
His expression cleared. He shook his head, once. “No. They generally go to Bonescastle on missive nights. They throw listening parties in a few select places around the city, invite-only. They know I can’t leave campus, so they’re used to me not being there.”
My eyebrows rose higher.
“You can’t leave campus?” He’d said things along those lines to me before, but never so many in the same conversation, and never so unambiguously. Suddenly, the combination really struck me. “What do you mean, you can’t leave campus?” I asked again. “Your friends spy on you for your father. You told me theother day you aren’t allowed to carry money, and now you can’t leave campus? You mention all that like it’s nothing, and I’m just supposed to, what? Pretend it’s normal? What the hell is going on, Bones?”
His jaw ticked, right before he met my gaze.
From his flat expression, it was clear he had no intention of answering that.
“Why are you offering this to me?” I asked, at a loss. “You didn’t even want to share magic a few weeks ago. Why would you do this for me now?”
He flinched, visibly that time.
I watched him hesitate, as if thinking, then slowly shake his head. When he met my gaze, I saw a flicker of that green-gold fire, like a slow-moving wave.
“What makes you think I’m doing it for you?” he asked.
24
