His father hadn’t given him any money, of course.
As much as he’d worked to convince the Bones patriarch that he was trustworthy now, that he took the training seriously, that he believe in the cause and his role in it, he’d never fully succeeded in getting his father to believe him.
Then again, Malefic likely wouldn’t have trusted him no matter what he’d done, not his first year out from under his thumb, no matter how much ideological claptrap Caelum recited back to convince his father he was a true believer now.
The money, though… that struck him as a definite problem.
It was also a problem he intended to remedy, if he could find a way to do it without his father finding out. He’d have to think on the best way to get his hands on some, and, more importantly, a way to hide it so he didn’t get caught.
He found the three mages he’d been instructed to find near the end of the train.
From their reactions to seeing him, they’d been provided with photographs, too.
All three grinned to one another as he walked in, but Caelum felt something hard in his chest relax once he noted the sluggish, cloudy, unstructured magic that whispered around all three of them. Two were physically a lot bigger than him, but that wouldn’t be a problem if he could dominate their magic.
He couldn’t be too obvious about it, of course.
They would be useful messengers to his father, in any case, once he figured out how to control them. Which told him they were also likely diversions, at least in part. His father would have smarter and more magically-adept servants within the walls of of the preparatory school, and not all of them would be students.
Still, his father must have chosen these three beasts for a reason.
Caelum approached them warily.
“Well if it isn’t Poncy Prince Bones.” The tallest of the three boys chortled as he stood to look Caelum up and down. He dipped in a sarcastic bow, bending too low and flinging out an arm mockingly. “Such anhonor,sire. We’re sohappyto meet our sweet little cash cow.”
“He’s smaller than I thought he’d be,” the shorter, leaner one observed. “Isn’t he smaller than you thought he’d be, Pants?”
“Definitely smaller.” The tall one smirked at Caelum’s face. “You know, your father said we can beat the shit out of you if you get out of line, Prince Ponce. Or if we get bored. Or if we just feel like it. He also says you’re a little prick who usually needs to learn things more than once. So we might need toadd insome lessons if our message don’t stick.”
Caelum didn’t change expression.
He walked over to the opposite bench and sat down.
Planting his feet wide in expensive, metal-tipped, mooq leather boots, he folded his arms.
His eyes found the third mage, who still hadn’t spoken. He was somehow larger than the other two, a hulking monster withgiant hands and a mean, half-formed face with small eyes. Dirty blond, curly hair covered his ears and neck.
Gauging the look there, Caelum thought,that one, I might need to keep an eye on.
He looked significantly smarter than the other two, even if his magic wasn’t.
Shelving that for now, Caelum gave them each a flat, contemptuous stare.
“You’d better not lay a finger on me in front of another person,” he warned coldly. “You’re being paid to be my ‘friends,’ remember? And bodyguards. You start fucking with me in front of people, and it’s notmemy father’s going to skin alive. It’s notmyparents, either, who’ll end up in front of a magistrate on some trumped-up charge.”
Seeing the blood drain out of the taller one’s face, Caelum hid a smirk.
Well, that was easy.
He nodded at the shorter, bonier one. “You’re Maskey?”
Scarpen “Scar” Maskey’s jaw fell stupidly.
“And you’re Panzen,” Caelum said, looking at the taller one disdainfully. His eyes slid casually to the third. “Which means you have to be Voltaire.”
He exhaled as if bored beyond belief by the mere sight of them.
“I should mention,” he said next. “If you three’re thinking you’ll just have a go at me when no one’s looking, I wouldn’t be so sure I can’t defend myself. Particularly against three simpletons my father didn’t even bother to warn. But then, it’s unlikely he’ll view it as any great loss if I were to accidentally kill one of you.”
