These were people I’d known and trusted, many of which I’d trained or recruited, and to see their bodies desecrated in such a way left a sour taste in my mouth that had nothing to do with the smell of death in the air.
I failed them.
Faylinn squeezed my hand tighter in hers at the self-deprecating thought.
“They made their choice, just as you made theirs. Do not cheapen their sacrifice.”She turned my own words against me.“If they had not stayed, the numbers that would have met us on the plains of Deucena would have been insurmountable. We would have lost the war. They are heroes and will be remembered as such.”
The steel in her voice and glint in her eye left no room for argument and, for once, I let the burden of command fall from my shoulders.
Our boots clicked against the stone as we climbed the steps to the Academy, the wide and tall oak doors swung wide and slightly askew, as if they were blasted apart.
Aside from a few dead in the direct entryway—all of them lying on their stomachs as if they’d attempted to flee—the Academy was untouched.
“Why wouldn’t they come through here?” Faylinn wondered aloud.
“Probably had orders to ransack Vespera before moving on to Deucena. My guess is there was a deadline.”
Faylinn hummed but said nothing.
“Why? What are you thinking?”
Faylinn shushed me, finger to her lips as she squinted, straining to hear something.
“Do you hear that?” she whispered.
I paused, the thumping of my heart overpowering any other noise.
“This way,” she said, pulling on my hand as she took off at a jog, aiming for the mess hall at the end of the hallway.
The doors were closed but the closer we drew, the clearer the noise became.
“It sounds like?—”
“Music,” Faylinn cut me off. “It sounds like music.”
Curious and more than a bit perturbed, I let go of Faylinn’s hand in favor of shaking the obsidian doors.
Squeals and shouts of alarm came from inside the mess hall as the music died, only stoking my urge to fling the doors wide.
Survivors. My brain chanted over and over.There are survivors!
The doors swung inward on my next push, aided by someone on the other side. I stumbled into the mess hall, nearly losing my footing and squinting against the light that shone from the walls. Every Mage Orb was lit, sconces and torches from ages past joining the more modern technology to banish any shadows that dared to linger.
I heard the doors shut behind me and felt Faylinn’s presence at my back as I took in the scene before me.
Dozens of little eyes stared at me from under tables and around pillars. Tiny hands clasped tiny hands as children of all ages huddled together.
“King d’Alvey! You’ve returned!” a jovial yet calm voice intoned, causing my head to whip away from the children to an adult Mage I never expected to see here.
“Felix?” I asked, stepping toward the greying Pleasure Mage, ignoring the honorific that I neither wanted nor deserved. He was skinnier than I remembered, the circles beneath his eyes dark and pronounced. My eyes flitted to the children, noticing their thin frames and deadened eyes as well. Clearly, the battle had taken its toll in more than one way.
“Apologies for the music, King d’Alvey. It helps distract the little ones from their growling bellies,” Felix said, bouncing a little girl in his arms.
Faylinn’s sob caught me off guard, and I stumbled backward as she pushed me in her haste to reach the baby. Felix’s smile was knowing, his eyes sad as he held the child out to Faylinn without so much as a word in protest. With shaky arms, Faylinn tucked the child into her chest, pushing her face into the child’s neck to whisper things I couldn’t hear but could only imagine.
Watching her cuddle the baby in such an instinctively protective way had a ball of emotion welling in my chest, threatening to overflow completely.
I roughly cleared my throat when I noticed Felix’s knowing gaze sparkling with intensity.
