“Curious?! My life is falling apart and the best you can say is ‘curious’?”
Kraghtol was being unfair, and he knew it. There were many people — mainly himself — who could be made responsible for his current situation, but so far, the noble objectively had been nothing but help. That didn’t change the fact that the other man’s calmness infuriated him.
“Yes, curious. Who do you suppose tipped off the orderkeepers?”
Kraghtol blinked, and when he didn’t answer, Valir continued patiently.
“You said he knew a lot about you. Where could he have heard that?”
Kraghtol’s mood dropped a bit more.
“Troll knows. Probably his mother told him. Mrs. Hawke. She found me in the student laboratory last night, and even though she promised — no, wait. I didn’t tell her my name and all that. He could have remembered my name from when we first met, but not…”
Kraghtol’s curiosity was kindled. HowdidRoderic Hawke get all that knowledge? Suddenly, he got a bad feeling and went to his desk, almost shoving Valir out of the way. He opened the drawer and snorted.
“That bastard! He broke into my room! I wrote letters to my father and kept them here, and now they’re gone. I knew I hadn’t forgotten to close the door yesterday!”
“You’re not very good at keeping secrets, are you?”
Valir’s velvet voice was filled with slight, amused mockery.
“But at least now you know Mrs. Hawke didn’t sell you out.”
Kraghtol found himself agreeing.
“…because by the time she knew, Roderic was already here to steal my letters. And went to the dean first thing in the morning. That asshole.”
Valir nodded noncommittally.
“In any case, and for what it’s worth, I am truly sorry you got expelled. You told me what being an alchemist means to you, that it was your dream. I… I would help you if I could. But I don’t think I can.”
That seemed to be a common theme lately, but the sentiment coming from Valir still surprised Kraghtol. This time, he looked directly at the noble, who seemed to blush from his own sudden display of compassion and continued quickly to bridge the silence.
“You asked me what it was that I wanted to do instead of this education. It’s silly, but I thought a lot about the encounter that evening, and I’ve come to a surprising realization. If anyone I know would understand, it’s you. And yes, that really says a lot about my friends.”
“You don’t know me,” said Kraghtol. “You don’t even know my face. Nobody in this fey-cursed city does. Well, knew. Now you do.”
“Perhaps. Believe it or not, most of my acquaintances are even more superficial than that. What I have seen until now intrigues me, however. As for your face… I think it suits you. It’s exotic. And perhaps a good way to get to know you better is a bit of honesty on my side. After all, I feel that, even though involuntarily, you bared a rather big secret to me, and I have not reciprocated.”
“You don’t need to. You’re not in my debt. It’s the other way around,” Kraghtol said. His mind readily continued, ‘which, by the way, I now can never pay off.’ He didn’t say that out loud.
“Be that as it may. I want to.”
He took a deep breath.
“So if I were free to choose my destiny, I would decide on being a bard. You may now commence mocking me for it.”
“A bard? You mean like a singer?” Kraghtol didn’t really know how to react. But the sudden revelation did at the very least distract him from his own problems for a moment.
“I can see that. You’ve got the voice for it,” he admitted. “And I think you’d be an excellent performer, too. But being a bard is not exactly a prestigious profession, is it?”
“No, it’s not. And that’s why it’s a silly dream. Oh, sure, I could write poetry, or I could sing as a hobby, but it’s not the real thing. To perform risqué songs in front of two dozen drunk tavern patrons? Absolutely unthinkable for someone of my status. My father would have none of that. And yet, yes, that’smydream.”
It came unexpectedly, but Kraghtol felt pity for the noble.
“I… understand,” he whispered. “Listen, I’m pretty sure you are romanticizing the matter considerably, but with all the trollshit that happened to me in the last weeks… I can relate.”
And then, suddenly, there was a fire inside him. Not the red-hot flames of rage he was so familiar with, but a different spark. A determination he had never experienced like that before, and he raised his voice.
