“If you succeed, recognition and opportunities beyond your imagination await.” Gray Braid paused for effect, and surprisingly, Ricca and Thal’s eyes lit up at whatever they thought—or knew the reward for surviving this place would be.
“Whether you’ve been here a week or a day, today you become an ashling. From this day on, this is your home. Welcome to Ashthorn Ward.”
Five
Applause roseat the front tables, where Lory suspected the older students sat—the ones Gray Braid had calledthornlings—and when it ebbed, the crowd got up, lining up by the counter.
“You coming?” Lory barely heard Tabi, the woman already getting to her feet to stand in line for breakfast.
If the bone-deep shock would let her out of its hold, she might feel her body again and be able to stand up, but all she could see was the collapsed man, life taken from him just like that. Not even on the butcher’s block had she felt the Guardians had forsaken her, but this… This brutal display of power and hierarchy?—
It was an act of willpower for Lory to swallow every last thought and force herself into a standing position. And hobble after the others. She needed to eat, or this place would digest her and spit her out before she could even bemoan her own existence.
“Take some of the goat cheese.” Tabi pulled her toward the edge of the counter, shoving a tray into her hands. “And the dark bread. You only get that at Ashthorn, too expensive for the common army.”
Like in a daze, Lory scooped up a ball of the white, herb-sprinkled cheese Tabi pointed out and allowed the woman to place a slice of bread on her plate.
“And eggs. You look like you need some serious energy.” Tabi held up two fingers to the man behind the counter, who promptly dumped a portion of scrambled eggs onto their plates. “Fruit.” Tabi jerked her chin at the large array of glass bowls at the other end of the counter. “Take your pick now before the good ones are all gone.”
Lory did as she was told, the smell of food ensnaring her so thoroughly it was hard to believe, one moment ago, she’d been convinced she’d never eat again.
Following Tabi’s lead, she picked up a random bowl, uncaring what type of fruit it was. Any fruit was a luxury for a street rat like her, and if she could have cheese and eggs and a choice of fruit in one meal, she shouldn’t pass on it, no matter the still-wet blood on the dais, but lead filled her stomach, and bile rose in her throat.
When they returned to the table, Brycon, Frost, and Ricca were already eating; only Thal was behind them in theline. “Scoot over, Fresh Meat,” he prompted, setting down his tray next to hers and plopping what looked a lot like an olive into his mouth.
“Respect your female fellow ashlings, Thal.” Ricca snapped her fingers in front of his face, reaching over Lory’s tray as she stared unseeingly at the food she couldn’t believe she was about to eat.
A full meal. And she didn’t need to steal any of it.
Nothing had ever tasted as good and as wrong as the first bite of goat cheese she spooned into her mouth with a tiny piece of bread.
“I’m not disrespecting female ashlings,” Thal protested with too much humor for anyone just having witnessed someone die. “Brycon is a nice piece of fresh meat, too.”
“You disrespect all ashlings then?” Lory asked over the mouthful of food, unable to swallow before savoring it properly. Perhaps it was the explosion of flavor in her mouth, but for that moment, Lory’s heart felt a bit lighter, and the grin on Thal’s face might have been the friendliest thing she’d seen since her brother smiled at her that night before he died.
Thal burst into a small, deep laugh. “I genuinely disrespect anyone who asks for it.”
“Shut up, Thal,” Ricca repeated, and Tabi stole an olive from his plate, giving him a rude gesture.
“See, she’s asking for it.” With a theatrical reach for his heart, Thal stared at Tabi.
“She’s tired of hearing you talk,” Brycon translated without looking up, leading his fruit-laden fork to his mouth.
Rolling his eyes, Thal turned to Lory, giving her his full attention like there was nothing more interesting in the world. “So, how did you end up here, Fresh Meat? Applied? Referred by military leadership? Invited?”
Lory quickly shoved a larger piece of bread into her mouth, then gave an excusing shrug while she slowly chewed.
“All right—” Leaning on his elbow, Thal glanced around the table. “I applied a few months ago and was accepted last week. Had to pack up my things and leave my mom’s bakery within hours.” Popping another olive into his mouth, he gestured at Brycon, who was binding his long black hair at the nape of his neck with a leather string. “Brycon arrived the same day as me. Supposedly, he was referred by military leadership because he’s got all the brains.”
Brycon’s brown cheeks turned a shade of pink Lory had only seen on the edges of dark desert roses.
“Don’t get all flattered, Bry. The Guardians may have blessed you with the brains, but they moved on before they could bless you with the looks.” Before Brycon could protest—or turn an even deeper shade of pink—Thal rolled on. “Because the looks all went to my woman Tabi here.”
Tabi merely raised a thin black eyebrow, biting sharply into a piece of hard cheese with gleaming, white teeth, and Lory couldn’t help but grin when Thal cringed.
“He thinks he speaks for all of us,” Ricca explained, half-amused, half-annoyed. “Not anything of value comes out of that mouth.”
The mock pout Thal gave her was comical enough to ease the tension in Lory’s stomach—or perhaps the food finally did its task.
