“They accepted me a year ago,” Ricca announced with too much pride to make Lory anything other than suspicious. “Took about three more months to convince my family it’s the right choice. I moved here three weeks ago. Was the first of us … well, except for Frost. He’s been here longer.”
It didn’t elude Lory that Frost made no move to explain himself or why he’d chosen to come to Ashthorn Ward.
“You all came here willingly?” Lory couldn’t help but wonder if any of them could be sane if they signed up for this place of their own free will. She didn’t want to point out the obvious, but—“Even knowing they kill people in here?”
For a moment, Lory held her breath, carrying the weight of all their gazes as they put two and two together. “You’re not one of the applicants or referrals, then?” Ricca asked, more caution in her tone than when she’d introduced herself.
“Theykillpeople because they miss breakfast.” Lory held out both her hands in an open shrug. “What do you think?”
From the glint of discomfort in Ricca’s eyes, Lory knew she shouldn’t have said anything. The othersappliedto be here. Who knew how they felt about a random criminal thrown into the mix? Thank the Guardians, Lory hadn’t mentioned anything about her run-in with Observant Eye, Gray Braid’s order to execute her, or that Falcrest’s obnoxiously handsome face would have been the last thing she saw had they not conscripted her to this abomination of an academy.
“They do occasionally peel filth off the streets of Dunai and conscript them to Ashthorn,” Ricca noted with an expression on her face as if she’d smelled something rotten.
“No one peeled me off the streets,” Lory protested with less bite than she’d intended. In her mind, she added,At least, not in the literal sense.
“Oh.” Ricca tilted her head an inch, looking Lory up and down, eyes glinting like dark green gemstones. “Something else then… Any special talents? Abilities that are rare to come by?”
Tabi shot her a glance that suggested she was close to sending her fork flying for Ricca’s head.
“Nothing of the sort,” Lory admitted, wondering if she should come up with a quick lie to settle the matter of why she was there, but Ricca was already talking again.
“Got into a fight before you came here, or is that from yourlackof special skills?”
The bite of goat cheese and bread Lory had taken soured in her stomach. “That depends on whether you define getting hit over the head as aspecial skill.”
Tabi smothered a chuckle while Thal shot Lory a grin, pointing at her head with a long finger. “Explains the bruises.”
Brycon and Ricca shared a look that said it all.
“So, why do they kill students if they aren’t on time for breakfast?” Lory asked in a shameless attempt to avert their attention.
Tabi raised her other eyebrow at Lory. “The elite of the king’s military can’t risk having weaklings in their midst. Where others fail, we need to be perfect. If we can’t even make it for a simple meal, how can we be certain we won’t be a split second too late to save our charge when we’re in service?” There was no compassion in her tone, only fact. “Why do you think I signed up?” She didn’t wait for Lory’s response. “My father was ashmarked, working at the king’s court. I will follow in his footsteps.”
“It’s an honor to work directly at King Ulder’s court,” Brycon pointed out as if that was something Lory wasn’t aware of, and the casualness of his assumption stung deeper than Lory would have liked to admit.
They all signed up for this or were transferred from other branches of the Brestolyan military. An elite academy, not a prison. Still, what they said and what Lory had just witnessed didn’t add up.
“Why have I never heard anything about Ashthorn Ward before today?” It was truly the only question she needed to ask. Anees had mentioned it was the most secretive academy in all of Brestolya, but she hadn’t mentioned what they taught in this brutal place.
“Because no one does unless they are meant to be here.” Ricca’s voice dropped to a whisper, the six of them instinctively leaning closer. She tucked strands of hair that kept dancing into her face back behind her ear.
“Because they don’t want the kingdom to know they kill people for breakfast?” Lory didn’t care that all five of them were already watching her with suspicion.
“Because whoever is in here comes from a family that has shown evidence of magic.”
Lory’s heart stopped for a hot second, the food in her stomach turning leaden. “Magic,” she mouthed.
“Don’t look so surprised, Fresh Meat.” Thal nudged her with his elbow, holding yet another olive in his hand, readyto plop into his mouth. “You sure have some magic yourself, or you wouldn’t have ended up here.”
Images of people being whipped, being executed in public for their magic, flashed through Lory’s mind as she stared at Thal’s square face, the mischievous grin on his lips, the short black curls bouncing on his head as he cocked it, knocking on the table with the knuckles of his free hand.
“Anyone home up there?” He gestured at Lory’s head.
“But they…” Deep breaths were the only thing keeping Lory from panicking all over again.
“They what?” Ricca prompted, genuinely curious as she followed the cascade of emotions crossing Lory’s features.
“Ulder hates magic. He executes magic wielders by the dozen every day.” It was a challenge not to scream the words.
