Lory paused her reading to listen to Tabi’s explanation because, no matter how much she intended not to care the least bit about what Falcrest did or thought, she couldn’t seem to stop herself whenever his name came up.
“Khayrivven Falcrest is unmatched in Veiled and Steel. The only reason they didn’t make him Steel Hand is because he refused to take Sil’s position, and Veiled was open.”
Khayrivven? Ignoring the sound of Falcrest’s full name, Lory grumbled to herself, pretending that curiosity wasn’t eating her up from the inside. “Or it’s because he’s a sneaky bastard by nature.”
“Just because he rejected you doesn’t mean he isn’t good at what he does.”
Lory wouldn’t have needed the reminder of what everyone believed happened between them, but it hurt even more when it came from one of the few people she more-or-less trusted. But Falcrest’s orders had been clear.Deal with it.
“I know.” A sigh escaped Lory’s nose. “And that’s perhaps worse than if he were an impostor. At least, then I’d have a reason to be upset with him.”
“You do have a reason to be upset with him,” Thal objected with a boyish grin, his chocolate brown eyesshimmering with mischief. “Anyone who doesn’t fall at your feet when you offer a kiss is a stupid fool.”
“Shameless flirt,” Lory threw at him, a half-grin tugging on her mouth.
“Always happy to be of service.” With a mock-bow, Thal summoned another splash of water and sent it her way, smacking it to her cheek in a wet facsimile of a kiss. “Besides, I get why you’d give it a try—he might be a prick, but he’s the best-looking prick I’ve ever seen.”
“Will the three of you shut up?” Jarek complained from his corner. “I’m trying to actually remember some of this before I go to my death at the practical exam in a few days.”
Just like that, all lightheartedness left the room, and Lory’s chest tightened at the thought that, even if her magic showed, there was a good chance she’d be executed on the spot if it chose to present as flames once more.
While Thal went back to weaving strings from water and Jarek dug his nose back into his book, Tabi brushed her braids back and asked in a whisper, “Whydidyou throw yourself at him to begin with?”
No one had asked her that, all of them probably wanting to spare her the awkwardness.
“I mean, yes, he’s gorgeous and unparalleled at any combat discipline I’ve seen him perform, but why try to kiss him?” Tabi’s eyebrows rose in her typical fashion. “Did anything happen between you two? Did you get …close?”
“Guardians, no.” Lory instantly regretted not being able to control her impulse to deny any such thing might have occurred.
“So, you simplythrewyourself at him?” The disbelief in Tabi’s tone told Lory she’d need to get her story straight, and perhaps learn what Falcrest had already told leadership about the supposed incident. And she didn’t mean the general side of things but the exact events leading up to him feelingassaultedenough to set her on fire.
“Sure.” A small shrug and the innocent expression that had earned her a piece of bread here and there when she was a child did their part in getting Tabi to let the topic rest—for now.
“So, three more days until the test,” Thal stretched his legs under the plain wooden table and leaned his back against the wall the bench was situated at. “Perhaps it’s time you throw yourself at the captain one more time.”
Perhaps it was hope,perhaps desperation—Lory didn’t know what exactly made her climb the stairs to the higher levels of the pyramid that afternoon after training on the parcours with the others, her dagger fastened to her belt and her heart pounding like a war drum. She hadn’t been up there, only heard about it from Tabi and Eira, who had been summoned to Falcrest’s office before.
A line of torches illuminated the windowless hallway, giving the place the same dungeon-like atmosphere as the two basements Lory had already seen. The offices left and right might as well have been prison cells for all that sheknew, and if she didn’t watch out, she’d end up locked behind one of the steel doors.
“Looking for someone?” Lory’s heart almost dropped into her boots when Falcrest snuck up on her as he had perfected over the past weeks.
Wheeling around, Lory had her dagger half-drawn as she faced him.
“If you pull your weapon at that speed in a real attack, you’ll be dead before you can behold your attacker’s handsome face.”
Heat pooled in Lory’s core at the way he smirked down at her, firelight dancing in his eyes.
“You sure you want to go there,Khayrivven?” she drawled. “Don’t forget, you just fought me off with a torch for my vicious attempt at killing you by sucking the air out of your lungs with my mouth. Don’t tempt me.”
The laugh coming out of him was so genuine, so unguarded, Lory’s heart beat a little faster to catch up the beat it had missed.
“DoI tempt you?” Again, his hand wandered up to her face, pausing right by her cheek like he had in the dream.
“No?” Why it sounded like a question, Lory couldn’t even begin to fathom. Falcrest’s grin widened. “At least, not that way. To suck the air out of your lungs, yes. I’d do that again any day.”
Instead of drawing his dagger and stabbing her in the stomach, the way he might have with breakfast stragglers, Falcrest took her hand and pulled her along to a door at the end of the hallway. With his free hand, he extracted a keyfrom his pocket and unlocked the door the old-fashioned way, before guiding her into an office the size of the dormitory. Bookshelves lined the walls on one side; a heavy, cedar wood desk stood at the center, and behind it, a plain, wooden chair. But the thing Lory couldn’t look away from was the broad window opening to a view on the training yard where students she identified as thornlings were climbing with ease the obstacles her own peers knew might cost them their lives.
Guardians, they were fast. Skilled. Not as good as Anees, or Phantoms Washings and Bleek, not to speak about Falcrest—because there was no one as good as him—but they didn’t hesitate before jumping, nor did they lose their footing on the steep barriers and facades they were supposed to climb.
