Judging by her animated expression as she reads, this scroll doesn’t contain other deathly news.
“Simeon says something wonderful has happened!” She drops the scroll onto her toast crusts, elated. “We have to get to the school right away. Will you come with me?” Lowering her voice, she adds, “Just the two of us, and let’s be really quiet about it. I don’t want to make a scene.”
No one in the palace would want her leaving with the fever still raging in the city. I probably should tell her no, to stay where she’ssafe, but I can never resist that light in her eyes when she looks at me like she needs something.
“Sure,” I agree. “But give me a moment. We should at least bring Meredy with us.”
Only Meredy is nowhere to be found. Panting from my run through the palace as I make my way back to Valoria, I remember Meredy saying something as we drifted off last night about trying to have supplies sent to Crowther Manor for her sick sister.
I’m glad my girlfriend has such a good heart. At least, that’s what I tell myself as Valoria and I walk to the temple over ground damp with fallen leaves, forcing Valoria to lean hard on her cane and me to keep from slipping. But the truth is, I miss her.
“This had better bereallyimportant, Simeon!” I call as I push open the temple door and usher Valoria inside. “I hate risking our queen’s safety!”
We’re greeted by an empty library—aside from Noranna’s three metal soldiers keeping guard over the bookcases—and a roaring fire in the room’s modest hearth.
As we hurry past the soldiers toward the warmth of the flames, a metal arm shoots out, blocking our path.
“What the blazes?” I shout, pushing Valoria to safety as I gape at the metal soldier whose arm is now extended in front of us. I feel Valoria peeking over my shoulder, her breathing rapid from the scare.
Before I can think what to do next, the soldier’s fingers bend in my direction, grabbing a fistful of my cloak.
I try to tug it from the soldier’s grasp. It yanks on the cloak so fiercely in return, I’m forced to surrender it or be pulled into the sturdy embrace of metal arms. Given the choice, it can have my cloak. The soldier bows with a whine of hinges as I let go.
“Fascinating,” Valoria breathes.
“Not really.” I grab her arm, guiding her away from the soldier as it flicks my cloak over its shoulder like a butler and returns to its motionless state beside its fellows.
“Simeon!” I growl, my voice echoing down the corridors that spiral off from the library. There’s no way Noranna invented metal brains for the soldiers’ metal bodies since the last time we saw her, so this has to be a joke of Simeon’s. He’s gone too far this time, though, and I can feel my temper rising as my heartbeat refuses to slow down. “I don’t know what kind of prank this is, but you should know better than to—”
“It’s not a prank!” Simeon calls as he hurries into the room. “Trust me,” he says, unable to keep from grinning despite shrinking back slightly when he sees the anger written across my face. “This is going to changeeverything.”
The mage students, minus Karston, follow Simeon into the room with Noranna in the lead. I’m relieved not to hear any sniffles among them, only eager whispers. Mostly eager, anyway. Noranna bites her lip as she sees the soldier holding my cloak, and a faint crease cuts between her brows. Frowning, she whispers something to Azelie.
“Simeon,” I say slowly, feeling like I’m missing something obvious. “What did you—?”
“It was my doing,” Karston says proudly, appearing from behind the bookcase closest to the metal soldiers and tossing a cocky grin to the room at large. Suddenly, I realize why he and Jax don’t get along: There’s a bit of Jax’s storm in him, and Jax is his own worst enemy.
“What in Death’s name?” I demand, glowering at Karston as I gesture to the soldier holding my cloak.
“I finally figured out my gift, Master Odessa. Majesty.” He glances between me and Valoria, and as he does so, the three soldiers turnas one to face us. “I can make things move without touching them. With just my thoughts.”
The soldiers bow stiffly, then do a little shuffling dance across the library rug. Karston never touches them, though he moves his hands at his sides just slightly as the figures do whatever it is, I suppose, that he wills them to.
“Is that all they can do?” I manage, swallowing over a dry throat.
Karston shakes his head, a hint of pride in his voice as he replies, “Not half of it.”
“How is this possible?” Valoria moves closer to Karston to study him with her glasses lowered, as though without them, her Sight will show her how Karston’s mind works. Just like he’s one of her inventions.
I glance at Simeon, trying to read his expression as Karston gives us an explanation of what he can do. None of what he’s saying makes any sense, yet Simeon doesn’t seem worried in the slightest. In fact, just the opposite. Guess that means I’ll have to be the voice of reason here.
“You saw the gates to the Deadlands when we went to find Jax, didn’t you?” I ask sharply, drawing Karston’s gaze. When he nods, I continue, “Then you definitely have a necromancer’s Sight. That makes you anecromancer. End of—”
“But his eyes aren’t blue,” Simeon answers for him. “We’ve been trying to figure out his gift since he came here, but given recent changes to the law...” He glances guiltily at Valoria, then back to me. “It’s not like we could test his gift the old-fashioned way, by having him perform a raising.”
“I’m sorry I startled you, Master Odessa,” Karston adds, holding my gaze.
“There’s nothing to apologize for,” I grumble. Though we talkedat length about our lives while looking for Jax in the Deadlands, how much I hate surprises wasn’t something that came up. “And you really ought to quit using my title.”
