Smiling, Bes places his hand on my exposed forearm, warming the skin there. “We’ll find some way to stall your initiation with the order. You have our word.”
I stare into his dark eyes, warm in the lamplight. “That’s all I need.”
Cec clears his throat after a moment. “So, how did the rest of training go?”
An unwelcome heat rises up my neck from the memory of Bes and I on the floor. With all the excitement, I’d nearly forgotten about it.
“Fine, thanks,” I mutter. “Better than whatever it was you were trying to do.”
“I heard it was more than fi—aye!”
Bes reaches over and smacks Cec on the back of the head.
“What was that for?” Cec complains, rubbing the spot where Bes struck him.
“You gossip too much,” is all Bes says before going back to his book.
Cec flips a page with unnecessary force. Not like he can even read it. “It’s notmyfault you and Hawkins are all anyone wants to talk about.”
Bes cocks his head back toward Cec. “It’s not ours either. And you don’t have to fan the flames by participating.”
“I wasn’t participating, I was eavesdropping. There’s a difference.”
“Is it any better, though?” I wonder.
Cec shrugs. “Depends on who you ask. But you might want to consider more discretion in the future.”
“We were training, Cec, nothing more.”
Something pricks at my heart. Bes’s dismissal of what happened in the training room stings more than it should. I know he’s only trying to defend my honor, and probably preserve his own in the process, but still.
Bes and I spend the next few hours reading book after scroll after scrap of ancient paper about Seti the First. Bes reads aloud the tidbits he finds most interesting so Cec can give his thoughts, but it’s few and far between. All this time spent, and we’re no closer to figuring out any semblance of a sequence.
I slam my fifth large tome shut once I reach the end. “If I have to read that scholars have no clue how long Seti’s reign actually was one more time, I’m going to scream.”
Bes presses his fingers into his forehead. “Honestly, the most fascinating thing about Seti the First was his son.”
His son…the mention of him triggers a memory of something I read back at the university.
Cec stands up. “Might as well get some food. Looks like we’re going to be here all night.”
I wave him on. “You go on ahead, bring me back something appetizing.”
He grins as Bes joins him. “We’ll bring ourselves back, don’t worry.”
I throw an empty leather container from one of the many scrolls sprawled out on the table at him; it bounces off his arm and clatters to the floor.
“Aye, watch it, I have delicate muscles.”
“Idiot,” I mutter.
They scamper off in the direction of what I have to assume is the front entrance to the Archives, talking in low, unintelligible murmurs.
Finally alone, I jump up from my chair.Time to test out another theory about how deep Nonna’s connection to the order goes.
“Anders!”
He peeks his head over a haphazard stack of books.
