Page 249

Rain continues through dinner. By nineteen hundred, it has become colder. Cassian and I stand beneath the eastern watch canopy wearing weather cloaks and expressions of mutual suffering. "I hate patrol." He announces.

"We haven't started."

"I like to establish my position early."

Keeper Gideon hands each of us a lantern. "East Seven."

Cassian accepts his. "Any chance the wards can patrol themselves tonight?" Keeper Gideon gives him a look. Cassian nods. "Understood."

East Seven follows a long stretch of forest between two smaller villages. Nothing particularly important. Which is exactly why students patrol it. Senior officers take gates. Dragon Riders cover broad distances. First- and second-years monitor the quiet places. The places everyone assumes nothing will happen. A thought I would have found reassuring once. Not anymore.

Rain taps steadily against my hood. Our lanterns cast small pools of amber light across the muddy path. For the first twenty minutes Cassian talks. Of course. About exams. Food. The fact that Nyra has apparently reorganized his study notes without permission. Then he becomes quiet. It takes me several minutes to notice. Cassian is rarely quiet unless someone else needs space. Tonight no one asked. I glance toward him. Rain runs from the edge of his hood. His eyes remain on the path. "What?"

He looks at me. "What what?"

"You stopped talking."

"I do that."

"No." I grin.

"I sleep."

"Different."

He smiles faintly. "Maybe I ran out."

I look at him. "Impossible."

That gets a real smile. Small. Then it disappears. We pass the first ward marker. Steady light. Normal hum. I write the time. Cassian checks the surrounding ground. No disturbance. We continue. "You knew Jonas." I say eventually. Not a question.

Cassian's pace changes. Barely. "Yeah."

"How well?"

"Not well." His answer comes quickly. Then— "Enough." I wait. He knows he doesn't have to continue. That's probably why he does. "We had Tactical History together." A pause. "Jonas used to sit behind me." The smile fades. "He cheated off my quizzes."

I frown. "You allowed that?"

"No." He says. "I changed my answers to wrong ones after I noticed."

I stare. "That's terrible."

"He stopped."

Despite myself I laugh. "There he is."

Cassian looks ahead. "He was annoying." The words are affectionate. "He talked during lectures. Borrowed things and forgot to return them. Always had food. He'd bring extra for everyone and then complain we ate it." I listen. "I didn't know him well." Cassian repeats. Then more quietly— "But I knew what his laugh sounded like." That one hurts.

We walk another fifty yards. Mud pulling at our boots. Rain filling the spaces between words.

"You make everyone laugh." I say.

He shrugs. "Occupational hazard."

"That's not an occupation."

"It should be." I look at him. He knows. Of course he knows exactly what I'm asking.