Bastial Energy (18 page)

“I won’t be asking.” Terren had told Cleve not to ask teachers personal questions, especially warrior teachers.

“Neither will I.”

There were hundreds of students walking from Warrior’s Field to their campus houses. Cleve searched for the thick black hair he remembered of Alex. He found some with hair of the same color, but none were of the same height or build.

“You’re the only one who beat me,” Fez said.

“I noticed.”

“I would like a rematch tomorrow after class is finished. Do you accept?”

Warriors don’t reject the challenge of a duel
, Terren had told him.
To do so is the same as losing
. Cleve thought of Warrior Sneary’s recommendation to avoid combat until endurance day was done. It sounded like good advice, but as he glanced at Warrior’s Field and saw dozens of students still there dueling each other, it became impossible to follow.

“I accept. Bring your dueling sword and tunic tomorrow.”

“Good. I’ll be ready for your leaping this time.”

“We shall see.” Then Cleve spotted Alex, who was still out on the field, dueling. Excitement fluttered up into Cleve’s chest from his stomach. He mumbled to Fez, “I need to speak with someone. Until tomorrow.” Then he jogged back onto the field.

The duel had ended by the time Cleve reached the combatants, who were breathing heavily. Cleve couldn’t tell who’d won, nor did he care. He rounded on Alex and said, “I need to speak with you.”

“Cleve!” Alex sounded pleasantly surprised. “So speak. How were your duels?” He positioned himself for another bout with his opponent.

“I need to talk in private.”

Alex let down his sword. “I’ll give you another chance tomorrow if you like,” he said to his opponent and followed Cleve to an open spot on the field. “I hope this is good news. You wish to notify me of your lovely roommate’s infatuation with me?”

“What? Effie?” He’d seen them talking for some time but hadn’t spoken to her since the party. “No, this is about much more serious matters. What do you know about the investigation we discussed last night?”

Alex nervously checked in each direction. “Did you tell someone? Is that why Javy Rayvender is here? What did you say? I should never have
spoken to you about that.” He suddenly seemed even more panicked than Cleve.

“I told no one. I’m trying to figure out something, and I can’t remember everything you told me.”

“It’s better if you don’t remember. It might help me stay out of the dungeons. I have no idea why I was so compelled to tell you last night. I think the unannounced threat of war has been pushing so hard on my conscience that I may be losing my mind. The war! I can’t believe I brought that up either.” Alex slapped his palm on his forehead.

He seemed to be in the need of consoling, but Cleve was in no mood. “Do you know that my bow was taken last night? It happened while I was at your house.”

“I didn’t even know you had a bow!” Alex whispered loudly. He held his face with two hands. “More secrets. A bow, why?”

Cleve maintained his serious tone, suppressing the hot frustration he could feel building within. “I need to know everything you know about this investigation.”

Alex’s eyes and mouth became rigid. “I told you everything I know last night.”

“I
can’t
remember what you told me.” Some frustration slipped out in his tone.

Alex peered at someone over Cleve’s shoulder. “He’s back. Are you sure that no one knows I told you about the investigation?”

Cleve began to turn. “Who’s back?” But Alex grabbed him.

“Don’t look so obvious. You’ve never had a girl pointed out to you in a bar? I’ll tell you when he turns away so you can look. It’s Javy Rayvender. He’s been nosing around Warrior’s Field since class began today. He’s a member of the King’s Council. I was hoping they were looking for a promising warrior for some mission, but now I fear it may have to do with your bow.” Alex’s gaze drifted past Cleve once again. “He seems to be focused on writing something. You can take a quick look.”

Cleve snapped his head around. Javy was dressed in a long black coat closed by two sets of buttons. Cleve
had
seen him that day, multiple times, in fact, as he was searching for Alex but hadn’t known who Javy was. From a distance, the man had no discernible features. A black hat hung low over his eyes. He was neither fat nor thin, tall nor short. He had a way of blending naturally into his background, like a hawk perched atop a cliff.

“If the King’s Council knew anything of my bow, wouldn’t I have already been arrested?”

“You might think so, but you never know with King Welson. My brother says he’s the most clever king that Kyrro has seen yet and also the most insidious, setting complex traps to catch people in illegal acts.” Alex’s eyes lit up. “Someone should put that into song.” He shook his head and looked cautious again. “I don’t like this, Cleve. Something is telling me we shouldn’t even be talking. Are you certain you told no one about what I said?”

“I don’t see how I could’ve when I don’t even remember it.”

Alex took two breaths to think. “Whatever is happening, I now feel involved. I can’t understand why I told you about being investigated. If my brother knew, it would be the last time he spoke to me.”

It was Reela
, Cleve realized.
Would Alex even believe me if I told him a psychic persuaded him to speak the truth?
He decided that was a conversation best saved for another day, if ever.

“I still need to know everything you do about this investigation,” Cleve stated firmly. “If you don’t feel comfortable here with Javy watching, come back with me to my house. Effie may be there,”
and Reela as well, in case there’s any other information you’re not telling me
. Cleve hated psyche, and the thought of using it deceitfully on a friend he’d just begun to trust made him sick with guilt, but finding his bow was far too important to jeopardize with ethics.

“Effie, yes. They say alcohol cures all that ails you, but I say that is truer about a beautiful woman. Although, both are known to cause vicious fighting.” Alex made sure his sword was secure in its sheath and ran a hand through his hair. “Yes, let’s go, but don’t speak of you-know-what until we get there. Talk to me instead of your roommates. Remind me of their names. Who’s the other girl, Reela was it?”

“Yes, Reela,”
the psychic
.

“She has a sweet look about her. You’re fortunate to live with two attractive women.”

It was refreshing to hear another speak of Reela’s beauty. Steffen hadn’t mentioned how either Effie or Reela looked, so Cleve had concerns he was the only one to see Reela as he did. However, it still didn’t prove whether or not his affection was because of some psychic spell, as Alex could’ve been influenced by it, too.

“It’s not as great as you might think.”

Chapter 22: Chemists

STEFFEN

The day of his first class had finally come, but when Steffen awoke that morning, all his enthusiasm for learning had been drained. His thoughts, instead, were clouded by Gabby sneaking into his room last night as he lay naked and asleep in bed. And if that wasn’t enough, he heard from Reela right after waking that Cleve’s bow had been taken, and no one knew by whom.

The excitement he used to have about sitting in a classroom and listening to a teacher speak of chemistry had been pushed out of him by these recent events. It also didn’t help that he was more than familiar with the material his professor said she would be covering that year.

His mother had encouraged his reading and practicing from the time he was old enough to understand words on a page. She’d said that all his effort would lead to a better future, but he wondered now, especially after last night, if he should’ve devoted at least some time to chasing after girls like the other boys did. He probably would be in the same place he was today, but he would know a little less of the material being covered that year and a little more about women, or girls, or whatever Gabby was to him. He hated being confused.
That’s why I try not to think about the opposite sex
, he said to himself as he attempted to organize the thoughts flooding through his mind.
Warriors tend to know what they’re doing with women. I wonder how different my relationship with girls would be if my warrior father hadn’t died when I was three.

His father wasn’t the biggest warrior, his mother had told him, but he was cunning, strong, and full of surprises. “Like a coconut” she would add, “nearly impossible to open without the right tools, yet sweet on the inside if you can get there.”

Steffen thought every warrior he met would be just like his mother’s description of his father, but he found most of them to be more like lemons—sour and terribly brash. He hadn’t given up on Cleve, though, not yet.

Even with class being a disappointment, Steffen still was excited, at least, to discuss his potions with Jack Rose, the best chemist at the Academy and perhaps even in Ovira. Steffen was planning to save the meeting with the head of chemists for another day, but after class, he needed to reinvigorate his passion for potions and decided the best way was a discussion with his hero. Unsure of the policies regarding students meeting with faculty, he figured he would just meet Master Chemist Jack at his home.

With the cage of his new rat, Leonard, in hand, Steffen examined a directory near the middle of campus. It showed the faculty housing area as being along the northwestern edge with the dining hall to its east. He’d been to the dining hall, so he knew how to find the faculty housing. What the directory didn’t show, however, was which house belonged to which teacher.

A female joined Steffen on his left side to look at the directory after flashing a smile. Leonard, on his other side, suddenly produced something that sounded between a cough and a squeak.

The young lady peered around Steffen to see what it was. “What a strange sound,” she commented. Her eyes were green, but everything else—her hair, eyebrows, cheeks, and lips—was red. Her hair was the red of a dying ember calling out for a breath of air. It cascaded without waves down to her breasts, where the ends curled playfully together. Her smile was what he noticed first, though. With a slight overbite, her grin cutely came down onto a thinly curled lip.

“Is that a giant rat?” Her eyebrows lifted as she pointed.

“Yes, meet Leonard.” He held the cage up to match the rodent to her eye level. Leonard turned away from her to sniff at Steffen, showing her his rat rear.

“Leonard, that’s not very nice,” she said. nudging closer to Steffen to get a better look at Leonard’s front. The soft side of her shoulder pushed against his.

“Can I pet him?” she asked, beginning to stick a finger within the cage.

He quickly closed his hand around her finger. “Unfortunately, Leonard would bite you. He likes to chew on everything, an effect of the growth potion I’ve been giving him. I’ve been trying to perfect the formula to achieve the growth without the aggression.”

“I thought I saw you in my class earlier, now I’m certain of it. You were sitting in the front, so you probably didn’t see me. Our instructor is Chemist Leandra, right?”

“Yes!” Steffen exclaimed with more excitement than he meant. “That’s correct. I’m Steffen Duroby.” He extended a hand without a clue why he’d given his last name.

She seemed to hold back a laugh. “You can just call me Treece. It is short for Marratrice, a name I would’ve never chosen if it were up to me.” They shared a handshake.

“I love the name Marratrice.”
Love?
I don’t even know what I think of the name. You’re sounding strange. Stop it
.

“Really? Someone you know must have carried it well.”

“Actually, it’s the first time I’ve met a Marratrice.”

Her eyes slid down and found Leonard along the way. “He’s a little odd, isn’t he, Leonard?” She crouched to push her long, elegant nose against the cage, and Leonard immediately nipped at it. She jumped back with a scream, and two hands rushed to her nose.

“Leonard!” he yelled at his rat. “I’m sorry for that.” But then he saw in her eyes that she was smiling.

She gave a laugh and let her hands drop from her face. “You warned me. He didn’t bite me anyway, just a fun little startle. Are you taking him somewhere?”

“Yes, to see Jack Rose, but the faculty’s individual houses aren’t listed here. So I’m unsure how to tell which one is his.”

“There’s another map on the road to the faculty housing area that’ll tell you. I just came from there. I thought it would be a good idea to take a tour around campus. My roommate had already walked around yesterday, so I have no one to explore with.” She looked at him with eyes that seemed to beckon for something.

“Thank you, that’s helpful.” A strange silence came over them. He felt as if she was expecting him to say something, but he didn’t know what.

“Goodbye, then!” she chirped with a quick turn. Then she was off.

“Goodbye,” he called after her.

He found the sign she’d mentioned. The map had each house listed by number. In the corner, each number was etched with a teacher’s name next to it to show where they lived. More than a few teachers shared a number, to his surprise, though they usually also shared a last name. Out of curiosity, he looked to see how many were listed in total. The last number was fifty-six.
I would have expected more
, he thought, which reminded him of last night.
Gabby expected more
. He felt his heart sink into his stomach.