Exile (17 page)

“I saw Selena’s neck,” he began. “She doesn’t wear a collar. Why is that?”

“I’m personally not at liberty to say,” Piers declared, “but keep it in mind; it’s pretty important.” He tugged off his coat and threw it to the side, stretching his arms, making a point to flash his empty arm in Aless’s direction.

“Am I the only one who wears a full set anymore?” Aless asked.

“Nope,” Piers answered, “but that’s because you don’t wear a full set, either.”

Chapter 18

T
HAT
night Corin found he couldn’t sleep. He had been consumed by guilt from the incident with Selena. She really would hate him if she found out what he had been doing in the mornings. Selena had trusted him with so much and he’d betrayed her, going directly against her words.

He rolled over again, still in his messy robes from earlier in the day. He hadn’t had the energy to change before he had attempted to fall asleep. Corin rolled onto his stomach, hearing a strange crackle. He pulled himself up, reaching into his robes and pulling out the large sheet of paper Kateline had tried to show him.

Corin instantly rolled his eyes at his stupidity—how could he have forgotten about
that
of all things? He quickly scanned the room, and upon not seeing either of his roommates in their beds, quickly scrambled out of his, flicking on the light and placing the parchment on the desk, reading it over.

It was in the same language as the book he had read earlier, he noted, and despite Adelle not being able to read it, he still felt it had to be Centrallian. He only spoke his dialect Centrallian and Common, and was only able to read and write Centrallian. It being anything else was out of the question, in his opinion. Adelle had always been a stronger student than he; she had been the one to teach him to read in the first place, which made her inability to read a single word of the text confusing.

The document he had been given contained a myth, one Corin remembered Aless telling him. If the text was true then the tale was a fairly simple one. A thousand years ago a young woman from Central had fallen in love with a guardian in wait. She didn’t want him to go feral, and had chosen to create a set of restraints to control the spirits, which were now what the guardians used.

But, he realized, this story was different from the version he had heard from Aless. This story didn’t follow the original’s ending, he noted, and this one also had a large section blackened out on it, strangely enough. This one described the guardian as having accepted the spirit and gone mad, but it said the woman grieved too much to return to her duties in the monastery.

At the end of this version she was filled with depression, finally going to her own… message blotted out. She later went to her lover’s temple, where he was being held below the podium in the center and opened it, allowing him to run free.

However, he destroyed a large portion of the grounds and she realized her error, eventually running toward him and embracing him. The girl had been a member of the clan too, and an immensely powerful scribe in her own right. She whispered something, but the area afterward was blotted out so Corin couldn’t read it.

The text was the oldest document he had ever seen, and he was inclined to take it as the truth. Corin yawned, eyes fluttering shut. Where was Kateline when he needed her? He reread the text, checking if he missed any details.

D
ESPITE
the events the day before, Corin still found himself wandering to the Water Temple in the morning in search of Aless.

It turned out to be the right move, he noted, smiling as they walked to the riverbank. The older man had been concerned, which was to be expected, but thrilled once he had discovered they had gotten away with it. Corin had been honestly a tad bit surprised to see the older man.He was half expecting Aless to avoid him in light of Selena’s recent discovery.

“Are you sore from our spar?” Aless asked, looking with slight concern at Corin.

In reality, Corin had been up all night hunched over a desk reading the strange document, which had managed to kink his neck rather effectively. However, he wasn’t ready to completely destroyany trust Selena once had in him, so he quickly made up an excuse.

“I pulled it sleeping,” he lied, entwining his fingers with Aless’s.

“I’m surprised you managed to get any sleep last night—you look like death,” he commented.

“I was still pretty concerned about Kateline,” he answered, which was a partial truth. “I was rolling around a lot.”

“I’ll massage it out for you, if you like,” Aless offered.

The Water Guardian had three major motivators for doing this. The first was obvious—it was a horrible idea to spar or train with anyone with even a minor injury, let alone a large one. The second was equally predictable: Aless wanted to spend some time with his darling apprentice. However, the final one was more unexpected, at least from him: he wanted to ask Corin about the lack of restraints on Selena.

The whole situation had confused him to begin with:everything from why the other guardians were purposefully depriving him of information, to why Piers wouldn’t tell him but would give vague hints, to why Kateline still hadn’t been released from solitary. It was immensely frustrating and Aless really didn’t have many people whom he could ask.

Corin knew Selena, and Corin liked him, so he was likely to help. It was really the only hope he had. At least, the only hope he had to figure out what was happening around this damned place.

“Thank you,” Corin replied, sitting down in front of the river. Aless almost laughed at the situation. As much as they had made efforts to train, most of their memories around the river revolved around them talking or kissing.

“Take off your shirt,” Aless commanded, reaching around and unbuttoning the top of Corin’s tunic, allowing the younger man a second to pull it off before he began kneading the tense flesh.

Corin leaned back into Aless’s touch, giving a soft moan as the guardian hit an especially tender spot. “Master Selena was upset yesterday,” he murmured.

“I saw that,” Aless replied. “I’m surprised she even let you out this morning.”

“I told her you healed my leg and forced me to spar with you,” he answered. “I’m sorry, it was the only thing I could think of.”

“Understandable,” he replied, enjoying the feeling of Corin’s tough muscles under his hands. “I have something I’ve been meaning to ask you, Corin. Earlier this week you said Selena had never worn any restraints, correct?”

“Yes. She’s never worn any,” Corin responded.

“Interesting enough,” Aless replied. “Do you have any idea why?”

“There aren’t enough to go around,” Corin answered, “and out of everyone, she needs them least.”

“How’s that possible?”

“They’ve all been crumbling to dust,” Corin responded, turning around curiously. “Didn’t you know? It’s what the scribes have been researching.”

Aless frowned, unintentionally kneading Corin’s back a little bit too hard, earning a wince from Corin. This was interesting—and even more interesting that no one had decided it was important for him to know. It would explain why there had been so much commotion lately, but his restraints had been fine! And why did they think this wouldn’t be something critical to know? Especially if they had broken when he was out here. He wouldn’t have wanted to hurt Corin, and Corin wouldn’t have a chance at survival if he had been caught alone, and then there were the nearby villages he probably would’ve sought out….

“Yeah, of course,” Aless replied, spreading his legs and pulling Corin in, pressing his back against his chest. “Has your leg healed up all right?” He didn’t want to let Corin know how little he knew about the restraints, lest he worry himself over Selena’s approval.

Corin turned back to face the river. “It’s fine now, thanks,” he answered. “If I hadn’t been able to cast that fire spell, I would be dead, and if Master Selena hadn’t come in when she did—”

“It’s great you were able to use it, then,” Aless praised.

“I’m sorry I made you spar yesterday,” Corin murmured. “I just… I felt so weak from it. I’m a terrible spell caster, and I’m used to this, but—”

“You aren’t a terrible spell caster,” Aless insisted, propping his head up on Corin’s shoulder.

“No, I am. I have mana I can’t use. That’s the definition of being a terrible spell caster,” Corin argued.

Aless traced the muscles of Corin’s belly. “Untrained, perhaps, but not a terrible spell caster,” he retorted.

“You don’t have to lie to me,” Corin responded, looking down at Aless’s hand, enjoying the contact with his lover. “When you’ve been trained for five years, you begin to realize these things.”

“Perhaps you just don’t have the aptitude for the spells we’ve been teaching you,” he argued.

“No. They’ve tried me on everything, trust me. I’m just useless. I can’t cast spells, I can’t defend myself, and I couldn’t help Kateline.”

Aless frowned but remained silent.

“See what I mean?” Corin asked. “Even
you
can’t deny it.”

“Because it doesn’t matter what I say, you’re just going to deny it,” Aless explained. “You’re not listening to me.”

Corin pulled away from Aless’s embrace, scowling.

“I obviously think that you’re useful enough to keep around,” Aless said.

“You’re my lover; you’re supposed to want me around,” Corin countered.

Aless rolled his eyes. “Yes, but I didn’t
need
to pursue you romantically. I did it because I like being around you, Corin.”

Corin pursed his lips. “That still doesn’t mean I should be in the monastery.”

“That is a lie and you know it. Selena helps you,and she doesn’t think
I’m
worth her time.”

“That’s different.”

“It might be, but Piers and Kateline helped you, and they probably had other things they could have been doing.” Aless paused for a second. “At least Kateline would have. As far as I can tell, Piers doesn’t do anything, and really, besides training you, I’m not entirely sure what Selena does.”

“She helps whenever there are internal or external conflicts. Kateline always used to say Master Selena was like a guard dog,” Corin answered, a small smile gracing his lips.

Aless shrugged. “That would make sense. She acts like a rabid dog.”

“She isn’t that bad,” Corin said.

“You and Piers keep saying that, but I’m judging her based on what I’ve seen,” Aless replied.“Kateline’s right; Selena is a guard dog. All she does is snarl and skulk when she’s near me.”

“I hope she warms up to you,” Corin said. “You two are the most important people to me. I don’t like keeping you a secret.”

Aless smiled. “I don’t like it either, but she’ll get over it.”

“Hopefully before I’m older than Master Cyril,” Corin muttered.

“As if that would ever happen. Cyril is older than dirt.”Aless laughed. “Hmm… I do wonder what he’d think if I told him what you thought about his age.”

Corin paled. “Please don’t.”

“I
might
not,” Aless replied, “if you give me a kiss.”

Corin grinned, leaning in and giving Aless a small peck on the lips.

“Come on,” Aless teased, “I know you can do better than that.”

Corin wrapped his arms around Aless’s neck. He planted a deep, open-mouthed kiss on the guardian’s mouth. Aless gripped Corin’s rear, pulling him closer and swiping his tongue along Corin’s bottom lip. Corin parted his mouth immediately, deepening the embrace. Only when he was completely out of breath did Aless pull away, Corin settling comfortably between his legs.

“Aless?” Corin began.

“Hmm?”

“Are you worried that your restraints are going to crumble? Like Kateline’s did?” Corin asked.

Aless tensed. “I don’t think I could do more damage than I did ten years ago,” he joked.

“Aless….”

“…Yeah, I guess I am,” Aless replied. “I don’t want to think about it. The other guardians are working on it. I’m sure they’ll come to some sort of solution.”

“If they don’t?”

“Then I’ll be sealed beneath the Water Temple when my restraints break,” Aless answered.

“And you’re not upset about it?” Corin asked.

Aless ran a hand through his hair. “What do you want me to say, Corin? I might have to live out my entire life in a forsaken
well.
I’m not sure if you know this, but before my exile, they trapped me below the Water Temple. I spent at least a week in that damned hole alone! Piers didn’t bother visiting me. So
yes
, I amworried that my restraints will break and I’ll live the rest of my life as Serac’s slave.”

Corin sat up. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Aless closed his eyes. “I just don’t like thinking about what could happen. I already spent ten years of my life in solitude. I was single when I was exiled and it was torture; leaving you because of something as stupid as Serac is inconceivable.”Aless heard Serac protest the insult, but he ignored it.

“If it happens, when would it happen?” Corin asked.

Aless shrugged. “I don’t know, but it would probably be during a time of extreme emotion, positive or negative.”