Forest of Illusions (The Broken Prism) (30 page)

“None of those charges against Hayden are true, they were just made up by the
Fias so they could arrest him,” she insisted sharply, using a commanding tone of voice Hayden had never really heard from her before.

Well, technically a few of those charges
are
true…

He didn’t bother correcting her out loud. He doubted it would be helpful.

“Besides, he didn’t
drag
me off anywhere. I wanted to go help out our teachers in the Forest of Illusions, and so did Zane and Oliver. You might as well shout at
me
if you’re angry about me going, not Hayden.”

Master
Laurren chimed in helpfully at this point. “We did say ‘thank you’ to your daughter and her friends for all the help. Magical torture is a tedious business and most of us were growing tired of it by the time you kids showed up.”

Tess’s dad seemed to lose his momentum, and Master
Kilgore capitalized on the silence to add, “We’re just making dinner now. Your daughter is a fine huntress, has anyone ever told you that? Dead useful with a bow and a knife.” He pointed to a heap of deer meat that was being cooked rapidly over a magical fire. “Join us, won’t you?”

Tess’s father took a deep breath and seemed to deflate, no longer looking like he wanted to commit murder, though he did cast Hayden a surly look as he said, “
I
taught her to hunt. Magic has its uses, but sometimes the best way to protect yourself is with a good old-fashioned blade.” His tone left little doubt that he was imagining Hayden as a predator who should be cut up and roasted over a magical fire for dinner sometime.

“Come on, Tess, let’s have a look at your knife-work and see if your cuts are up to par.” He shuffled off towards the campfire to examine the pile of meat in more detail.

“Well, that could have gone better,” Zane said brightly. “Though I guess you’re still lucky to have all your limbs.”

Tess frowned and added, “You let me handle my father. I am not a little girl anymore, and it’s time he gets used to that.” She stalked off without another word to them, her movement rigid
, like she was steeling herself up for something.

“Have you ever wondered if we’re a bad influence on her?” Zane put
in mildly. “She used to be such a quiet girl. Now she’s becoming as brazen as the rest of us.”

Hayden shrugged. “She’s tough, she can choose for herself. Besides, she’s always been strong and smart and opinionated…even when she was quiet and shy.
I think we just bring it out of her a little more than other people.”

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m going to get some meat before all the good cuts are gone.” Zane smirked and approached the campfire, attempting to shoo Felix and Mittens out of the way, as they were staring at the meat hungrily
with their tongues hanging out.

Asher was feeding Cinder bits of deer meat while the drago
n perched on his shoulder, though Bonk eschewed the provided food in favor of ripping into a fat squirrel he had caught for himself.

Hayden sighed and went to join Master Asher near one of the tents, deciding to wait until Tess’s father moved away from the campfire before he dared to venture in for some food.

“Afraid of getting yelled at again?” the Master greeted him, gesturing towards the place where Tess’s father stood beside her.

“Not afraid…just not looking forward to it,” Hayden corrected. “You were little help while I was getting shouted at,” he added in annoyance.

Asher grinned. “Of course not. It’s a rite of passage: everyone young man should be the object of hatred for a young lady’s father at some point. That’s how you know you’re growing up properly.”

Hayden snorted and rolled his eyes.

“Well then, mission accomplished.” He twirled a finger in the air in mock-celebration. “I suppose you’re going to tell me you were never so unlucky as to be frowned upon by a girl’s father?”

Asher laughed and said, “Are you kidding? I’m extremely handsome
, and obnoxious; I haven’t yet met a man who liked me seeing their daughter,” he explained cheerfully. “One time I spent hours hiding up a tree from a father who was determined to club me to death with a fireplace poker.”

Hayden, surprised by his levity, asked, “But couldn’t you have used magic to stop him, or at least to escape?”

The Prism Master shrugged and said, “It didn’t seem sporting.”

Every time Hayden started to think that Master Asher might be sane after all, he went and said something to cast doubt on himself again.

“Well then, I’m going to get some dinner. Try to keep Tess’s dad away from any fireplace pokers for me, will you?”

Asher tossed Cinder another piece of meat and said, “Sure thing, kiddo.”

Hayden woke at dawn the next morning, yawning and pulling his shoes on to step outside and greet the day. His movements woke Zane, who rolled over on top of Felix on accident and was greeted with a loud yip from his familiar as he was squashed.

“Sorry, Felix,” he yawned widely and sat up in bed. “Where’re you going?” he asked Hayden.

“I heard voices outside; I think breakfast might be ready.” He ducked under the tent
flap and stepped out into the crisp dawn air, though it was immediately apparent that no one else was up yet. Frowning, because he could have sworn he’d heard people talking, he was preparing to go back inside the tent to kill time when he heard the lilt of Tess’s voice from somewhere nearby.

Zane joined him at the tent flap and Hayden motioned for him to stay quiet, the two of them sneaking closer to listen, using the other tents as cover by hiding behind them. Finally they could hear what Tess and her father were discussing.

“…at Mizzenwald for the rest of the year, if they can’t even keep you from running off with boys.”

Tess sighed and said, “Dad, are you going to pull me out of the best school in the Nine Lands just because you’re afraid I won’t stay there? That seems silly.”

“You could have died fighting in a place you didn’t belong, all because you’re determined to follow some boy around that you have a crush on. He isn’t worth it, I tell you, war hero or not.”

Hayden felt his insides go glacial, and was considering returning to his tent and leaving Zane out here on his own when Tess answered.

“Well…if you’re so set against Hayden…there
is
another boy I could choose instead.”

Suddenly it felt like Hayden had no insides at all. He had no idea that she’d been seriously considering Conner all this time, and wasn’t sure he could ever face his roommate again without wanting to punch a wall. Zane gave him a startled look, plainly as caught off guard as he was by this announcement.

“Oh? And who’s that?” her father asked cautiously.

“His name is Lorn, and I’ve been trying to decide between him and Hayden for a while now, because they’re
just so different,” Tess answered easily.

Hayden and Zane turned to each other with identical looks of astonishment and confusion on their faces, and the latter mouthed,
Lorn Trout?!
as though wondering if he’d caught the wrong name.

As far as Hayden knew, Tess and Lorn could barely stand each other, so this was brand new information to him.

Great, another rival…

“Lorn, eh?
What’s he like?” Tess’s father asked with hesitant optimism.

“Well, he’s from a really good family…a Great House, actually,” she began. Hayden couldn’t help but think
,
I’m from a Great House too!
as though it mattered.

“Really?” he sounded impressed. “Well
, that’s ambitious of you…”

“He’s also a lot more relaxed than Hayden,” Tess continued quickly. “See, Hayden’s always so serious about things…like he’s always telling me we need to focus on schoolwork and getting good grades so that we can have better prospects when we graduate.
It can be a bit boring sometimes. Lorn is a lot more free-spirited. He thinks school hardly matters as long as you can scrape through without failing, and that it’s hardly worth even staying to the mastery year, especially since he has his estate to support him.”

“Oh?” Now her father’s voice held a note of alarm. But Tess wasn’t finished yet.

“Yeah, he says the most important thing is to get married early and have lots of children right away, to carry on the line and all that,” she put in brightly. “He’s such a hopeless romantic, and Hayden’s always so serious…so I’m having a hard time figuring out who I like better, but if you’re really against Hayden...”

At this point Zane had his fist stuffed into his mouth to keep himself from laughing out loud. It looked like he was about to burst a blood vessel from the effort of restraint, and Hayden could hardly blame him. He would believe a lot of things about Lorn Trout, but not that he was trying to woo Tess away from school so they could repopulate the Great House of Trout within a few short years.

“What—no!” Tess’s father barked. “This Lorn doesn’t sound like the kind of person you should have anything to do with,” he insisted sharply. “You’re to stay in school and mind your grades, or I’ll come up there and have a word with this Lorn character myself. There’s plenty of time to worry about starting a family when you’re older—
much
older.”

Tess put on her most sweet, innocent voice and said, “But that’s what Hayden always says to me, and you don’t like
him
either…”

“You just—” her father sounded like he was struggling to find the words he wanted and choking on them. “The Frost boy has the right of it,” he admitted with enormous effort. “You just stay away from this Lorn kid or I’ll knock his teeth out, Great House scion or not.”

“Well…if you’re sure…” Tess trailed off thoughtfully.

“I’m sure,” he grumbled.

“You can stay and travel with us back to school if you want, but we’re almost there and the Masters can take care of us the rest of the way,” she added sweetly. “The term is almost over, so I’ll be home soon for the winter holiday anyway.”

Her father grumbled some more about jumped-up boys who deserved to be beaten regularly, but he eventually conceded that she could return to school on her own and that he would see her soon for the winter holiday. They hugged goodbye and he kissed her on the top of the head, departing before breakfast and claiming that he would hunt for something on the way back to their house.
He still looked horribly disgruntled and was chuntering under his breath about people named Lorn when he left.

Zane was still laughing so hard that he was crying by the time that Tess rounded the tent
, looking pleased with herself. She startled at the sight of the two of them crouching there, because it was plain that they had been eavesdropping.

“Wait
til Oliver hears that his brother is trying to woo you away from school to marry you,” Zane greeted her, still cracking up at the very idea.

Tess’s face turned bright red but all she said was, “If you tell anyone I said those things about Lorn, I will show you
just how good my knife skills are.”

That was a pretty serious threat, becaus
e Tess was fantastic with a blade, and Hayden gave her a sideways smile and said, “Well, it’s probably for the best that your dad doesn’t want you seeing him anymore.” Then he turned serious. “Why did you make up all that stuff about us and lie to your father?”

Tess broke
eye contact and said, “Because now he doesn’t mind
you
so much, by comparison.”

Hayden felt his own face grow hot, and was trying to come up with something cool to say when she added, “You told me you liked me, after you came out of the Forest…when you were still feverish and we weren’t sure you were going to make it.”

He opened and closed his mouth, suddenly wishing that Zane wasn’t there to bear witness to this embarrassing moment, though he was still chuckling about Lorn Trout being a hopeless romantic. He had been hoping that his ill-timed confession to Tess was just a fever-dream and that she had no idea of how he really felt.

“Well…uh…yeah…” he confirmed lamely, wondering why his wits had to fail him at such a critical moment.

“Well, I like you too,” Tess said softly, face still red as she reached out and gently took his hand.

“Holy arcana, has it finally happened?” Zane blurted out in wonder. “This means I won my bet against Tamon! He owes me forty credits for you two getting together before the end of the school year—he didn’t think it would h
appen until next term.” Zane grinned and clapped Hayden on the back. “I was beginning to lose hope since we’re only a few weeks away from the end of fall term, but now I can afford a present for Sera’s birthday this winter!”

He chuckled delightedly and walked off toward the sounds of people emerging from their tents to make breakfast.

Hayden was still feeling dumbstruck, his brain lagging behind the rest of him. All he could really focus on was the feel of Tess’s hand in his as she finally met his eyes again, looking braver now that they were alone.