Heroes Adrift (33 page)

We left two days later, in a carriage in an attempt to keep Aryne safe. Which meant, of course, that the journey was around two weeks longer than when we rode. I wondered why I found sitting in the carriage all day just as tiring as sitting in a saddle.

Aryne grew quieter as time went on. Taro noticed and asked her what was wrong, to which he received a snapped “nothing.” So I didn't bother asking her. I thought I knew what was wrong, anyway. She was thinking about joining this school she knew so little about, and the fact that she was going to be stuck there for years, with no idea whether she would hate it or not.

There was something to be said for sending the children to school when they were too young to know enough to be scared.

As we approached our destination, Aryne's eyes widened at the sight of the high stone walls that surrounded the Source Academy. “Hey now, what's this?” she demanded, and I could feel her anxiety vibrating off her.

“Nothing to be alarmed about,” I told her. “It's to prevent spontaneous bonding.”

“It's a nick!” she exclaimed, and it took both Taro and I to keep her from scrambling out of the carriage.

“Taro grew up here,” I told her.

“He never did!”

“I did,” Taro said. “This is not a prison. Wait until you see the inside.”

“The hell I am!” And she started screaming.

The two middle-aged Sources who were pushing open the heavy oak doors looked at us in shock. They didn't impede our progress through the gate, however, and I pulled back the blind over the carriage window and said, “Look, Aryne.”

“Let me out!” she shrieked, still struggling.

“Look!” I ordered her.

She stilled, and glared at me with lips pressed together. Then she looked out the window.

The Source Academy really wasn't a prison, and those who ran it weren't stupid enough to think no one in a school full of children wouldn't try to sneak out to see the outside world, just because they were told not to. Therefore, the grounds were meant to be as enticing as possible, with the immediate surroundings outside the wall made plain and empty for contrast. The Shield Academy was designed along the same lines, and I had heard rumors of those who had managed to get out, only to be caught or even voluntarily return shortly thereafter, unimpressed with what waited for them beyond the walls.

So the grounds were beautiful, and a rival for any palace luxury. Acres of lush grass and pools meant for wading in. Pitches for a variety of athletics, trees with treehouses, some built by the faculty and some by the children themselves. Somewhere in the back there would be stables and a corral. But probably what did most to ease Aryne's concerns were the students themselves. All ages, dressed in the red garments meant to identify them as Source students who needed to be returned to the Academy immediately, if seen outside its walls. They were playing as children free of labor and responsibility did, with laughter and teasing and a dizzying amount of running around.

“It's a school, Aryne,” Taro told her, releasing her as she settled down. “The only reason for the walls is to protect the students from spontaneous bonding. The exact same reason we've inflicted that blindfold on you and this carriage on everyone.”

“So how long will I have to stay here, then?” Aryne asked, sounding calmer.

“Depends how quickly you learn.”

“Learn what?”

“How to channel.”

“Already know that.”

“Not well,” he said. “There are other things you have to learn. Reading and writing and figuring. History and civics. Manners.” He gave her a sharp look.

“What?” she demanded.

“What we tried to get you to do in Erstwhile, they'll be trying to get you to do here. I wish them luck.”

“Bloody hell.” She crossed her arms and sank lower on her seat.

She had picked that expression up from Taro. I found that cute.

The carriage drew up before the front entrance of the Academy, a three-story building made of light gray stone, with a lot of huge windows. Lots of light in an attempt to keep the emotional inhabitants in a positive frame of mind. I knew—because the Shield Academy was built along the same lines—that the center of the room was a large hall, three stories high, used for dining and performances and meetings of the school populace. Three wings branched out from it, one for classes, one for recreation, and one for personal rooms.

A group of students sat on the stairs before the wooden double doors, and a girl of about sixteen years rose from the group. The others halted their chatting immediately, and stared at the carriage. It was kind of eerie.

“Source Karish,” the girl said as we stepped out of the carriage. “Shield Mallorough. I am Youko Timber. It is a very great honor to meet you both.”

The students were really staring at us. What, did we have dirt on our faces?

“Pleased to meet you, Student Timber,” I answered. “This is Aryne—” I halted, because we still hadn't solved the problem of Aryne's lack of family name.

“Malkar,” she supplied smoothly, and it took me a moment to realize she had combined the first syllables of Taro's name and my own. Which was flattering, but didn't result in the prettiest name I had ever heard.

Timber nodded at her. “Pleased to meet you, Aryne. I have been requested to escort you to Headmistress Tausen's office. Please come this way.”

There was something inspiring about walking through the halls of a Triple S academy. Protected by the Pairs that worked there, they were never torn down by events as other buildings inevitably were, and so they were among the oldest structures in the world. Centuries of students had walked those halls, and if I were of the sentimental sort, I might imagine hearing their voices and seeing them run.

The Headmistress's office would, I thought, be the envy of any aristocrat. It was huge, the solid dark cherry desk in front of a window that spanned nearly the entire wall, the remaining walls filled from ceiling to floor with shelves, packed with texts and scrolls. There was more than enough room for the three round tables scattered about the room, and the settees arranged in clusters for the purposes of conversation.

I imagined there was enough room for all the teachers to meet comfortably.

The woman seated at the desk was a little younger than I'd expect a Headmistress to be, perhaps in her late thirties. Her hair was dark and cropped to chin length, her eyes angular and blue. She was a woman of lanky frame and sharp corners. She struck me as someone who would be interesting to know.

A young pretty blond girl, a student of about Aryne's age, I guessed, was sitting in one of the settees. She rose as we entered.

The Headmistress stood. “I am Source Lilia Tausen.” She gestured at the girl. “This is Jossen Van.”

“Headmistress Tausen, this is Source Shintaro Karish, Aryne Malkar, and I am Shield Mallorough.”

“You did not mention her family name in your report,” the Headmistress said to me.

“She only recently chose it.”

The Headmistress appeared surprised. “You have no family?” she asked Aryne.

No, that wasn't tactless.

Aryne raised her head up. “No,” she announced.

“And you chose the name Malkar?”

“It doesn't belong to anyone else, does it?”

“It's not a name I've heard before.”

“So there you go.”

The Headmistress smiled. “I see,” she murmured. I had the feeling she had already gotten a good grasp on Aryne's character. “Please, everyone, have a seat.” She picked up my report from the top of her desk. “Aryne, you are from Flatwell.”

“Kai.”

The Headmistress glanced quizzically at her for that. “I assume that means yes?”

“Yes.” Aryne didn't quite snap at her, but it was a near thing.

“You have lived there all your life?”

“Yes.”

“You have received no training in performing as a Source?”

“No.”

The Headmistress glanced at me before asking, “And you are able to channel without a Shield?”

Aryne tossed her head proudly. “Kai,” she said. “Done it all my life, with no training.”

“But not well.”

Aryne scowled.

“You're in a unique situation, my girl. Someone of your age, having spent her whole life outside of the Academy, channeling without a Shield and without killing herself.” The Headmistress pursed her lips. “I'm not sure what I'm going to do with you.”

Aryne snorted. “You and everybody else.”

Another wry smile from the Headmistress. “We're going to need to put you through a few tests—nothing painful, I promise you—to determine where you need to be placed in the classes. Are those the whole of your possessions?” She gestured at the two bags Taro had carried in for Aryne.

“Kai.”

“I'll have them taken to your room. But I'm sure you're hungry right now, and wishing for a bath. Jossen will see you settled.”

The blond girl nodded and rose to her feet.

Aryne stiffened and looked at Taro and I.

“But first,” the Headmistress said smoothly, rising to her feet, “I would like to speak to you in private, Jossen. Come with me.”

Jossen looked confused, but she nodded again and followed the Headmistress out of the office. The door was closed behind them.

Aryne was trying not to look as though she were scared out of her mind. Poor girl. Plucked out of the only life she'd ever known. Her choice, true, but now she was being left among a bunch of strangers who had, in her opinion, no reason to care what happened to her.

“You are safe here,” I told her. “Really.”

“Write to us,” Taro added. “We'd like to know how you get on. And we'll visit you.”

“Really?”

“As often as we can,” I cautioned her. “As you know, our time isn't always under our control.”

Aryne's face went blank, and she nodded.

“And no, that's not an attempt to make a promise without keeping it. I just want you to know it won't be once a month.”

“I know that,” she said scornfully.

“Good.”

Taro ruffled her hair. “You're smart,” he told her. “You'll do well here.”

If she didn't lose patience and sneak away. I had no trouble believing she would be the first to escape, if she truly wanted to.

Taro hugged her, and she stiffened in shock. I wondered if it was the first time she'd ever been hugged before. Which meant I had to hug her, too. “We mean it,” I said. “Please write.” Once she learned how.

She nodded again. “I'm not stupid, you know.”

“Of course not. I never thought you were.” In fact, I had a suspicion she was more than commonly smart.

“All right, then.”

“Why did you feel the need to point that out?”

Her lips curled into a small smile. “Think it's better for everyone if I don't tell you.”

I had no idea what she was talking about, but as I suspected any further questions on the matter would give me a similar answer, I kept my mouth shut.

We left her in the office, and were escorted back to the front door. She would be fine, I knew she would be, but I worried about her nonetheless.

It took Taro and I a few hours to make arrangements for trading in the carriage and horses for a couple of horses we could ride, and to repack our gear. There wasn't much of the day left when we headed out, but neither one of us wanted to delay starting for home.

Home. We were going home.

Taro started laughing.

I looked at him with concern. “You all right?”

“Everyone's crazy, you know that?”

“Uh, sure.”

“What are we going to do?”

What could we do? “Keep on keeping on.”

He wrapped his hand around the back of my neck and nearly pulled me out of my saddle as he kissed me. “You'll keep me sane, won't you, Lee?”

“I make no promises,” I said dryly.

I really, really wished he wouldn't speak as though I was going to be in charge of his sanity for any length of time. He was going to move on soon, by the time we reached High Scape at the very latest. I needed to be prepared for that. This was a situation when I really needed us both to be realistic.

But then, I wasn't saying anything to contradict him, was I?