Bastial Explosion (The Rhythm of Rivalry: Book 3) (5 page)

In the morning, Gabby asked if she could use the bathhouse before she left. Effie didn’t see the harm. There were no showers in Oakshen, where her family was from. Access to the aqueducts was one of the treats of living in the Academy.

“Yes, but you need to go home right after because Father will be worried,” Effie said.
And the last thing Steffen needs is you sticking around and distracting him.

Gabby reluctantly agreed with a grunt that Effie was quite familiar with by now.

Effie had taken a shower yesterday when she got back from the long trip home from the Slugari colony. And now, not even the threat of war could ruin her appetite for a hot meal from the dining hall. Her body was overdue for one.

Effie gave her sister her towel and left the room. Gabby followed, holding the towel out in front of her to inspect it.

“Thanks,” she muttered. “It actually looks clean—” She interrupted herself to scream. Zoke had startled her, ending up in the hallway just in front of Gabby when she’d lowered the towel.

Like Effie, her younger sister had a bad habit of becoming furious when startled. She lashed out at the Krepp, pounding her fist into his chest and cursing him.

A scowl formed on Zoke’s face, and he shoved her hard. Gabby bounced off the wall, falling to her knees, tears immediately moistening her eyes. She jumped up and hid behind Effie like a scared puppy.

For a frightful moment, Effie couldn’t tell if Zoke had intentions of coming after Gabby. He stared at her, his yellow eyes menacing.

Steffen and Reela bolted out of their rooms.

“What was that?” Steffen asked.

Effie wasn’t sure how to explain it, but something needed to be said. “Zoke startled Gabby, so she hit him. Then he shoved her into the wall.”

“Zoke!” Reela scolded. “Apologize to Gabby.”

“Why does everything require an apology?” Zoke muttered, a mix between frustration and confusion making his mouth twist.

“Not everything,” Reela explained. “But many things, so you’d better get used to it.”

Effie gulped as she watched her friend point at the Krepp in a chastising manner. Zoke easily could draw the knife on his belt. Effie even expected it to happen.
Why else would he come into the hall equipped with it unless he meant to use it?

But to her surprise, Zoke grumbled, “Sorry.”

Gabby came around Effie. “I’m sorry, too.”

Zoke’s entire face twisted to match his mouth. “Why are you also apologizing? I don’t understand.”

“Because I’m sorry as well, just like you,” Gabby said.

Zoke shook his head and muttered something in Kreppen, turning his back on them to walk to the front of the house where his dirty bag rested against a table. He squatted down and stuffed stale bread into his mouth, his sharp teeth crunching into it loudly. The sound reminded Effie of a dog chewing on a bone.

“Don’t eat that,” Steffen said. “It’s old. Get some fresh food from the dining hall.”

The Krepp continued chewing loudly, crumbs spewing as he spoke. “But I have nothing to trade.”

Effie sighed. She knew it was going to take some effort to get used to Zoke being in the school, but she didn’t imagine it would be this hard.

“You don’t need to trade anything,” she said. “Come with me and I’ll explain everything as we walk there.”

“There will be food for me?” Zoke was skeptical.

“Yes.” Effie started toward the door, but Zoke didn’t budge.

From down the hall, Reela said, “I’m going back to bed. It’s still early.”

“I am as well,” Steffen added. “I haven’t slept in a bed in too long.”

Effie couldn’t help but notice her sister following Steffen into his room, but she was too hungry and busy with Zoke to worry about it.

“Are you coming?” Effie tried to wave the Krepp forward.

“Are you certain they’ll feed me?” Zoke clearly didn’t believe her. “Even though I have nothing to offer?”

“You fight for us now. That means you eat with us as well. It’s a long walk and I’m starving.” She could hear herself getting frustrated with him. “Come on!” It felt like she was trying to get a stubborn dog to leave a meal behind.

Zoke pocketed the remaining bread and followed Effie out the door.

On the way there, it immediately became apparent that everyone who saw Zoke was going to stare. It made Effie remember something she’d been meaning to tell him.

“Make sure you don’t spit anymore.”

He looked at her as if he was about to spit.

Effie took one step away from him and continued. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but you should also apologize to that warrior you spat on in Redfield stadium. You’re going to be in his group.”

“Didn’t you hear what he said about us?” Zoke was dumbfounded. “He made it seem like he could’ve saved Vithos.” Zoke made the motion to spit but stopped himself, swallowing it instead and making an ugly face. “I don’t like it here,” he muttered.

“I miss him too,” Effie said softly.

Zoke let down his head and nodded.

I miss Cleve as well,
Effie thought, wondering what he might be doing in Goldram at that very moment.

They didn’t speak again until they reached the dining hall.

Zoke stopped in the doorway, looked around the vast dining quarters with wide eyes, and murmured, “It’s so big.”

Effie glanced around, trying to imagine what the room looked like from Zoke’s point of view. Long rectangular tables with a bench on either side were crowded by students. Teachers were eating as well, though they generally kept to their own tables. Zoke had told Effie of the market at his old encampment where thousands of Krepps gathered to trade with one another.
It must be strange to see so many Humans fed without trading anything in return.

She spotted Marie Fyremore sitting at a full table of staff. Marie caught her gaze and waved. Effie smiled and waved back. She’d missed the old woman more than she’d known.

“Yes, it’s big,” Effie agreed with Zoke, heading toward the short queue of students waiting for their food.

She grabbed two plates from the pile, handing one to Zoke. She got two forks and two knives as well but decided to wait before giving Zoke his silverware. The Krepp had never used such utensils before.

Another explanation,
she realized.
I wonder how many I’ll have to give during the course of this meal.

The students in line in front of them didn’t seem to notice that a Krepp was behind them, for surely they would’ve turned and stared. Effie was thankful Zoke was remaining quiet. The sound of his deep voice was sure to identify his race to anyone within earshot. And then there was his accent—like his words were being ground together in his stomach before being belched through his throat. Still, it was five times better than Vithos’ accent.

She let out a sigh as she felt sorrow building.
And he was learning common tongue so fast, but for what? Just to be killed?
It was just too tragic.

Eggs and potatoes were being served for breakfast. The woman behind the counter kept her eyes lowered when she filled Zoke’s plate, soon noticing the claws on his hand. Then her gaze jumped to his face and a gasp escaped from her lips as she took a step back.

Zoke ignored it, feigning disinterest in her and the many Humans who were staring now.

“Let’s find a table,” Effie said, feeling uncomfortable. It reminded her of dreams she’d had of walking through the campus completely naked, searching for her clothes as everyone gawked.

“What do you mean, ‘find’?” Zoke asked. “There are tables everywhere.”

“It’s just an expression. It means let’s look for a good place to sit.”

“What makes a place good?”

Somewhere with as few people as possible.
But Effie found a spot before she figured out how she wanted to answer him. “Over here,” she said.

There were four students clustered around one end of the table, so Effie sat on the other end. When Zoke put down his plate and sat in front of her, Effie realized he’d already been eating on the way, using his claws to scoop the runny eggs into his mouth. The other students at the table got up to move, not bothering to hide their disgust as they glared at Zoke.

But the Krepp didn’t seem to notice. His head hovered over his plate as he ripped open the potato that would’ve burned the skin of any Human.

It reminded her of how Zoke had been struck by two fireballs on the Fjallejon Mountains and lived. She couldn’t let that go—that her magic wasn’t strong enough to stop a Krepp.
It’s going to be the first thing I tell Marie Fyremore during battle training today. I just hope she knows what to do with the information, because I sure don’t.

Effie handed Zoke the knife and fork she’d brought for him. “For your food,” she explained.

Zoke wrapped his greasy claws around the silverware, holding it up to his eyes. “Why do they give you small weapons to eat with?” He pricked himself hard in the arm with his knife to test how sharp it was. No blood came.

“There are some foods we eat with our hands, but we prefer a fork and knife for most meals.” Effie gestured at the silverware.

Zoke let the utensils loudly drop to the table. “I’ll just use my claws.”

Something seemed to catch the Krepp’s attention, for he jerked his head up to look over Effie. She turned behind her and found two girls turning back to face the other way. Clearly, they’d been staring.

When Effie faced Zoke again, he was grimacing. “I hate how you Humans stare, and then when I look, you turn away as if pretending you weren’t.”

“It won’t always be that way—” Effie tried to explain, but Zoke continued talking, ignoring her words.

“Krepps make no effort to hide their hatred, unlike you cowards!” His voice had risen, and now he was getting to his feet to shout. “If you’re going to stare, then stare!” Zoke glared in each direction as he spoke, the clamor of the dining hall dying down.

“Don’t be cowards!” Zoke yelled. “Stop pretending you’re not staring when I look back. If you’re going to stare, then do it!”

Effie nearly tripped over the bench in her hurry to run around the table to Zoke. She tugged on his arm in a feeble attempt to have him sit. But he kept shouting, his muscles stiffening in her grasp.

“If you have something to say, then come here and say it!”

“Bastial hell, Zoke, shut up and sit down,” Effie hissed.
I’d better bring Reela next time.
Only she could fix this.

Zoke still stood, breathing hard and waiting for someone to say something. Everyone within earshot was looking at them, most just as frustrated as Zoke, it seemed. Many were leaning to the side and whispering to each other while their eyes remained steady on the Krepp.

Then Effie noticed Marie coming over. The master mage put herself in front of Zoke to catch his gaze.

“Zoke, will you come with me so we can talk?” Marie asked sternly.

Zoke took a breath to see if anyone else was going to say something. When he realized they weren’t, he grabbed the rest of the potatoes from his plate.

A dreadful thought came to Effie that he was going to mash them in Marie’s face. But thankfully, he just put them in his pants pocket—the only article of clothing he wore—and then reluctantly followed Marie out of the dining hall, his bare feet slapping hard against the floor with each step.

Only when Effie felt a hand to her shoulder did she realize that she was on the verge of crying. She turned to find Alarex standing there and quickly wiped away the budding tears.

He pulled her in for a hug, her chin just barely getting over his shoulder as she wrapped her arms around him.

“I think he’s taking what happened to Vithos harder than the rest of us,” Alex said. “Except for maybe Reela.”

“You’re right,” Effie agreed, making a mental reminder to tell Alex later about Reela’s Elven side. Zoke had never been so aggressive before. It had to be the grief that was doing this.

They parted, but Alex took her shoulders in a firm grip before she got too far from him. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure he behaves during battle training. Well, I’ll try.”

Oh, that’s right,
Effie remembered,
Alex is a Group One warrior as well.
“Good luck with that.” She meant it seriously, but she could hear that her tone was dubious, giving away that she had little hope Alex could control the Krepp.

Effie followed with a question. “Are you done eating? Walk back with me?”

Alex extended his elbow for her to wrap her arm around. “Of course.”

On their way out of the dining hall, Effie couldn’t help but wonder what Marie would say to Zoke.
And what will Zoke say back?
Effie felt as if the Krepp was her responsibility. It didn’t seem right to leave him unsupervised with an old woman, even if she was a master mage. Effie started to wonder if she should chase after them.

But when a familiar face came into the dining hall, her heart jumped, and Zoke slipped from her mind.