Ember (24 page)

I grabbed a clip quickly and latched some of
my more annoying loose hairs into it before rushing to the door of
the study. At this point I stopped, took a calming breath, told
myself there was no reason to be in a hurry, obviously from the
deep-blue lighting it was still early, and turned the knob
slowly.

By the time I was nearing the cafeteria my
pace had re-increased. Rounding the corner, I grabbed a cup of
coffee, waved to Sophie, then looked out over the giant room.

A smile crossed my face. Apparently the only
boys crazy enough to be up this early were under twelve. I didn't
mind though. In fact, so far I liked hanging out with
any
of
the boys here.

I noticed that Trevor was eating alone at a
table with a book in hand. I quietly scooted in across from
him.

“I didn't take you for the reading type,
Trevor.”

He looked up to me then, a bit startled. But
it wasn't long before his features soured. “I'm not, I'm
studying.”

“Oh. . . .” I said, trying to sound
empathetic. Situations in the past had long since taught me not to
reveal the fact that I enjoyed studying.

Trevor shrugged and set the book down onto
the table.

“What are you studying about?” I asked.

He grabbed an apple. “This is . . . actually
my favorite subject, Meodonic studies.”

My eyes widened. “Really? What does it
cover?”

He scoffed. “Nothing too interesting, we
don't get to read the good stuff until we get older. Most of this
is just geographical . . . or about the language.”

When he mentioned the last part I suddenly
remembered the time I had heard the Meoden speak in the dark
language. After all that had happened following that day . . . I
had completely forgotten about it until now.

“So they speak their own language then?”

Trevor nodded then took a bite out of his
apple.

Still forgoing breakfast, I questioned him
further. “How do they have meetings then? With Thoran and
Cornelius.”

“Oh, the Masters speak the language . . . or,
at least understand it. It's not really possible for humans to
imitate the Meoden dialect properly.”

I nodded slowly. “But, Sylvanus . . . I mean,
the Meoden, they can speak our language, right?”

That was a close save. I couldn't be
positive, but I doubted Sylvanus was brought up a lot around the
younger boys. Besides that, I'd managed to avoid any word getting
out about my encounter with the creature, I didn't want to blow
that now. Luckily, Trevor seemed to miss it. Probably due to my
usual mumbled voice.

“Not all of them, but I know that quite a few
of the higher ups do.” His eyebrows arched. “Like Demian.”

Demian.
I'd heard that name a few
times now. Finally I had the chance to ask someone about him. Just
when I was about to Nathan and a couple other boys came to sit
down.

After saying hello I considered continuing
the conversation with Trevor, but . . . the thought of Nathan
hearing about the Meoden, though I'm sure he did all the time, was
wrong. He was just so young. . . . I switched the table to lighter
topics and that is where it stayed for quite a while.

Although I listened and talked with the
group, the first more than the second, it all seemed a bit like
background noise. The larger part of my conscious mind was
passively, okay
obsessively,
searching the tables for my
friend and . . . the other, yet to be determined.

It was very bright out by the time my
attention turned solely back to the table. Holdan had joined now
and even after a polite good morning he looked a little sour. I
didn't blame him after yesterday, and, feeling somewhat
responsible, I took it upon myself to cheer him up.

“How did you sleep?” I asked, adding a
grotesquely sweet smile.

He lightened a bit, but held the scowl.
“Fine.”

I tried again. “Did you ever find Master . .
.”

“Boron?” he finished for me. “Yeah. I did.”
With that he reached for a plate and began grabbing food.

When my eyes wandered to Trevor he was eyeing
me significantly, apparently I wasn't the only one that could tell
Holdan was upset.

“What did he want?” I tried.

Holdan's eyes moved up to me, then finally he
let out a sigh. “He wanted me to watch the gate for the night.”

My smile widened over the supposed victory,
he was at least looking at me now. “Have you done that before?” I
asked.

He scoffed. “Many times.”

“What's it like?”

“You sit and watch a cave, waiting in case
anyone shows up, use your imagination.” He looked back down as he
said it.

Whoa, maybe not so victorious.
When I
looked back at Trevor he was mouthing something. I couldn't usually
make these out, but it was an obvious:
‘What did you do?’
I
shrugged, then narrowed my eyes at the table.
I
hadn't done
anything, but I could think of a certain, supercilious, boy that
might be responsible.

I reinstated a smile. Obviously it was going
to take a little more effort to win Holdan back. “So, are we going
to train today?” I asked him.

He looked up, a little surprised actually,
then his face softened slightly. “I guess, if
you
want
to.”

I nodded and finally he smiled, though it was
much smaller than the blinding grin I was used too.

For the rest of breakfast the boys continued
their usual chatter. Slowly but surely Holdan was joining in, due
chiefly to my efforts. To be honest I think I was just glad for a
challenge I had at least a chance at succeeding in. it was a nice
distraction from the two I had no clue with.

When Derrith joined us he informed me that
Jaden and Ikovos were out scouting this morning and wouldn't be
back until lunch. Once again, I was grateful for his informative
attitude, if not his uncanny knowledge of my concerns. Either way,
my mind settled and I was able to talk calmly with the other boys
as we ate, resuming my attempts at making Holdan
not
mad at
me.

Trevor and the younger boys left eventually,
followed by Derrith. I didn't notice that it was just me and Holdan
talking until I heard Sophie's voice.

“Having fun, you two?”

I looked up, startled. She was standing next
to our table with a warm smile. I realized, then, that the entire
cafeteria was completely cleared. For some reason in my mind I was
a very observant person, but that didn't really fit in with the
amount of times I missed stuff like this. Holdan, for example,
didn't seem surprised.

“Yeah,” he said and I smiled.

“Sorry, Sophie. Do you need us to get out of
here?”

She waved a hand. “Oh, no, no. I'm just used
to being the last one to leave the kitchen. You guys can stay here
as long as you like.” I smiled then she gestured with the mug in
her hand. “Well, I'm off to go pack . . . actually, Evelyn, I
wanted to ask a favor of you. I'm going to be gone till late
tonight and I was hoping you could set the food out for
dinner.”

I nodded. “Yeah, sure. . . .What about
lunch?” I asked.

She waved a hand again. “No lunch today. I
just told the boys to eat outside.”

“Oh . . . ,” I mumbled. She didn't give me
time to figure out why the statement bothered me so much.

“The food is in the pantry, like I said, just
set it out. And don't be shy about asking some of these strong,
young men to help you out.” She ruffled Holdan's hair as she said
it then waved and started walking off.

I blinked once at her rapid departure. “Wait,
Sophie?” I called. She turned around. “Ah . . . where are you
going?”

She grinned. “Just a short trip to one of the
towns. Don't worry, I'll be back before you know it.” With that she
vanished through the doorway.

I watched after her, still a bit disoriented
by her presence. She was so upbeat, so straightforward. A frown
crossed my face.
I wish I could disorient people. . . .

Holdan pulled me back to reality. “I guess we
have the place to ourselves then.”

I smiled, but felt suddenly awkward in the
empty room. “Yeah. . . .”

He leaned forward. “And don't worry, I'll
help you out tonight if you like.”

I nodded, then couldn't hold back a large
smile, it seemed I'd gone overboard with the cheer up Holdan
plan.

He must have taken the grin as gratefulness
for his proposed chivalry, because he brightened even further. “So,
what about you?” he asked. “What did you do last night?”

I took a sip of coffee to excuse time to
review my answer, then smiled at the simpleness of it. “Slept,
actually. I went in my room and just . . . fell over. I guess I was
tired.”

He looked unnecessarily pleased at this. and
though I couldn't think of a reason why, I found myself suddenly
irritated at him . . . like I had been two days ago in the
woods.

“What's the weather like today?” I asked
pleasantly. I wasn't about to let my unfounded emotions overpower
my logical reasoning.

Holdan frowned. “Nice, by regular standards.”
He leaned on one hand. “A sunny, cloudless, clear, blue, sky.”

I joined in the frown. “Any wind at
least?”

He shook his head back and forth and I
sighed.

“Maybe we should just stay inside today,” I
joked.

He pursed his lips, sat up straight, and
looked around. “Hey, that's not such a bad idea. We could use the
empty cafeteria.”

“No lunch,” I added.

We both smiled.

“. . . Though, the sparring could get a
little messy,” I pointed out, taking another sip of coffee.

He laughed. “Hey, good job yesterday, by the
way. I never got to tell you, but . . . you did well.”

I felt heat rising in my face at the mere
mention of the uncomfortable situation. In an attempt to smother
it, I put on a wide grin. “Up to your standards then?”

He waved a hand playfully. “Oh yeah, you
smoked the standards.”

I laughed then a thought crossed my mind. I
eyed him. “Speaking of sparring. . .” he raised an eyebrow, “. . .
someone
promised to show me something after I fought with
him.”

He grinned flatly. “Oh, that's all. Don't
worry, I won't complain about it as much as you do.”

There it was again, the slight annoyance. It
was easier to ignore it this time though, with the prospect of
magic ahead of me.

I smirked excitedly and he held out his hand.
We both looked at it. . . .

After a few seconds I glanced up to his face.
With Ikovos and . . . even Jaden, it had always happened instantly
so I thought he might have changed his mind. His face was
concentrated though. I looked back down and sure enough, after a
few more seconds, a small flame lit in his hand.

It almost looked more like the magic Ikovos
had used than anything, maybe because it started a deep grey. As it
grew though, it resembled fire more and more until a cool silver
sparkled at its tip.

I smiled and looked up at him. “That's really
beautiful, Holdan.”

He grinned, eyes on me now.

“Does everyone have a different color
then?”

He looked back down, resuming his
concentration. “Yes, well, at least here we do.” I stared at the
silver flames again. “I suppose eventually they'd have to
overlap.”

I nodded absently. My attention was much more
engrossed with the fire. After a while I noticed that it was, once
again, a poor substitute for the red flames . . . but I wouldn't
let my thoughts rest on that, and eventually, all too quickly, the
fire disappeared, leaving only an empty palm.

“Doesn't your hand burn at all?” I asked,
looking up at him.

He nodded down. “Feel for yourself.”

My throat constricted. Thoran wasn't
precisely clear when he mentioned the whole boundaries slash
etiquette thing, but I had a feeling this might apply. On the other
hand, I didn't want to make things weird between me and Holdan. . .
.
Besides, he's like five years older than me anyways.

I looked down and touched a finger quickly to
and from his palm.

“As long as you're the one conjuring it, it
won't burn you.”

I nodded. “Mmm.” His skin could have been
anywhere between zero and five-hundred degrees for all I'd noticed.
My physical sensitivities always sort of stop working properly in
the midst of emotional distress . . .
I wonder if that's gonna
cause some problems if I ever get in a battle.

Holdan interrupted my contemplation. “Oh!
Blast it. I forgot, I was supposed to go see Master Thoran after
breakfast.”

He looked at me and I waved a hand. “Go
ahead.”

He started to get up. “Great, I'll catch up
with you later, kay?”

I laughed slightly. He was all over the place
sometimes. “Yeah, I’ll see ya later.”

With one more wide grin, now at maximum
intensity, he turned around and walked towards the doorway.

I didn't watch him go. Instead I let out a
breath and dropped my head onto the table. I was completely wasted,
socially
wasted. It was strange because I thought that I’d
been handling the morning really well. With Holdan though. . . . I
didn’t want to have any dissensions with anyone here, but sometimes
it really didn’t seem like he was twenty-three . . . and he seemed
a bit insincere . . . maybe I was just tired still.

Ugh, what time is it anyways?
With a
moan I looked up to search for a clock. My heart jumped frantically
when I saw someone sitting across from me.

“Good, god.” I gasped and put a hand to my
chest. It was all a sudden reaction that I felt immediately stupid
for. . . but at least I hadn't screamed. . .

Jaden smirked across from me. Then there was
a moment of silence when he should have been apologizing for
frightening me or explaining that he hadn't meant to. . .