She sighed and realized his arm had tensed beneath her fingertips. He asked in a slightly clipped tone, “Who told you I was a spymaster?”
She laughed ruefully, shaking her head. “No one had to tell me. You may have been watching me, but I’ve been watching you too. Do you really think I’m so unobservant that I wouldn’t notice the many people reporting to you or how well informed you always are? Sure, I’ve shared some of my secrets with you, but you’ve shared some as well, intentionally or not.”
Looking up at the bright blue sky above them, she smiled as she said softly, “This is my home now. I’m doing my best to figure out my place, but that involves figuring out where everyone else fits too. So please, trust me and call off the guard dogs. I need the freedom or I might go crazy with paranoia, always looking over my shoulder for someone following me.”
Stephen looked thoughtful, then sighed. “I’ll try, but I’m going to have to run it by others.”
She nodded in understanding. “I figured. There’s always someone higher on the ladder until you reach the king, and even then sometimes there’s more.” She smiled and leaned on his shoulder as she finished, “But thank you for trying. That’s all I ask for. Try to give me a chance.”
When all was said and done, chance, fate, or whatever else you called it, only helped those who helped themselves.
Chapter Six – Fire
The rest of the walk to Magnus was spent in small talk and companionable silence. He dropped her off at her workshop, where Jade could see several curious students queuing down the hall look over curiously. She quickly slipped into her safe space, breathing a sigh of relief. Putting her sunglasses on a shelf, she stowed the rest of her battlegear, leaving her chosen knives in place. She’d have to get used to wearing them from now on. It was funny, but she never thought that weaponry would be her main accessories of choice.
Walking over to her sitting corner, she grabbed the cool cloak Camille had left there after the shopping spree. Sadly, it was the only item of clothing that had stayed at the academy. Slipping it over her shoulders, she figured that it at least covered the obvious cuts on her shirt, and she could just drape it across her lap when she was sitting. Standing up, it encompassed her figure completely, so no one could tell what the condition of her clothing was or how many weapons she was carrying. Not that being armed was a surprising thing or something she had to hide, but still.
Now feeling prepared to go to her beginner fire class, she sang softly, “Now I see fire, inside the classroom. I see fire, burning for free. And I hope that you’ll educate me…” In her head, she didn’t sing the original version, but had a bunch of acapella voices going on in the background. She’d loved Peter’s version even as she changed it for her circumstances. It made her sad that she couldn’t watch his videos on YouTube anymore; there was so much amazing music that she wished she could bring to life again, but she already felt like she was starting to forget some of it…
Shaking her head, she left her workshop, carefully locking it behind her as she turned left and headed for the small group of milling students. It was just around the corner of the building, labelled clearly as 2F. She almost laughed at how appropriate having Fire in the F classroom was. Still, she was surprised by how large of a group it was, comparatively. She counted fourteen students including herself. Sadly, she didn’t recognize a single one of them.
They were already divided into little groups, so instead of trying to join in, she just hovered at the side a little awkwardly with a small smile, trying to look friendly. Some of them were sneaking glances at her, but they held barely contained sneers as they took in her cloak. She heard one whisper that wasn’t really a whisper, “Does she think she’s trying to make a fashion statement? Who wears a cloak to a fire class?”
Now that she looked, they were all wearing clothes that were as light as they could make them. She pinpointed the non-whispering voice as a boy who looked like he could be Will’s cousin. He had the same shiny platinum hair and bright cornflower blue eyes, along with the customary fit build and sword at his waist. His clothes, while light, were also fancier than the other students’. His shiny white teeth flashed with his mocking smirk, as if he were a dog baring them at an intruder. Considering that fully eight of the clumped students were orbiting around him and fawning, she felt pretty secure in assuming he was probably royal.
He looked like he was about to say something else disparaging when the door opened and there stood Baronet Tristan. Jade smiled at him, remembering that he’d said he was the assistant for this class. He didn’t immediately spot her however, as his gaze was drawn to the royal jerk. “You’re all welcome to come in now.” Jerkface nodded imperiously to him, stalking past everyone else to be the first into the room and claim whatever he considered to be the best seats. She didn’t care. Let him have his petty pride.
His posse followed closely behind him, then the other groups made their way in with Jade bringing up the rear. When she reached him, Tristan smiled at her. “All settled in?”
She nodded cheerfully. “Yes, thanks to your help. How’ve you been?”
He grinned, and she couldn’t help but admire his dreds. He was one of the few people she’d seen who had a truly different hairstyle. “I’ve been good. Nothing too exciting usually happens on campus.” She nodded and walked into the room, glancing around to find an empty seat. There was only one, but she was a bit wary of it, given that royal jerk had the seat right behind her. She thought she’d just avoid him, or that all the seats around him would be filled with his minions. Apparently he’d decided to try and torment her from behind. Well, he could try.
Walking over to the seat, she smiled innocently at him, which seemed to confound him for a moment before she took her seat. Silently, she created a wind wall on three sides, leaving only the front to the professor open. It wouldn’t be obvious unless someone tried something. Satisfied that she was protected, she carefully arranged her cloak to make sure she was covered, then looked at the front of the room where Count Rachtin sat observing the class.
Stephen had introduced her to the quiet professor, and she had wondered that he looked so little like a match for his element. With weathered olive skin, dark brown almond shaped eyes, and black hair combed neatly to one side, he reminded her of one of the Hindu doctors she’d met. Once they were all settled, he began while Tristan started walking around the room with piles of wood in his hand. It was then that she noticed these desks were made out of pure metal…probably a smart idea to not have flammable desks in the fire classroom. She honestly wasn’t sure metal was the best idea, either. She’d have chosen stone. Maybe it was to teach them control over heat?
“Good afternoon, class. As you can see, Tristan is passing out wood. Before we begin, I’d like to assess your proficiency with fire magic so I know where to start. Please light your pile of wood on fire and keep it burning for as long as possible.” Thankfully, the easiest way to get to her desk was from the front, so she didn’t have to move her wind walls for Tristan. She smiled and thanked him as he passed her the wood, glancing around.
Several of the students were staring at the wood, utterly stumped as to how to light it on fire. One student had smoke coming from his wood, but no actual flame. Unsurprisingly, royal jerk and several of his cronies had lit their wood on fire and were watching everyone else struggle with smug looks.