I hesitated. “I am not defenseless. And I am sure Captain Layna will not leave my side. Bryony as well, I imagine.”
For a moment he read my face in silence, his expression harsh, and his eyes burning. But he must have seen the certainty there.
“If you are determined to be so foolhardy, then Captain Vincent will not leave your side either. I will ensure it.”
“Thank you,” I said softly.
He groaned. “I wish I could promise that I wouldn’t leave your side either, Verene. But—”
“But you will have other duties and priorities,” I finished for him. “I understand, truly I do.”
The vision of a purple flower danced behind my eyes. Just tell me everything, I pleaded with him silently. Tell me the full truth of what is going on and let me help you properly.
“I wish…” His voice trailed away while I held my breath hopefully.
“What do you wish?” I whispered at last.
“Too many things that can never be.” His harsh voice broke the moment. “But I will see you return safe to the Academy, Verene.”
“I certainly intend to do so,” I replied. “I only hope you return with a crown.”
“Hope is something I have long left behind,” he said with blazing eyes. “But I will win the crown without it.”
Chapter 15
Several days later, Duke Francis announced the king’s invitation to the entire Academy. If he thought the timing of my aunt’s communication about the ending of my travel restrictions to be strangely coincidental, he never mentioned it to me.
He did, however, call me to his office to gravely explain the measures that would be taken to ensure my safety. They included the reinstatement of Captain Layna as my personal guard for the time we were outside the Academy walls. I thanked him and gave no indication I was already aware of the arrangements.
At every meal the dining hall buzzed with chatter about the upcoming holiday, and I didn’t hear of a single trainee who had refused the invitation. Most of them reported their families would be traveling to Kallmon to join the festivities and seemed excited about a visit to the capital. A few seemed less pleased with the arrangement, but apparently personal preferences didn’t weigh into the matter—not when it came to a joint invitation from both monarchs.
“This is outrageous,” Dellion exclaimed on the way to combat class one morning, several days before our planned departure.
We all turned to look at her, and Royce sniggered openly when he saw she had put her boot in the waste left behind by some unknown horse.
Ashlyn made a sympathetic face. “I’ll admit I’ll be glad when it’s time to actually leave. I’m not sure how many more horses and carriages the Academy can hold.”
“Has the entire Academy ever traveled anywhere in convoy before?” Tyron looked around at the bustling courtyard where yet another carriage was being backed into a large storage shed. “I hadn’t quite considered the logistics of such an undertaking.”
“I doubt it,” Jareth said. “Everything has been strange since we started here. The Academy had never hosted the monarchs for a Midwinter Ball before last year either.”
Everyone carefully avoided looking at me, although personally I suspected Jareth himself had a little something to do with the unusual happenings of the last year and a half.
When the third new carriage of the morning arrived halfway through our combat class, causing Frida to lose concentration and drop her defense, Mitchell called a halt to our bouts. He sent Frida back to the Academy in search of Raelynn, Ashlyn in attendance and a trail of blood drops behind them.
“There is clearly no point in attempting a lesson when you are all so distracted,” he said with a disapproving expression. “I shall register my complaint with Duke Francis, but in the meantime, I am canceling combat classes until after Midwinter.”
Wardell whooped loudly, despite Mitchell’s forbidding expression, and Isabelle hid a chuckle.
“Sorry, Bryony,” Tyron said with a grin. “Don’t be too disappointed. I’m sure it will feel like no time at all until we’re back in regular classes again.”
She just laughed and shook out her hair. “Even I can appreciate the occasional holiday. I’m dying to see Kallmon. I wonder what it’s like?”
“Cold and gray,” Armand said from her other side.
We all turned to him in surprise. He didn’t usually volunteer any information.
“Does your family live there?” Tyron asked.
“For some of the year,” he said. “I much prefer the months we spend at our small estate in the south.”
If I remembered correctly, General Haddon had an estate on the south coast. Maybe Armand’s parents had changed allegiances due to being neighbors with the general.
“Well anyone would rather live on the coast than in a city,” Isabelle said. “That’s just natural.”
“Speak for yourself.” Dellion tossed her hair. “I love the capital. Being out on the estate is so boring. Unless someone is holding a party or something. We all had a fabulous time at Grandfather’s estate on the coast last summer.” She glanced at Jareth who grinned back easily at her. As cousins, they had been at the large family gathering together.
“But being at the capital at Midwinter will be amazing,” Dellion continued. “Absolutely everyone will be there, and there’ll be all sorts of festivities. And the shopping.”
“Oooh yes, I’m looking forward to that,” Bryony agreed.
“Are you not looking forward to it, Isabelle?” I asked the quieter girl.
She looked thoughtful. “I’ll miss having my normal holiday at home. Especially since my family can’t make it all the way to the capital just for a ball. But I’ll admit, I’m curious. I might not love cities, but I’ve always wondered what Midwinter in Kallmon is like.”
“I grew up in Corrin,” I said. “So I don’t know anything other than a city Midwinter, but I’m curious as well. I’ve never been to Kallmon.”
“At least the trip has been good for one thing,” Wardell interjected. “I’ll take an extra break from lessons any day.”
Most people seemed to feel the same as Wardell. One by one, the other instructors followed Mitchell’s lead, and I didn’t hear any of the trainees complaining. In the library, I overheard Hugh telling Raelynn that the instructors were all worried about distracted trainees making some sort of fatal error in their compositions.
“We don’t want another one bringing half the Academy down,” he had said with a chuckle in his voice, making me wonder if the story about the expelled trainee was true after all.
Finally only Amalia was left teaching, and much to her displeasure we had to return to our usual room to focus on energy studies only. She grumbled a number of times about trainees needing to learn to work through distractions, and I must have been infected by the holiday spirit more than I realized because I actually answered back.
“But don’t forget we’re all unstable youth,” I told her with a grin. “I imagine the theory is that we’ll all have steadied somewhat by the time we actually graduate.”