“Seiji, remember when I mocked you at our fencing tryouts about losing to Jesse?”
“Of course I recall,” Seiji said distantly. “I fail to see why you’re bringing it up now. It’s not helpful.”
“I wish to add that you’re a maddening person,” Aiden went on. “It’s why you’re so extremely unpopular. You’re not easy to get along with. You’re difficult and unyielding.”
“Wow, Aiden,” muttered Nicholas, “that is so mean. I think Seiji is—”
“So be difficult and unyielding. You’re a disgustingly relentless human being. You don’t let anything stop you. You didn’t let me beat you the second time around. And you won’t let Jesse beat you the second time around, either.” Aiden studied Seiji with some concern. “There. Was that helpful at all, or was I just bullying you?”
Seiji paused, the fixed expression on his face easing a fraction. “It was slightly helpful bullying. Thank you.”
Aiden felt a small burst of warmth in his chest. It was possible he and Seiji Katayama were having a nice moment.
“Are we going to hug?” Aiden asked in dread.
“Oh, no, thank you,” said Seiji.
He retreated behind Nicholas, his human shield from society, with obvious horror. Nicholas eyed Aiden in apprehension.
“Are you gonna try and say something nice to me?” he asked.
“We both wish Harvard were here right now, huh?” Aiden asked in reply.
Nicholas nodded. “Yeah.”
They were on common ground, and that was somewhere to start.
Aiden shrugged and tried honesty. “If Harvard were here, he’d say something nice, and he’d mean it. He likes you, Nicholas. And that means there has to be something special about you. Even if I can’t see it.”
Nicholas smiled, sudden and sweet. “Aiden? Back atcha.”
Aiden found himself surprised. He often measured the world through Harvard’s eyes, but it had never occurred to him to measure himself through Harvard’s eyes and discover he was worthwhile.
Against his better judgment, he slung an arm around Nicholas’s shoulders. Just then, Nicholas was distracted by his phone buzzing in his pocket. He pulled it out, checked the screen to see a text from Eugene. He let out a yell of triumph.
“Eugene says Harvard won his match!”
“I knew he would,” Aiden said, smiling.
Nicholas returned Aiden’s smile. “Yeah, I knew, too.”
“Let’s go congratulate him,” said Aiden. “Then later, my little freshmen, let’s show those Exton boys how we do it at Kings Row.”
34 SEIJI
On the way to his match against Jesse, Seiji led the way. He ducked his head under the broad stone lintel of the low, small door of the converted chapel, then walked down the stone corridor toward Camp Menton’s salle. The broad flagstones were worn so smooth they looked like the surface of calm water, but their footsteps echoed on the floor. When they entered the salle d’armes itself, the salle by night was dark as a cave with a monster lurking within it. On the wall was a plaque bearing a silver sculpture of crossed swords, moonlight striking it so that the silver points looked sharply brilliant.
“Oh, my hair,” murmured Aiden, breaking the silence.
“Is something in your hair?” Nicholas demanded. “Is it a bat?!”
“No, I mentioned my hair because it’s beautiful and I believe we should all think about it,” drawled Aiden. “Actually, I got a spiderweb in it when we were walking through the woods at night. While in formal attire.”
They were all dressed for the party in order to maintain their subterfuge. Seiji had tried doing his hair a little differently, but it had been a failure. Nicholas and Jesse had both given him the same strange look. Now, on top of everything else, Seiji had to bear the knowledge that he looked ridiculous.
Nicholas took hold of the back of Seiji’s shirt so he could deploy him as a shield against bats at any time. Seiji shot him an annoyed look. Nicholas grinned at him. Privately, Seiji was grateful that Nicholas was distracting him from the icy fear that seemed to be shot all through him, like cold steel next to his bones.
At least Seiji would never be as ridiculous as Nicholas. That was a comfort.
Seiji took a deep breath and stared around the salle.
The seats surrounding them were empty, but it felt as though they were full of people watching Seiji, about to be disappointed. The way Seiji’s father and Jesse’s father had been during the tournament where Seiji messed up because he was scared of letting his father down.
Seiji recalled his father’s voice, beloved and worried, saying, You should decide when the victory is important. Don’t let anyone choose your fight for you. He remembered Nicholas, talking about how he must painfully unlearn what he’d learned wrong, even though he cared about the person who’d taught the wrong things to him. Don’t play Jesse’s game, Aiden had said, and Seiji thought he understood now.
He took a deep breath of stone-cold air and announced, “I’m not going to fence you, Jesse.”
Jesse’s voice was incredulous. “What?”
“Correction,” said Seiji. “I said I would fence you, and I will. I always keep my word. I will fence you when I want to, in a real match, and not before. Why should you get to choose when we fence? You come to France, and you demand that I fence you, and you set the terms of our bargain. You think you should always get whatever you want. Why should I say How high? when you say Jump? I’m tired of it. I’m not going to do it anymore. And I’m not going to fence you now.”
Jesse looked so utterly stunned he almost seemed lost, like a kid who’d had his present ripped out of his arms on Christmas Day.
Marcel went and sagged on the stone seats encircling the theater like a puppet with its strings cut. “After all that!”
“Strongly agreed, Mordred from Exton,” said Aiden, strolling over to join Marcel and stretching his long legs out in front of him. “That is, I applaud and support your decision, freshman, but couldn’t you have had the epiphany before you put me through all this trouble?”
“So we broke in, and now nobody’s going to fence,” Marcel murmured, despairing.
He slid a speculative look toward Aiden.
“I’m not fencing anyone!” Aiden declared. “I already fenced James.”
“Jesse,” said Jesse.
Aiden smirked. “Jesse James?”
“Jesse Coste.”
“Settle down, Sundance Kid. I should be at a party right now. You people and your priorities disgust me.”
Jesse turned to Seiji. “I beat Aiden. And I hear Aiden beat you.”
Jesse’s eyes reminded Seiji of the match when Jesse had won, avid on Seiji’s face, watching for Seiji to flinch.
“Yeah, I beat Aiden, too,” Nicholas chimed in, and Jesse’s attention slid away in shock. “At tryouts. Wasn’t that hard. Aiden needs to practice more. Also, people shouldn’t listen to him talk. He does it too much.”
“This doesn’t involve you,” Jesse said. Then a smile woke on his face, sparkling and alluring, and dread coiled in Seiji’s stomach. “Unless…”