Page 73 of FoolSilver
He was more than that, and we both knew it.But I wasn’t going to say so out loud.
I beamed at him. “Yeah, but you’re an heir. All three of you outrank me. Bryn’s at my level. I don’t want us drifting apart, so I want her on this.”
Bryn had begged to come, begged to help me get my sister back. I wasn’t about to leave behind the one person here who wanted nothing from me but my friendship.
“She won’t be dead weight,” I added. “She’s been training harder than anyone. We’ve still got a few days of drills left. Run her through them. If she doesn’t hit the mark, cross her off the list yourselves. But I’d bet good money she clears it.”
Caspian nodded along. He’d always had a soft spot for me, which made him the easiest of the heirs to talk into things. Not that I’d ever take advantage of that. Except during training. Repeatedly.
“We haven’t pinned down your sister’s exact location, but she’s somewhere in the palace,” Nikolai said.
“I’ll find her,” I said. “The Oracle will help me.”
The heirs all went still at the mention of the Oracle.
I lifted my wrist. Coldiron hummed inside the armguard, and the temperature in the room dropped a few degrees.
“And so will my metal.”
Chapter 27
Max
The corridor outside the combat review class was packed by the time I skated up to it.
The class was new, opened on demand—not by us; cadets didn’t carry that kind of weight—but on Prince Aelindor’s authority. He’d promised the first-years a seat at the combat review, and he’d kept his word.
It wasn’t mandatory, so I hadn’t expected it to draw a crowd. Looked like every first-year in the academy had turned up anyway. The cadets along the aisle drew back to clear a path for my blades. That was new.
At the door, I leaned in for a look. Every seat full, cadets lined three deep along the walls. Fine, I’d skip it, then. No one would give me grief for it; the heirs had already pulled me out of regular classes and training, and nobody in this academy had logged more hours at their side than I had. Probably half the reason the aisle had opened for me in the first place.
Thanks, but I’d turn around and go. I’d sat in on the heirs’ and the generals’ classified war briefs. This would be child’s play. I’d come out of curiosity, nothing more.
“Max! Max!” Bryn’s voice cut over the noise. She was down in the front row, waving both arms like she was flagging down atransport. “Over here! Hurry up. I knew you’d come. I got here an hour early for these seats!”
Even as she yelled, she was fending off a cadet who kept trying to slide into the empty chair beside her. From the look of it, she’d nearly come to blows holding it for me.
I skated through the entrance, and a voice behind me brought me up short.
“Cadet Max Morning.”
Now what?
I glanced over my shoulder.
Lieutenant Vesper strolled in behind me. Average height, healthy brown hair, pale skin, a pair of glasses perched on her nose. She looked gentle for a vampire—none of the predator’s edge I’d braced for. She wore the oxblood of Sagittarius, Nikolai’s house, in plain fatigues. I’d learned by now that not every vampire had red eyes, though they all grew fangs when it was time to feed. Hers stayed put behind a mild, almost scholarly calm.
“Since you’re here,” she said, stepping behind the podium and taking a swig from her flask, “you can join my demo. Up front.” She pointed to a spot off the podium, about three o’clock from where she stood.
“You deployed east with the Spartans,” she went on. “You’re the first and only cadet who’s seen real combat. It’s in the report I read. So tell the class.”
I scanned the room, and it landed on me again, what the heirs had built without ever making a show of it. Every one of them was protective of me, yet they didn’t treat me like glass.
Nikolai’s voice drifted up from memory.One day you’ll be our equal in every way.They already treated me like one. My chest tightened, and a slow warmth spread out from under my ribs.
On my skate shoes I had a clear view over the whole room—I towered over everyone, the way I always did. The old insult surfaced right on cue.
Scarecrow.
