Alex Lidell - The Cadet of Tildor

Diam shook his head. “Khavi hurts.”

On cue, the dog lifted his head and whimpered.

“Easy, boy.” Alec crouched and ran his palm over Khavi’s fur, wiping away blood. “Tanil caught him with a stone.” He kept his head bent. “I’ll care for him.”

“I know,” Diam said.

The certainty in his voice made Renee stare at the strange little boy before holding a hand out toward him. He slipped his small, cold palm into hers and they picked their way up the trail, sodden boots squeaking with each step. They had almost made it to the pages’ wing when a familiar voice hailed them.

“De Winter! Savoy! Stop. What happened to you two?”

Renee froze and turned toward Verin. She didn’t see Savoy. “Ah, I don’t know where Commander Savoy is, Master Verin.”

“I suggest you find him.”

She frowned. “But, sir, you just said—”

“He’s talkin’ to me,” piped the small voice beside her. “I’m Savoy. Diam Savoy. Why do we gotta find Korish, Master Verin?”

Verin gave the boy a severe look. “So that he can sort out whatever mess his student and his brother got themselves into.”

B rother. Savoy’s little brother had heard the exchange at Rock Lake and now held Alec’s secret in his eight-year-old hands. Her eyes flickered down to where her fingers wrapped around Diam’s, and she fought off an impulse to jerk away. As if reading her thoughts, the boy squeezed tighter and tugged her toward the instructors’ quarters.

The Savoy who opened the door to room fifteen scarcely resembled Renee’s training master. He panted, sweat dripping from his hair onto bare shoulders and sliding along muscle grooves. His worn-out breeches never belonged to a Servant’s uniform, and the blade resting in his hand voiced a threat so powerful that Renee took a step back before catching herself.

“Ah, M-M-Master Verin ordered us here,” she stammered, justifying their intrusion.

“I see.” Savoy swallowed, catching his breath. He rested his sword against the wall and reached for a discarded shirt. A tangle of long, thin scars crisscrossed his back. He dressed and stood aside, letting them in.

The room was larger than a cadet’s, and seemed even more so owing to the exile of all furniture into a single corner, leaving a clear space in the middle. There were no pictures or mementos. Weapons hung on otherwise bare walls, and smells of oil, leather, and flint filled the air. A travel pack stood beside the door, like a saddled horse awaiting departure.

Savoy cleared his throat, and the events of the past hour rushed back to Renee’s head. Her heart raced. She couldn’t tell Savoy anything, not without sacrificing Alec. What if Diam told? She needed a moment to think. “Did we interrupt your training, sir?” she asked. “Why don’t you practice in the salle?”

“Why don’t you two tell me why you’re dripping all over my floor.”

So much for time to think.

“’Cause we’re wet,” Diam said, and reached for his brother’s sword.

In one smooth motion, Savoy intercepted the intruder and sat him atop the bureau.

The boy muffled a cry of glee, but pleasure danced impishly in his eyes.

“Diam.” Savoy crossed his arms and scowled. Now face-to-face, the brothers startled Renee with their likeness. Although the solid, athletic Savoy dwarfed the skinny, squirmy Diam, the two had matching green eyes and identical stubborn expressions.

The boy fidgeted. “We helped the stable hands water the horses and got into a water fight, and got wet.”

Savoy raked his hand through his brother’s blond curls. “And the sand?”

“I fell on the practice courts when we walked back.”

“You fell. Did de Winter fall too?”

Diam glanced at her. “No, she didn’t fall, but she helped me stand up, so she got all sandy too.”

“Which is why she has sand all over her clothes?” Savoy turned to her before Diam could answer. “All right, de Winter, your turn. And before we continue down the same path, I remind you that I am your commanding officer.”

The warning eliminated the option of lying. “We took an unplanned swim in Rock Lake, sir.”

“Do I wish to know details?”

“Probably not, sir.”

He crossed his arms and stared at her, his green eyes penetrating yet revealing nothing of his thoughts. “Very well.”

She blinked. “That’s all?” The words left her mouth before she realized she was speaking.

“I will not punish you for playing rough or getting wet. Is there a reason why I should give you misery?”

Hearing no sarcasm in his voice, Renee swallowed and dropped her gaze, the deception gnawing at her.

Diam came to the rescue for a second time. “No, no reason. I’m cold!” he declared from his perch atop the bureau and scampered down using the drawers for footholds. Grabbing her hand, he towed her to the door. “Let’s go change!”

A voice stopped them as they headed out. “De Winter.”

She turned, met Savoy’s eyes once more, but said nothing.

He nodded. “See you in class.”

“Yes, sir,” she mumbled, bowing and turning away once more. Savoy’s unexpected laxity unsettled her.

A few hours later, everyone gathered in Sasha and Renee’s room. Khavi vaulted onto Renee’s bed, demanding attention. She ruffled the dog’s fur and found a thin, healing cut in place of what had seemed a vivid gash a few hours back. Alec had done an excellent job sewing the wound.

Sasha crossed her legs and swept the group with a glance. A magistrate to the core. “So, Tanil caught Diam watching a compromising situation and tried to scare him into keeping his mouth shut.” She said the words with small-talk ease that Renee didn’t mistake for nonchalance. “Then you two showed up and he turned to blackmail.”

“Exactly like Tanil to get brave when someone’s too small to fight back.” Renee stuck her hands into her pockets.

Sasha bit her lip. “Lord Palan is of the Family. High up too. What’s his nephew doing talking to Vipers?”

“Gambling.” Alec shook his head and glared at Diam. “You never said you were Savoy’s brother.” The anger in his voice startled Renee. All heads turned to him.

“I didn’t tell on you,” Diam shot back.

“And you, Alec, promised to dump the veesi,” Renee stepped in. “So, worry about yourself right now.”

“If Tanil knew about Savoy, he’d never have started with Diam,” said Alec. “None of this would have happened.”

“And if you’d dumped the veesi like you promised, we could have . . . ” She rubbed her forehead. What was done was done. “You need to get rid of it.”

Silence loomed until Alec lowered his face and swallowed. When he spoke, the words barely broke a whisper. “I can’t.”

“Like hell you can’t. The stuff makes people stop caring. Idiots destroy their lives because nothing concerns them.” She ignored his flinch. “And they destroy other people’s lives in the process.”

He lifted his gaze to meet hers. “You see me stop caring about anything or destroying my life?”

Renee paused. He didn’t show the lethargy and nonchalance of a veesi user. “I see you destroying your career this minute. Correction, I see it destroying your career.”

Several moments passed before Alec spoke again. “It has no agenda. You make veesi sound evil.”

“It is.”

“It’s not,” said Sasha, drawing startled looks from both of them.

Renee glared at her roommate. “Taking his side?”

“Taking the facts’ side. Veesi masks pain,” she said simply. “That makes it dangerous, not evil.”

Renee rolled her eyes. Sasha would assign degrees to evilness next, and write an opinion essay on it. “I’m not talking Healers’ salve. Dolts chew the leaves, get high, and dance off to do stupid feats while the Family or Viper coffers gain. It—”