Ginn Hale - Lord of the White Hell Book One

Nestor's afternoon had been so different from his own. At least one of them had enjoyed the day.

"She sounds nice," Kiram said and he meant it.

Nestor's lovestruck expression slipped suddenly into one of melancholy. "I thought today was going to be the happiest day of my life, but now you're going to be taken out of the academy. It just doesn't seem fair."

"It's not," Kiram agreed. He couldn't make himself accept the thought of abandoning Javier and Fedeles to Prince Nugalo. "But what choice do I have? Even if I refuse to go, Rafie would only have to tell my mother that the academy is dangerous and she'll withdraw my tuition."

Master Ignacio shouted out for silence and all conversations immediately ended. Elezar even stopped taking playful swipes at Javier and stood at attention with the rest of the students.

Master Ignacio paced along the long rows of the gathered students, taking roll and demanding to know where they intended to spend the night in the city. Those who didn't answer quickly enough or whose responses he didn't like were assigned beds at the church hostel.

Atreau wasn't even allowed to get his answer fully articulated before Master Ignacio assigned him to the church hostel. The majority of the students were staying with their families, many of whom owned townhouses in Zancoda, which were maintained specifically for the yearly tournaments.

The Grunito family owned one, as did the Helio and Quemanor. There was even a Tornesal townhouse, though only one Tornesal remained to occupy it.

Kiram wondered how Master Ignacio would respond to the idea of one of his students boarding at an inn like the Laughing Dog. For an instant Kiram smirked, imagining the Master's dilemma of either accepting a shoddy inn at the edge of the city or having to assign a Haldiim to a church bed.

Nestor's turn came.

"I'll be at the Grunito townhouse with my-"

"Fine," Master Ignacio cut him off, moving on to Kiram. "And you?"

"I.I'll be staying with upperclassman Javier at the Tornesal townhouse," Kiram said in a rush of defiance. Never in his life had he been so disobedient as to disregard one of his uncle's directives, but he had to warn Javier about Holy Father Habalan as soon as possible.

Immune to the momentous nature of Kiram's decision, Master Ignacio simply nodded, jotted it down in the roll book and moved on.

Once all the students' future whereabouts had been established, Master Ignacio announced that he expected all of them back at the city stables tomorrow morning before first morning bell, adding that if he discovered any of them out on the city streets after eighth bell this evening, he would personally beat them to a pulp. After that Master Ignacio dismissed them to their lodgings for the evening. Kiram and Nestor jostled through the crowd to meet up with Javier and Elezar. Outside, carriages lined the street and groups of students crammed into them to share fares to their lodgings.

"I thought you would stay with your uncle," Javier said.

Kiram could see that he was trying, unsuccessfully, to hide an arrogant smile. Javier clearly gloried in the fact that Kiram had chosen his company. His triumphant pleasure verged on egotism and yet Kiram found him charming.

And that made him feel even more depressed.

"Kiram's uncle is pulling him out of the academy!" Nestor announced, before Kiram could reply.

"What?" Javier's pleased expression collapsed.

"Rafie thinks it's too dangerous for me here." Kiram's throat felt tight. Just saying the words made him feel like he was already leaving, as if it was inevitable.

"Well, that's a hard lump of shit to swallow." Elezar sighed and shook his head as though he had expected something like this to happen. "Just because you got a little cut on your arm?"

"It's not just that but I'm sure it didn't help." Kiram glanced to Javier, but couldn't read any emotion in his expression now. His features seemed set as perfectly as those of a statue.

"God forbid you ever fall down and break a bone," Elezar said. "Your uncle would probably lock you up in your room for the rest of your life."

"There's got to be some way we can change his mind," Nestor protested.

"I don't know." Kiram had expected Javier to rail against this-not just expected, but wanted it. Instead, Javier stared silently at the street ahead, frowned slightly, and then looked to Elezar.

"Are you two taking a carriage to the Grunito townhouse?"

"No, we have to meet our mother at the chapel." Elezar made a sour face. "You coming?"

"Not tonight. My bailiff is expecting me at the townhouse. Give your mother my apologies."

"Sure," Elezar replied. Then, to Kiram, "Sorry you're getting pulled out. At least you'll have one glorious tournament to your name before you go."

Kiram nodded somewhat numbly. Nestor looked like he would say something but Elezar caught his shoulder.

"Come on, you." Elezar gave Nestor an appraising look as they began towards the nearest carriage. "I hear you met a girl."

"The Tornesal townhouse isn't far." Javier didn't look at Kiram, but instead turned and strode along the raised walkway, forcing Kiram to rush to catch up with him, though once he reached Javier's side he found he had nothing to say that could be said in public, so they walked together in silence.

The Tornesal townhouse stood out from the other nobles' townhouses by virtue of both its size, which was immense, and its simplicity. Onyx inlays of black suns decorated the white marble walls but there were no ornately carved sconces, nor any golden filigree. Surrounded by wildly decorated pleasure houses, it looked grim and ancient. The massive doors, with their iron reinforcements and the narrow windows, remained from an age when peasant riots were common and livestock was kept indoors.

The moment Javier approached the doors two servants in black and white piebald liveries pulled them open.

"Welcome home, Lord Tornesal." The doormen greeted Javier in unison. Javier didn't acknowledge either of them nor did they seem to expect him to, though they both glanced sidelong at Kiram as he followed Javier into the brilliant light of the house.

Inside, hundreds of candles blazed from iron candelabras and the white stone walls seemed to glow with the light. In the entry room, three more serving men greeted Javier respectfully and bowed deeply to him. They peered at Kiram as if he was some kind of strange curiosity, but said nothing to him. One of them bowed out of the room but the other two lingered, occupied by replacing several guttered candles.

Javier abruptly stopped and pivoted around, startling Kiram backward. "I have to meet with my bailiff and with one of my bankers. I didn't think you'd be staying here with me so I scheduled most of the evening with them. You can entertain yourself for a little while, can't you?"

"Yss, but after that I need to talk to you. Alone." His lowered voice seemed to boom through the open space. He felt the presence of the serving men too intensely.

"I'll try to hurry things up. We could take dinner together in an hour or so," Javier said.

"Sounds fine."

Then Javier called one of the servants to him and directed the servants to escort Kiram around the townhouse. When the servant asked what room Kiram would be using for the night Kiram quickly suggested that he'd be happy to share Lord Tornesal's room.

"I realize you weren't expecting me and I don't want to cause all the trouble of preparing another room," he explained more for the servant's sake than to convince Javier.

"Of course, you won't have to spend the night on the floor in my room. This isn't the academy, after all." The frustration in Javier's voice was palpable. "The green room should do. It's near the library."

Javier took his leave and the servant led Kiram on a brief tour of the townhouse. Most of the huge structure was closed up. Furniture was covered, carpets rolled away and fireplaces had been cleaned and sealed up to keep out bats. Nothing was so unkempt as to seem abandoned but a sense of emptiness pervaded the house. Entire suites seemed like preserved historical specimens.