Total pages in book: 214
Estimated words: 195876 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 979(@200wpm)___ 784(@250wpm)___ 653(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 195876 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 979(@200wpm)___ 784(@250wpm)___ 653(@300wpm)
Ambrose, who sits beside Beck, leans his head forward, voice low. "When are you going to tell us what happened in the Lake, Nessa? I'm hearing wild rumors, and as your friend, I should be the one spreading wild rumors."
"Later," I say, glancing toward Malakai. Even with three of his soldiers dead, Malakai’s "army" is still intimidating, but I think others are starting to wonder if his group is as untouchable as they thought. Malakai's lowered eyes as he focuses on his channeling tells me he feels it too. The confident swagger he normally carries is dimmed, though so slightly I could be imagining it. "Common room after Military Tactics?"
"We'll be there," Beck says, rubbing his hands together. "This is going to be juicy, isn't it? I heard you punched an instructor in the face and grabbed a handful of echoes from the bowl itself."
Ambrose leans in closer. "I heard she wrestled a water serpent by its horns, then rode it back to shore."
I can't help laughing softly, which earns me a stern look from Sestra. We all sit back in place and resume working on our spells, but my mind is spinning with a thousand thoughts, making it hard to concentrate.
Confluence Day is only three days away. I still have no idea why those instructors were talking about siphons. I don't know if Malakai is planning to get revenge for what happened, or if he's going to avoid me now that he knows what I'm capable of.
And it doesn't even end there.
The more I read of the unbound book, the more it dawns on me that Bastian read all of this too. He knows all of this about me and more. Considering he's supposed to be reporting back to his father in some kind of important council, I have to wonder if he has mentioned me.
From what I'm reading, I know enough to say that would mean deadly consequences for me.
And Raith… I'm still pissed from our encounter in the middle of the night. I know he doesn't owe me anything, but it stings to think he could even imagine I'd be working with Malakai—that I'd be helping to murder people. The accusation burns like acid in my chest, all the more painful because part of me had started to trust him. An even smaller part of me had started to think he cared about me. Worried about me.
Stupid. I see that much now.
The rest of the classes pass in a blur as my thoughts twist and turn over everything that has happened and is yet to come. I'm the first one to the common room in the water tower after Military Tactics because I can't find an appetite tonight.
I take a spot on a large, comfortable couch by a window lined with decorative silver filigree. A magically blue-tinged fire burns in the hearth beside me, warming me even as the night’s chill seeps through the castle walls. By some miracle of magic, the water that always runs down the walls here has started to get warmer, and now it gives off wisps of steam as it runs down the walls, heating the tower slightly.
I itch to read my unbound book as I wait for the others to show, but I know it would be insanity to pull it out here. I only read the book at night when Mireen is asleep or on nights when she's out sharing someone else's bed. Thankfully, she doesn't ever bring her partners to our room.
Older students come in and disappear up the side stairs that lead to the private sections of the common room. I see a few aspirants and legacies also passing through the general common room to their private areas as well. There are only a handful of other first-year water offerings in the room, and they're clustered together on the far side with books spread out, studying for one of many upcoming tests.
It's half an hour before Mireen, Beck, and Ambrose have all joined me. Mireen sits beside me, offering to fix my braid—which was nearly pulled out of my head during sparring this morning. Beck and Ambrose take the single seats opposite our couch, leaning in, eyes and faces intent.
"Okay," Beck says. He glances to his side, seeming to confirm the others in the common room aren't close enough to listen in. "Spill it."
And I do, though I omit a few choice details. I tell them about Malakai's attack and the giant creature. I even tell them how it healed my wound and saved us with a raft of water magic. I don't talk about the powers I used, admit I sort of saved Malakai's life, or tell them the creature had already been visiting me in my nightmares for weeks.
But the story is sensational enough that they don't seem to sense I've left anything out.