One wrong step, p.27
One Wrong Step, page 27
“Anitta! It is your duty to hear all issues raised by the faculty-” Acrisius tried to argue, but the tiny woman slashed a hand through the air and blackthorns erupted around his hooves.
“It is my duty to corral this academy into a heroic machine. It is not to listen to your political agendas. And it is Mistress Lopez to you!”
“A blood leech attacked another, and it’s high time-”
And on it went. Heart sinking in my chest, I tuned out the ranting as bile licked at the back of my throat. Cas shifted, looking at me and then shaking his head again. He didn't know what to do. I didn’t know either. Falling back to hide around the stable’s edge. I just stood there. My mind was blank and that bud hope I'd felt moments before shrivelled and died in my stomach acid, just as soft hair brushed my face.
“What the-” I spun, finding bright brown eyes and long lashes watching me. “Dusty.” I chuckled as the horse nickered against my pockets. “I knew feeding you all those sugar cubes was a bad idea.”
She pawed the dirt, her teeth clamping over my sleeve as if that was where I was hiding a teeny-tiny carrot.
“Hay, enough. Enough.” I laughed, my spirits rising slightly. “Let’s go find some food, okay?” Brushing her cheek, I wondered how she got out of her stable, when fast-approaching steps drew my head up.
“Ah, thank the Inks.” Master Maroulis – Silas stopped at my side with a breath, patting Dusty’s flank. Silver hair fell in his face, his pearly whites curved in a grin. “I swear, blink at the wrong time, and this mare has got her gate open, fleeing like the dust she’s named after.”
“Well, she wouldn’t be my horse if she wasn’t a troublemaker.” I defended, to which Dusty agreed, shaking her mane.
“Sounds like a match made in the Library’s halls.” He chuckled, watching me with a hooked grin. He might have said more, but the sound of Professor Acrisius snorting echoed, turning both our heads. Something about fangs as trophies.
“Ah, is the old donkey going on about his glory days again?” Silas gave me a knowing, sad smile. “Don’t take it to heart, my girl. Acrisius would have lobbied for the Helsing Law to be lifted if they’d caught the vampire chowing on a venison shank. Biting you just means he’ll be that much louder for a time.”
“Good to know my life is equal to Bambi’s,” I muttered to Dusty, scratching her nose.
Wide shoulders unfurling, Sila straightened, a callous hand squeezing my shoulder. “Come, Miss Heart. Let’s return Dusty to her stall for a treat, and then perhaps you and I could have a word before class.”
“A-a word?” I squeaked at his back. But the man was gone. My horse too, traitor.
With a fleeting look at Cas, he gave me another apologetic smile, before returning to Acrisius, his face paling with every word fired. I guess I wouldn’t be spending any extra time with him today.
Bugger.
Chapter Seventeen
Following Master Maroulis and Dusty back across the courtyard, we pulled up outside the mare’s stable and, as expected, the door was wide open; the bolt coated in horse slobber.
“Crafty girl.” Silas applauded before gathering her bridal off the wall. “I assume if you are here early, Miss Heart, you need some extra practice in Animal Husbandry?
Stood awkwardly at his side, I blinked stupidly as he handed the leather bit over. I was expecting a lecture or a slap on the wrist for my foolish actions around a vampire. But his smile was kind, buried under his salt-and-pepper beard. “I-ah, yes. I’ve just about learned where everything goes.”
“Very well. Show me and I will correct it if needed.”
Cas had shown me most of the basics, checking her hooves, grooming her coat, and mixing her feed, adding a few extra sugar cubes for love. I did it all while Silas watched, thick arms folded across his chest, pointing out the best and kindest ways to attach Dusty’s bridal and saddle, correcting me when I drew the wrong buckles together. Luckily, Dusty was an angel through it all, but it helped she was content with licking a fresh salt block.
Reaching the point where all I needed to do was swing a leg over and ride off into the sunset, Silas patted Dusty’s neck, obviously pleased. “Very good. You’ve learnt quickly to say you’ve not done it before.”
“Thank you. I had an excellent teacher.” Patting Dusty down, I bit my lip, recalling how close Cas had stood on my first day, his arms and hips brushing mine while puppeteering my hands.
“Good. Dedication to your lessons is paramount here, though that’s not always the case with you, is it?”
Ah, here was the lecture. My mood soured rapidly. “I’m not sure what would give you that idea, sir.”
“You’re early for this class, which I applaud. But Professor Tilara expressed how she didn’t think you were interested in her teachings.” His hand had stilled on Dusty’s neck, as had mine, and there was barely a finger’s breath between them. “You’re hardly present, inattentive in every lesson, snappy, and argumentative when you’re not completely silent”
Blinking, I reminded myself I was speaking to a teacher as I growled through my teeth. “I do the work, sir. I pay attention. I heal.” The last lesson involved the creation of pulps, but I wasn’t to blame for burning Jade.
“But you still despise her lessons?” Silas said, watching me with an inquisitive gaze.
"What’s not to like?" I paused as his gaze narrowed. "I just find them… bias."
“How so?”
Huffing my breath, I could hear Briar’s warning voice and Cas’s in the back of my head; don’t question the Roles. Don’t question the status quo. “It doesn’t matter. I know I’m wrong.”
"Doesn't it? How do you know you're wrong, Miss Heart?"
"I-" Pausing, I glanced to see if any other students milled around the courtyard, but it was still too early. Facing Master Maroulis, his intelligent eyes pierced mine, and I felt… seen. "Everyone tells me I'm wrong, or stupid, or naïve. That I must be a lady of a delicate nature. So, if everyone thinks it and says it, it must be true, right?"
"Hmm," He stroked Dusty, and his brow furrowed as if I'd asked a stupid question. "You know; I have met many princesses over the years, fellow knights and too many princes. They all performed their roles to perfection; saved the day over and over and the Ink remembered them for it; but it was never a Great Story." Slowly, a callous hand fell on my shoulder with a gentle squeeze. "But do you know who I've never met?"
Blinking, I stared at him, shaking my head. "Who?"
Leaning in close, until I could see the flecks of gold in his grey eyes, the man smiled, making them twinkle. "A hero who didn't make one or two waves along their way."
Heat flooded my cheeks as I dug my nails deeper into Dusty’s mane. “I’m not a hero.”
“No?” Silas pulled back, almost pleased with my answer. “You befriended Miss Dupont, I see, when no one else would. You speak your mind whenever you can – I saw evidence as much when you spoke for Cleo at the assembly. And we’ve seen you talking with the vampire who bit you; forgiveness is a hard trait.”
I snorted hard; one Dusty copied, meaning my trusty steed obviously agreed. But we both fell still when Silas didn’t join. “It still doesn’t make me a hero.”
“Then what are you?” Silas raised his brow, a smirk on his lips. “Because I know your spirit begs the question; what has happened to our school, for I dare say I no longer recognise it.”
Frowning at the bitter dejection in his voice, I looked the man over. Hands still brushing Dusty gently, gaze vacant, and brow furrowed. Suddenly looked his age, the silver fox slinking into its burrow, weary of time slipping by. “What do you mean?”
Tired eyes flashed me a sad smile before turning away. But he didn’t go far. Grabbing the nearby stool, he placed it at my feet and offered a guiding hand to help me into my saddle. "Once, no one would have dared mauled a woman of any role. No matter their history.”
Swinging my leg over, Dusty pranced at my sudden weight, but Silas kept hold of my leg to steady me.
“Once, the men of this academy would have been duelling for the chance to claim retribution in your name. But now it seems knights have forgotten their calling, while the princes seem more interested in chasing tail.” Strong, blunt fingers gripped my leg harder, and Silas’s mouth formed a firm line.
“Or doing the attacks themselves.”
“Yes,” Lifting Dusty’s reins over her head, ears flicking, he passed them to me. “I saw Mr Gouveia tripping you last week. I would have taken the flat edge of my sword to their hides if I could.”
I raised a merry brow, imagining the prick with rosy ass-cheeks, sobbing as Silas slapped them again. “Now, that I would have paid to see.”
Silas smiled, helping me slide my feet into the stirrups. “But alas, times have changed. Women are attacked, and others are shunned. For those who cannot ask for help, the pressure of their expectations becomes too great, they choose the only escape they believe they can.”
A dark cloud suddenly passed overhead. “You’re talking about Cleo, aren’t you?” Realising he, like everyone else, believed she’d taken her own life.
“Such a wonderful student. To know that is the fate she chose.” He shook his head in dismay. “It is a fearful thought to think others might follow her path, unable to cope with what the Academy throws at them.”
My gut turned too, and I must have tightened my hands on Dusty’s reins because the poor girl pranced back a step before Silas calmed her.
“Do you think it will happen again?” I whispered,
“Absolutely not.” He answered immediately, but pinched his lips, hesitating. “My apology, Miss Heart. That’s probably the old knight in me talking. Protect, champion, shelter. They used to be the foundation of our ways.”
Considering his words, I pulled on Dusty’s reins, slowly manoeuvring her backwards and away from the stables. “I think more than a few more people need to think like you, sir.” And then some. Acceptance. Inclusivity. Support. Pin the ego down, but that was a rant with no end.
“Thank you, Zara.” Silas smiled, no idea what churned in my mind. Yet, the tension from my shoulders eased a fraction more. “I can see why Mr Armando speaks so highly of you now.”
“Cas?” I gasped in surprise.
“Yes,” Something wicked flashed in the man's eyes, his tone turning to tease. “It is my Dojang. If Mr Armando wished to train you within its walls, he needed my permission.
“Wait, so you’re not against my training,” I confirmed. “But what about men duelling to claim retribution for me?”
Silas chuckled, the wrinkles around his eyes softening. “I might have once been against it. Once.” He winked, that devilish silver fox peeking back out again, “But maybe this old knight needs to change. Maybe he needs to be less biased.”
◆◆◆
A fat hippo crushed my limbs into my mattress that night and I slept like a log.
The early morning had caught up with me in the second half of Wilderness Survival, building pressure behind my eyes and filling my arms and legs with stones. Silas had provided no mercy, despite our talk, and it seemed he now wanted to push me harder than the other students. Yet every time he screamed at me to run faster, jump higher or dodge lower, it was with a spark of pride in his eyes.
But now, it was four in the morning once more and I stood outside the library with no indication whether the witch-twins were still coming. Stretching my jaw into a yawn, I stamped my trainers in the cold empty corridor, trying to scrub the sleep free from my eyes. But it was like a seaside resort had taken up residence.
"Good morning." A voice purred. I spun, heart fluttering and a frown creasing my face when I found the twins suddenly there, dressed in their uniform. “We’re not boring you, are we?” Chilton’s smooth, low voice stretched to mix with the dark shadows. Side by side, Angelica was a head shorter than him, though her beautiful, platted hair twisted on top of her head made up the difference.
"Of course not. I-,"
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” Angelic seethed, cutting me off like a popped casket. “The damage you’ve caused?”
“I-ah…” My sleepy brain stalled, looking at Chilton for help. “What?”
Yet he shrugged while Angelica steamed on, coming toe to toe. “Of course, you don’t. Mother, help me, for interrupting Alice’s meeting should give me the right to hex you.”
“I have no clue what you’re talking about,” I stressed slowly, now weary of Chilton’s carefree smile. “Who’s Alice? What meeting?”
“Her evocation in the White Family’s Crypt.” Angelica snapped. “You interrupted her summoning. You embarrassed the dead. You destroyed her standing as a necromancer to that family. It will take her months to reform that bond so she can raise them again.”
My jaw dropped, that creeping feeling of finger bones climbing up my skin, dragging me back to that awful memory. “She summoned those zombies? On purpose?” I shivered. “That’s gross.”
“Oh, because summoning tweety-birds to pick up your skanky underwear isn’t?” Angelica scoffed. “Inks, you’re such an air-brained hypocrite.”
I was just about to promise my tweety-birds would pluck out her eyes when Chilton interrupted, holding up two hands of peace. “I think we can agree that now might not be the best time to discuss this. Please, why don’t you tell us what brings us to the wealth of all knowledge?”
Glaring at Angelica for an extra beat, I turned to the doors slowly, folding my arms. “I want Cleopatra Almada’s Ever Book and apparently, it’s in the Library of Defeat. I was told it’s warded and needs proficient witches to get in. So, if you see some anywhere…”
"We’re capable." Angelica sneered, but there was a long pause, the twins sharing more looks that lifted the hair on my neck. "Why do you want her book?" Gone was Angelica's anger, replaced with… intrigue? But that didn't seem right.
"I…" I hesitated. Was this a trick question? "Does it matter? I've got some questions that need answering, and it’s the only place I know where to look."
“A fair answer,” Chilton snapped his sister a look laden with silent meaning. Grasping the brass handles, he swung the doors open. “Shall we? I’d hate for these other proficient witches to come along and spoil our fun.”
Rolling my eyes, I stepped forward, only to bump into Angelica as stepped at the same time. Gnashing my teeth, as she shoved herself first, I followed. Twisting and turning through the familiar stacks, students kept their heads buried in textbooks and scrolls across study tables. They passed through the dim room with ease, while whispers echoed through the air and enchanted books rearranged themselves.
“So where do we-,”
“Shhhh!” Both twins snapped, cutting me off into silence as we passed the stairs to the upper levels.
Under her breath, Angelica was muttering, the scent of mint washing off her, while Chilton led, despite his clouded eyes. The shadows in the Library thickened, making the twins almost impossible to see as we walked. My heart began to thunder. This hadn't happened the last time I’d searched the stacks, but I had no choice but to follow the twins into the pitch.
Twisting once more, I gaped as a dull arch, swirling in shadow, appeared at one end. “Wha- What the hell? This wasn’t here last time?”
“Sure, princess. Whatever you say.” Angelica rolled her eyes. Flicking a hand, a ball of fire appeared overhead and damn it, I was a little jealous. “Now shut up.”
“Why?” I stubbornly hissed back as we spiralled down some steps. Ice kissed my skin as my breath clouded before me. “How will we find Cleo’s book? How…”
"Shush."
"But-"
"Quiet."
"You can't tell me to-"
"Quiet!" Angelica hissed, whirling with her finger to her lips, while Chilton froze.
They’d reached the bottom of the stairs, and our steps slowed. The hall was far larger than the library above. Archways led to other rooms while pillars held up a mezzanine and our steps echoed across green marble tiles. The atmosphere was drowning in gloom. Cold, unlit sconces were thick with the same dust that floated by. Books littered the floor as if tossed there, and those on the shelves were no better. The books' spines showed mottling, frayed on their edges, and stained. Running a finger down one's spine, it crumbled under my touch. Abandoned and forgotten, the library was a desolate sight. And yet, I sensed that someone hadn't completely abandoned this place.
Treading lightly, Angelica moved in front, taking a random path, and leaving Chilton and me to follow. “To answer your question, chéri,” He whispered, “It’s quite easy to find an Ever Book in the Library of Defeat, especially as Cleo’s book is so new.”
“Wa-? Then why do I need your help?”
Chilton grinned, fingers fluttering to something behind me. “Well, you want to leave with it, don’t you?”
Frowning, I turned and gasped in shock. The entrance arch was gone. The arch we’d just walked through was now a solid wall, filled with shelving and books. Turning back, I shrieked, finding the table before me had suddenly become a pillar. I stumbled and skirted around the area as if infected, slowly catching up to Chilton.
“The exit’s gone.” I looked behind again. Archways were now pillars, and the bookshelf was now another wall, adorned with a decaying stag’s head. “What the fuck?”
“Still don’t think you need us?” Chilton grinned, patting me softly on the back.
Turning left, shelves towered either side, and Angelica turned left again, then again, leading us in a circle. And yet the open plan of the library didn’t greet us. More shelves did. “What’s going on? How is this possible?”
“It’s the Library of Defeat, but that doesn’t mean anyone’s allowed in.” Angelica scoffed, slowing. Now she peeked around every corner, checking every step. Chilton walked like he was strolling through the park, and his carefree attitude unnerved me. “It’s restricted to all students and faculty, so, technically, the trap’s already sprung.”
“Trap…?” I squeaked.
