“I made fish cakes…” Aden said questioningly to the
half open door.
The blond head didn’t move and there was no indication
of life from the body on the cot.
Aden stepped further into the room and his fingers
brushed the edges of Caes’ hanging robe. There was a dark stain on
the lapels and his nose wrinkled instinctively at the smell of
blood. He looked back to the figure on the bed, opened his mouth,
then thought better of it when he spied the untidy pile of books on
their oft disputed stool. Below that he also saw the sad remains of
Caes’ notebook. Mangled pages littered the foot of the bed looking,
to Aden’s eyes, that they had been strangled by an aggravated pair
of hands. He was also too tactful to say aloud that the apparent
water damage on the wall would cost more than either of them had,
and, it was just an impression, a feeling that seemed permeate the
room that he picked up on, but he thought there was a kind of
hopeless frustration and anger in the air. It made the room a little
colder. He left without another word.
When the foot steps had retreated Caes rolled over and
pressed a weary hand to his face. The pillow was damp against his
cheek and he stared at it hard for a moment before throwing it
viciously against the wall.
* * * *
Aden collapsed into a seat near the back of the
lecture hall. Eolin wasn’t there yet but some of the applicants were
already seated in knots or at least two apiece. Next to friends. Or
partners. He didn’t bother to glance at the empty seat next to
himself. Caes either would or wouldn’t show and it wasn’t like he
was going to miss the perpetually cold expression or obvious
annoyance the other boy also threw his way at being paired up with
someone he considered beneath him. What did bother him was that he
could see calculations going on behind some of those other eyes in
the hall. Their chances were being lowered in many minds and he
couldn’t honestly say that they weren’t going down in reality.
Damn Caes if he ruined this chance for him. The other
boy had to know that their team points constituted half their total
score for application. If you didn’t rank in the top 3 teams you
didn’t stand a chance of getting enough to make the cut. If he
didn’t get to be a courier he’d have to find something else. Going
home was not an option and this trade was all he could imagine for
himself.
Eolin entered the hall and while the murmuring didn’t
stop altogether it did quiet. The 20-something Senior Courier looked
uncharacteristically furious and stalked angrily to the desk at the
front. He slammed down a stack of books and several sheafs of paper.
Startled, the front most students edged back a bit as Eolin came
swiftly around to the front and stood there, the line of back so
taunt it looked like he might snap.
His dark brown hair was wild and the green eyes swept
over the rows with intensity. Hairs stood up along the back of
Aden’s neck as they passed over his own face and fell on the empty
spot beside him.
“Where’s you partner Aden?” He demanded.
Burrs stuck in his throat but he managed a steady, if
rough, “He’s not feeling well.”
Eolin merely grunted and moved on, one by one singling
out applicants for either a few sharp words on recent performances
or giving instructions that brooked no response. Aden thought him a
bit unhinged this particular morning and did his best to slide away
from view by slouching deep into his chair. He caught none too few
of the other applicants doing the same.
To his far right he caught the eye of one of the boys
he and Caes had eaten at the same table with the day before. Virgil,
he thought, was the name. An amused glint shone from the usually
blank blue eyes and Aden grinned back at him. Virgil cocked his head
to one side, the long ear tails brushing his shoulder. He cupped his
chin in his hand and a faint smile played at the edges of his mouth.
Puzzled Aden mouthed “What’s so funny?”
The young Cleric lifted his arm slowly, the gray
material of his robes sliding back past the elbow. He pointed,
seemingly at Aden himself. Over Virgil’s pointing arm, Killey looked
down at his partner and then across at Aden. His gaze held Aden’s
briefly then moved somewhere over and to the right of Aden’s
shoulder.
A throat cleared behind him.
Aden resisted the urge to bang his head against the
desk. Instead he pasted a sickly sweet smile across his face and
said ever so politely,
“Hello Professor.”
