“But I thought I heard someone—”
“You think you hear a lot of things,” Barrius cut Frederick off. “But once again, you’ve managed to waste my time.”
“But shouldn’t we still search?”
“Really, Frederick, who would sneak off to the library of all places?”
“I don’t—”
“Out!” Barrius snarled.
“Yes, sir.”
After the echo of footsteps faded, the figure chuckled. I watched as it settled comfortably upon the couch below. Moments later a small fiery glow appeared. It wasn’t very bright, just enough to give out light to read, and see the face of my fellow rule-breaker.
The hood had fallen away to reveal black bangs and the dark eyes I had since become accustomed to loathing. Darren.
The nonheir sat below pouring over the same books as me.
My jaw dropped. The very thought that he and I had shared the same idea was distressing in more ways than one. I had come here to make up for lost time, but Darren, who already had such an advantage in his training…he had come here to study anyway. Someone who didn’t even need to, someone who was already at the top of our class.
And I bet he had come here the night before too.
I refused to consider what it meant.
Turning back to my studies, I tried to focus my mind and block out anything other than the problems on the page in front of me. I bit my lip resolutely. Do not let this opportunity go wasted, especially with him down there.
Minutes slowly trickled by as I read questions once, twice, three times before attempting to solve. You can do this. I stifled a yawn and kept at my work.
An hour and a half later I finally finished the assignments.
I could have left at that point but, seeing as how Darren was still working below, I decided to stay. My conscience could not allow a condescending prince to work harder than me. Especially one that had insinuated I was here to “socialize.”
So I stayed. Math and Crown law were beyond comprehension at that point, as was geography with all of its confusing maps, so I chose a history scroll instead. It was the right choice. Almost like a storybook in narration, the long and detailed accounts of Jerar’s fighting mages helped retain my focus into the late hours of the night.
Our last war had been ninety years ago, but the book’s breakdown of battle strategy made me feel as though I was a part of it now. There were so many things I had never considered, aspects of battle that I had thought were reserved only for the knights of our kingdom. I’d had no idea how involved the planning was behind our army’s attacks. Silly me, I had always assumed victory just came down to how much power a nation’s mages had.
I had just started reading about a particularly bloody battle when I heard a stifled yawn downstairs. Taking that as my cue, I packed up my work and stood by the rail to watch for Darren’s departure. As soon as he left I would follow.
I had barely shifted the books in my arms when my quill dropped. It echoed unsettlingly down the stairs, and Darren jerked his head upward in my direction. He didn’t ask who was there, but he did get up to investigate. Rather than waiting for him to find me, I gave up my hiding place and started down the ladder.
Settling onto the first floor, I turned to find Darren standing with a palm full of light in one hand and a stunned expression on his face.
“You?” he rasped.
“You’re not the only one who wants to get ahead,” I told him curtly. Then, because I couldn’t help it, I added: “You know, us commoners, not all of us are just here to ‘socialize and talk about feelings.’”
Darren’s eyes flashed dangerously. For a moment it looked like shame had crossed those cold, fathomless features, but it was gone just as quickly as it had appeared. Then it was just the two of us staring for an uncomfortable moment: me, aware of my ragged, manure-tinged appearance, and Darren, looking as inscrutable as ever.
Sighing, I broke his gaze and squeezed my way past.
I was almost to the door when he cleared his throat loudly.
“Wait—”
I paused and looked to the nonheir: What could he possibly want now?
“Don’t take the right hall,” Darren said abruptly. “Barrius had Frederick patrolling there last night.”
“A-alright.” The confusion must have shown on my face because a second later Darren’s eyes narrowed in their familiar condescension.
“The last thing I need is for you to get caught and make it harder for me to come here at night.”
The abrupt change of tone cut like a knife. Of course, this was the person I had been expecting all along. “My furthest intention,” I assured the prince dryly.