“But at Sir Oswald’s, Lena nullified you. And Aven—he recognised your name. He knew you were training with Athora.”
“Firstly, Lena was in close range then—her ability acted like a blanket over everyone in that room without her needing to know personal specifics,” Kaiden said. “And secondly, very few people in this world know who Athora is. Those who have heard of him tend to believe the rumours that he is highly proficient in the mind arts. That’s true, but Aven is one of a very small list who know there is much more to Athora—more than you or I will ever know.”
Mr. Mystery Man strikes again, Alex thought mildly, wondering if she’d ever learn any of Athora’s secrets.
“But Aven is also condescending enough that, even though he knows exactly the kinds of things Athora might teach a student, he would never imagine Athora would deign to share those things with what Aven considers to be a lowly human.”
“I’m not sure I’m following,” Alex admitted after a pause, sensing there was more.
“My aunt is the commander over the entirety of Medora’s human intelligence and armed forces,” Kaiden said, shoving his hands in his pockets. “From the moment Jeera and I could form coherent thoughts, we were both trained to protect our minds from gift manipulation. To guard our secrets—and any secrets we might overhear deliberately or by accident.”
Alex recalled how Signa had been frustrated when he’d been unable to read Kaiden’s mind, something she’d wondered about at the time but later forgotten.
“The rumours circulating about Athora are, predominantly, that he is the most adept instructor for anyone wanting to learn how to fortify their mental defences,” Kaiden said. “So you’re right—Aven had heard of me. But since Signa couldn’t read me, Aven concluded that Athora was teaching me how to protect against mental manipulation. He was blinded by his contempt for humans and didn’t once consider that I might be training with Athora for other reasons, as well.”
“So…” Alex summed up what she really wanted to know. “He doesn’t know about you?”
Kaiden chuckled and confirmed, “He doesn’t know about me.”
She nodded once. “Good. Let’s try and keep it that way.”
Drawing his hand from his pocket, Kaiden reached out and curled his arm around Alex’s shoulders, pulling her close and leading her forward along the path once more. “I can promise you that’s my intention.”
“Good,” she somehow managed to utter, despite being wholly distracted by his new, unexpected proximity.
“Do you have any other questions before we freeze to death or reach eavesdropping ears?” Kaiden asked.
Alex struggled to think of anything while she was held so closely against him. Even through their layers of clothing, she felt the comfort of his heat enveloping her. And that smell—how could he possibly smell so good? She was certain she must reek of wood smoke after sitting in front of Athora’s fireplace for the last few hours. Never before had she wished so much for a change of clothes and a bottle of instant shampoo.
“Alex?”
She glanced sideways at him. “Huh?”
Kaiden pressed his lips together in what she knew was an attempt to repress a smile. “Any other questions?” he repeated.
“Oh, uh… No,” she said, somewhat dazed. Then she came to her senses and cried, much louder than was necessary given the lack of distance between them, “Wait! There is something else.”
“You’ve got about thirty seconds before we hit the dorm building,” Kaiden said, and she took that as an invitation to continue.
“A’enara,” she said. “You told me you’d learned something.”
“I also said you probably already know most of it by now,” Kaiden reminded her. “It’s frustrating how little information I’ve managed to find.” He paused before correcting, “Or rather, how little verifiable information.”
“Verifiable?”
“That weapon of yours is drowning in legend,” Kaiden said. “Many of the stories I’ve uncovered are so outrageous that it’s impossible to tell fact from fiction.”
“That doesn’t surprise me,” Alex mumbled, knowing how strange her magical blade was.
“I do know that it was created by the Tia Aurans back before they banished the Meyarins to Medora.” He paused to ask, “You know who they are, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, from what I’ve gathered, A’enara goes by several names. The Sword of the Stars, the Bringer of Light, the Blade of Glory—”
“And the Weapon of the Ages,” Alex cut in, already knowing this.
“And one final name,” Kaiden said when she didn’t add more. “The Balance of Power.”
That one, Alex hadn’t heard before. “What do you think that last one means?”
She felt him shrug, given that his arm was still wrapped around her. “Beats me. But amid all the mythological hyperbole, the name A’enara was synonymous with another name, both used together frequently in ancient texts.”
“What name?”
“Vae’varka.”
“Vay-eh-var-kuh.” Alex repeated his pronunciation, the word feeling unpleasant on her tongue. “What is it? This… Vae’varka? Is it a person? A Tia Auran? A Meyarin?”
Kaiden shifted his grip on her shoulder but didn’t remove his arm. If anything, he was now even closer than before. “I’m sorry, Alex, but I don’t know. There were even less documented notes about Vae’varka than A’enara.”
Alex sighed. “Another dead end.”
“Maybe not,” Kaiden said, giving her a squeeze. “I still have a few sources left to try. Something might turn up.”
Alex didn’t place much hope in his success. If Aven-of-the-past hadn’t been able to tell her much about it, she doubted Kaiden would be able to dredge up anything useful. And when it came down to it, as long as A’enara continued to save her life, she didn’t really need to know the weapon’s secrets. She was simply curious.
But despite all that, she still mumbled her thanks as they entered the dorm building and he escorted her to her room.
Long after they’d said goodnight, she still felt the phantom embrace of his arm wrapped tightly around her as she drifted off to sleep.
Fourteen
“Are you guys ready for this?” Alex asked the next morning.
She, Jordan, Bear and D.C. were standing in the Library’s corridor of doors where Sir Camden had told her to go when she was ready to visit the ‘old kingdoms’ of Medora—or the ‘yonderlands’, as he’d also referred to them, though she would never repeat that word aloud.
“Is that a trick question?” Jordan asked, bouncing on his feet.
It was nice to see him so animated after everything he’d been through, but still…
“This isn’t meant to be fun, Jordan,” D.C. said with mild but still clear reproof. “What we’re doing is important.”
“I’m aware of that,” Jordan returned, no less excited. “But can you honestly tell me you’re not looking forward to this? Just a little bit?”
Bear jumped in and added, “It’s not every day that humans set foot in Nialas.”