Chapter Four

My flight instincts kicked in and I struggled to roll out from under the person who had attacked me. He was just a boy, not much bigger than I was, which was why I thought I might have a chance getting away. He was trying to hit me, but I grabbed his wrists to keep them still. I tried to throw him off so I could slip out of his grasp. I excelled at running and hiding, not fighting.

A sharp whistle pierced the air. Suspecting the guards to appear around the corner at any moment, I renewed my struggles. It came as a shock when the boy scrambled off me and took a step back. I jumped to my feet, my gaze instantly flicking around the courtyard, looking for a way out. What I saw made me forget about an escape. Dotted around the courtyard were pairs of other boys who looked like they had just separated from their own wrestling matches.

I returned my gaze to the boy in front of me. He was a Telt, but his golden brown hair gave away some Native blood. He seemed older than me, maybe fourteen or fifteen. He was looking over my clothing quizzically, his blue eyes drifting over the old cloak, the silver chain that had escaped from under my shirt, and finally resting on the gold ring. He grinned. "You're pretty good." He stepped forward and held out his hand. "My name's Tandrix, though I go by Tannix. Who are you?"

I cautiously took his hand and shook it, half expecting a trap. "Finagale," I replied, using my full name for the first time in years. I withdrew my hand as soon as I felt his grip loosen.

"What level are you?" he asked. "I'm in my first year, just got here about a week ago, actually."

I nodded. "I did too," I lied, though I had no idea what he was talking about. I reached up to brush some of my dark hair away from my eyes. If his skin hadn't already given it away, I would have been able to tell he was rich due to his fancy clothing, and the vivid blue of his tunic. In contrast, I knew that I must look like the lowest of the low, which admittedly I was. My dirty cloak and clothing, my darker skin and messy hair—the only thing we had in common was the ring. He had an identical one resting on his right thumb.

"You're a first year?" Tannix asked. "Why are you dressed like that? Were you on a training trip to the lower city?"

I nodded again, grateful that this boy seemed to keep giving me the answers to his questions.

"You must have blended in. You look Native."

"My mother is a Native. Is there something wrong with that?" I asked haughtily, hoping that I sounded like an insulted rich boy. My skin was slightly lighter than the pure-blooded Native Zians, so I hoped he'd believe me. It probably wasn't a complete lie, anyway. I didn't like to admit it but I knew I was likely half Telt, from the father I had never met.

"Of course not. My mother is half Native herself." The sharp whistle sounded again, and Tannix glanced towards a double wooden doorway at the other end of the courtyard. "We'd better go in. You know how they are about people being late."

Against my better instinct, I followed him across the courtyard to the doorway. There was a large man standing beside it with his arms crossed, and he stared at each boy as they walked past. I tried not to flinch when his gaze rested on me. The doors opened into a long, dark hallway made with shiny rock. I struggled to conceal my amazement as I gazed around the building. Huge pillars held up the vaulted ceiling. When I looked up, I could see at least four other floors opening into the atrium. Men were everywhere, either dressed in uniform like the large man by the door had been, or dressed in fancy rich clothing like Tannix. I felt entirely out of place and ran my hand through my hair nervously.

Beside me, Tannix smiled. "Did you lose your hair tie while we were training?"

I nodded. "Yes." My hair wasn't really long enough to tie back but I knew enough to agree with him. It was the style among the higher-class men to tie back long hair.

We followed the stream of boys across the atrium, past many large doorways. Through one open doorway, I saw people clearing a long table of what looked like the largest feast in the world. My stomach grumbled, the strange fruit from the marketplace forgotten. I would have given nearly anything to get that much food.

I shook the feast from my mind as we passed the doorway and started up a staircase. It was made of the same black stone as the rest of the building. I had never seen something constructed out of black stone, as opposed to the sandy coloured or white stones used in the main parts of the city. The black stone must have been expensive, a realization which only made me more curious. Still, I instinctively looked for escape routes just in case someone noticed that I didn't belong. It was surprising that no one had said anything yet.

We ended up in a long thin corridor. There were doors along both sides, and at the far end I could see the fading daylight through a window. The boys around us started filing through different doors. Tannix paused outside one of the first ones we passed.

"Where's your room?" he asked.

I nodded down the hall. "Down there," I replied vaguely, hoping he wouldn't ask to see it.

"Well, see you tomorrow at breakfast. Maybe we can train together again?"

"Yes, maybe."

He smiled and walked into his room. When his door closed, I should have taken my chance and escaped, but a different idea had crept up on me. If no one suspected me yet, I could sneak into breakfast. Even if it was only half as large as the feast I'd seen, it would be worth the risk. Maybe I'd learn more about the interesting place while I was at it.

I walked down the hall, trying to look like I knew exactly where I was going, and only stopped when I reached the window. It overlooked the courtyard. I leaned against the sill and waited until the hallway had emptied. As soon as it was clear I climbed onto the windowsill and carefully leaned out. The wall above me looked easy to climb, with a few windows along the way I could use if I was careful. I made my way up swiftly, and soon pulled myself onto the relative safety of the roof.

I stood with my back towards the Cliffs of Loth and admired the view. I could see almost everything. The castle, protected by another wall, was to my right. I could see the dividing wall, and beyond it, the huge defense walls that surrounded the city. In the lower city, it was hard to get high enough to see so far over the walls. I had never seen so much of the bay and the river, dark aside for the lamps swinging gently on boats. The desert seemed to run on forever, until it met faint mountains in the distance. They were the Adymuss Mountains, I knew that even though I'd never seen them. The river cut through the desert and seemed to create a winding trail to the mountains.

When it got too dark to stare into the distance, I found a little nook to huddle into and drew my cloak closer. The sky was starry and clear, and it looked like there was little risk of it raining overnight. I closed my eyes.

The next morning, it took me a moment to remember where I was. Clouds had rolled in overnight, blocking the sun which would have woken me up earlier otherwise. Instead, I was woken by a gonging sound coming from the courtyard below me. I scrambled to the edge of the roof to glance down. The boys I'd seen the day before were standing in neat lines, and the large man from the door was pacing back and forth in front of them. I could faintly hear what he was telling the boys, something about breakfast and then training.

The training part didn't seem interesting to me, but the breakfast did, so I moved over to the wall I had climbed up the day before and descended until I found the window to the boys' corridor. As I slipped into the deserted hallway, I had an idea. I walked over to the closest doorway and carefully tried to open it. It didn't look like it had a lock, and I was right. The door swung open and I stepped in.

The room was simple. There was a bed on one end, a desk with a few books, and a wardrobe. I opened up the wardrobe to see a number of different cloaks hung up. They were all the same deep, rich red. I knew nobles liked to wear the colours associated with their city, but I didn't know enough to guess where the boy came from. One of the cloaks had fallen from its hook and was shoved into the corner of the wardrobe. I gingerly pulled it out and looked it over, then tried it on. It fit me well, and it made me look much nobler than my old dirty cloak had. The boy probably wouldn't even notice that it was gone.

In one of the smaller drawers of the wardrobe I found some thin red ribbons, one of which I took. My disguise would be good, but I needed to figure out what to do with my old cloak. I finally decided to return to the roof, shove it into the corner I had slept in, and hope it would stay there.

Donning my new red cloak and tying my hair back with the red ribbon, I walked down the boys' corridor to the black stairs. I started down them cautiously. Even though I now looked the part, I was still worried about being caught. My timing was perfect, and I reached the main floor just as the boys started trickling in from the courtyard. I ducked behind a pillar so they wouldn't notice me, and then when I had a chance, I slipped into the crowd so they would think I had always been there.

I looked through the crowd of boys until I saw Tannix near the back, and slid between the others to end up beside him. He was wearing a fancy blue cloak and a new ring on his right hand that I was sure he hadn't been wearing the day before. Caught up staring at it, I didn't notice when he saw me.

"Finagale." He sounded pleased. "I didn't see you out on the courtyard."

"I was on the other side of the group..." I trailed off. "You weren't wearing that yesterday." I glanced away from the ring and met his gaze. "Sorry, I just noticed."

Tannix sighed. "Yes. I don't always wear it while training." He raised his hand to look at the ring. "It's my family's crest ring. I know plenty of families don't bother with them anymore, but my family likes tradition."

A crest ring. I'd stolen some of those over the years. "I thought only the richest families continued using them."

Tannix nodded. "Yes," he agreed. "I don't exactly want people worrying about who I am. You understand, surely? I want to be treated as an equal here, that's the point in coming. But my parents insist I wear it."

"Do you mind if I take a look?" I asked hopefully.

Tannix slipped the ring from his index finger and dropped it into my hands. "Just keep quiet about it, will you? If I don't mention it, people don't tend to notice."

I gazed appreciatively at the ring while we followed the herd of boys into the feast room. Two long tables ran down the length of it, and both were covered with food. Older boys and men were already settled around the room when we entered. I took that all in with a single glance, since the ring was much more interesting to me. It was one of the few things that could interest me more than food. It was made of gold with a flat piece of blue stone. Intricately carved into the stone was a miniature coat of arms—a shield with some sort of spiked circle in the middle of it, and two crossed swords above it. I had no idea where he came from; the crest wasn't one I'd ever seen before.

Tannix took a seat on one of the long benches and I sat down beside him. Reluctantly, I handed over the ring. "I can understand why you would want to keep this quiet, coming from..." I trailed off, hoping he would give me the answer. If I asked, he would definitely know something was wrong.

Tannix glanced around, as if nervous of people overhearing him. "West Draulin."

I barely contained my gasp. West Draulin was the second richest city in the kingdom, beneath only Zianna. The noble family of West Draulin were second only to the royal family. They governed the whole island of New Teltar, and protected the Straits of Draulin. The gap between our lives, already obscenely large, stretched even further. I might as well have been sitting next to a prince. He was everything I should have despised, a Telt boy who was impossibly rich simply because he was born into the right family. But after my initial shock had passed, I remembered what he had said about wanting to be treated as an equal. Despite his birthright, he wanted to earn the other boys' respect. I liked that.

I knew asking questions was risky, but I still wanted to know more. "Are you inheriting it?"

"Of course not," Tannix replied, giving me a confused glance. I realized that I had said something wrong. "My elder brother is. I wouldn't be here if I were the heir."

"Of course." I shook my head, pretending to be ashamed of myself. "My apologies. I wasn't thinking." I made note of the new information. Heirs didn't come to this mysterious place.

"Tandrin's going to get the city, and I don't envy him the responsibility. How about you? Older brother or sister?"

I hesitated before replying. Tannix's comment had reminded me of the Telt habit of giving all their children similar names. "A brother. Finagan," I replied, hoping the name sounded believable.

"So you must shorten your name for everyday use."

"Oh, yes, Finn," I replied haltingly. "People call me Finn."

"And where do you come from?" Tannix asked.

"A small farm villa near Kitsi." I felt I had recovered smoothly. "It isn't much, but Finagan is a couple of years older than me so he's going to get it."

"Boys," a deep voice suddenly boomed from behind us. I flinched, but Tannix turned to face the man who had spoken. I hesitantly copied him and glanced over my shoulder. It was the large doorman, wearing the same uniform as the day before. It looked a lot like the gold and black uniforms the guards wore, but the colours all seemed to be a shade darker. On his right thumb was the ring.

"Would you two like to eat instead of talking like old men?" the man asked.

"Oh yes, Malte, sir, of course," Tannix replied. He sounded respectful, but I noticed the deliberate moving of his right hand that put his crest ring into the huge man's line of sight.

Malte's eyes flickered over the ring, and he nodded. "Then eat before we head out for training, Lord Tandrix," he grumbled. He didn't seem particularly fazed by Tannix's ring, but it was clear that he knew better than to upset the son of West Draulin. The man turned and walked down the length of the room, occasionally stopping to talk to other boys along the way.

"I thought you didn't want people knowing who you are," I said.

"Everyone already knows, I just don't like to remind them. Malte did the paperwork admitting me to the Order, in any case, so he never forgets who I am. He doesn't like me being here because I'm the only one of his students who outranks him. It must make him a little uncomfortable, but I try not to flaunt it too much. I want to be trained just like the rest of you."

"Of course."

Tannix sighed. "Oh well, he'll leave me alone for a while now." He reached across his plate to grab a bun, and then ladled some porridge into his bowl. "He's right, though. We don't want to train without breakfast."

"Of course not," I agreed again, but this time with real enthusiasm. I followed Tannix's example and began to eat. It was the first time I could remember having enough food in one sitting.

Soon, Malte blew his annoying whistle and the boys stopped eating. I only stopped after a sharp nudge from Tannix. The older boys and men who were still in the dining room didn't bother to stop, so I realized Malte's authority must only be over the younger ones around our age. Malte didn't give any instructions, but he stalked out of the room and the boys got up to follow him. I grabbed an apple before getting to my feet.

"You're not supposed to bring food into the courtyard," Tannix said.

"I know," I replied. "But I'm really hungry." I took a large bite out of the apple as Tannix and I joined the flow of boys. "Besides, if I stick around you, Malte might not bother to do anything about me bending the rules, in case you pull out your hierarchy again."

"I told you I try not to do it very often," Tannix said.

I shrugged and smiled. Now that Tannix's status had settled in my mind,I was beginning to see how it might be useful. "So you said."

"It's true," Tannix said, but he was smiling too.

When we reached the courtyard, I finished the apple. I tossed the core into the bushes and ignored Tannix's look of disapproval. We joined the rest of the boys standing in the straight lines I had seen from the roof. I was uncomfortable, but feeling confident in my stolen cloak and with my filled stomach. Malte announced that we were to practice fighting, and then he dismissed us.

Tannix stepped up beside me. "So, what shall we practice with first? Swords or daggers?"

I tried not to look too horrified at the thought of either of the weapons. "Daggers," I finally said. They seemed less intimidating than swords.

Tannix grinned. "Good idea." He took a couple steps away from me and reached under his cloak to draw out an expensive looking dagger. The carved hilt was adorned with blue jewels. He gazed at it for a moment before looking up to see my stare. Luckily, he must have misunderstood my expression of awe over the expensive weapon, because he simply said, "Where's yours?"

"I forgot it in my room," I answered. "I just realized."

"Oh. Swords, then?" he asked. "I could use some practice with my left hand."

"What?" I mumbled. Somewhere in my mind, I knew that I was at risk of ruining my persona, but I was still shaken from both the idea of fighting with a weapon, and also the absolute richness of the blade Tannix was holding. It was beautiful, and I'd never seen such an expensive weapon.

"Well, I've been training with my right since I knew how to walk," Tannix said. He walked over to a weapon stand and drew two wooden practice swords. "I can even beat my father in a fight. Sometimes I like to practice with my left hand." He offered the second sword to me. "Do you mind if we use our lefts?"

I shook my head numbly and took the sword in my left hand. Thank Zianesa my left hand was my good one. I could simply pretend I had never practiced with my left, and maybe he would believe it. Maybe he wouldn't think my lack of fighting skills was suspicious.

Tannix grinned. "Excellent." He moved to stand in what I assumed was a fighting stance, and held up his sword. "Come on, Lord Finagale, let's fight."

"Let's," I replied, shaking myself out of my stupor. I mimicked Tannix's posture and held up my sword. "I must warn you, I've never fought with my left hand."

"I'll go easy on you," Tannix promised. Then he attacked.