A Student's Dream (Twisted Cogs Book 1) (12 page)

“
Ele....is Ele okay?” It was a strange, floaty feeling, hearing her own voice asking questions before she was was aware of thinking them. As if speaking his name reminded her of him, her chest tightened with worry before she was even awake.

“
Ah, you’re up. You gave us a bit of a fright, Miss Elena. Yes, I’ve been told that your Echo is perfectly fine, though his impromptu nap has thrown your sleeping schedules a little bit out of alignment.”

Elena rose to the surface of consciousness slowly, but the meaning of the words filtered through the haze and took the edge off of the panicked feeling in her chest.

My chest...the arrow.
Elena woke the rest of the way up suddenly, opening her eyes to face the ceiling of her room. She tried to lift her head, but her muscles responded so slowly that for a moment she wondered with horror whether she’d been paralyzed. It was as if her head had weights resting on it, and it took her long seconds to lift her head high enough to look down.

There was no indication that she had been shot. No bandage, no sling, and certainly no arrow. The sight of the long wooden shaft sticking out of her chest was the last memory Elena had from the night before, and the horrible image had been burned into her memory so thoroughly that she knew she hadn’t imagined or dreamed it.

Even so, her biggest concern was making sure Ele was alright. With a huge effort she turned her head, scanning the room, and when she saw him sleeping peacefully on a small couch that had been moved into her room she sighed with relief.

Pietro was sitting next to the bed, putting a small stack of parchment into a bag, but he glanced her way as he did so. It looked as if he had been working in her room, just waiting for her to wake up. He didn’t look overcome with relief, but he was at least smiling at her. Elena wasn’t entirely sure if his apparent unconcern was appropriate.

There’s certainly something wrong with me,
she thought, letting her head drop back onto the pillow. A quick experimentation told her that all of her muscles were similarly afflicted. She could move her arms, hands and legs, but they were slow and heavy as if she each one had doubled in weight.

“
Well, now that you’re awake I’ll be going back to my office,” Pietro lifted the bag to his marble shoulder and gave a polite smile, “I’ll let Master De Luca know that you’re feeling a mite better-”

“
Wait,” Elena looked into his eyes, aghast, “you can’t leave just like that! What happened last night?”

“
I’m afraid I have no idea, Miss Elena. Master De Luca simply told me that you were feeling poorly, and to wait here until you were feeling better, in case you needed anything when you first woke up. I’m just as in the dark as you are.” If she had been feeling more calm, Elena would’ve marveled at the fact that a boy made of stone had such a bad poker-face. Instead it only made her angry.

“
I was shot with an arrow!” she cried, “my Echo was hurt, for the first time...ever! Please, just tell me what happened. Who was that last night? How am I alive? Why did she shoot me? Who healed me? I don’t believe you don’t know anything.”

To his credit, Pietro looked uncomfortable and embarrassed. Elena struggled to pull herself up on her elbows, moving an inch at a time and wincing at the energy those inches required. By the time she had finally moved herself to a sitting position, Pietro had sat down and heaved a very convincing sigh for his stone frame.

“
A big studio like De Luca’s draws a lot of attention, Elena. It makes us a target for the worst elements of Milia. Thieves, criminals, people who want to make a name for themselves. As far as we can tell, the young lady who attacked you last night was one such criminals. She knocked you out by elbowing you hard in the solar plexus, and her Echo knocked yours out in much the same way. There was no arrow involved.”

“
No...that’s not right...I distinctly remember-”

“
Miss Elena, where is it that hurts the most right now?” Pietro interrupted her with a businesslike look.

“
My chest?”

“
And do you think that if you had been shot with an arrow in the chest, we would be having this conversation right now? Perhaps you have some magical power no one has heard of? Do Fabera have the ability to repel arrows in flight?”

Elena frowned. She hadn’t realized before that the weight in her body came along with a throbbing pain in her joints, and it was making it hard to focus on what he was saying, but something didn’t quite make sense.

“
Why was my door locked last night?”

“
What?” The question seemed to catch Pietro off-guard, and he looked even more uncomfortable and off-balance. “Oh...we’re not entirely sure why that happened.”

Elena pressed her advantage with a barrage of questions of her own. “So I got locked into my room for no reason? Am I not allowed to leave in the night? What’s the purpose of that? What if there had been a fire? Or a lunatic with a bow who wanted to shoot me?”

“
I...I don’t know? You wouldn’t have been in danger in a fire...I mean if it WAS locked...whoever locked it....Perhaps you accidentally locked it behind you? You know, without thinking?”

“
I didn’t even know it had a lock!” Elena said indignantly, “and anyway, how could I have locked it and then not had the key afterward? I had to unlock it with a lockpick!”

“
And look at how well that turned out for you! Perhaps if you didn’t unlock it, you wouldn’t have gotten shot and I wouldn’t have to spend half the day waiting for you to awaken!” Pietro stood abruptly, “Miss Elena, I am sorry that this had been a difficult night for you, but really I cannot sit here and answer all of these interrogations. I don’t begrudge you the time I’ve spent, but I really do have work to do now.”

“
I ‘wouldn’t have gotten shot’, eh?” Elena asked quietly. Pietro stared at her, uncomprehending for a few moments until he realized what he had just admitted to. His face took on a hard look, and he straightened just a fraction of an inch higher.

“
I will inform Master De Luca that you are awake,” he said stiffly. Elena lay quietly as he gathered his bag up again and left. It was hard to keep her eyes open, and after another glance at Ele to reassure herself he was sleeping, not dead, Elena let herself drift back off to sleep herself.

***

A presence in the room woke her up with a start, although she hadn’t heard a sound. Elena could immediately tell by the oranges and pinks of the sunlight in her room that she’d slept almost the entire day away. Bea stood silently by the door, watching her carefully. Ele still slept on the couch.

How long has she been standing there?
Elena wondered, a chill creeping along her spine.
How did my subconscious know to wake me up since
I didn’t hear her...

“
Your particular brand of perceptive seems a little overpowered pitted against Pietro’s particular brand of poor lying,” Bea said quietly, but with a smile, “it’s a bit unfair, don’t you think?”

“
Is Ele okay?” Elena mustered the strength to sit up. The simple action still took an agonizing amount of energy, but it was marginally better than it had been earlier.

“
He’s quite alright. With the amount you’ve both slept today, I have the feeling your sleeping cycles will re-align soon.”

Elena watched Ele in silence for a few moments, taking comfort from the sight of his chest slowly rising and falling.

“
I’ve never seen him asleep before,” she murmured. “He was always just waking up whenever I did. When I was a little girl I used to think he just vanished or...sorry,” she broke off suddenly, remembering who she was talking to.

“
It’s not that uncommon, for those Stormtouched who grow up on their own. Mortalis tend to be rather cruel to Stormtouched when they outnumber them, even if they don’t mean to be.” Bea seemed lost in thought for a moment, and the two women sat in silence.

“
Are you here to lie to me like Pietro?” Elena finally asked.

If Ele were awake he would probably scold me, tell me not to be so impolite.

“
No,” Bea seemed to shake herself out of whatever memory had engrossed her. When she spoke again her voice was firm, but still kind. “I think Pietro was foolish to try feeding you an untruth. But I’m not here to tell you the truth either.”

Elena nodded wordlessly. It was a sort of honesty, and she realized that it was all she would get right now.

“
I think you know that we can’t allow you to share the details of what happened last night with any of the other garzoni,” Bea continued.

“
Are you going to kill me then?” Elena asked quietly.

“
Kill you?” Bea looked shocked, “of course not Elena. Whether a provisional garzona or not, Master De Luca cares about keeping you safe. We all want to keep you safe, but right now we need you to trust us, Pietro, Master De Luca and I. ‘Not telling anyone’ is the thing that will keep you and the others safest.”

“
That shouldn’t be too hard, since I barely know what happened,” Elena said bitterly, “and if last night was any indication, you aren’t very good at keeping us safe. Whatever
did
happen, it
could
have been a real arrow. I could’ve died.”

“
Elena, what happened last night was a horrible misfortune, but we’ve already taken steps to make sure it won’t happen again. We’ve hired two new servants that will make the studio much more secure, and we’ve made other, more subtle steps to ensure our garzoni’s safety.”

There was nothing Elena could do to avoid the demand, and they both knew it. If she disobeyed and shared what had happened, it would accomplish nothing but getting her kicked out of the studio. She glanced at Ele’s sleeping figure, then dropped her gaze to the bedsheets, a gesture of defeat. It wasn’t hard to imagine the advice he’d give. Bea continued in the same gentle but firm voice.

“
We won’t lock you in your room anymore, given your antagonistic relationship with the locks of this studio. We
will
put measures in place that will tell us if you leave your room at night again. You are excused from your duties for tomorrow, but I’m sure Master De Luca would encourage you to spend the time thinking about your first project. If you need anything at all, we’ll try to get it to you.”

“
Are the others starting on their first projects already?” Elena asked, glad to change the subject.

“
Garzoni usually scramble to impress in the first two months of apprenticeship, right up until the day Master De Luca lets all but four go,” Bea explained, “so the autumn usually sees four to eight projects completed per garzoni. Don’t worry, things usually quiet down in the other four seasons of the year.”

Elena clenched her hands into fists. The intense night and the nearly full day of sleep combined to give her an odd combination of energy and helplessness.

“
If they’re starting their projects tomorrow, then I am too,” she said. If Ele had been awake, he would’ve recognized the stubborn set to her chin. “In fact, I have something I have to do this evening.” Mustering all of her energy, Elena pulled the bedclothes off of her legs, reaching beneath her pillow to retrieve the tight bundle of woodworking tools.

“
Elena, don’t be silly.” Bea sighed. “Master De Luca isn’t going to penalize you for being on bed-rest after your ordeal.”

“
What ordeal?” Elena pushed forward and landed on her feet, wobbling a little bit. She felt weak, but she tilted her chin up in defiance, in what Ele referred to as her ‘Joanna face’. Bea didn’t answer, but she folded her arms. “If nothing happened to me last night, then I should be able to get right back to work, right?”

“
If being obstinate is how you deal with the situation, I suppose I deserve that,” Bea sighed, “but please, please try not to wear yourself out.” Elena tossed her hair and walked slowly to the door without another word.

***

She thought the stairs would be the worst, but Elena revised her view as she staggered down the hallway. It was the hallway
after
the stairs that was the worst, as her sore and aching legs, already on fire from the stairs, now had to carry her down a hallway that seemed much longer than they had the day before.

“
Stupid,” she muttered to herself, leaning against the wall for support to keep herself from falling, “should’ve just taken the stupid day off.” When she reached the door of the workroom, she pulled herself up and took deep, steadying breaths. She
refused
to look weak in front of Frederica.

Leanarda was the only provisional garzoni in the workroom when Elena entered, and on the other side Frederica and the mop-top Artifex Carlo were the only full garzoni present.

“
Elena! Bea told us you were sick today like Vittoria!” Leanarda called from her workstation.

“
I’m feeling a little unwell,” Elena said as she handed the bundle to Frederica, ...
understatement of the year...
“
but I had to bring Frederica her tools.”