Kin of Kings (The Kin of Kings Book 1) (23 page)

“Sanya!” Alex pointed at her with his glass. “Well done today! I see we’re going to be dueling more throughout the year, being in the same group, but don’t expect to win again. And Basen…” He squeezed his shoulder. “Effie told me what happened with Penny. I’m sorry to hear that. Unfortunately, it’s common to find that your instructor can determine your future.”

“It’s all right. She’s not a bad instructor, she just doesn’t trust me to control my energy.” Not wanting any other reminders that he would be stuck in a low group, he excused himself to fetch a drink. It had been many months since he’d had ale, so he promised himself he wouldn’t indulge too much.

He found Effie at the table, reaching for a jug containing dark liquor Basen assumed to be sakal, a strong drink.

“Let me.” He got his hands around the container just before she did.

“Thank you.” She held up her glass.

She looked different here in the dimly lit house that she shared with Cleve, Reela, and Steffen, who Basen had yet to meet. She didn’t seem to take her usual stance of owning the ground she stood upon. Or maybe the difference in her appearance was just a consequence of her change of hairstyle. She’d braided her long locks since he’d last seen her at the dining hall.

“I assume you told Alex to tell Sanya to invite me,” Basen said as he finished pouring.

She looked confused.

“Oh, I guess not,” he said.

“Wait.” She held up her hand as if struck by an important thought. “I did.”

Her voice sounded somewhat sharper, younger, and the dim light seemed to give her eyes an innocence he wasn’t accustomed to seeing.

“You seem different,” he said.

“You’re imagining things. Are you glad I invited you?”

“Um, yes? Thank you?”

“How glad?” She glided her hand down his arm.

What in god’s world is she doing?
Her seductive eyes made it clear this was not a joke, not that it would be funny anyway.

“Effie, I didn’t mean anything by putting my arm around you earlier except to show that I consider you a friend.”

A smile spread across her face. “Oh, you put—?” She laughed, then cleared her throat. “Do you not find me attractive?”

“Of course you’re attractive. It’s not that.”

“So you
do
find me attractive?”

Something was wrong. Effie was behaving not at all like her normal self. Basen tried to think of an excuse to get out of this uncomfortable conversation.

A young man of average height came to Effie’s side. “There’s enough people here,” he said. “I think now would be a good time.”

She shooed him away. “Yes, go do it.”

But the man’s gaze fell upon Basen, and he tilted his head curiously. “Are you Basen Hiller?”

“Pleasure to meet you...?”

“Steffen Duroby.”

So this was the fourth roommate of this house. Well, the fifth including Annah, who Basen had momentarily forgotten about and had yet to see tonight. Steffen seemed like a smart and tidy chemist, with his shirt tucked into his pants and brown eyes that exuded intelligence.

“I’ve heard a lot about you,” Basen told him.

“I’m sure it couldn’t possibly be as much as I’ve heard about you.”

“I wouldn’t doubt that.”

“Steffen, let me talk with Basen,” Effie broke in.

He put his hand on her back. “I see you’ve already met Gabby,” he told Basen.

Gabby! Who the hell is Gabby?

“Bastial hell, Steffen!” She balled her fists. “He thought I was Effie, and there was so much more I wanted to say.”

“God’s mercy!” Basen laughed out of shock. “You
must
be her sister.”

She nodded reluctantly.

“I can see the desire to cause trouble runs in your bloodline,” he commented.

“You really think they look that similar?” Steffen asked, examining Gabby’s face.

“In this dim light, and having never met Gabby—yes. But I won’t make the same mistake again.” Their differences were clear to him now. “You’re younger, aren’t you?”

“By two and a half years,” Gabby answered. “I’ll be a first-year chemist next year.”

So she must’ve gotten permission to visit the Academy for this celebration.

It surprised him when she turned to Steffen and kissed his lips.

“Is Annah here?” Basen asked Steffen after schooling his startled face into a neutral expression.

“I believe she’s in her room. Do you…wish to speak with her?” Steffen’s tone was as if Basen was a fool to want such a thing. “You should stay here with us for a moment. I have many questions about your exile and your family.”

Steffen certainly was direct. As Basen tried to think of an excuse, Gabby took the chemist’s hand.

“We should prepare the potion. It’ll take some time.” She glanced over at Basen. “It’s a surprise. Don’t ask.” She had a rascally smile.

“I wouldn’t dare ruin a surprise. Excuse me.”

As Basen walked toward the bedrooms, he heard Steffen complain to Gabby that she’d scared off their guest. The third door Basen knocked on produced an answer.

“Is that you, Basen?” Annah’s voice asked.

“Uh, yes.”

“Come in.” She was on her bed, sitting up and setting down a book as he entered. A lamp burned on the small table beside her. “Close the door.”

He did. “Psyche told you it was me?”

“Yes. When I stand next to someone long enough, I can recognize the patterns of their energy.”

“That’s discomforting. What about being able to tell what I feel?”

“Yes, you pity something…most likely me.” She put her hands on her hips. “If that’s how you feel, then why don’t you let me live with you?”

“I don’t like that you’re able to read my emotions. That’s what my face is for.”

“I can stop myself around you.”

“Can you?”

“I can.” She jumped off the bed. “I can also tell you how I’m feeling at all times to show you I can be trusted. Right now I’m feeling excited at the idea of—”

“I’m going to have to ask you not to do that, either.”

She curled in her lips and nodded.

He gestured at the door behind him. “It’s really that awful for you here? I can’t see these people treating you harshly. They’ve been kind to me, and I’m the nephew of Tegry Hiller.”

“Your experience would be different if you were a skilled psychic.”

“How so?”

“Because they would know you could read their emotions. It would force them to be direct all the time, as they are with me.”

It reminded him of his brief conversation with Steffen. Basen began to see how enduring that every day could weigh heavily on his mind. But he didn’t quite believe they really suspected him of being a traitor or a murderer as much as they suspected her. They couldn’t be such good actors.

“You’re going to have to ask Terren before you take Nick’s room,” Basen said. “If he put you in this house, I’m not sure he’ll want you anywhere else.”

She ran up and hugged him. “I’ll talk to him tomorrow, but will you come with me so he can see I’m not making it up?”

“I have to leave early for the capital. If it’s necessary when I come back, I can speak with him then.”

“Thank you, Basen! You won’t regret living with me.”

“I hope not.” He started to leave.

“Wait, why did you change your mind?”

He stopped. “I came to realize how stifling it can be not to be trusted.”

She slid her arms around his waist again. “Thank you.”

He noticed glowing lines reflected in the window, caused by light flooding around the edges of the door behind him. The clamor of the celebration suddenly quieted. Basen turned to find the light brightening as if a rising sun hovered right outside the room.

“What is that?” he asked.

“I haven’t a clue.”

The cream-colored light blazed in his eyes as he opened the door. Some people were laughing and cheering, as if watching a performance. Annah followed him to the large common area at the front of the house, where they soon found the source.

At the very center of the gathering was a glowing pillar the size and height of a man. It was too bright to stare at directly, forcing Basen to look away as he instead watched the surprised expressions of everyone else also shielding their eyes.

“Dammit, Steffen!” Effie yelled just a few steps from Basen and Annah.

So this was the chemist’s doing. But how?

The light dimmed enough for Basen to see that the source was actually Steffen. This must’ve been the potion he and Gabby had discussed, some sort of substance that made him glow too brightly for human eyes.

Soon he heard Effie’s sister cackling without control or care. Others joined in with their own laughter, applauding as well.

“Chemists,” Basen heard Effie mutter to Alex.

*****

Basen had been at the celebration for an hour by then. He’d spent half of his time with Effie and Alex and the other half indulging Steffen’s curiosities about the Hiller family’s contemptible history. While Steffen seemed to already know everything about Basen, it all seemed new to Gabby as she listened raptly with an open mouth. Or, more likely, she was just too drunk to realize she was staring.

Annah stayed out of her room for a while, but every time Basen saw her approach someone for a conversation, she was alone again moments later. Was he a fool for trusting her? No, he wasn’t about to take back his offer, so he might as well get those thoughts out of his mind.

“Let me ask Basen something, Steffen,” Gabby called out. “You’ve been talking without pause for too long. Take a breath.”

Steffen inhaled deeply as if desperate for air.

She laughed and squeezed his arm, then excitedly turned to Basen. “Many people in Kyrro believe the late king, Welson Kimard, was responsible for the death of your mother and father—”

“They’re not dead,” Basen interrupted.

Gabby and Steffen shared a puzzled look. He pointed at her. “You were the one who told me that.”

She put her finger on her chin. “Where did I hear it? Oh yes, Oakshen’s chamber hall. Many believe it! I suppose it would be foolish to ask if you’re certain?” Gabby asked with a light laugh.

“I’m certain, at least about my father. And my mother
was
still alive the last time I saw her less than a year ago.”

“How could information be this wrong?” Gabby wondered aloud. “Many believe your uncle had a child with your mother.”

“Yes, this is true. Lexand died before I was born.”

“Many also believe the death of that young man at Welson’s order was the final excuse for war,” Gabby said.

“That’s likely to be true.”

“I don’t understand how the rest isn’t.”

“Perhaps you’re confusing which of Tegry’s brothers you’re talking about.”

“There’s more than one?”

“There were three Hiller men. Tegry, Henry, and William.”

“William!” Gabby smacked Steffen in the stomach in excitement. “I hadn’t heard of a William.”

“He and his wife died before I was born.”

“They must be the ones who were poisoned by our late king.”

“They weren’t poisoned, though,” Basen corrected her, yet part of him wanted to just let her believe whatever she already did so he could put an end to this conversation. “They died of the same illness.”

“How can that be?” Gabby asked. “The rumor about Welson killing Tegry’s true son is linked to the rumors about Tegry’s brother and his brother’s wife being poisoned.”

“My father told me what I told you: They died of an illness. It’s the truth.”

“That’s strange,” Steffen commented. “I wonder how the truth changed to a rumor of poisoning. You might want to ask your father.”

Basen didn’t think much of that suggestion. “I might.”

“Could you confirm how many Hillers there were when Tegry was King?” Steffen asked.

Basen held back a sigh. “Tegry, his wife, their two daughters—”

“And are they still alive?” Steffen interrupted. “His two daughters?”

“Yes, but I don’t know where they are now. You know of the rest of the Hillers—Tegry’s dead son with my mother, my father, me, and William and his wife. Now may I ask a question?”

“Of course,” Gabby answered quickly as Steffen opened his mouth.

“Why treat Annah like she’s an enemy, Steffen?”

He looked confused as to why Basen would ask. “Because Reela said Annah lied about her loyalty, and Reela’s never wrong.”

“But Reela later confirmed Annah was telling the truth when questioned again.”

Steffen pointed a finger. “Until I understand how that happened, I can’t trust her.”

Basen sighed and realized he hadn’t seen Sanya in a while. She didn’t seem to be at the gathering any longer.