Soulbound (7 page)

“An Unskilled village?” Maddox nodded. “Come on, let’s go get some breakfast and I’ll tell you all about it.”

Once my shoes were tied, Maddox led me into the hall, which was relatively empty, and then downstairs, which wasn’t. She strode forward through the sea of students without effort, throwing a glance over her
shoulder every few steps to make certain I hadn’t wandered off. At the end of that hall stood a set of immense carved wooden doors, which were standing wide open. Delicious, warm, breakfast-y smells of cinnamon rolls, pancakes, sausage, and bacon beckoned from within. My stomach rumbled.

Inside was a huge room with stone walls and wooden rafters. Tables and groupings of chairs were scattered all over the room, most of them occupied. At the far end was a cafeteria line. Maddox led me to an empty table in the corner and went to grab some food. If she brought me a cinnamon roll, I was totally going to rethink that whole not liking her thing.

During her brief absence, I took the time to survey the room. Less than half of the students were dressed in white soft-soled shoes, white cotton leggings and matching tops that wrapped around the front and tied closed at the waist. They must have been Healers. The other half—I guessed they were Barrons—dressed in black cotton pants that clung gently to their legs, black, loose-fitting, wrap shirts, and soft-soled black shoes. The Barrons with longer hair wore their hair tied back with leather thongs, but the Healers didn’t, for some strange reason.

I noticed that everyone was sitting in small groups. Boys with girls, girls with boys, boys with boys, girls with girls. Some were Barrons and Healers, some
Healers and guards, some small groupings of Healers, Barrons, and guards. But none, it looked to me, were sitting alone. Like I was.

I bit the inside of my cheek and sighed. I was also the only one without a uniform.

My parents hadn’t told me very much about the academy—just that the training sessions had been the best part. I wasn’t exactly a force to be reckoned with, but I was adept enough to take down my father once or twice while we were goofing off in the backyard, to everyone’s surprise including my own. I was looking forward to proving myself. But just because I was born a Healer didn’t mean I wouldn’t have to fight for my life on the battlefield.

As I continued my examination of the crowd, I noticed a flash of silver hair three tables over. Even though he was facing away from me, I’d have recognized that hair anywhere. I smiled, recalling the way that he’d saved me from that horrible monster in the woods. Then I frowned at the memory of his weird departure. Why had he looked so irritated with me? Was my company really that bad? Hmm…Maybe I had bad breath. Or maybe he just hated Healers. Almost as though he could sense my presence, he stiffened. Then he stood and disappeared into the crowd with his tray.

Maddox returned with a tray for me, piled with a variety of things. I looked over the mountain of oatmeal, muffins, toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, fried ham,
banana, grapes, orange juice, and milk she’d brought and said, “You’re joking right? There’s no way I can eat all of this.”

Maddox shrugged. “Well, I didn’t know what you’d like. So I brought you what I usually eat for breakfast.”

Looking at her lean figure, I raised an eyebrow. There was enough food on my tray to feed three people. I had wondered if my parents’ appetites had been a fluke or if all Barrons ate that much. I was about to ask when Maddox confirmed it.

She shook her head. “I always forget that you Healers require many fewer calories than us.”

“Are you hungry? I’d hate to throw most of this away.”

Maddox shook her head again, rolling her eyes some at my lack of common knowledge. “A guard can’t eat while they have a charge. It’s Protocol. I’ll eat while you’re in class.”

“Protocol.” I rolled the word over on my tongue. It tasted bitter. “Something tells me I’m not going to like that word very much. What is it?”

She raised her left eyebrow sharply. “Your parents never taught you Protocol?”

When I shook my head, she said, “Protocol is a strict set of societal rules, put in place by the Zettai Council. It basically governs how people are suppose to react in certain situations.”

Biting the inside of my cheek slightly, I said, “I see. And what happens when you break Protocol?”

“Depends on whether you get caught.” Maddox winked and let out a chuckle. Something told me she could give a fak about following the Zettai Council’s rules. I liked that about her. “It also depends on what you did and who saw you do it, and how old you are. From what I hear, adults can be punished with anything varying from paying a simple fine to the Zettai Council, to something as drastic as death. For minor infractions, students get extra duties. For something major, you can get sent on some pretty harsh patrols or your family can be fined. Or worse.”

Worse. I had a feeling I knew exactly what “worse” would be in my case. I sighed. “Well at least sit down or something. You’re making me nervous hovering over the table like that.”

But the look on her face said it all. “Let me guess. Protocol?”

Maddox grinned. “You’re catching on, Princess. But we can talk. You probably have questions. I can probably answer them.”

Chewing on a bit of bacon, I swallowed and said, “So how is it a Barron vacations with the Unskilled anyway?”

Maddox looked longingly at a slice of French toast. It had to be ridiculously hard to only eat when your ward was in class or sleeping. How often could that be? Just a few hours during the day, and a few at night? No wonder they ate such huge portions. My father had been
known to eat most of a whole ham in one sitting, and my mother never appeared to gain an ounce, despite the mounds of bread she’d consume over dinner. Whereas my pants got tight if I so much as glanced at dessert.

Pulling her attention from the food on my tray, she said, “My parents went AWOL after I was born, and raised me just outside of Drago. I didn’t know any Barrons or Healers besides them until I moved here two years ago. What about you?”

Drago. I knew Drago. It was right down the river from Kessler. My mom used to take me shopping there. They had a killer pub. Best sandwiches this side of Tril. As far as I knew, anyway. I’d never traveled to Kaito or Haruko, and had only barely seen an eighth of the continent of Kokoro. My father had promised to take me to some of the northern villages of Haruko someday. But apparently that—along with the rest of my life—was on hold now. Maybe forever. Strike that—probably forever.

The thought of my parents stole my hunger away and I returned a half-eaten slice of bacon to my plate. “About the same. Did the headmaster threaten your parents too?”

Maddox stiffened, that hard, cold look returning to her eyes. But I could tell it wasn’t for me. “Not exactly.”

A momentary, uncomfortable silence settled between us. It was all I could do to break it. “We don’t have to talk about it, if you don’t want to.”

She plucked a grape from my tray and, with a glance
around to make sure no one was watching, popped it into her mouth and chewed quickly. “My dad was a Barron; Mom was a Healer. Thanks to my dad’s exemplary war record, they were allowed to retire early. Only they didn’t want to raise me where my only future would be spent on the battlefield, so we moved to Drago. When I was fourteen, a group of Barron guards knocked on our door and told my dad that I would have to come to Shadow Academy and train to fight. My parents resisted. My dad had been out of practice for a bit too long and the Barrons were fresh out of training and very fit. It wasn’t even a contest.”

I furrowed my brow. The Barrons claimed to be fighting against tyranny, but something told me they needed to look the definition of it up again. “What happened?”

“The guards killed my father, imprisoned my mother, and brought me here.” Maddox shrugged casually, but I could see the pain in her expression. I thought I knew pain, being forced away from my family and home, but there was nothing like watching one of your parents murdered by the very people you were being forced to live and work among. “I never saw her again. She died two months ago.”

“Oh…” It was all I could manage to say for a moment, as the horror of her loss sank in. As discreetly as I could manage, I passed her a handful of grapes. She nodded thankfully, both for the food and for not hugging her and making a scene. “Where’s your Healer?”

“My Soulbound Healer died at birth.” She shrugged again, but this time it was far less painful. “So my parents pretty much died for nothing. The war will go on just fine without me. It’s not like I can fight without a Healer. Without a Healer I couldn’t quickly recover from any wounds I might receive. It’d be suicide.”

Furrowing my brow, I said, “Could they put you on the battlefield anyway? Without a Healer?”

Her eyes darkened some, and I saw how much the subject bothered her. “Technically, yes. They don’t do it often. Unbound Barrons generally are assigned Healer guard duties, though a few get stuck with gate guard duties—normally inside the wall, but outside as well. The truth is, the safest place I could be right now is following you around campus.”

Maddox had been through so much pain, so much loss. No wonder she seemed so hard. “Will you get a new Healer?”

Maddox shrugged and popped another grape into her mouth. “Not likely. See, there aren’t really enough Healers to go around, so there’s this list they put our names on. If your family is part of high society or they donate a lot of money to the school, your name gets moved to the top. Then there are people like me, who they put on the list just for show, when we all know it’s never gonna happen. But then, it’s not like I’m anxious to hit the battlefield. Of course, I could do with some companionship…”

Companionship. So I wasn’t just expected to heal the Barron I would be Bound to. I was supposed to be his steady girlfriend too. Good-bye, romance and freedom of choice. Hello, Shadow Academy. I swallowed the bit of muffin I’d been chewing. It didn’t go down easily. I looked over the crowd once again. “Are all Bound and Soulbound couples…you know,
couples
?”

The silver-haired man returned to his table, his tray once again full. Only this time, he sat on the opposite side, facing me. But he didn’t look at me. Not once.

I picked up another piece of bacon and chewed it thoughtfully.

“No, but some of them are. About half, I’d guess. The Soulbound couples share a pretty intense relationship, sometimes romantic, sometimes a really close friendship. It’s said they’re like soul mates or something. And Bound couples…well, sometimes their bond is strong, but never as strong as the Soulbound and sometimes…sometimes there’s no connection at all.” She nodded a few tables over to a girl with honey blond hair and long legs. Next to her stood a pale, redheaded boy who watched the girl’s every move as if it were a ballet. I guessed him to be her Healer. “Take Melanie, for example. David, her Healer, thinks she walks on water, but she barely notices his existence.”

I was about to ask who the guy with silver hair was, when Maddox swore under her breath at the clock on
the wall. “You’re due at the headmaster’s office in five minutes, we need to go now.”

I stood and tried to pick up my tray, but Maddox shot me a look that said my picking up after myself would break some kind of Protocol and get her in big trouble, so I let her take care of it. I was beginning to understand why she thought all Healers were snobs. Apparently, the rules regarded Healers as delicate flowers that needed to be taken care of. Some Healers were probably all right with that, but I wasn’t.

Maddox had just returned to my table when Melanie stood and sashayed over to us, a small group right on her heels. I could feel Maddox’s muscles tensing beside me.

“So,” Melanie said, tossing her perfectly sculpted curls over her shoulder. “You’re the new girl, huh? Let me guess. You’re a Healer.”

Maddox spoke, her tone irritated. “Melanie—”

“Maddox, if I need a sitter, I’ll call you. Hush.” She had barely thrown Maddox a glance, and then turned her attention on me. Something spiteful was lurking in her eyes. “So?”

It was clear she hated Healers. It was written all over her face, and in the way she completely disregarded the boy next to her. I shrugged. “So…yes. I’m a Healer.”

“I knew it. There’s a certain look to the lower life-forms.” She groaned, and rolled her eyes for her
audience. Something told me that Melanie always had an audience. “What a shame. This school needs more people who can fight and less walking bandages.”

I growled under my breath. “You want a fight? Throw a punch and I’ll give you a few wounds that no kind of bandage will fix.”

Melanie laughed, leaning closer. “Ooh, I’m scared…”

Maddox tugged my sleeve. “Come on, Kaya…the headmaster’s waiting.”

I eyed Melanie down, but she didn’t flinch, and to what I’m sure was her utter surprise, neither did I. I turned and followed Maddox out the door.

“All right, fak Protocol. That was brilliant. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody stand up to Melanie, let alone a Healer.” Maddox leaned over and hugged my shoulders as we walked down the hall. “You and I are officially friends, Princess.”

Maddox was really pretty nice once she let her defenses down.

We reached the headmaster’s office with a minute to spare. At Maddox’s knock, the headmaster called, “Enter, and be known.”

Maddox swung open the door and breathed a reminder. “I’ll be waiting for you after your meeting.”

The headmaster looked up as I stepped over the threshold and smiled. “Ah, yes, Kaya. How did you sleep? Did you have breakfast?”

Nodding, I took a seat in one of the chairs opposite
his desk. “I slept okay, and Maddox made sure I ate.”

“Maddox is a fine guard.” He eyed me for a moment, his jovial expression cracking for a moment. “Though she needs a bit of discipline. It’s not customary to share details of punishments with students, but as containing the details is such an enormous challenge in a school full of teenagers, I suppose it doesn’t hurt to share that Maddox will have extra duties to make up for failing to collect you yesterday.”