Chapter 17

Ren had never regretted her lack of wildlife training until now.

The limitations of her knowledge on that subject—and the spells associated with that knowledge—meant relying entirely on what Avy had learned on hiking trips as a boy. Ren could tell that he was thrilled to be their resident expert. He bounded ahead of their group like a child.

"Those are poisonous. ‘The dark tips of the leaves, ignored by the bees, always in threes.' The rash is hideous, too. Pree got it when we were kids. Not that it mattered. I was always the more handsome of the two of us. Right, Ren?"

He grinned back at her.

"Out here? With nothing else to look at? Sure, you're plenty handsome out here."

He laughed at that. She noticed the way Theo glanced between them, uncomfortable with the exchange. She imagined him saying it was "untoward" and wanted to roll her eyes. Timmons seized on the conversation, all too eager to focus on anything that was a reminder of normal life at home.

"Ren went on a date with your brother?"

Avy nodded. "It was his first date. He even had someone shine his shoes, the prat."

"I'm just trying to imagine what it's like to go on a date with Ren," Timmons said. "She probably gave historical accounts for various items on the menu. ‘Oh, hermitage soup? Well, did you know…'?"

That earned a snort from Avy. Ren reached out and gave Timmons's ponytail a small tug.

"Hermitage soup does have an interesting origin story."

"Gods help us," Timmons replied. "If you tell me who invented it, I'm going to ask Avy to help me tie you to a tree. Especially when we have a far more interesting topic available to us. Avy, are you courting anyone? Someone mentioned the other day that you and Rosh were a possibility."

He snorted again. "Rosh? Have you seen her? Have you seen me? Our children would come out eighty hands tall and made of iron. Pretty sure we'd give birth to an entirely new species. Besides, I turned down the Brightsword Legion. They don't see much action these days, and the pay is nothing compared to the private armies. I'd rather wait and see which house hires me before starting a courtship. There's no point getting entangled with someone only to find out they're committed to an opponent."

"There are plenty of reasons to get entangled," Timmons threw back. She swung a look over her other shoulder, bright hair catching and throwing the light. "What about you, Cora?"

Cora's cheeks flushed a slightly darker color. Clearly, she'd been anticipating the question eventually being asked of her. The girl answered by tapping the satchel bouncing against her hip.

"I'm wedded to my scalpel."

Ren smiled. "Good for you. I recently married an archive room."

"Besides," Cora said. "There are very few anatomically appealing candidates at Balmerick. Too much inbreeding amongst the upper classes."

That brought out even more laughter. Theo, who'd quietly attended to every word, was the only one who took offense. "There is not inbreeding amongst the upper classes."

Cora shrugged. "No offense intended, but the propensity for arranged marriages at that stratum of our society does lead to a narrow breeding pool. There were only so many families involved in the initial settlement of Kathor. It helped when the Shiverians founded Balmerick. They invited every child in the surrounding region to attend. It was actually pretty clever of them. The wealthy families used the school to determine who had the most magical talent, and then they had their children marry the most capable wizards from the lower classes. That actually explains why the next generation made so many famous advancements. There was a much larger talent pool.

"Oh, and your family helped, Theo, when they intermarried with the Graylantians in the north. It probably would have helped more if they'd committed fully to their promise to arrange marriages with some of the other northern rebels too. But one is better than none! Ever since, the breeding pool has started narrowing again. Heirs matched to heirs. Alliances that call for cousins to end up bound to other cousins. I wrote an entire study on the bloodlines and their overall medical impact.…" She trailed off, finally realizing she'd gone on a rather long rant. She looked back at Theo, completely earnest. "I can let you borrow a copy when we get back to Kathor."

Theo scowled. Ren wasn't sure if he was scowling at the idea that such a study existed or the idea that he'd ever be asked to read such a condemning text. It might also have been the natural expression his face reverted to regardless of circumstance. That thought had her grinning. She was just glad that someone else had studied those histories and found them as interesting as she had. But that wasn't the part that Timmons found interesting.

"Out of curiosity, who are these anatomically appealing candidates at Balmerick? I've got my own ideas, but who meets the high standards of our resident surgeon?"

Cora was consciously avoiding eye contact. It took a moment for Ren to figure out that someone in their present company must have been on her short list. The girl was the kind of shy that inspired protection. Ren rarely saw her around school, but if she ever came across someone picking on Cora, she would gladly step in and bloody a few noses. She was trying to think of some way to change the subject and spare the girl when Cora plunged on with her answer.

"You have an incredible bone structure," she said, eyes darting over to Timmons. "Easily one of the most beautiful people on our campus. I'd put you on the same tier as Jude Shiverian and Briar Holdaway. There's an argument to be made for Ash Proctor, but I noticed recently that he has abnormally small hands. It's hard to imagine walking through a park and holding… such small hands."

Timmons looked like she'd been hit by a drop spell. Avy was laughing obnoxiously at the front of their group. "What about that one girl?" Ren asked. "The one who was the inspiration for that new statue outside Viceroy's Square?"

"Narvin Farrow," Cora answered. "She had a very high rating, but I believe she is now bound in marriage to one of the Rask siblings. Not simple, spoken vows either. The two of them used bond magic at the ceremony. I do not assess the unavailable. Not worth my time."

Theo was shaking his head at all of this. "Attraction is more than just physical beauty."

"Agree to disagree," Cora replied. "I have a scientific scale that measures physical appeal based on the components that make up the intended, pristine human form. You're a six point three."

Now he looked mortified. "Out of what?"

Cora was clearly enjoying stringing him along. Ren found herself utterly surprised. She'd always thought of the girl as impossibly shy, but maybe she'd just never asked enough questions. Before Cora could answer, though, Avy stopped dead in his tracks. Ren collided with him and would have stumbled off the trail if Timmons hadn't seized her by the scarf. All of them crowded forward to see what was wrong.

Daylight made the scene grotesque.

A slink cat lay on its side, gutted from neck to navel. One rust-faded eye stared unblinking at them as flies circled the great rips in its flesh. It was impossible to know if this was the same cat they'd encountered the night before or another one. Ren pulled her shirt up over her nose to avoid retching. Timmons quietly whispered, "This place is the worst."

There was a silent and mutual agreement not to discuss the details. Something bigger and faster had killed this creature. Something they didn't care to encounter. Wands were out and Avy led them on. The brief light of their previous conversation faded. Everything from that point on was utilitarian. They crossed small creeks and paused to refill the canteen with water. No one wasted breath on things as unnecessary as laughter. Avy passed out portions of his mixed nuts when they finally stopped for rest at the end of the first day.

"Our team physician always has us eating these during the longer tournaments," he explained. "Good for maintaining energy and strength. We'll need something more substantial before heading into the mountain passes, but these will have to do for now."

Another fire was built. Theo cast the spells he had the night before. At Ren's urging, he doubled the spell that would ward off larger predators. She watched him properly layer everything this time, and even sensed the slight alteration he made to make sure nothing too small set off their tripwire. Everyone curled up to sleep in the dying light, doing their best to get comfortable. She strained to hear the noise they'd heard the night before. Any sign that what had taken Clyde—or what had killed the slink cat—was nearby. But no sound ever came.

Before she could drift off, her eyes roamed in Theo's direction. His back was to her, but the angle offered a view of what he was holding. She craned her neck just a little. It was Clyde's hawk sketch. She saw him tracing the lines with a finger before folding it again, setting it back inside of his notebook. As she watched, he turned to a new page and scribbled a few more notes. She saw him sketching something, writing out numbers and angles.

It was her suggested spellwork.

There was very little reason to smile out here, but Ren sensed a momentum between them. He'd clearly taken note of her talent. It offered an unexpected path forward. Her goal—for nearly a decade now—had been to join one of the other major houses. The Shiverians had been her top choice, given their focus on spellwork. She would happily have settled with the Winterses, the Proctors, or the Graylantians, though. Earning a spot had always been the first step. She needed a position that would allow her to acquire influence and power if she wanted to pursue her real goal. A secret that she'd kept even from her mother.

She'd avoided the Broods, but now one was sharing her fire. Depending on her. Assessing her value. Maybe this was the path she'd been waiting for all along. A scion of one of the wealthiest houses in the world was watching her every move. All she needed to do was shine.

Bright enough that he wouldn't see what lurked beneath.