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Chapter 17

Chapter 17

“We’re all tired. Millions dead. Countries in ruins. Mass graves with forgotten dead. The peace we have now was not easy. Compromises built on lies forged the peace we have now. But really, what is this peace that we have? Is it not enslavement by the three empires? We let the powerful win over three centuries ago, and the stranglehold has been complete. Only the neutral city states and barren wastelands survive free of tyranny.”

—Anonymous contemporary historian

It had been two days since her long, revealing chat with Falahgo, her father. Natali’s long hair blew in the coastal breeze.

Seff stretched out next to her as both of them lay flat against the smooth beach rocks. If Seff tried anything, Natali was prepared to pull out her wand and end him.

The wind rolled silently across the landscape while the sea gently rocked against the shore. More inland, lonely scrub bushes waved with the wind. The sun was nearing the horizon, yet it was not close enough to start edging out pastels onto the sky.

Falahgo had wanted Natali to talk to both Seff and Reyn individually to find out more about them. She had reluctantly agreed.

“I thought we were going to talk,” said Seff.

“I know,” Natali said. “I’m still thinking over what I want to say.”

Seff sat up a little, “For the last fifteen minutes?”

“That and how that one cloud over there looks like a pig, but now it doesn’t because it sprouted wings off its ass.”

“Do you think it’d fly tail first? Steering would be a problem.”

“It’d have to fly tail first, I think. Flying would be prohibitively dangerous, as to fly would be to fly blind,” Natali said.

“Only useful in the most extreme situations.”

Natali looked over to Seff, “So, I wanted to talk to you about what you want.”

“Now?”

“In the future.”

“I don’t know what I want in the future. For now, I—and you—need lots of money. What are we going to rob?”

“You don’t have any goals?” Natali asked.

“Sure. Find a girl and marry her and take over the world.”

“Take over the world?” Natali said, feigning innocence. She choked back a laugh.

“Yes. Too many criminals get away, only to kill again. People that, unlike us, kill for greed and pleasure. Did you know my father was murdered by a gang of brothers?”

“No, I didn’t. I’m sorry. What happened to your mother?”

“She’s been dead for a long time.”

“But you don’t need to take over the world to fix some of its problems.”

“Isn’t it the best way though?”

Natali gently said, “Even if you ruled the world, criminals would still escape. And kill.”

“I could try though.”

“An admirable goal. I wish you luck. Just remember me when you get there, right?” Natali laughed.

Seff furrowed his brows and shot off, “You don’t think I have a chance? I have Reyn.”

“What about him?”

“When they tested him, he set fire to an entire courtroom. And not just set fire, he engulfed the whole room with thirty or fifty or a hundred people inside. Just by getting tested. He’s so powerful that he doesn’t know how hard it really is to cast spells. He’s a natural. He might be the most powerful sorcerer in the world. With him on my side, I could rise up the ranks, become emperor and take over the other empires.”

Natali raised an eyebrow, “Take over the other empires, and all of your benevolence and kind intentions will be wasted. You would slaughter millions on the battlefield to catch—how many criminals? Certainly, rising up the sorcery ranks is fine, as all you kill are condemned prisoners—if you get into those arena matches which is all individual merit. Reyn won’t be able to get you there. You’d have to earn those matches and win quickly. But say you do that and say Reyn is still friends with you, intentionally ending the peace between the empires is not a good thing.”

“I could make everything better. I would be a great ruler.”

Natali did not come back with a reply. Seff continued, “We could catch criminals sooner and provide something else for them to do. I could build newer, better buildings so that people don’t need to live in smelly apartments. I could hunt down murderers and make sure everyone has a job.”

Natali said, “Maybe. But it’s always easier to suggest things than to do them. We can’t even steal from places without running into problems. I think you misunderstand the complexity behind the issues.”

Seff growled, “No, I understand them. The wealthy stay wealthy. The poor stay poor. Everything the poor build, the wealthy take. There are no slaves, yet many are in slavery. They are not slaves by name, but by actions and payment.”

“Reyn’s father isn’t a slave, not even close. He works hard and gets paid a decent wage.”

“Yes, but he still lives in a cramped hovel. I just think there isn’t enough justice in the world.”

“Justice that would see us three hanged or in the arena?”

“I steal to survive. Even now, I’m being blackmailed. I guess I could do something else, but I’m here now. I don’t want to go back.”

“How would that lessen the charges?”

“It wouldn’t. But I do things for reasons. Others would do them because they’re greedy or have a hot temper.”

“Everyone has reasons.”

“Not a single reason exists why you would slaughter a father with an infant son,” Seff eyed Natali sharply.

She breathed in deeply, still looking at the clouds. Her chest swelled up before exhaling. She was tiring of Seff.

Seff continued, “I’m not saying that I have all the answers, but I do, eventually, want to make the world a better place.”

“That’s an admirable goal, Seff. But don’t—” Natali sighed. She didn’t know what to say.

“Don’t what?” Seff asked as he turned back to the clouds.

“Go too far. Find what makes you happy and concentrate on that. If the world comes to you, great. But don’t chase it. It may never come to you, and you’d be always angry and disappointed.”

“Don’t chase it? To do anything worth doing, you need to chase and pursue.

“Even into a fire?”

“Avoiding the fire, running away from that, but um, chasing my goal all the same.”

Natali laughed. “So, you chase and run away at the same time?”

Seff groaned. “You’re making fun of me.”

“Only a little. So, who raised you?”

“No one really. Just different people.”

“How’d you learn so much sorcery?”

“Was taught by,” Seff hesitated, “someone.”

“For how long though? You seem to know sorcery well for someone your age.”

“About two or three years.”

“Two or three years?” Natali asked incredulously. Her father had taken spare moments here and there to teach her, but she could not claim to have nearly that much experience.

Seff added, “About... twenty or thirty hours average a week.”

Natali could now tell why Seff was so brazen. He knew the spells to keep himself and others safe.

“So why haven’t you taught Reyn anything?”

“I don’t want him to know how powerful he is. Until later.”

“Isn’t telling me a mistake then?” Natali asked softly.

“Your word against mine. And, it wouldn’t help you. And, would it help Reyn?”

“I suppose, but why wait to tell him?”

“To give me a chance to become better friends with him. We’re the same age. We’ll be in the Academy together. If I don’t make friends with him here and now, he will make other, stronger friends. People will know who the really talented ones are, and they will be the ones who are popular. I will be popular, but Reyn… he’ll be the brightest star in the sky.”

“So why not tell him now? Why not help him? Don’t you think he’ll get angry at you for not helping him earlier.”

“We were on the run; we needed money; now, we’ve been blackmailed. As far as Reyn is concerned, I’ve been busy. He does not know that I’ve been purposefully not training him.”

“It could backfire.”

“There is no reward without risk. So, what do you want to be?” asked Seff, obviously wanting to change the subject away from her examination of his motives.

Natali said, “I’m not sure. I thought I wanted adventure, but these past few weeks, I don’t know.”

“You sound worse than me. At least I know what I want, and it’s not anything horrible.”

“I must be going,” Natali said, standing. “I have a report to finish, and it’s one of those opinion papers. I hate them. They’re so complicated and stupid sometimes. I’ll see you later, Seff. Stay safe.”

“Bye.”

Natali, brushing sand from her tight-fitting pants, put the ocean on her left and walked back to town. Her wand stayed hidden, strapped to her boot covered by her pants.

As she walked back to town, she knew she didn’t need to worry about Seff anymore. He knew she was useful and would not harm her.

Falahgo watched from a distance as she left Seff laying there in the sun.

He thought about killing the boy. He hated him for corrupting his daughter. She had been honest and kind, and now… a thief. The fault could lie with himself, but he could not excuse the boy for helping Natali. Maybe Natali was desperate for some reason, but that did not excuse her actions. He could put an end to it this minute.

End the danger. End the foolhardy blackmail. Sever all ties and dump his body into the sea. His thoughts were powerful and real.

He waited a few minutes to let Natali disappear, and then he walked towards him. He held a staff in one hand and a wand in the other. Seff was oblivious. There was no reason for Falahgo to run and make noise. Better to walk quietly.

He could see Seff’s body more clearly now. He was looking up at the sky, at the clouds.

At just fifty paces, Falahgo cast two lightning bolts, one from his staff, one from his wand. He couldn’t be sure what effect they would have on Seff, in case he was shielded, so he cast another two. Four in total.

Seff hadn’t even moved. He must not have had a shield. Who could expect someone would be as heartless as to kill a man while he daydreamed at a pastel sky?

Falahgo walked to Seff and looked into his lifeless eyes. He felt bad. He had murdered a boy for what? Stealing? And murder. They had killed the guard at Goff’s. But even then, he felt bad. He had executed him without a trial.

After the images faded in his mind’s eye, he decided not to kill Seff.

The thoughts were just that: thoughts and contemplations.

He was curious what Natali had found out, so he turned away from the daydreaming boy and left. He could kill Seff later, if he wanted. He could trick Natali into inviting them over and surprise him. Or hunt him down.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Better to wait. If he needed to, he would, but he was a gambler, not an executioner.

* * *

Reyn couldn’t see the stars with the obscuring forest, but he could see their reflection on the water just ahead. They looked so bright in that deep, dark blue water that he took a moment before he continued carefully down the gentle slope leading to the lake.

Twigs snapped and leaves crunched underfoot as Reyn made his way down. The wide pathway was well-worn and cleared, for this was one of only a few lakes near Belladder. Never freezing except for in the coldest of winters, the lake was fed by a spring that kept it warm. The air was cold, still and clear.

The pathway stopped at a small pond that overflowed into the much larger lake. The pond was fed by the spring, and thus popular—but not at night. It had been Natali’s idea to come here.

Reyn had finished walking down the path and now stood looking around. He continued on wandering—a few feet over here and a few over there.

“Natali, you there?” he whispered a few times, until he realized that he didn’t really have much to worry about. Nobody would be out here in the cold night.

“Natali,” Reyn said louder. “Natali!”

He felt a hand from behind, pulling him back. The grip was strong and unexpected, catching Reyn off guard in such a way that his entire body twisted and stepped back within an instant. He was soon staring at Natali’s beaming face.

“Boo,” she said.

Reyn jumped a little, not because he had been truly scared, but because it was unexpected and sudden.

“Could you be any louder?” scolded Natali. “I’ve been trailing you since you got near the lake. A mammoth would be quieter walking through the woods than you are.”

“Well, you could be more inviting than to startle me.”

“Oh, you know you like to be startled, Reyn. Everyone knows that. I imagine it has something to do with you waking up and wondering why you were getting hanged,” Natali said as she tugged at Reyn’s shirt, pulling him with her.

“I was more worried about—”

“That tree, let’s sit.”

Reyn followed Natali’s lead, “Okay, but I was more worried about my father not knowing what happened to me. I really didn’t mind dying or anything. I did and I wanted to do something with my life, and it wouldn’t happen if I died. But on the other end of things, I really did make a mess of that courtroom, and I think a lot of people died.”

“Which reminds me,” Natali said, settling down next to him, their shoulders touching, her hand on his thigh. He could smell the fish on her breath. She asked, “What did you do to that courtroom? I read only a little bit about it in the papers over here.”

Reyn didn’t dare move—he liked Natali close. However, his neck had to turn all the way to the side to see her, and she wasn’t even looking at him—she was looking off into the distance at the stars. Reyn said, “They did the test, and I basically set fire to everything. I think most people escaped, I hope, but it was really bad. I don’t like to think about it. It wasn’t even my fault. They tested me and something happened.”

“So that’s why they were going to kill you, huh?”

“No, actually, the magistrate said that he didn’t know whether or not to kill me or congratulate me or something. He was pretty confused about it, but after talking to me, he said I was going to die soon. And I was on the gallows just a few hours later.”

“Interesting,” Natali said.

“Very. And then I thought about why he’d want to congratulate me, and I figured maybe he had hated someone I killed. I’m not sure.”

“No, I don’t think that’s the reason,” said Natali. “You see, well, never mind. I mean, who knows why the magistrate would want to kill you.”

“It seemed really unfair to me though. He did blame it on somebody, but I forget who. He was trying to keep me away from someone.”

“You don’t remember the name?”

“No. And to pronounce a death sentence upon a boy who had accidentally killed—well I guess that would be the reason. But still, it’s not as if I knew what would happen. I really didn’t.”

“You didn’t do any sorcery before that?”

“Never—at least nothing that I was aware of.”

Natali sighed.

“Sometimes it’s not very obvious,” Natali said. “The signs can be amazingly varied. Oh, and has Seff explained what emotions have to do with sorcery?

“Not really. Why?”

“Just curious.”

“Well, sometimes he says this rune or that rune works better with emotions. And to prove to this one guy as I was escaping the hanging, I cast a spell. It required three different emotions. But really, Seff doesn’t say anything about it most of the time.”

“And hasn’t he been training you?”

“No. We’ve always had other stuff to do.”

“Well… I suppose I should have talked to you sooner. I just find myself full of thoughts at the moment. That Seff guy is a clever one. Mean and sneaky, too.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Seff is just clever and ambitious. Watch out for him.”

“Well, obviously you’d think that after you berated him for using us and threatening you. You think he’s a jerk and a threat.”

“I’ll tell you a secret, Reyn. You ready?”

“Sure.”

“He is very clever.”

“Like him not being able to break into Goff’s, and yet I was able to do it in—how long was it?”

“Wrong type of clever. I meant devious. And yes, you and Seff did well to melt that door. It went fast,” Natali said, patting him on the leg.

Reyn was unsure of what that meant. He said, “I still didn’t like how everything turned to ice. I was getting worried that the iron would start forming ice, and then I’d have to melt the ice too.”

Natali stayed silent for a few seconds. “It’s possible, I suppose, although I’m going to be honest here, I’ve never heard of anyone having to melt ice from doing a spell.”

“Really? Never?”

“Not once, but you had two people working really hard.” Natali giggled. “So, it wasn’t just you.”

“I guess. And the ice wasn’t built up either.”

“Nope. Just along the outer walls.”

“And the floor.”

“Yes, and isn’t that lake beautiful?” Natali pointed, looking at him and then the lake, guiding his eyes over to look at the starry reflections on it.

“I don’t wonder about anything at night,” Reyn said, wincing as soon as he said it. How could he say he never wondered anything at night? He thought about Natali at night and sorcery and how they’d get enough money and school and so much more.

Natali didn’t say anything for a bit. “Sooo,” Natali said, “You don’t stare at the stars and wonder just where the gods are sometimes? Who they are and what they’re like and what they do, and if they ever stare down onto you?” Natali gripped his thigh a little tighter.

“They wouldn’t look at me. I guess I sometimes look at the stars or their reflection and wonder about things, but really, what is the purpose of wondering about the gods? Do they wear robes or pants, and do they live in a temple in the skies? I do not care. I like to think of the here and now. You, Seff, school, money, sorcery. Why wonder about things you can’t affect or change?”

Natali said, “What about the past? Ever reflect about it? You can’t affect it or change it, but do you think about it?”

“No, I really don’t. I like the here and now—like how I’m with you,” Reyn tapped Natali’s knee with his knee, “If I was thinking about the past or gods or whatever, could I really do what I do now? I mean, if I spent all my time wondering about things that are imaginary or far away then would I really be a good son? I can’t even figure out what I want to do.”

Natali stayed silent for a time. “The biggest things are never things that can be changed, but you can learn from them.”

“Learn what?” Reyn asked.

“The legends, the stories, the lessons.”

Reyn said, “Everyone knows some of them. And people who know many of them are people who don’t have anything better to do with their time. Like those in the Academy—or at least some of them—are said to be isolated, old and ornery. ‘Better ordinary than ornery’ as the saying goes.”

“Sure, but you think they don’t have a good handle on the world?”

“No. They are old and grumpy. Who cares about them.”

“So old and grumpy isn’t attractive to you,” laughed Natali.

“I just don’t care about old stuff or new stuff, really. I just want to be happy.”

“And what is happy for you, Reyn?” Natali looked right at him, her face inches away.

“To do what I love, but I don’t know what that is yet. So really, I’m just doing whatever until I figure out what I want to do.”

Natali said, “Me too, but I do know what I want.”

“Really?” he said incredulously.

“I know what I want, but really it’s abstract and complicated.”

“Sounds like it.”

“It really is,” said Natali.

“I didn’t doubt you. You’re a strange girl.”

“Like how?”

“Like tempting fate when you disturbed us while we robbed your place. Like telling Seff off in the middle of the street and taunting him when he didn’t circulate the air in the tunnel. A million things. Trying to use us to pay off your father’s debts. Strange and maybe even stupid.”

“Tempting fate? I laugh at you. I never do anything dangerous—at least not super dangerous. I value my beauty way too much to endanger it.”

“So, you don’t think Seff would have killed you if I hadn’t told him not to?”

“He would have tried, I think.”

“Tried?”

“Want to hear a real secret?” Natali asked, the fish smell forcing Reyn to lean away away.

“Hm, you’re scaring me. I’m not sure. Is that a trick question?”

“Oh c’mon, don’t be a little boy,” Natali eased her hand up his thigh a little.

“Fine, what is it?”

“You have to promise me that you won’t tell anyone. Ever.”

“Ever?”

“Ever-ever.”

“Uhhhh,” Reyn said, hesitating.

Natali’s voice flared with anger as she said, “You don’t trust me, do you?”

“If I didn’t trust you then I wouldn’t be in the woods with you.”

“That’s not real trust, so I guess I can’t tell you my secret, then,” Natali sighed.

“But trusting someone isn’t the same as agreeing to not tell anyone else. What if that secret could potentially hurt or kill someone you care about? What if your secret kills my father or Seff or myself? Obviously, I wouldn’t let it kill me, but what if the secret delays something that will then kill me? I don’t think that’s fair.”

“Maybe it had something to do with me defending my actions.” Natali said.

“I do trust you, but the secret that you have seems big, so why don’t you just keep it to yourself?”

“You don’t want to hear my little secret?” Natali said, her voice smooth and seductively spoken.

Reyn swallowed nervously, “I do, but maybe tell it to me later?”

“Later? When later?” Natali asked.

“I don’t know. It’s late and I’m tired. You stress me out a lot more than Seff does,” Reyn said. He wanted to run away, but didn’t. Natali was acting strange, but he had the damnedest crush on her. He wondered if he should kiss her.

She leaned up against him. As she did so, he tensed up a little. She further snuggled up tightly against him as she said, “It’s cold.”

“It is,” Reyn said.

Natali could feel his heart beat faster. She smiled and closed her eyes. Time passed by as the silence wrapped them up. Gradually his heart rate went down, but his body was still a bit stiff. She could tell he wasn’t really relaxed.

“Reyn,” she said softly.

“Yes?”

“When I surprised both of you at my house, why did you stick up for me?”

“I, uh, well, you know. You’re a girl, and it’s wrong to murder. I was there for money, not to kill or hurt anyone.”

“And if I was a guy?” Natali asked.

“I don’t think I could have stopped Seff. You surprised him, so I think he forgot all his spells.”

Natali raised her head off Reyn’s shoulder, “I did want to talk about Seff. After I pay off my father’s loan, I think we should remain friends, but I think our trio isn’t going to work.”

“Oh.”

“So, I thought that I’d tell you ahead of time.”

“I understand. I’m mostly around Seff to get trained anyhow,” Reyn said.

Natali thought Reyn would object or stick up for Seff, but instead Reyn seemed to think he was using Seff, not the other way around. Natali said, “You should know Seff is using you more than you realize, but that’s all I’ll say for now. You don’t know the stuff I do.”

“Like your secret?”

“My secret or secrets? My secrets are my own, but the secret I was going to tell you about would have nothing to do with why or how Seff is using you. But I know people better than you do—I guess it’s part of who I am—and you’re being used. Just know that. You want to go swimming? I’m really cold.”

“Swimming? Sure.”

Standing up, Natali scooped up a couple of towels from her backpack and tossed them over by the edge of the water. She took a few steps toward the warm-water pond off to the side and slipped off her pants. She looked back at Reyn and said, “Well?”

Reyn sat there against the tree for a second before standing and taking off his pants. She waited until he wasn’t looking to finish undressing. She dived in with Reyn not having caught a glimpse of her at all—although, it was dark and he wouldn’t have seen anything but a tease anyway. He had been busy looking down and as he was taking off his shirt. Natali watched as Reyn quickly stripped and jumped in.

She giggled, only her head above the water.

“What’s so funny?” he asked.

“Your look when you realized I was looking.”

“What did I look like?”

“It was hard to tell in this light, except it was definitely different from what it was before.”

“The water’s pleasant,” Reyn coaxed out.

“Very pleasant. I love coming here. It clears my head,” she said.

She dove underneath the water and swam around, thinking of whether to tell Reyn that she was a sorceress. She and her father could train Reyn and ditch Seff to his own devices. She surfaced.

“You’re not nervous to come here alone?” Reyn asked.

“Not a bit. I can defend myself. Do you like school?” she asked, trying to gauge how serious Reyn was about getting into the Academy.

“A little. Not much.”

Natali said, “The Academy is almost all school.”

“How do you know?”

“My father told me. He told me how it’s a bore most of the time, with tests on every subject you can think of. Not much sorcery at all really. Only on the edges. Some of his friends he made at The Gorge’s testing didn’t make it in, and now he doesn’t know where they are.”

“I’m sure they’re around somewhere,” Reyn said.

“Somewhere yes, but not in political positions of power—only the Imperial Academy allows that.”

They were silent for a few minutes. Natali thought of how difficult it might be to get Reyn into the Imperial Academy if he didn’t like to study very much. He was very talented, but how much of getting into the Academy was talent versus a good study? She wasn’t sure.

Reyn broke the silence, “Do you ever stare at the stars and wonder what the gods think?”

She splashed him and went under. When she appeared again, she shook her head around and set her hair in a wide circle, spraying water in Reyn’s face. She pushed her hair back with her hand and said, “Of course, I stare. I wonder if the gods set up these empires to provide stability and peace. Or whether, there are any gods. Surely, with the number of temples scattered everywhere, gods must exist. They simply must. And since they must exist, they must do something, even if it’s inconsequential most of the time.”

“If gods existed, then I’m sure there’d be many more priests and temples,” Reyn said.

“Maybe they don’t appear as much as before, because the world doesn’t need them as much.”

“Or, they don’t exist,” Reyn laughed.

Natali splashed him again and said, “They exist. I just wonder what they do.”

Reyn splashed her back in a frenzy and said, “The world is boring and kind. So, maybe the gods, if they exist, can affect the world. But when it comes to people like Puugi, I doubt the gods can affect them. If they could, would they really let Puugi try to hang me?”

“You mean, the gods have limits?” Natali gasped, faking surprise and taunting Reyn.

“Maybe.”

“You have a point. The world is tame and kind. But, people are mean.”

“Like Seff?” Reyn joked.

Natali dove down again, trying to think of what to say. Reyn had said ‘like Seff’ jokingly, but Seff was a true monster from everything he said and did and expressed. He was using Reyn. He had killed countless people. The only good thing he did was save Reyn from a cruel and unjust hanging, but how many people had he killed to do it? If Natali wasn’t implicated from the Goff debacle, she could turn Seff and Reyn in as they slept and walk away wealthier than nearly anyone in Belladder. However, she would be summarily executed along with Reyn and Seff if anyone knew it was them. She hadn’t even completed a single trial as a sorceress, so she couldn’t even be put into the arena to try to earn her life back. They would just execute her.

Natali surfaced again. “Seff isn’t mean so much as he’s… heartless,” Natali said seriously.

“If he was so heartless, would he have saved me from hanging?” Reyn said.

“He didn’t save you because he was kind.”

“Then why?”

“Because he’s selfish.”

“Selfish and heartless?”

“Yes,” Natali said.

“You don’t like him?”

“He and I are…opposites in a way.”

“Opposites?”

“He tries for the quick solution and doesn’t care who he kills to get there. I also try for the quick solution, but …I don’t kill to get where I’m going.”

“And our robberies? Aren’t we hurting people?” Reyn said.

“…We’re not robbing the elderly and stealing their food money. However, I’m sure Seff would have no problems doing that.”

“That’s a harsh assessment.”

“It’s the truth,” Natali said. “Don’t peek as I get out.” Natali walked out of the water and started drying off.

She checked, and Reyn had looked the other way towards the far bank, instinctively obeying Natali’s request. Natali took extra time drying her upper body, preparing to put her shirt on while wondering if Reyn would peek. He did finally peek, and Natali acted as though she didn’t know. Her back was turned, so it was the perfect tease. Natali grinned from ear to ear. She was playing Reyn perfectly, and she only felt a little poorly about it—well worth it in her estimation.

She wondered if she liked him.

She slipped on her shirt, and turned around. He was looking off into the distance.

“Ok,” Natali said. “I’ll see you in school. Bye.” She grabbed her wand from her backpack and used the backpack to shield it from Reyn’s view. She felt bad not telling Reyn, but it was safer this way. She’d figure out soon enough whether Reyn could ever make it into the Academy by how he did in school.

“Bye,” Reyn said as she left him still in the water. She wanted to get back before it got too late.

As Natali walked away, Reyn felt bad. What had he said that she left him literally in the water? Just left. And he was naked. At least she left the wet towels behind for him to dry himself off a little, but what had he said at the end? They were talking about Seff, and maybe that’s what really got her angry. She was not sounding happy at all that whole conversation except about school and the Academy and swimming and her secret—whatever that was.

Reyn got out of the water, dried off, and headed home. At least she had rested her head against him. But there was no kiss or anything. He was torn about whether to tell Natali about how he felt. Natali was causing him so much stress. The blackmail, the school pressure, skinny-dipping, talking about Seff. He wasn’t sure he could handle Natali for much longer.