The Grey Warden - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Sister Vy focused back on Mirrah, and the tattoos on Sister Vy’s arms changed rapidly as purple ink poured into her arms. She weaved different healing designs, but tears made my vision blurry, and I couldn’t see the tattoos clearly.

“I can’t tell what’s wrong with her,” Sister Vy said.

Sister Vy stood and rushed over to me as I collapsed onto my side. She rolled me onto my back, and Professor Laken appeared behind her.

“What did you see?” Sister Vy asked.

I tried to answer her, but my mouth wouldn’t work.

Sister Vy looked up at Professor Laken. “Did you remove the toxin from your demonstration?”

Professor Laken frowned. “Of course.”

Liar! I hated him even more. I might die because he didn’t want to admit the truth.

“He must be having an allergic reaction to it,” Sister Vy said.

I blinked my eyes clear as Sister Vy pressed her lips together, and more purple ink drained into her arms. The vine tattoo on each arm bloomed into a bush, each tiny leaf detailed and alive. I tried to memorize it so I could draw it later. I’d never seen this tattoo before.

Sister Vy slid her left hand under my shirt and placed it over my stomach. Her right hand moved to the top of my chest, just beneath my neck. She gasped, and I felt liquid spread across my chest.

Something wet and heavy soaked my shirt, as if someone had thrown a bucket of water on me. Had my heart exploded? Was I bleeding to death? My head started to clear, and I felt better, like I had just emptied an upset stomach. Actually, I felt amazing. Sister Vy removed her hands.

“Get some towels,” Professor Laken barked.

It took Sister Vy four towels to clean her arms and the tattoos that had filtered the poison out of my body. She looked up at Professor Laken. “How much did you give him?”

“Just a drop,” Professor Laken said as he crossed his arms.

Sister Vy helped me sit up. “Can you talk?”

My tan shirt had turned greyish brown from the poison Sister Vy had filtered out of my body.

I looked from my shirt to the pile of stained towels. “Was all that inside me?”

Sister Vy narrowed her eyes and nodded.

It looked like gallons not just a drop. Is that what happened in an allergic reaction? Why had so much liquid come out of my body? Maybe spirit weaving didn’t work right on Greys.

“What happened to the girl?” Sister Vy asked.

Mirrah’s convulsions had stopped. Was she already dead? A part of me screamed to stay silent to avoid making things worse with Fant, but I wouldn’t let my fear be the reason someone died, especially Mirrah.

Fear made my throat tight, and my voice didn’t work well. “Bottle from the back…triangle shaped…thin liquid, like watered-down milk.”

“You have an eye for detail,” Sister Vy said as she stood and strode to the box.

In moments she found the vial. She put a drop on her palm and closed her eyes. The ink in her skin twisted like snakes, becoming thick vines of ivy. She replaced the lid, set it in the box, and rushed to Mirrah.

Sister Vy knelt and placed her palms on top of Mirrah’s forehead. The ink on Sister Vy’s arms formed a single tattoo, half on each arm, an advanced weaving technique I’d never witnessed. I recognized the design from a book Mom had made me study three months ago.

A large willow tree spanned Sister Vy’s arms, long leaves drooping down across her forearms. The trunk ended at her wrists, where thick roots continued down into Sister Vy’s fingers, completely coloring them in purple. The leaves of the willow tree started to seep white droplets.

“Towel,” Sister Vy said.

An air weaver threw Professor Laken a towel, and he knelt next to Sister Vy, patting the spirit weaver’s arms as the liquid appeared. After a few seconds, Sister Vy leaned back, and the ink in her arms disappeared as she moved it back under her clothes and out of sight. A yellow-eyed fire weaver handed her a wet towel, and she nodded her thanks. She cleaned her arms and stood.

Mirrah opened her eyes and blinked a few times. “What happened?”

Sister Vy helped her stand. “You’re fine now. I’m interested in what happened as well. Who is Fant?”

Fant licked his lips and raised his hand.

“Of course it’s you,” Sister Vy said.

“What happened, Fant?” Professor Laken asked.

Fant shrugged. “How should I know?”

“You didn’t spray this young woman with Caleb’s Tears?” Sister Vy asked.

“I didn’t do anything,” Fant said.

Sister Vy looked at me. “Is this the boy that did it?”

I paused, swallowed hard, and nodded.

“That’s a lie!” Fant said and then pointed to the other brown-eyed earth weavers. “Ask any of them.”

Fant’s friends muttered agreement.

“Did anyone else see anything?” Professor Laken asked.

What he meant was, I thought bitterly, “did anyone other than a Grey see something.”

Silence. Had no one else seen it, or were they protecting themselves from Fant’s wrath? Either way, no one confirmed my story.

Sister Vy looked at Professor Laken, and his cheeks turned a deep shade of red.

“What can I do? It is Fant’s word against—” Professor Laken struggled to find the right word, or he might have been throwing out all the words that immediately came to mind. “A Grey.”

“Why would he lie?” Sister Vy asked.

“Who knows? Who cares? I’m not going to punish Fant over a Grey’s word,” Professor Laken said.

Fant clenched his jaw and scowled at me. I would pay for what I’d done.

I glanced at Mirrah, and she gave me a warm smile. My chest tightened, and my skin prickled. I took a deep breath, and it didn’t cause me to cough. Had Sister Vy healed my lungs too? This really was the best I’d ever felt.

“That will be enough for today,” Sister Vy said. “Perhaps I can return after the festival.”

Professor Laken glared at me like I had caused Mirrah’s poisoning. He sighed and gave Sister Vy a small bow. He turned to the class. “Dismissed.”

I’m in, Thelt said. I’m starting with the pillows.

Get out of there!

He needs to be taught a lesson. It’s too late, anyway. I just went.

Thelt had invaded Professor Laken’s quarters. I’d been there a few times to repel vachi at important meetings. Professor Laken also served as the Academy’s Headmaster and had the largest rooms in the faculty building. His outer room had heavy drapes hung across the windows, gold and silver leaf pressed into dark wood furnishings, and more pillows scattered around than anyone could possibly need.

What do you mean, went? I asked.

Blueberries mostly, out both ends as I flew over. It turned out better than I’d planned,Thelt said proudly.

“Oh, no,” I said out loud.

“Who are you talking to?” Sister Vy asked.

I jumped, surprised she still stood in front of me. Behind Sister Vy, Professor Laken had kicked the stained towels into a pile and shoved them with his foot toward the right wall.

“What?” I asked.

Sister Vy tilted her head for a second and then shook it. “Never mind. You saved that girl’s life. You did a great thing today.”

I looked down, my cheeks burning. It was worth it, and I would do it again, but I had crossed Fant and there would be consequences. He hadn’t got in any trouble though, so maybe he would leave me alone.

I looked up into Sister Vy’s purple eyes. The color reminded me of grapes.

I love grape jam, Thelt said.

Quit looking at my thoughts!

Quit thinking.

Ugh!

“Young man?” Sister Vy asked.

I refocused on the spirit weaver. “Sorry, Sister. You’re the one that saved her life. That weave looked fantastic.”

I just need to pee on the fruit, and then I’ll leave, Thelt said.

I ignored Thelt and kept eye contact with the priestess.

Sister Vy smiled and patted my shoulder. “Twenty years of training to master that weave. I’m happy it worked.”

Leave. Now. I sent to Thelt.

Only one apple left, and I really soaked it.

I rubbed my temples and tried to clear Thelt’s satisfaction from my mind.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Sister Vy asked again.

Professor Laken appeared on my right and faced Sister Vy. “He is simple and easily confused. It’s a waste of time to talk with him.”

Sister Vy studied me and then nodded at Professor Laken. “I’ll see you again after the festival.”

Sister Vy turned and walked out of the classroom.

There is a fancy box here, Thelt said.

I felt pressure in my head and then an image of a cube appeared in my mind.

Do you think this is where the old man keeps his sugar? Thelt asked.

The box stood four times taller than Thelt, maybe the size of my hand. Squares, triangles, circles, and lines covered its sides. Different colored metals had been pressed into the shapes, and the box reflected the sunlight creating colored stars across the table.

I doubt Professor Laken keeps sugar in that. Now get out of there.

Thelt didn’t respond.

A loud bang from behind me caused me to flinch. I turned to see Professor Laken turning from where he had slammed the box of poisons and elixirs back into the locked cabinet. I moved to my chair and reached down to grab the small bag I’d brought with me. It had the leftovers of my lunch and an empty water jar.

Most of the staff ate in the kitchen, but Repellers were different. We couldn’t go where we wanted. As bad as Professor Laken treated me, at least he would let me leave to pee. Some instructors made me hold it until class ended.

I shoved my sketch-pad and the latest book Mom had me studying into my lunch bag. I had hours each day to read, one of the few positives about my miserable life. The books Mom forced me to read usually sucked, but I had time to read some good books as well.

“Don’t ever speak in my class again,” Professor Laken hissed.

I stood with my head down and nodded once.

“You lied about your betters, and you embarrassed me in front of the priestess.”

“I’m sorry, Professor.”

Professor Laken loomed over me for a few heartbeats, and I hunched down. Professor Laken liked to slap things when he got angry, which I’d learned the hard way. He snorted in disgust, turned, and left.

Sighing in relief, I looked up at the empty classroom and headed toward the door. The excitement of seeing a spirit weaver had worn off, and now I just wanted to get back to my room, change my shirt, and put this day behind me. The Color Festival started tomorrow, and there wouldn’t be any classes for a week, which made it my favorite time of the year.

I entered the hallway, but a group of students stood in front of the building’s exit to my left, so I moved to the wall directly across from the classroom’s door. A column jutted out from the wall here, and I stood behind it, out of sight. I didn’t want to attract attention so I decided to just wait here until everyone cleared out.

I hated waiting. A hand-drawn flyer next to my head caught my attention. A girl held a cube over her head, black ink spilling out of it, three people behind her. Everyone had blue arms and eyes.

It took all my self control to not rip the Color Games flyer off the wall and shred it. The Color Games pitted student teams of four against each other as they battled to win three challenges. The victors received four vials of ink, worth a fortune.

And someone like me could never compete in it.

Usually, the teams consisted of a person from each kingdom, the four elements giving the team balance for whatever the contest threw at them. The purple Spirit weavers never participated, since they created the ink and didn’t have any reason to compete for it. Plus, Purples rarely left their walled city in the middle of the Capital.

A Blue Kingdom team had made this flyer. They wanted a fourth blue to complete their team. What a waste of time. Everyone knew you needed the four elements to win. Four of the same type would result in disaster.

Do you smell that? Thelt asked. I think I found his sugar!

Professor Laken didn’t seem like the type to use sugar. He certainly wouldn’t keep it in his room. Which meant—

It’s a trap! I shouted across our link.

It’s crowded in here. Where’s the sugar? I heard Thelt say.

I knew exactly why Thelt felt crowded. He had crawled into a vachi trap in Professor Laken’s room. A trap Professor Laken would turn over to the spirit weavers for ink vouchers. I needed to get to that trap and free Thelt before Professor Laken arrived at his room.