Soulbound

  Maddox snickered. “Oh man.”

  Her words shook me from my apparent trance. “What?”

  “Flirt much? You just met the guy, for fak’s sake.”

  Already, she could see right through me. “I wasn’t flirting! I was…talking.”

  “Yeah, sure you were.” She walked past me and started down the hall. “C’mon, Princess.”

  This time when she called me by the nickname she’d given me, it sounded different—more like a sarcastic quip than an insulting dig.

  And I was flirting. I couldn’t help it. Trayton was hot as could be, sweet like honey, and had that clever shyness that I found irresistible. Any girl in her right mind would have flirted with him.

  By the time we got outside, Trayton was already gone. “Headmaster Quill wants me to give you a quick tour of the campus before your first class. That is…if you’re done drooling over Trayton for the moment.”

  I smiled, suddenly feeling lighter than I had all day. “For the moment.”

  Maddox raised a sharp eyebrow in my direction. “Is that all it takes to make you relax, a pretty face? You were awfully tense before your meeting with the headmaster.”

  “It’s not like that. I’m just…” What was I doing? It wasn’t like I wanted to be here and the fact that Trayton was super nice and really good looking was making that all better. Tension returned to my muscles. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

  Maddox gave my shoulder a comforting squeeze. Her eyes were full of sympathy. “You’re flirting with a great guy. No crime in that. Trayton is about the nicest boy on campus. Cutest too, I think.”

  After a moment, I offered her a smile. Maddox was all right.

  The campus was several acres long, a rectangle of lush, green grounds, spotted with various buildings and trees. Moving north, we walked alongside the dorm building that contained my room and the dining hall. Once we cleared the building, Maddox pointed out its twin, which sat parallel and to the east. Beyond the dorms was a field and in the far-off area to the east were gardens and a small, shabby cottage. To the west of my dorm stood a wide open area that Maddox referred to as the courtyard. On the courtyard’s edge, facing my dorm, was another cottage, this one well cared for. Most of the courtyard was green, but a smaller area—the one right between the cottage and dorm—was paved with flagstones and home to a large fountain. Maddox pointed out two large L-shaped buildings near the north gate that were home to classes, and she explained that there were more dormitories to the far west just for the guards.

  Just west of the courtyard cottage was another open field, with two sets of bleachers bookending it. Probably forty students filled the stands, and two men were sparring at the center of the field. I nodded to the area. “Is that where the Barrons train?”

  Maddox nodded. “Want to take a closer look? We still have a few minutes before your first class.”

  We walked over and stood on the side of the field, close enough to see, but far enough away that we wouldn’t interrupt class. All the Barrons were dressed in what I had thought was training gear—turns out, I was right. And all of them, the boys and the girls, wore protective face masks. All but one.

  At the center of the field stood two men. One with long black hair, who I recognized immediately. Trayton looked strong and sure, his movements calculated. The other man, the one who wasn’t wearing a face mask, the only one with short hair, just long enough that it brushed the collar of his shirt. Short, silver hair.

  My hero.

  Biting my bottom lip, I hesitantly asked Maddox, “Who is that?”

  “That…” —she sighed— “…would be Darius. He’s the best teacher on campus when it comes to fighting. If anyone knows how to handle a katana, it’s him.”

  It wasn’t hard to see that though they were roughly the same age, Darius was clearly the more skilled combatant. From across the field, Darius turned his eyes toward me, his skin flushing, and flipped Trayton over, putting him down hard on the ground. Without even pausing to take a breath, he shouted, “You, out of my training area!”

  Somebody was in trouble, for sure. I glanced around the outskirts of the field, but couldn’t even guess who he was yelling at. It was only when he crossed the field in an angry stride right toward Maddox and me that I realized it was us. He locked eyes with Maddox and jabbed a thumb in my direction. “I don’t want her near my training area, Maddox. Get her out of here.”

  Me? He wanted me to leave? I couldn’t believe what I was hearing! I hadn’t done anything to him. My heart thudded in my chest, and I narrowed my eyes in disgust. “Y’know, if you’re going to talk about me like I’m some kind of plague, you might as well do it directly. I’m standing right here.”

  He looked at me, a fire burning like hot coals in his eyes, and then directed his attention back to Maddox. “Now.”

  Maddox grabbed me by the sleeve, dutifully trying to lead me away from the field. “Kaya, we should—”

  Shaking her off, I stepped toward Darius, but he didn’t budge. “Why do you want me to leave?”

  His eyes were alight with anger, his shoulders tense. He was fuming, and I had no idea why. “I will not have some Healer standing around gawking at my class, distracting my students.”

  Shaking my head, I lost my cool completely. “The only one who seems to be distracted is you!”

  No one made a sound. Even Maddox seemed to stop breathing.

  Darius lowered his voice to a growling whisper. He was standing so close, his breath was warm on my cheek. “Extra duties for you tonight, in the rose garden. That’s on the opposite side of the campus, just so you know. As far away as you can be from me and still be at the academy.”

  My jaw hit the ground. “But—”

  He turned his eyes to Maddox. “See to it she gets there after her final class of the day.”

  Before I could say anything else, Maddox dragged me away from the training area and we headed toward one of the L-shaped buildings.

  I ranted the entire way. “What the hell is that guy’s problem?”

  Maddox sighed. “Darius is…temperamental.”

  “Not exactly a good quality for a Barron, is it?”

  Maddox opened the door and we moved inside, keeping our voices respectfully low, as classes were already in session. “Oh, he’s no Barron. Darius is an Unskilled. One of the few who knows just about all there is to know about the war. He’s also one of the best fighting teachers available. He can even put Barrons down, something that’s almost unheard of. An Unskilled against a Barron? Normally, there’s no question who’d win. But Darius is pretty amazing.”

  I snorted, still fuming over the way he’d emphasized Healer, like I was a thing rather than a person. “Yeah, an amazing dek.”

  “Yeah, well…Listen, I’ll be here when you get done, okay?” Maddox opened a classroom door and smiled. “Good luck.”

  With a deep breath, I stepped inside the classroom, trying to put Darius out of my thoughts. The room might have passed for any normal classroom outside Shadow Academy. Three rows of three tables each filled the room, with a large slate board at the front of the classroom, two small buckets of chalk rock sitting on the floor in front of it. There were about twenty students inside, both male and female, though most were girls. And, as expected, all Healers, not a single Trace in sight. The woman standing at the front of the class wore a bitter, pinched expression as she noticed my entrance. “You are late.”

  I unfolded my schedule, as if it alone gave me reason for not being here on time. According to the clock, I was. But maybe she meant I was late for being early. “My name is Kaya. I’m supposed to be—”

  “Kaya,” she snapped, and I took a step back.

  “Yes…ma’am?”

  “You will address me as Instructor Baak.” She picked up a sponge and started wiping the already smudged words from the board on the wall, already dismissing me like I was no more than some annoying fly buzzing around her head. “For your tardiness you will have extra duties
tonight after your final class.”

  I swallowed hard, shuffled my feet, and wished that everyone in the class would stop staring at me. “But I already have extra duties tonight.”

  That got her attention. She whipped her head back around and gave me the evil eye, staring as if she were trying to read the small print on my forehead that labeled me a troublemaker. “Tomorrow then. I’ll give your guard the details. Now take your seat.”

  Great. My first day and I already had two days of extra duties to look forward to. I was on a roll.

  I slid into the nearest empty seat, at a table next to a boy who kept making moon eyes at the mousy-looking girl next to him. Barrons weren’t allowed to couple up with other Barrons, and the same went for Healers, as far as I knew. It was kind of odd to see a Healer openly gawking at another Healer like that, but I shrugged and tried to pay attention to the instructor lady’s lecture on the importance of being a Healer.

  “Barrons have been fighting for lifetimes to keep the Graplars at bay. Both to bring an end to this century-long war and to preserve our way of life—something that would be impossible if not for the aid of Healers. After all, for as long as Healers continue to heal their Barrons, the Barrons will remain healthy and strong, fit for the battlefront. Small wounds, of course, can be healed with the smallest touch. Larger wounds require a longer touch. A Healer can bring a Barron back from the brink of death on the battlefield. Almost always.”

  I didn’t question the almost part, though I very much wanted to. Instead, I groaned a bit. No pressure, Kaya, just know that whether or not Trayton lives or dies is all on you.

  The instructor’s head snapped in my direction. “Something you care to add, Kaya?”

  She hated me already, and I had only just taken my seat for the first time. “I’m afraid I’m not much of a nurse. Seriously, I can’t even keep a bandage from falling off. How am I supposed to save my Barron’s life on the battlefield?”

  She pursed her lips so tightly that it looked like she’d had lemons for breakfast. “Self-doubt is the mark of an amateur.”

  Without waiting for a response, she turned back to the board and continued her lecture.

  That didn’t exactly answer my question, but…whatever. I slumped down in my chair and tried to stay awake—and quiet—until class let out.

  After another forty-five minutes of Instructor Baak droning on about what a gift it was to be a Barron, and what a duty it was to be a Healer, class finally, mercifully ended. Maddox was waiting right outside as promised. Several guards were milling about, waiting for their Healers too. “How’d it go?”

  I sighed heavily. “I think Instructor Baak hates me.”

  “Don’t worry about it. From what I understand, she hates everyone.”

  “Great. At least I’m fitting in.” We both laughed as we walked toward my next class.

  C H A P T E R

  Seven

  With just minutes left in my Anatomy of War class, I stared at the door, willing time to speed up so that I could escape the dull hell that was Mr. Ross’s lecture.

  “In fact, the very reason that our training schools exist lies solely in the hands of King Darrek. Without war, we would have no reason to train Barrons with katana skills or Healers in the art of healing. The katana training is especially important here at Shadow Academy, as our reputation precedes us all across Tril as the leading educational authority on the matter—just as Darkmoon Academy is known for their Healer training and Starlight Academy is known for their weapons craftsmanship.” He took a breath and I thought that the sound of it would go on forever—that horrible, wheezing, nasally noise. It was mind-numbing. Glancing around the room, I wasn’t the only one who thought so.

  “We have been at war for approximately one hundred years, but no one can explain why King Darrek has failed to age in that time. Our scholars can offer no explanation to Darrek’s abnormal youth, but it is important to remember that everything that lives is mortal, including Darrek. Which brings us to your homework assignment.” The entire class groaned, but I knew that the very mention of homework meant the doldrums of class time was about to come to an end. Even freedom had a foreboding kind of ring to it. Mr. Ross took a breath and said, “I want you each to write a thousand-word essay on your personal theory as to why Darrek remains youthful after more than a century of living, due tomorrow.”

  At long last, Mr. Ross bid us good-bye as the class poured out the door. Maddox was waiting for me outside, looking sympathetic, but bemused. I shook my head at her, exhausted. “Why didn’t you warn me the classes would be so boring?”

  “All I know of Healer classes is what I’ve heard from the rumor pool. Is it really that bad?”

  “It’s worse.”

  Maddox walked me across campus to the rose garden, which was way off on the unpopulated side of academy grounds. Far away from the training grounds, just as Darius promised.

  At the far side of the rose gardens, which seemed to stretch on forever—who needed that many roses, anyway?—sat a large greenhouse and beside that a small, wooden shack that looked like it had seen better days. An old man was washing each pane of glass in the greenhouse with the care and precision of someone who firmly believed that what he was doing was very important. Maddox patted me on the back. “That’s Mr. Gareth. Don’t worry; he’s much nicer than Instructor Baak. Have fun. I’ll be back in a few hours.”

  She walked away, and I couldn’t help but think about how much it bothered me that she couldn’t just hang around while I worked. I could have used the company. But then, I was kind of pouting about having extra duties. Thank you, Darius.

  Mr. Gareth must have had a sixth sense about someone entering the gardens, because the moment I set foot on the nearest row, he turned and waved me over. He was an old man, that much was clear from a distance, but what wasn’t clear was just how old. He hurried down the ladder as if he were in his thirties, but the wrinkles and crazy eyebrows said he was closer to his seventies, maybe eighties. I smiled politely as I approached and was about to say hello, when he pointed to the shed. “Everything you’ll need to prune and fertilize the roses is in there, miss. I’m afraid we don’t have any gloves lying around, but you look like you can handle a few pokes. Start at the south end, work your way north, row by row. Remove any dead leaves you find and prune any rogue stems—those go in the leaf bags on the other side of the shed. And don’t forget to mulch the roots.”

  I stared at him for a moment, trying to process all of his instructions. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out, so I closed it again and wondered quietly why “we” were all out of gloves if “we” were going to have “our” hands in thorny bushes all day. Mr. Gareth simply smiled and pointed again to the shed. “Go on. Get started.”

  The old shed looked exactly the same on the inside as my imagination had conjured up. Dozens of shelves lined the walls, all filled with various gardening instruments. There was barely room to step inside, thanks to all the spare pots taking up residence on the floor. There wasn’t a single glove in sight, but there were bags of mulch and some pruning shears, so with a deep sigh, I gathered my supplies and got to work.

  There was a lot to be said about pruning rosebushes, and every one of those things could be spelled with three letters. Two hours of pruning back thorny bushes, mulching the roots, and removing dead leaves had left my hands bloody and sore, with bits of thorn stuck here and there on the tips of my fingers. I brushed a stray hair from my eyes with the back of my hand and sighed with relief to see Maddox approaching from the west side of campus. I looked to Mr. Gareth and he gave me the nod to get out of here and back to the dorms. I could hardly wait to sink into a hot bath. My stomach rumbled loudly, reminding me that food would be a good idea too.

  The sun had begun to set and if I hadn’t been in pain and seriously ticked off at Darius’s attitude—not to mention flabbergasted at why I was being punished in the first place—I would have taken in the beautiful scenery around me. But all I wanted, all I
really wanted, was for Maddox to walk me back to my room, so I could eat, bathe, and sleep.

  Maddox picked a leaf from my hair and shook her head. “You look awful.”

  That’s what I needed to hear. “Thanks.”

  “You should at least pick the dead leaves off and maybe wash your hands and face before you see Trayton.”

  My eyes went wide. Trayton! I had totally forgotten we had plans tonight. I looked down. My hands were covered with dirt. My clothes were stained with mulch and grass. I could only imagine what my face and hair must have looked like. Like some crazy forest woman, I was sure.

  Maddox smirked. “You look great. I’m sure Trayton absolutely goes for that lost-in-the-woods-for-a-week look.”

  “Do we have time to stop by my room, so I can clean up and change?”

  “No, but let me put it this way. If he’s attracted to you looking like this, he’s a keeper.”

  We hurried to the courtyard, and my heart sank to find it empty. I had really been looking forward to getting to know Trayton…even if I had totally forgotten about our plans. Maddox eyed me quietly for a moment, and then said, “The plus side is that he won’t see your hair.”

  I got the feeling Maddox didn’t have many friends.

  Combing my hair back with my fingers and fixing my ponytail, I sighed. “Well, at least I can get something to eat.”

  “The dining hall is closed.”

  My day couldn’t get much worse at this point. I was being Bound forever tomorrow morning to a boy I hadn’t even had a five-minute conversation with. My teachers hated me. I was forced to work in that horrible rose garden all because Darius—what? Didn’t like my presence? And now, I couldn’t even get a measly ham sandwich. Topping it off with how much I missed my parents, I found myself fighting back tears.

  “There you are.” A voice from behind me. Warm and vaguely familiar. I swallowed my tears and turned around. Trayton crossed the flagstone and held out a leather satchel. “I grabbed you some food. Figured you might be hungry.”