Kin of Kings (The Kin of Kings Book 1) (18 page)

“As should you.”

“I would if I knew what that was.”

“I think it’s sleep, if you can.”

Although Basen felt emptiness inside his chest, his exhaustion was overwhelming. He closed his eyes and let it pull him into a fitful slumber.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The Redfield bell tore Basen out of his sleep the next morning. He forced himself out of Sanya’s bed and dressed. She smiled sadly at him, and he nodded back.

They walked silently to Redfield, where Sanya followed him to one of the benches at the front row. He didn’t have the energy to climb any higher than that.

The rest of the students came to fill the empty space around them. The sun had just come up—normally breakfast hours would’ve just begun, but everyone was in the stadium.

As Terren walked to the center of the arena with his brow furrowed in concern, Basen realized this would be about Nick. Since the slaying, it felt to Basen as if his body were a puppet awaiting commands he had no will to give.

“Those of you who awoke last night to have your campus houses searched are already aware of the sad and shocking news,” Terren announced as the stadium hushed. “Which I will get to in a moment.”

Basen had been awakened by someone pounding on Sanya’s door last night. A man he’d never met searched the house and asked about Sanya’s bloody clothes. After she and Basen explained that they’d carried Nick to the medical building, the man had told them they would be questioned by psychics later.

“The rest of your campus houses are being searched at this moment,” Terren continued. “Meanwhile, everyone here is to be questioned by psychics when I’m done with my announcement.” He paused for a breath, his narrowed eyes full of pain. “A second-year student, Nick Gallilo, was murdered during the night.” Voices cried out around the stadium in surprise and confusion. “The dagger that took his life was left in his room.” Terren beckoned toward a group of older men and women who looked like a mix of guards and instructors. One man lifted the weapon for display.

“As you can see,” Terren said, “the dagger is made completely of silver. There are no engravings, but the craftsmanship is of high quality. This is an expensive weapon and not a common one. If any of you think you’ve seen it before or have any information about it, tell the psychics when they question you.

“At this time, the gates to the Academy will be kept closed. Guards will watch each wall. You will need permission from your instructor to leave the Academy for visits to the cities, and visitors will be questioned by a psychic upon entering. The fourth day of evaluation week will begin after lunch, and the fifth and final day will continue as normal. We don’t believe the person who committed this act was someone within the Academy, but we do need to question all of you. So come and make lines like the last time you were here.”

*****

By the time questioning had concluded, it was already nearing midday. No one was taken away by guards, though many eyes were on Annah. Basen was questioned about the bloody shirt and pants they found in his room. Even after explaining what had happened, the psychics still asked him directly if he’d killed Nick.

He returned to his bench in the stadium after he was done. Sanya came to tell him she was going to train until lunch to distract her mind, then left. Effie came soon after and sat beside Basen.

“Why would someone do this?” she asked.

“I want to know as well, but I have no idea.”

“Did you see or hear anything?”

“No, just his screaming. It was too dark for me to even realize the killer had left his weapon there. I haven’t been back in his room since.”

Terren came to the edge of the arena with Reela at his side. “Basen, do you mind if we talk about last night?”

He nodded and followed them out of Redfield. They flanked him as Terren guided them north, cutting across Warrior’s Field.

“Tell us everything that happened as best as you can remember,” Terren said.

“I awoke to his screams, then I tried to get my wand.”

“What were his screams like?” Terren asked.

The question felt like a knife turning in Basen’s chest.

“I’m sorry,” Terren added. “But we can’t skip any details. There might be clues among them.”

Reela touched his back. “I’m sorry also.”

“His screams were…horrible.” Basen’s stomach turned as he tried to get the words out. “It was like he was in the worst pain possible. I went for my wand on the other side of my room, but it took some time to find because it was completely dark. He was still screaming by the time I got it, I believe, but then he stopped. I tried to gather BE for light, but I couldn’t feel it around me.”

“What do you mean?” Terren asked.

“It wasn’t there. I tried to pull it in, but…it just wasn’t there. I don’t know how else to describe it.”

“Has this ever happened before?”

“No. Ever since I learned how to gather bastial energy, I’ve never had trouble with it. There was a strange smell as well, I’m remembering now. I don’t know if it’s related, but it was an odor I hadn’t smelled before that made me think of improperly mixed potions.”

Basen described the rest of the incident as he walked across Warrior’s Field between Terren and Reela and soon realized they were headed to the dining hall. He looked behind him to see others coming out of Redfield and walking in the same direction.

Most people are going to suspect me, being Nick’s roommate and being questioned by the headmaster with a psychic.

Although, it had seemed that everyone had their suspicions set on Annah earlier. He wondered if the small psychic was capable of doing the damage he’d seen. It made him realize something.

“I think it was a psychic,” Basen said.

“Why do you believe that?” Terren asked.

“Nick screamed as if being tortured, then he stopped suddenly, yet his only injury was his slit throat. Psyche is the only explanation for what I heard—a psychic pained him to keep him from fighting back, probably after Nick saw him or her come in through his window, then the killer slit his throat and left through the window.”

Terren and Reela looked to be deep in thought.

“Perhaps,” Terren said. “Reela, did Rek ever tell you anything about psychics being able to keep mages from using bastial energy?”

“No, and I don’t see how it could be possible with psyche. I think it was something else.”

“A potion, perhaps?” Basen suggested.

“That’s something I’ll need to consider,” Terren said.

They arrived at the dining hall, but the headmaster stopped at the open double doors. “Thank you for your help, Basen. However, I might need to speak with you again after I talk to other instructors.”

“I don’t mind, but you don’t need to have a psychic with you. I have no reason to lie to you, which Reela can confirm.”

Terren put up his hand to show that he didn’t need Reela to tell him. “I believe you. No more psychics. Eat and try to get your mind back to evaluation week. There will be time for grieving later. You should feel no guilt for this.” Terren walked back the way they’d come.

Basen looked at Reela, giving her a chance to leave him as well, though he desperately hoped she would stay. He hadn’t been alone with his thoughts since Nick had died, and he wasn’t sure he was ready to face them.

She surprised him by hooking her arm around his. “I won’t leave you alone.”

He clicked his tongue as he realized she could feel his emotions. “That’s embarrassing. It doesn’t seem fair that you can tell what I’m feeling.”

“It certainly isn’t, but I can’t help it.” She formed the same half smile she’d worn most of the time he’d known her.

They were the first ones in the dining hall, so there was no line. Soon they were seated with their food, and Basen realized how hungry he was. As he ate, he told Reela, “I wish we could’ve determined it was a psychic so at least we have some thread to follow. How can you be certain psyche can’t be used to prevent mages from gathering BE?”

“The only way a psychic could stop a mage is by breaking their concentration either by pain or some other feeling. It’s like trying to stop someone from breathing. There’s nothing we can do to the air to make it impossible, but we can cover their mouth and nose or choke them or—”

“I got it,” Basen spat out before she could turn his stomach by mentioning anything else he didn’t want to hear.

“Sorry,” Reela said. “The point is psychics can’t remove the bastial energy or destroy it, and I don’t see any other way to prevent a mage from gathering it. Mages are stronger than psychics in terms of the distance and speed with which they can pull and push bastial energy.”

The more she spoke, the more Basen realized how little he knew about psyche. “I thought psychics
did
do something to the bastial energy and that’s what causes their subject’s change in feelings.”

“Somewhat. Every living creature produces bastial energy. Every emotion changes the way the bastial energy emanates. Psychics like me have learned to read those emotions, like fear versus calm, in the same way you can see how a square is different from a circle or red is from blue. We can sway emotions by changing the pattern the energy takes to match the emotion we want the person or creature to feel. So all we’re doing is making small adjustments to the energy in your body. Meanwhile, mages like yourself can pull in bastial energy from the air from ten to fifty yards away depending on the strength of your mind. Psychics don’t learn to manipulate energy in the same way; we don’t have the strength to pull bastial energy toward us and form it into a cluster, and we don’t have any control over sartious energy, so we can’t make fire. If anyone could prevent you from feeling BE around you, it would be someone who can take all the BE in the area and direct it somewhere too far away for you to reach. This person is most likely a master mage.”

“That would make sense, except there was a smell when I felt no energy. It was as if the energy had been changed to something that held an odor.”

Reela hummed as she thought. “I don’t know anything about that, but I am no expert in understanding bastial energy. I’m sure Terren will speak to those who are, and he’ll find out who did this to Nick. I never got to know him well, but from the few times we met I could tell he had a good heart. I don’t know who would want him dead.”

“It doesn’t make sense to me, either.”

*****

For the rest of the day, Basen followed Penny’s casting instructions with little will to compete. He was a shadow of what he’d been the day before, unable to concentrate on anything for more than a few moments.

It was a relief when the day finally came to an end. He was so eager to go home, get into bed, and wallow in his sadness that he did the one thing he swore he would never do again given the choice. He skipped a meal.

The moment he got to his campus house and opened his door, a cold sweat drenched him. Nick’s room probably was the same as he’d left it.

They can’t possibly expect me to be the one who cleans it, can they?
Basen shuddered at the thought.
Will Nick’s parents come for his wand and clothes? Should I clean and prepare his belongings so his mother won’t see them and his bed covered in blood?

Basen was thankful he hadn’t eaten, as he felt he might vomit as he forced himself wearily toward Nick’s room.

The sight of it nearly knocked him off his feet. He grabbed the doorknob for balance. Pools of dried blood the color of dark rust stained the sides of the mattress and the floor beneath it. The sheets were in disarray, spotted by blood where they hadn’t fallen into the russet pools.

Basen couldn’t look anymore. He ran to his room and shut the door behind him. Then he collapsed onto his bed and let his face sink into his pillow, fighting to get the images out of his mind. But he only managed to replace them with something worse: Nick trying to speak while blood bubbled out of the gaping wound in his neck.

An emotion finally came—fury. He jumped up and threw his pillow into the wall. Then he slapped his mattress over and over while gritting out anguished cries through his teeth. His hand burned with pain, but he didn’t stop until fatigue overcame him. That he fell back onto the bed, too tired to let out any more anger.

He drifted in and out of sleep until a knock roused him. Hoping it was Sanya, he was surprised and disappointed to find Cleve and Alex standing before him. Then he noticed the rags and buckets of water in their hands.

“We figured it would be helpful if we cleaned Nick’s room and got his possessions in order for his family,” Alex said. “Then you wouldn’t have to.”

It was so thoughtful that Basen had to stop himself from sobbing with relief. But then he realized that these warriors weren’t close enough to him to offer such a thing on their own. “Terren told you to come, didn’t he?”

“No,” Cleve answered.

Alex shook his head. “He didn’t.”

They sounded genuine.

“Then it was Effie,” Basen realized. He’d noticed her worried looks in Penny’s class earlier.