Page 40 of The Art of Exiley

Michael is so tall that I have to crane my neck to see his concerned face. The spike in my pulse might be fear that he’s about to bust me for snooping in his office, or it might be embarrassment over the gushberry juice that’s dribbling down my chin. I scramble for a napkin.

“Uh, sure. I was about to head to the Sire lab.” I’m both nervous and excited for a class with journeymen who are closer to my age. Well, not a class exactly. Genesis is less of a school and more of a community. Only the apprentices who haven’t yet joined guilds are considered students. Guild members have “laboratories,” “conservatories,” and “studios,” which are collaborative environments that include both teens and adults.

“I can walk you there,” Michael offers. His friendly smile confirms this is unlikely to be a confrontation about my office escapades, so I relax. And his offer is a relief. I’m not quite sure where the Sire lab is, and I’m still wary of walking around the school alone after my incident with the guards.

Speaking of which. “I heard about yesterday,” Michael says as we make our way out of the cafeteria. “I am so sorry about how the Guard treated you.”

As we enter the Equinox, my lungs constrict at the memory of what happened in this room. “It’s okay. Everyone else was really supportive.”

Michael stops walking and puts his hand on my shoulder. It’s no big deal, the hand. I’m chill about it. But Michael looks really upset.

“Headmaster Bloche has assured me that the captain of the Avant Guard has been given firm instructions about what will be tolerated while they’re stationed in Arcadia.”

“Thanks.” He’s still holding my shoulder. Okay, maybe I’m not chill about it.

“I mean it, Ada. I will make sure you are always safe and treated with respect.” His eyes are fierce, and for a heartbeat I believe he could keep me safe from anything.

“Hi!” a cheerful voice interrupts.

Michael removes his hand from my shoulder and steps back. He turns to smile at Kaylie, who’s making her way toward us with her own beaming smile. “I didn’t see you downstairs,” she says to Michael. “I was coming to find you.” I hadn’t realized the two of them were friends.

“How are you acclimating?” she asks me. “I was just thinking I should send a pigeon to check if you had any side effects from your inoculations.”

“No. Everything’s great.”

“Wonderful. Let me know if anything changes.” Kaylie reaches over to Michael and straightens his cravat. “You forgot about lunch at the orchard, didn’t you?”

“Oof.” He palms his forehead. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t worry. We still have plenty of time.” She smiles affectionately, as if she’s used to this happening.

Are they going on, like, a date? Not that I care. It would make sense. Kaylie’s probably only one or two years older than Michael, and she’s sweet and pretty and smart.

“Thanks for putting up with me,” Michael says to her with a wink. “Can you find your way to the lab?” he asks me. When I nod, Kaylie loops her arm in his and they head toward the entrance.

This is fine. They would totally make a cute couple, and I am perfectly capable of navigating my way to the Sire lab on my own.

Blech.

I am apparently not actually capable of navigating to the Sire lab on my own. First I go up too many staircases and end up in a cavernous astronomy observatory. When I backtrack, I find a lab, but it’s the wrong one. A group of journeys are mixing a viscous slime in a foul-smelling cauldron, and they helpfully point me in the right direction.

When I finally find the right lab, a woman in a hijab welcomes me and introduces herself as Master Hayyan. “This is where you can safely experiment and learn to stretch the potential of your Sire abilities,” she says.

There are about twenty-five other people in the room, mostly working in pairs, ranging from about my age to my parents’ ages. My eyes are immediately drawn to the only familiar face, Rafe. I hadn’t realized he was also a Sire, but I guess it makes sense since he’s a transfer. His blond hair is in a bun, and his sleeves are pushed up above his elbows, revealing sun-bronzed muscled forearms. He’s working with a striking girl with deep umber skin who is just as tall as he is. Her hair, a mix of brown and blond locs, is plaited into a thick braid that falls to her waist, and a necklace in the shape of a snake rests around her throat. She has a green guildstone in her ear—an Alchemist. But neither of them has a Sire diamond. My eyes flick to their fingers, where they both wear matching pairs of rings, one each of diamond and bone. Hypatia had shown me her Sire ring and explained that in Avant they wear their guildstones and birthstones on their fingers instead of their ears, and I remember that bone rings indicate members of the Avant Guard.

Master Hayyan gives me a tour around the room, showing me where the supplies are and telling me about some of the projects the other Sires are working on. There are three older journeys upgrading a massive eight-foot golem that is used for deep-sea welding when making alterations and repairs on the Atlas tunnel. Another pair is experimenting with organ growth as part of a hormonal therapy for gender transition that doesn’t require invasive surgery.

I have a hard time imagining that my abilities could makemecapable of these kinds of things, so I’m equal parts awestruck and intimidated.

Everything I’ve been taught so far has reinforced the idea that much of the science lost to provincial society is tied in with their loss of knowledge of Sire abilities. If provincial Sires were taught how to use their Ha’i, that alone could transform our science and health care. I wonder how many Sires are out there, their abilities completely dormant, or plaguing them the way mine plagued me. And Master Hayyan is sure to know about a way that Sires can share their abilities, if one does actually exist. The training I can get in this lab could be the most important knowledge I gain for the Families.

“The best experimentation happens through collaboration,” Master Hayyan says. “So let’s find you a partner.” I dutifully follow her as she threads her way through the pairs of working students, but dread descends as I see which table she’s approaching. Oh no. This can’t end well.

She stops in front of Rafe, who is inspecting what might be a human liver but could also be a spleen because I don’t actually know the difference. The tall girl is looking into a complex contraption of lenses and brass that I think is a very fancy microscope.

“Apprentice Castle, until you choose your guild and your focus of study, Journeys Vanguard and Keftiu will make good partners, as they are also new to the institute.”

“Actually, Master Hayyan,” Rafe says, not even acknowledging my presence, “Mbali and I will continue to work alone.” He opens his multi-tool—whichI have learned is officially called a Heliotorch, but everyone just calls them “spoons”—and lights a flame beneath the wobbling organ in front of him.

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