Page 87 of Destroyer

While she spoke, the Children nodded solemnly, oblivious to her misdirection.

Fen appeared at her shoulder, his presence at once steadying and distracting. “Well put,” he said, his breath warm on Ru’s hair.

Archie and Gwyneth remained silent, clearly disagreeing with Ru, but smart enough not to protest.

“Very well,” said Inda, her hands clasped before her as if in constant prayer. “We will remain at your sides throughout the day. Should you go your separate ways, we will separate also, one of us with each of you. Miss Delara, the King’s Guard Lyrren Briar has been assigned as your designated bodyguard.”

Gwyneth snorted. “Ru doesn’t need abodyguard.”

But Ru was relieved by it, glad to know that Lyr would be her protector and not one of the dead-eyed Children.

With no small amount of grumbled protests from Archie and Gwyneth, the group ascended the stairs together, first the research team and then the Children. Ru felt like a schoolgirl on a trip to the Mirith Market, being forced to hold hands with her classmates so that nobody got lost in the chaos of the city.

The plan had been to meet at Ru’s room directly after they’d finished research for the day, but if they all traipsed collectively there now, the Children would be curious as to why. The team had never before gathered like that in anyone’s room. And while there were countless innocuous explanations they could give as to why they were doing it now, Ru preferred that the Children had no idea the team was meeting at all, let alone where.

And anyway, Ru still had no plan. Lord D’Luc would arrive at the Tower in two days, and in that time they would need to formulate a ruse clever enough to fool him, his Children, and the professors. If they put their heads together, maybe they could think of something. But it couldn’t be now.

“Shall we go and have dinner?” Ru suggested. The mess hall would be loud and busy; as long as the Children weren’t sitting on their laps as they ate, they could talk more freely there. Ru hoped it would give her a chance to explain why she wanted to meet outside of the dungeon, to plan a place and time, while keeping in mind the fact they were now going to be shadowed everywhere they went.

As promised, Inda, Ranto, and Nell followed the four of them to the mess hall, their robes billowing behind them like ghostly wisps. Lyr also peeled away from the dungeon as they passed, hanging behind the Children, his large features painting his expression in a dour light. Ru could sense his disapproval, his reluctance to follow her about as if she needed parental supervision. But at least she hadn’t been assigned one of the Children.

As they entered the warm, crowded mess hall, the smell of fresh bread and roasted meat made her stomach growl. Ru saw a mostly empty table and started toward it, her team following in her wake. She assumed the Children would fall away and wait by the door, like guards. Ru saw that Lyr was already stationed outside, the glint of his armor visible just past the entrance. Instead, the three white-robed figures clung to the research team like leeches. None of the three took food for themselves, but simply sat nearby, hands in their laps, as if they were in a church pew.

When Ru and her team were finished loading up their plates, they sat in awkward silence for a moment, the Children staring at them unabashedly.

“Isn’t this lovely,” said Fen, glancing at his food, then at the Children.

“It’s for our safety,” said Ru. She was determined to seem as compliant as possible lest the Children take even more extreme measures. Ru clenched her hands in her lap, even as a smile lit her face. She imagined Inda, Ranto, and Nell standing over her bed as she slept, lidless eyes staring…

She shuddered, blinking, returning to the moment.

The team made stilted small talk over dinner, from what they’d each wear to the advisor’s party, to what sort of pencils everyone preferred to use for their research notes. The Children showed no indication of interest, nor of being bored. They simply sat, observing.

Throughout dinner, no matter how much she fought it, Ru found her attention inexorably drawn to Fen. They hadn’t shared a meaningful exchange since their brief spat in the dungeon.

Anger wasn’t the word for how Ru felt toward him. No; that had been a mistake before, an inaccurate assessment of her own emotion. It was a need that had been growing in her for days, weeks, since the moment she’d met him. But now, his seeming indifference, his vehement denunciation of the way he had touched her, pulled her close… as much as the artifact had been stoking her feelings, Fen’s dismissal and subsequent avoidance had cut through her like a shard of ice.

It certainly wasn’t anger that burned in her — it was something hot and instinctual, something that threatened to overtake her senses when Fen was near. But she tamped it down as much as she could, avoiding Fen’s gaze.

When they had finished eating, Ru stood up first and made to leave the table. Inda moved with her.

“I’m going to my room,” said Ru, exasperated. “Is that allowed?”

“I only wish to accompany you,” said Inda.

“Isn’t that what Lyr’s for?” asked Archie.

“Are you going to cuddle her to sleep, then?” Gwyneth added cuttingly. “I don’t understand why you’ve taken to following us about as if we’re infants.” Her voice rose to a fever pitch at the wordinfants, and she continued in a rage, “We’re perfectly safe. Ru will have Lyr, and he’s actually armed. What do you think you’re accomplishing by invading our personal space at every turn? What are you planning to do if real danger arises, stare blankly at it? You’re suffocating us. At this rate, you’ll hinder the progress of our research. It’s mentally exhausting seeing your empty faces staring at us every day from underneath those hideous hats. I beg you to goaway.” She stopped then, her cheeks pink with anger, breathing hard.

Her outburst was met with a brief, shocked silence.

Then Archie grinned, his face gleefully shocked. Fen’s eyebrows went up slightly, impressed.

Ru was exhilarated, proud, but slightly struck with horror. Hadn’t Gwyneth realized what Ru was trying to do, to keep the Children oblivious to their rebellion? How would the Children react to such antagonism? How would they relay this outburst to Lord D’Luc?

But the Children collectively turned to look at Ru, as if she were Gwyneth’s keeper. “Is this accurate?” droned Inda.

Ru didn’t think about it, didn’t mean to, but her gaze snapped to Fen. He watched her steadily, and she could almostfeelhis calm, his warmth, as if his body was pressed to hers, wrapping his arms around her.

---