Page 177 of A Tower of Half-Truths
A quarter hour later, Alain’s agreement with the High Council was committed to parchment, and he and Mavery were on the journey back to Archstone. They had Nox in tow, the tower at their backs.
When they were deep enough in the forest that the Elder Wizards wouldn’t overhear them, Mavery shook her head and laughed.
“I can’t believe you lied to the High Council,” she said. “ToSeringoth.”
“Technically speaking, I didn’t outright lie.”
“You told them there was nothing inside the tower!”
“Precisely. There was nothing in the tower.On our persons, on the other hand…” He met her raised brows with a sly smile. “What can I say? Youhaverubbed off on me. Besides, my little half-truth is nothing compared to what the High Council has hidden for centuries about Sensers, about ktonic magic.”
Never had Mavery expected him to be so brazen.
Never had she found him so desirable.
She would have thrown herself at him, had her body not ached from head to toe, inside and out. After today’s events, she yearned for a hearty meal, a long bath, and an even longer nap. And she could tell that Alain’s desires aligned with hers. The further they continued through the forest, the more his pace slowed—and it had been far from brisk to begin with.
“What do you think happened to the rest of the ktona?” Mavery asked. “Do you think they were all killed?”
“Many of my kin spoke of seeking refuge in Nilandor,”Nox said.“The High Council and the churches held no power there.”
Mavery repeated this to Alain, and he nodded.
“There may be some ktona left in Tanarim,” he said, “but I’ll bet most of them are in Nilandor.”
“What do you think, Nox?” Mavery asked. “Should we try tracking down your kin?”
But Nox did not answer. Now that he was safe from the Elder Wizards, he had returned to his bestial form. He soared overhead, a dark blur against the sun-dappled treetops.
This would be his last opportunity to spread his wings for a few days. Since they couldn’t risk the High Council discovering Nox, he would journey back to Leyport with Mavery and Alain tomorrow. He would find a new home in Weywode Forest—at least until hunting season began.
On the trip home, Alain would prepare his presentation, andafter meeting with the High Council again, he would finally announce his resignation to Kazamin.
Beyond that, it was impossible to say what awaited them; even Aganast’s tower wasn’t a certainty. But as Mavery slipped her hand into Alain’s, and his fingers entwined with hers, she decided she didn’t mind a bit of uncertainty. Whatever the future held, they would face it together.
Fifty-Three
As Alain sat in Kazamin’s library—not at the University, but in his home—he considered how this space was unlike any wizard’s library he’d ever come across. The room was roughly the size of Alain’s sitting room, and it contained just as many books. But this library had always been clean, orderly. Never had Alain found a single tome stacked on the floor or strewn about the furniture haphazardly. Alain wondered if Kazamin had actually read every book in his collection. Judging by the plethora of uncracked spines, he doubted it.
But Alain had no room to judge. After all, his own library was also filled with unread books whose only purpose seemed to be collecting dust.
Kazamin groaned as he lowered himself into the leather armchair directly across from Alain. He and Kazamin had last met only a month ago, yet the dean seemed to have aged several years during that time. He appeared smaller, thinner than Alain remembered. But he couldn’t let the old man’s frailty deter him from his plan.
“Well, Aventus, I believe congratulations are in order. Finding a way into the Innominate Temple was no easy feat.”
“Thank you, sir, though it was far from a solitary effort.”
“Humble as ever,” he said, smiling warmly. “So, what brings you here today? Safiya said you wanted to talk about somethingimportant, unrelated to your recent accomplishments.”
“Er, right…”
Alain averted his gaze as he picked at a loose stitch in the leather. It was strange how he was more nervous for this than he’d been for his follow-up presentation. But yesterday’s meeting with the High Council had been perfunctory, little more than an extension of the informal meeting they’d held outside Aganast’s tower. Mavery had opted to stay home. Firstly, because she hadn’t mastered Dauphinian overnight. Secondly, to avoid stoking Lythandus’s ire again, amusing as that would have been. But Alain had managed without her. He’d glided through the presentation with ease and, fifteen minutes later, the Sensing spell was approved for peer review and his rank was secure once more. Compared to what he was about to do, he’d rather repeat the presentation ten times over. He took a deep breath before looking Kazamin in the eye.
“I wish to resign from the University, effective immediately.”
Kazamin’s eyes widened. “Resign? Whatever for?”
“You’ve read my teaching evaluations over these past eight years. Teaching has never been my passion, and it couldn’t be more obvious to my students—and my fellow professors. Recent events have made me realize that I ought to forge my own path, outside the University’s towers.”
