Page 34 of Fate's Sweetest Curse
“Thank your professor another way,” the steward said, lifting the basket and setting it behind her desk.
I flashed the steward a teasing grin. “I think you just want the cookies for yourself.”
The pair of knights—who’d paused their conversation to watch the scene unfold—chuckled.
With a scowl, the steward lifted a forest-green scarf from a hook on the wall behind her and held it out to me. I took the silken material, not entirely understanding, but getting the sense that this was my cueto continue into the building. With a reluctant smile, I shouldered my satchel and started toward the atrium.
“Ah, ah, ah,” the steward scolded. “Put it on.” She gestured to her eyes.
I stared down at the scarf in my hand.
One of the knights—female, mid-thirties, and taller than her stocky male partner by a good foot—stepped closer, offering me a kind smile. “First day?”
I nodded.
“The blindfold is protocol for all first- and second-year apprentices,” she said. “My name’s Willa. I’ll escort you.”
Sparing the knight a longer look—pretty eyes and masculine features, hair pinned into a bun at her nape, burgundy tunic, leather armor, a dagger and a set of keys dangling from her belt—I then fitted the silk fabric over my eyes and tied it behind my head. When I was done, gentle fingers grasped my upper arm and led me forward.
My Oath tattoo tingled as we passed from the dark foyer into the bright atrium. I couldn’t see anything through the tight weave of the silk, but the light that leaked through changed in quality as we crossed the sun-soaked tiles and turned—presumably—down one of the many passageways.
“What kind of cookies did you make?” Willa asked after a while.
“Lemon,” I replied. “I make them for my birthday every year.”
“It’s your birthday?”
“Yesterday,” I replied. “Twenty-nine.”
Willa let out a low whistle, guiding me around a corner. “Fortuitous.”
“Indeed.”
For a few seconds, the only sound was the echo of our shoes on stone.
“I love lemon,” Willa piped up, giving my arm a slight squeeze. “Let’s hope Zorin hasn’t eaten them all by the time I get back.”
I chuckled. “Is that why she seemed to take offense when I suggested she wanted them for herself?”
“Oh,definitely.”
We walked for a few minutes in silence, the footsteps of other passersby nearing and disappearing. Light and shadow crossed my blindfold at intervals as we continued past narrow windows.
“If I’ve already taken an Oath, why the blindfold?” I asked. “It’s not like I’ll betray the location of the lab.”
“It’s for your protection, too,” Willa said. “Fenrir has a long history of foreign spies attempting to infiltrate the Oculus and other classified areas of the Collegium. Having fewer individuals know the layout of the labs assists in continued security.”
Suddenly Sani’s talk of political conspiracies seemed a lot more…real.
“Not to worry,” Willa continued. “Nowadays, the blindfolds are more of a tradition than an actual precaution. Aside from the occasional burglary, no one has attempted to break into a lab in over a century.”
“Burglaries, really?”
“We had one just last week.” Willa sounded entirely unbothered. “Such things occur in cities all the time.”
We reached a set of shallow steps—just three in total, but Willa had to patently guide me as I toed their edges, sightlessly fumbling my way down. Once I was on flat ground again, we walked another ten strides, then halted.
“Willa,” a gravelly male voice greeted.
