Page 85 of Research with Rivals
Gabriel deferred. “Yes, well. Unfortunately, that means this paper is what he’s been looking for. A way to set the two of you apart.”
“Even if it’s just a technicality?” I ran my hand through my hair at his silence, then asked the question that felt like a stone sinking in my stomach. “Who reviewed the paper?”
Gabriel grimaced, and that sinking feeling shifted to that of an animal burrowing.
“Gabriel,” I rasped.
He sighed. “Your father.”
A choked laugh escaped my lips. “My father reviewed my paper on the use of anchors for blood magic?”
He nodded. “He’s entirely qualified.”
I ground my teeth. “Oh, I know he’s qualified. I also know his feelings on the paper. He’d contest every point. You’re saying he approved it?”
“Yes.”
“Excuse me.” I nodded to them both and stormed out of the library to find him.
“What did you do, Father?”I skipped the usual greetings as I entered the family apartment. Sasha and Timothy were at the table, eating. Metal clanged in the kitchen where Father cooked, and Mother carried a platter of pancakes toward the table.
“We’re having breakfast for the evening meal,” Sasha announced proudly.
I sighed. “I see that.”
“Your siblings wanted to pretend they were at your apartment, since they hadn’t been over there in three days,” Mother said as she set the plate down.
In the kitchen, Father flipped another pancake.
“I need just a moment with Father,” I said as I gave each of them a quick kiss on the forehead.
“I’m not sure what you’re upset about, Ambrose,” Father said as I entered the kitchen. He didn’t have to see the pancakes to know when they were done. A small bell timer clanged every three minutes, signaling when to flip.
For a moment, I simply stared. Father and I might have disagreed on methods, but regardless, I’d let his caution guide me for far too long. If I wanted to prove myself worthy of the position of Vesten historian and be the scholar I knew myself capable of being, then choosing my own path was the first step.
This afternoon was only the beginning. I’d used myself as a test subject for blood magic. With the way Lord Arctos and Carter talked about the need to dissolve the bond between them, I could confidently say that the continent would be a safer placefor my research. I only wished I had started thinking this way sooner.
“You didn’t even agree with that paper,” I said at last. “How could you approve it?”
Father waved away my concern. “I know you didn’t want to do all that, you just needed the qualification.”
Mother returned to the kitchen to collect another stack. “James, how could you?” she said, clearly hearing our conversation. “You said you wouldn’t interfere.”
“I didn’t. I checked the submissions when I was at the library a few days ago, to see if there was anything of interest.”
Mother collected another stack of pancakes. “We will discuss this later. But for the record, that is the opposite of not interfering.”
She squeezed my shoulder and left. I wasn’t sure what else to say. Father had crossed a line. He had known what this would do.
“You could discredit me, of course, if it’s so important to you,” he said.
I sucked in a breath. That seemed drastic even for me. I believed in the paper, of course, but just because I knew Father disagreed with it didn’t mean he wasn’t capable of spotting mistakes. The question was, how genuinely had he searched for them?
“Did you think it drew the correct conclusion?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I think the test itself was unnecessary, but once conducted, the results were assembled sensibly.”
Part of me wondered if I should be flattered by that response. That was as close to admitting he couldn’t find fault with the logic as he would get.
