Flamecaster (Shattered Realms, #1)(23)

Now that Ash was a proficient, and Lila a cadet in Wien House, they’d ended up in the same dormitory. Though they saw more of each other than before, they mixed like oil and water. If anything, Lila seemed to dislike him for some reason. It perplexed him. Granted, he was no charmer, but he got along with most people.

He stole another look at Lila, still distracted by the sudden transformation and wondering what had brought her to his door.

Lila caught him staring and said, “No, Hanson, this is not the scene where the girl puts on a skirt and some paint and her schoolmate, who’s a little thick, suddenly realizes that she is his true love.”

“Oh,” Ash said. “Good to know.”

“Just because you’re on the market doesn’t mean that I am.”

“What makes you think I’m on the market?”

“I saw Suze on Bridge Street earlier. The end-of-term party started mid-afternoon. She wondered where you were.”

Oh. So that’s what this is about. Suze was a plebe at Isenwerk. She and Ash had walked out together for a few months, but had recently called it quits. At least he had.

“I went to see Taliesin, to say good-bye. It took longer than I expected.”

“I think Suze was hoping to give you a reason not to go.” When Ash said nothing, Lila growled, “You broke her heart, you know. The least you can do is talk to her.”

“I have talked to her. I tried, anyway. I told her up front that I wasn’t looking for a long-term sweetheart. I thought we both agreed to that.”

“Did you make her sign a bloody contract?” Lila laughed, but there was a bitter edge to it. “‘I promise that I won’t fall in love with the moody, mysterious Ash Hanson. I will enjoy his rangy body, his broad shoulders, and shapely leg, all the while knowing it’s a lease, not a buy.’”

“Shapely leg?” Ash thrust out his leg, pretending to examine it, hoping to interrupt the litany of his physical gifts.

But Lila was on a roll. “‘I will not fall into those blue-green eyes, deep as twin mountain pools, nor succumb to the lure of his full lips. Well, I will succumb, but for a limited time only. And the stubble—have I mentioned the stubble?’”

Ash’s patience had run out. Lila was far too fluent in Fellsian for his liking. “Shut up, Lila.”

“Isn’t there anyone who meets your standards?”

“At least I have standards.” He raised an eyebrow.

“Ouch!” Lila clutched her shoulder. “A fair hit, sir. A fair hit.” Her smile faded. “The problem is, hope is the thing that can’t be reined in by rules or pinned down by bitter experience. It’s a blessing and curse.”

For a long moment, Ash stared at her. He would have been less surprised to hear his pony reciting poetry.

“Who knew you were a philosopher?” he said finally. “Now. If you’re staying, let’s talk about something else. Where’s your posting this term?”

“I’m going back to the Shivering Fens,” Lila said, “where the taverns are as rare as a day without rain. Where you have to keep moving or grow a crop of moss on your ass.”

Good-bye, poetry, Ash thought. “Sounds lovely. You can’t get a better posting?”

“Not with my record,” Lila said, not meeting his eyes. “But you—you have a choice, and you’re going back to Freetown? There aren’t enough dusty old libraries and indecipherable manuscripts for you here?”

“There’s plenty,” Ash said, “but they have different dusty old libraries and indecipherable manuscripts in the Southern Islands. Anyway, I need a change of scenery.”

“How will you get there? I hear that Arden has stepped up patrols along the river all the way to Deepwater.”

“I’ll go via Sand Harbor,” Ash said. “It’s a little out of the way, but I want to go to the market there, anyway.” He schooled his face to display nothing. Drunk or sober, Lila didn’t miss much.

He shouldn’t have worried. Lila was already restless, shifting in her seat, on to the next thing. “Listen,” she said. “Renard Tourant is hosting an after-hours party over at the Turtle and Fish. Everything’s bound to be top-shelf. Want to come?”

Ash stared at her, surprised. Lila had long since given up inviting him to parties. “Not if it means spending time with Tourant.”

“Aw, c’mon,” Lila said. “It’s not that late, and you’ve scarcely come out with us all term.”

“I’ve been busy.” Ash slid a sideways look at Lila, wondering if Suze would happen to be at this party, too. “Anyway, given Tourant’s reputation, I’m surprised you’d want to go.”

“I can take care of myself,” Lila said, which was certainly true. “It might be my last chance to spend an evening with drunken Ardenine swine—for a while. Besides, Tourant insists on introducing me to some rising star in the Ardenine army.”

“If he’s a rising star, then what’s he doing here?”

Lila shrugged. “Maybe he wants to recruit me. Wait till he finds out I don’t have the right equipment.”

“What do you mean?”

Lila slapped at the front of her skirt. “In here. I’m not a man.”