Breaking the Rules, Part II
There wasn’t a lot of talking at dinner. Demndun hardly said a word, leaving Muwen and Zifor to pick up the slack. Even then, they mostly talked to each other. The longer the silence dragged on, the worse Kurgm felt. What had he done wrong?
After dinner, Demndun told him to wait with them.
“Come on,” she said.
The four of them walked through the corridors. He spotted Roshil and Aonva up ahead of them, then realized where they were all going.
“Are we—”
“Sh,” Demndun said. “Stay quiet. Don’t draw attention to yourself.”
Kurgm didn’t like the sound of that, but he did as he was told. He was willing to do anything to avoid upsetting Demndun even more than he already had.
They walked into the library. Roshil and Aonva disappeared up a flight of steps. He spotted Roshil glancing back at him before they disappeared from view.
The four of them sat down at a table not far from the door to the court.
“We’re gonna let you in on a little secret,” Demndun said. “But you have to promise never to tell anyone.”
Kurgm looked from face to face, and they were all serious. Whatever it was, he wasn’t going to disappoint them, not again.
“I’m not going to tell anyone. I promise.”
Zifor and Muwen narrowed their eyes at him. He wondered if Zifor was trying to read him. He often forgot that his friend was a weaver.
“He’s telling the truth,” Zifor said.
Kurgm knew it wasn’t entirely possible to tell if someone was lying, only what they were feeling. But he was being honest like always.
“Good.” Demndun smiled at him. It felt like years since he’d seen her smile at him. “Told you we could trust him.”
Kurgm smiled. Whatever it was, it wasn’t bad.
“They leave one of the doors in the school unlocked every night,” Muwen said. “No one knows why.”
“But that means we can get back into the castle,” Demndun said. “All we have to do is slip out through the library, where apprentices go all the time after dinner, then sneak back in through the school.”
Kurgm felt a little nauseous when he realized what they were suggesting.
“You’re talking about skipping curfew,” he said, keeping his voice at a whisper.
“Yeah,” Demndun said, smiling at him. “Don’t worry, we’ve done this before. We never get caught. Besides, who cares if we stay out a little late some nights?”
Skipping curfew was strictly forbidden. Lord Velal had taught him that every rule was in place for a reason. Surely this one was too.
“But… Are you sure this is a good idea?”
“I knew it,” Muwen said. “Told you. Too goody goody to do it. That’s why Cremwa kept saying no.”
“Back off,” Demndun said, shooting a glare at Muwen. She slid closer to Kurgm, her eyes on his. She was close enough that he could smell mint on her breath. “We’ve never been caught. No one’s gonna know. Besides, this way, we can spend all the time we want together.”
Kurgm’s heart pounded in his chest. He wanted nothing more than to spend time with Demndun. They wouldn’t be out all night. Just a little more time with her wouldn’t hurt.
“I’ll do it,” he said. “And I won’t tell anyone.”
Demndun leaned in and kissed him. She took his hand and they stood up. The four of them walked to the entrance to the court, and left the library.
“The hard part is avoiding other people,” Muwen said. “That’s what Zifor’s here for.”
“Not because I’m your friend or anything,” Zifor said, shoving Muwen.
“Yeah,” Muwen said, shoving him back, “who’d be friends with you?”
They both laughed as the sun dipped below the court walls. Demndun was still holding Kurgm’s hand. They were together. That was the important part.
“Really, it’s not a big deal,” Demndun said. “If people see us, they might ask where our parents are, or tell us to get back to the castle, or something. Most people just ignore us, though.”
“But if it’s a master or something, we’re in trouble,” Muwen said. “So Zifor senses for other threads around us and gets us to cover before we have a problem.”
“What about the officers?” Kurgm asked. “Oshal says he can’t sense their threads.”
“No one can, but they won’t leave the castle this late at night,” Zifor said.
“What do you do all night?” Kurgm asked.
“Explore the court,” Demndun said. “You grew up here, you should know how big the court is. All those places they don’t let apprentices go. Aren’t you curious what’s there?”
Kurgm had to admit, he was a little curious. Master Ekla had told him about the several parts of the court that were off limits to apprentices. Areas where houses had been built, but weren’t in use often attracted people who didn’t want to be found. She had also mentioned weaver dens, and told him to stay far away from them.
“Master Ekla told me—”
“Here we go,” Muwen said. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone other than you say something nice about her. Don’t you get tired of being her pet all the time?”
“What? I’m not her pet. I was just saying—”
“Something she told you not to do?” Demndun asked.
“Well… kind of. Do you know what a weaver den is?”
“I do,” Zifor said. “It’s where a weaver pushes emotions into people for money. Seems like a good idea to me.”
“No! People get addicted to emotion like that. Master Ekla said it messes with their heads.”
“That’s stupid,” Muwen said. “How can people get addicted to emotion?”
“Well… I… don’t know.”
Demndun wrapped her arms around his. “Just forget about Master Ekla tonight. We’re here to have fun.”
All of their identification orbs buzzed, signaling the start of curfew.
“Alright, stay on guard,” Muwen said. “They’ll start sweeping the court for apprentices out after curfew soon.”
Kurgm focused his ki on his ears. He heard quick footsteps not far from them. Several of them, walking in step with one another.
“I hear a patrol,” he said. He nodded his head. “That way.”
Zifor stopped them. “Yup, that’s a patrol.”
They ducked between a few buildings. The patrol walked by them a few minutes later without noticing them. A few minutes later, the four of them left their cover.
Demndun pulled Kurgm in and kissed him.
“How’d you do that?” she asked. “Hear them coming?”
“You know those practice sessions that I’m always at?”
“Yes,” she grumbled.
“A lot of it’s ki practice. It’s one of the techniques Master Ekla taught me.”
“That’s a good trick to have,” Zifor said.
“You know what else is a good trick?”
Kurgm felt sick. He knew that voice.
The four of them turned around.
Master Ekla stood before them, arms folded.
“Masking one’s thread while tracking someone else’s.”