23.

Vivian took off. She raced to where she knew Owen would be. No part of her wanted to be alone in the empty city after her near encounter with Quinton Silver. When she made it to Owen’s usual place, he stood there with a spear, spinning it wildly in his hands while he struck at the dummy.

“Owen, thank the Silts you’re here.”

Owen turned and glared at her. “I am always here. Unlike yourself, I have a schedule I keep.”

Vivian’s face turned scarlet with embarrassment and she lowered her eyes to the ground. “I’m sorry. But something happened that I need you to hear.”

The encounter with Quinton Silver and the hooded man spilled from her lips in a mess of words. Owen stared at her while she told him about the conversation and continued the stare long after she finished. His eyes bore into her as if attempting to authenticate the story with a look.

“Don’t worry about Lynn Jet,” he said finally.

“Elaborate!” Vivian felt tears well up in her eyes. “He is going to be killed. Quinton Silver just needs to get in arms reach to crush his neck and the hooded man said he also had an assassin trying to kill him. How do I not worry?”

Owen shook his head. “I’m not good at explaining things. My brother is with him. They’re both Mystics. They’re up on the mountain where no one can find them.”

“But Quinton Silver is a Mystic too! And the hooded man made it sound like he wasn’t alone either. There could be a thousand just like him. Why do they even want to kill Lynn?”

“I don’t know why. But if you don’t want something hurt, then protect it.”

“What can I do?” Vivian asked with a quivering voice.

“Fight.” Owen tossed her his staff and Vivian clumsily caught it. Owen picked up another staff and came at her. The attacks came slowly at first so Vivian managed to block them but gradually Owen picked up the speed of his barrage. The first strike on her hit the back of her knee, buckling it and knocking her down but Owen simply slowed, never stopping. She rolled to avoid his next attacks before regaining her feet. Several more hits landed on her side and finally one to the face. Blood streamed down from her nose and she dropped her weapon to clutch at the bloody mess. However, Owen kept going sweeping the staff upwards again, only stopping an inch away from her eyes.

“Why did you stop?” he growled.

“I’m covered in blood! You broke my nose!”

1“It’s just a nosebleed. I’m not hitting hard enough to break bones. Pick up the staff and come at me if you’re upset.” So Vivian did just that. For hours the two of them sparred. Vivian’s collection of bruises expanded as she attempted hopelessly to defend herself from Owen. The worst part was that she knew Owen pulled his hits back and actively slowed everything he did as he attacked her. If he actually tried she would be on her back with broken limbs in seconds.

Long after the sun had set Vivian kneeled on the ground panting. Owen pulled her back to her feet and looked her up and down.

“It’s time to go home. Tomorrow, stay in your room, you’re going to be sorer than you know, but the next day we’ll resume.” He paused. “Also, good choice wearing pants. It shows that you’re serious about this. Fighting in those skirts you’ve been wearing would be difficult.”

Vivian felt blood rush to her face. In the chaos after encountering Quinton Silver and the hooded man, the thought of her pants had completely vanished from her mind.

“Oh. Thank you.” Were all the words she could find as a response.

Thankfully, no one else roamed the halls of the library as Vivian crept back to her quarters. Ida slept propped up in a chair and Vivian realized she must have been waiting for her return. She carefully shut the door, making as little noise as possible as she changed into her sleeping shift. Once the pants were carefully folded and placed back in her wardrobe, Vivian tapped Ida on the shoulder.

Ida woke with a start and eyed Vivian with irritation but Vivian cut her off before she spoke. “I apologize for coming back so late Ida. I didn’t mean to worry you. Don’t sleep in the chair, move to your bed. It’s bad for your back to be sleeping while sitting up.”

Ida gave her a rare smile. “Thank you for waking me Lady Topaz. You’re good to do so.”

With that, she moved to her bed and fell asleep almost instantly, leaving a surprised Vivian to collapse on her own bed and wonder what she had said to prompt a thanks. However, Vivian didn’t linger on the thought and quickly Ida’s example, falling asleep.

The next few weeks passed the same way. Owen had Vivian cycle through different weapons each with a three day period. The first would be using the weapons against dummies, the second day would be a full day of sparring, and the third would be a rest day and then they started a new weapon. The cycle went- staff, knife, handaxe, broadsword, short sword, hand to hand. Owen mentioned he had dozens more weapons to teach her but wanted to make a small pool for her to choose from before expanding.

Broadsword was by far the most difficult of the six as it seemed she could barely lift the blade and, when she did get it off the ground, the balance wanted to tip her over.

Footwork seemed different for each weapon as well. It fascinated her to see the differences between fighting with a knife, verses fighting hand to hand. The knife seemed such a small weapon and barely anything more than fighting with a fist but the stances changed drastically between the two.

It reminded her of different types of dancing. Her mother used to dance but that was vastly different from the way she had been taught by the tutors Lord Ivory had assigned to her. They were both ways of dancing and she wouldn’t think they would be too different but everything, from the tips of her toes to the crown of her head, needed to respond differently between the two.

They fought well into the nights and so Vivian began asking Ida to prepare a sack of food for her everyday which Ida did without complaint although Vivian could tell she disapproved of the bruises she came back with. Everything about training with Owen was painful but, for some odd reason, Vivian still loved it. She snuck her brother’s pants down every day and would change into them for better mobility and then back into her dresses and skirts on her way back up to the library. It came to the point where she stopped thinking them of her brother’s but, rather, her pants.

No one heard anything about Lynn or Owen’s brother, Constell. It worried her beyond belief but Owen’s lack of concern somehow managed to comfort her slightly. When she asked why he would just respond with a shrug. If anyone knew Constell’s reliability, it would be his brother, right?

Worry still gnawed at her stomach always but most days she managed to distract herself with her training. Even on her rest days she spent her time struggling through books about fighting techniques.

After a month of training with Owen, Vivian felt confident enough in her abilities that she began carrying a knife strapped to her thigh when in a dress or skirt and in her boot while she wore her pants. It felt liberating to have a weapon always with her.

Vivian walked into the mess hall with a copy of Mauls and Maces hidden behind a purple knitted book cover. She plopped down on a bench next to Nyx Opal and Alexis Jade.

Nyx monotonously dabbed a piece of bread into what smelled like onion soup before swallowing it. Alexis Jade had foregone eating solid foods in favor of bottles. They both silently looked up at her and nodded to her. It had become customary for the three of them to sit next to one another whenever Vivian ate in the dining hall.

After Lynn had left, she had felt lost in the dining hall. Surrounded by disinterested strangers. Until she saw Nyx and took a chance by sitting down next to her. Nyx’s conversations were usually contained to her mostly muttering to herself.

With Nyx, came Alexis. Alexis’ family had apparently worked directly with Nyx for over a decade and the two were friends...of a sort. Unfortunately, Alexis had lost any motivation to do anything after being rejected by the library. Bottle after bottle disappeared when Alexis came near. But she was a quiet drunk, simply sipping alcohol until her eyes became glazed over. Both were near silent which worked perfectly for Vivian, she was able to focus on trying to read while also not being completely alone.

Ida delivered her dinner and dismissed herself. Vivian stayed in the mess hall later than she usually did as she finally started to understand the flow of reading the book and didn’t want to lose her concentration. When she looked up she realized the three of them were the only ones remaining in the hall.

“Are you two alright?” she asked.

“My body operates as could be expected for one of my age, weight, and gender,” Nyx responded.

Alexis’ head lay in her arms and she didn’t respond. Four empty bottles were strewn about around her.

“Do you always wait for me to leave before you leave?”

“Yes. Alexis has requested I stay with her until she departs for the evening and she always departs directly after you. She mentioned a negative stigma about drinking alone.”

“Oh, sorry I took so long today. I got caught up in my book. Do you think she can stand if we wake her up?”

Nyx jabbed at what Vivian assumed must be Alexis’ pressure points but the girl barely stirred in response.

“Hmm,” Nyx said. “I believe she will need assistance if she wishes to sleep in her chambers.”

“Let’s get to it.” Vivian threw one of Alexis’ arms around her neck and motioned for Nyx to grab under the other shoulder. Nyx attempted to do so but after a few steps it became clear to Vivian that the surgeon was not used to carrying any more weight than the occasion tray of tools, so Vivian gave her the book on mauls for her to hold and gathered Alexis up in both arms and carried the drunk girl like a child. Alexis didn’t weigh as much as many other young women but she still would have been too much for Vivian to carry a month earlier. Both as a result of her exercise, and Alexis’ new eating habits...or lack thereof.

Vivian set the drunk in her feather bed. She glanced around the room. Half the room was filled with empty liquor bottles while the other half was a mess of half unpacked luggage and books everywhere.

“Where’s her servant?” she asked Nyx.

“He doesn’t spend time here any longer. I believe he has the same mindset as their father and has dismissed Alexis as a disgrace.”

“Wait, her servant was her brother?” Vivian asked.

“Yes. He first considered it a great honor to serve her as she studied to become a Mystic.”

Vivian had another question about the brother on the tip of her tongue when a shout sounded from outside. Curious, Vivian moved to Alexis’ window and pushed aside the curtains, letting the setting sun’s last bit of light into the room.

Alexis’ room faced the ocean and down on the beaches down below Vivian saw the cause of the shouting.

“Nyx. Have you ever seen that ship down there before?”

Nyx peered over her shoulder out the window. “No.”

“We need to leave. You’ve studied medicine, right? Do you know any quick fixes to sober up?”

“I am a surgeon. But yes. I do know a remedy which might help. It may take a few minutes to complete.”

Vivian watched as men poured out from the ship below like ants from an ant hill. More men than she thought the ship could possibly carry. “Okay, just try to be quick.”