Proem

Aalto paced around a plain classroom, dodging the tables and chairs staged around him as he walked. He scowled, chewing at the tip of his thumb while his footsteps thudded angrily.

Icarus casually leaned back against one of the desks, not amused. He quietly flipped through a dark-covered book, ignoring the other boy’s restlessness.

“How are you not more concerned about this?” Aalto seethed, stopping his movements in favor of gripping the edges of the table in front of Icarus. “Zekiah Akol is going to take the Queen’s Guard examinations. The guy who beat up practically everyone in school. He’s GOING to succeed, and then what? We’ve got a murderer in the very army that’s supposed to protect us!”

“Murderer,” Icarus murmured. “Fitting.” He flipped to the next page in his book, but his eyes remained blankly fixed on the bottom corner of it. He hummed, before stating, “You’ve already questioned the authorities about him. They say he hasn’t murdered anyone yet.”

Aalto scowled, retorting, “Allegedly, he hasn’t murdered anyone yet. I guarantee you those rumors have some truth to them.”

Icarus sighed. “Rumors are rumors. With how publicly he spills blood, I highly doubt a murder would go unnoticed.” Besides the one his family covered up, of course. He looked up at Aalto, closing his book and setting it beside him. “Why don’t you just deal with him yourself?”

The blonde boy grumbled. “I can’t afford to ruin my reputation.” Icarus’s eyebrows raised in mild surprise. “You don’t think you can beat him?”

Aalto sighed. “Maybe. I don’t know, but it’s not worth the risk. A Wai losing to an Ash would destroy both me and my family.” He scowled, biting his lip. “And that’s exactly what he wants.”

“Suit yourself.” He was done with this conversation. Icarus stood up, picked up his book, and prepared to leave.

Before he could, Aalto lunged across the table, grabbing Icarus’s arm. “Hang on.” A deadly glare from the other boy made him flinch back. Aalto let go of him hastily. “Sorry.”

The Wai sighed, rubbing at the back of his neck. “Listen, we gotta stop him from taking the exam. There’s a week and a half left until it begins, and the exam site is a good 3 days walk from here. Let’s say we drop him off somewhere safe, but a little bit further out so he won’t make it on time.”

Icarus raised a brow. “You want to kidnap him?”

Aalto grimaced, saying, “I’m just trying to protect the citizens of Isela.” He looked up at Icarus worriedly. “If Zekiah becomes a part of the Guard, nobles will let him into their homes without asking any questions. I guarantee you that’s his aim. He may claim he only fights in self-defense, but I don’t buy it.”

A look of true fear was displayed on Aalto’s face as he muttered, “He’s trying to kill us.”

Icarus hummed at the thought. Z would never hurt him. Would he? He closed his eyes, pushing down the familiar desire to defend Z, even after all that he’d done. “You think the worst of him.”

Aalto scowled. “Don’t you? Thirteen nobles at this school alone have received major injuries from him.”

He threw his arm out to make his point, hissing, “He cut one girl’s arm off for talking about his father. No one says anything because they’re scared shitless. The girl herself lied to her parents about how she lost a whole ass arm because she didn’t want to have to face him again.”

The boy ran a hand through his hair anxiously. “I don’t know. It’s like he has some sort of psychological effect on them. They’re so eager to fight him at first but once they do…” Aalto gritted his teeth. “Or maybe he’s just insane.”

Icarus sighed, closing his eyes in defeat. The boy bit his lip, struggling to produce the words he needed to say. Upon looking up and seeing Aalto’s expectant face, he relented, blurting them out. “Fine. He can stay at a country villa my family owns. I’ll instruct them to keep him there until the exams start.”

Aalto smiled gratefully. “Thank you. I promise you, you’re making the right decision.”

The other boy didn’t respond. He stared at the door as Aalto left, a sinking feeling in his chest. Was it really okay to bring Z there? He knew the significance of that villa to both of them. He knew what they both went through there.

Yet an ugly desire within him urged him to go through with it. It wanted Z to suffer just like he did. It wanted Z to be tortured by the ghosts that he had created.

Besides, he’d be safer if he didn’t attend the examinations anyway. Right?