"Chebli-you remember the Civic Guard Dauhd is courting?"
"Of course I know Chebli. I'm not the one who goes to sea for years at a time."
"Temper," Majdi commented.
"Sorry." The apology came like a reflex after so many years.
"Well,"Majdi went on easily, "Chebli was at the prison and he heard Musni's confession. He ran immediately to our house to make sure that you had made it home safe, which of course you hadn't. When Chebli told Mum that Musni admitted to stabbing you she nearly fainted. A minute later she had half the city out searching the streets and the river for you."
Kiram felt a petty gratification but it died in the face of Majdi's pained expression.
"I've never seen her like that, Kiram. She was out on the street screaming your name and weeping. Her voice gave out from calling for you but she wouldn't stop. If you had seen her…" Majdi's voice caught with emotion and for a moment he simply gazed up at the blue sky above them. "The thought that she'd sent you out to be hurt ripped her up inside."
An aching guilt gripped Kiram. He wanted to shrug it off but just the idea of his mother suffering for his sake tore at him. Despite their argument and her words he still loved her too deeply to remain unmoved by her pain.
"Tell her I'm fine."
"Oh, she knows." Majdi gave a short laugh. "If she hadn't found you, we'd still be hearing her scream your name. She came here a little past midnight last night and Lady Grunito assured her that you were safe and well."
Kiram wondered how that exchange had gone: his frantic, weeping mother and the golden monument that was Lady Grunito. He supposed it explained the curious way Lady Grunito had watched him this morning at breakfast.
"Is Mum all right now?" Kiram asked.
"You gave her a damn good scare but Mum's tough. Once she knew you were alive I think everything she'd been angry about didn't matter so much."
"So why are you here now?" Kiram asked. He couldn't help but glance at the chest and wonder what was in it and whether or not it was intended for him.
"Mum asked me to tell you that you can come home anytime you want and bring whom you want."
All at once the empty ache that had settled into Kiram's chest a day ago left him.
"But that's not what I wanted to tell you," Majdi said.
"What?"
"I've packed up some of your things, some of my old things, and a parcel that came for you from the Sagrada Academy." Majdi nudged the traveling chest towards Kiram with the toe of his boot.
"Why?" Kiram asked. There was something suspicious in Majdi's lazy smile.
"You're finally rebelling," Majdi replied. "You've found something that moves you enough to give you the courage to stand up to Mum. That's not something you should leave for the comfort of home. Because home will always be there for you. That's the promise of family. But what you have with your Cadeleonian is a chance to make the future that you want for yourself and that may never come again."
"Soyou've packed, for me?" Kiram could hardly suppress his wide smile. He never would have thought such a gesture could feel so much like a blessing or touch him so deeply.
"I figured I'd do a better job of it than you would, having lived on my own longer."
"At sea," Kiram teased his brother. "Not at the Sagada Academy."
Majdi waved his objection aside. "Mum and Dad will send you anything you might need for some academy. What I'm talking about are troubles you'll face.like last night's encounter with Musni or if things go bad for you and the duke."
Kiram couldn't imagine facing more hardship than he already had this past week. Meeting Majdi's pale, serious gaze he suddenly knew that out in the world even greater challenges might await him.
"Now, there's one last thing." Majdi shoved the chest the rest of the way across the cobbles till it bumped against Kiram's shin. "I want you to think about this seriously because the offer won't last beyond tomorrow evening. My ship sails tomorrow. If you and Javier come aboard, I won't ask any questions and neither will my crew."
Kiram grinned and knew he looked ridiculous. But Majdi was sailing to Yuan and Kiram had always wanted to go. He imagined himself and Javier leaving everything behind them.
But they couldn't-not just because Javier wouldn't do it but also because the man controlling the shadow curse would pursue them. They wouldn't be escaping trouble, only bringing it onto his brother's ship. Still, the offer moved Kiram and he embraced his brother like he had so many times when he had been just a boy.
Majdi patted him on the back. "The Cadeleonians watching us from the balcony are going to think you're a brother fucker."
Kiram released him. "Don't drown out at sea, all right?"
"No, I plan to die at home in the bathtub." Majdi started across the grounds towards the drive and the iron gates at the front of the house.
"Take care," Kiram called after him.
"You as well." Majdi turned back briefly. "Give him my best. Be good to each other."
Kiram glanced up just as Javier stepped back from the edge of the balcony. Nestor waved down at him.
Up in Javier's room Kiram unpacked the trunk. He found that Majdi had included Kiram's bow as well as a quiver of fine black arrows. Nestor admired them while Javier reclined in a chair near the fire.
Deep in the chest, wrapped in a soft cloth, Kiram discovered Rafie's sealed vial of poison as well as six sheathed knives. Amidst traveling clothes, an adhil pan and a pouch filled with a wild assortment of coins, Kiram found the package that Scholar Blasio had sent to him. Inside it were two thin journals and letter. A jay's bright blue feather fell from one of the journal pages.
Chapter Twenty three
That's a rather fetching feather," Nestor commented.
Kiram could hardly acknowledge Nestor's words. He stared in silence. Strange how it gripped him, this single feather from a common bird. A year ago he would have hardly registered more than a brief admiration for its color. Now the sight of it made his heart kick hard at his ribs.
Javier looked up from his contemplation of the hearth and scowled at the bright wing feather in Kiram's hand.
"It came with a package from Scholar Blasio." Kiram felt suddenly afraid to read the letter. Today had already been so hard.
"Odd." Javier studied the feather with a suspicion that mirrored Kiram's own. The firelight cast deep shadows across the angles of his face and made black hollows of his dark eyes.
He didn't need more to worry about. Neither of them did.
"It's not that odd," Nestor said. "There had to be thousands of those birds in the orchards surrounding the academy. Remember? Kiram shot something like sixty of them for our meals in the winter."
"Sixty-eight," Kiram provided. He snapped the feather in half and let it fall, broken, to the floor.
Javier simply nodded and returned his attention to his half- packed saddlebags, which slumped at his feet like a sleeping dog. Out in the hall Kiram heard Morisio and Atreau arguing good humouredly over which liquor they should pack for their impending ride back to the academy.
"Sixty-eight is a lot when you really think about it." Nestor toyed with one of Kiram's arrows and then sighed. "I'm sorry you and the rest of the Hellions are riding back to school at the end of the week." He replaced Kiram's arrow carefully. "I was going to feel left out but then I realized that I'll be on my honeymoon, so it will be all of you feeling left out."
Javier snorted.
"You'll certainly be sleeping more comfortably than we will be," Kiram agreed.
"No sweets or anything in there?" Nestor asked as he peered into the trunk. The assortment of knives inspired a low whistle.