One corner of his lips twitched upward before he looked back down at his meal. I couldn’t help but notice that his teammates—three big Dires and an orange-skinned humanoid with spots running up his arms—didn’t seem to be too keen on sharing the table with him. The Dires were bigger and taller, but they certainly gave him space.
I looked away. He was someone I’d seen in a city I’d long since put behind me. That was all. But I noticed that Riggs kept glancing over to him, and the expression on his face could have killed.
“New students are coming in all the time.” Adilyn patted Sid’s arm. “Sid will suss him out, won’t you?”
The big Anisau’s eyes lit yellow as he looked down at her. “Oh, yeah. I’ll have his story by lunchtime.”
Adilyn debated. “Or we can sick Nar and Leah on him. That might be amusing.”
Sid appeared affronted. “I may not skulk along walls, but I am a big believer in the direct, honest approach.”
“Plus, no one messes with an eight-foot Anisau,” Adilyn sniped.
Sid smiled at her. “True.” His eyes started to flash, and hers answered him.
I tore my gaze away and sprinkled my cycle powder on my meatroll. Took a mouthful while doing my best to not gawk at the new student.
But ignoring him was more difficult than it should have been…
When I swallowed the last bite of meatroll, I looked over to see that the new guy’s chair was empty.
Riggs noticed me check for him. He’d been frowning most of the meal. “He left a few minutes ago.”
“I couldn’t help but notice that his teammates weren’t too keen on him,” I stated.
Riggs snorted. “They’re Dires. They tend to stick together, and getting into their inner circle isn’t easy.”
“The fourth guy isn’t Dire.”
“He’s Jirrian,” Sid stated. “Nice guy. His people live in deserts in a few different realms.” He mopped up the last of the egg on his plate with a piece of bread. “Those Dires are all from one pack, originally. They thought joining the academy was a really cool idea. So far, they’re doing well.”
I stared at him. Sid—Sasquatch, and local ear to the grapevine. My hopes that he’d glean something on the newcomer upped a notch.
Riggs picked up his tray. “Do you think those books will still be in a pile at the library?”
Sid pulled a face. “Not terribly likely. Petre is efficient. But you know which shelf to go to now.”
Riggs glanced at him. “You aren’t coming?”
The Anisau waggled his brows. “I’m on a hunt for information. But I’ll join you afterward.” He looked to Adilyn. “You coming with?” he asked.
“Oh, yes. I love watching your version of hunting.” Together, they rose and headed out of the cafeteria.
“I have my doubts he’ll be at the library anytime soon,” Riggs snorted a laugh.
“True,” I agreed. “Mind if I come with you?”
“Only if you want to be bored out of your skull.” He rose and grabbed his tray. “Likely it will be a whole lot of searching, and not finding.”
“Marcus sure thought that sword had a history,” I reminded him as we wove our way through the tables to the front.
“Yeah.” He sighed as he deposited his tray. He seemed lost in his thoughts, and didn’t say anything more as we descended to the library.
The books had been put away, but we dug some of them out again and sat down to peruse. Having the name really helped, and we now found out quite a bit about it. Like that the mage race that had created it died out a few thousand years ago. That they had infused their weapons with magic. That it had multiple names, and that it had, indeed, an interesting past. It seemed to have attached itself to historical figures that proved influential, at least for a time. Not all of them had been leaders—some wielded power from behind the scenes—but I couldn’t help but notice that most of them experienced untimely ends.
By the time Sid appeared, we were heartily tired of reading up on a magic sword. And Riggs was looking more uneasy about it by the minute.
Something I could agree with. Why had the sword chosen him?
