whatever. When all is said and done I’m stuck with you.”
My eyebrow twitched in irritation. It was sounding like, other than the time I spent in my room, I was never going to be alone here. For someone who greatly values her alone time, this was a tragedy waiting to happen. I stood up and folded my arms in front of me. We were going to hash this out before we did anything else. “Do you have a problem with me or something, Maddox? Because I’m not the one who peed on your pancakes, all right? I’m not any happier than you to be in this situation.”
She stepped closer, trying to eye me down. Tiny freckles dotted her small nose. It had to be a challenge to come off as intimidating with cute little freckles on your nose, but somehow, Maddox pulled it off. “I have a problem with Healers in general. I’d try explaining it to you, but I’m not sure you’d hear me way up there on your pedestal.”
It felt like I’d been punched in the chest. “And just exactly what do you mean by that?”
Maddox rolled her eyes so far up into her head that they almost disappeared entirely. “C’mon, Princess, I’ve been here for a while now. You’re not the first Healer that I’ve had to babysit. And every one of them has been the same. Why should I expect you to be any different?”
My jaw clenched until it ached. How could she judge me so harshly before she even got to know me? “Well, I’ve never met another Healer, so I can’t speak for them. You could be right. But I’m not a snob.”
“Never met another Healer?” Her eyes widened, a peculiar smirk melting the bitter purse from her lips. “How could you have never met another Healer? What part of Tril are you from?”
My defenses went up. From what my parents had told me, most of the Skilled lived among the Skilled their entire lives. The fact that I knew so little about how things worked in this part of the world meant I was an easy target for anyone who wanted to make my life here more difficult, which so far seemed to be everybody. I hesitantly replied, “Kokoro. The village of Kessler, near the river.”
For a moment, she didn’t respond at all. Then Maddox did what I was beginning to suspect was the impossible. She smiled. “No kidding?”
“Yeah, why?”
“So, you grew up around the Unskilled, not in one of these prissy boarding schools, huh?” The left corner of her mouth was raised slightly higher than the right, giving her smile a slight crook.
I couldn’t help but wonder where this was going, exactly. “So? Do you have a problem with Kessler?”
“Nah. I spent a summer in Kessler when I was eight. It was gorgeous. We stayed at this cabin and my dad and I went fishing. It was so much fun.”
That was enough to give me pause. For one, according to what my parents had explained to me, unless it was to trade tools or barter for food and supplies, Barrons and Healers didn’t tend to interact with the Unskilled. It was just socially unacceptable, for some stupid reason. As a result, the Unskilled had no idea that people like Barrons and Healers even possessed the skills they did. And for two, they sure as hell didn’t vacation among them. That’s how my parents had managed to stay hidden for so long, because they could always count on those certain sects of society staying separate. “Wait. How is that even possible? Kessler is—”
“An Unskilled village?” Maddox nodded. “Come on, let’s go get some breakfast and I’ll tell you all about it.”
Once my shoes were tied, Maddox led me into the hall, which was relatively empty, and then downstairs, which wasn’t. She strode forward through the sea of students without effort, throwing a glance over hershoulder every few steps to make certain I hadn’t wandered off. At the end of that hall stood a set of immense carved wooden doors, which were standing wide open. Delicious, warm, breakfast-y smells of cinnamon rolls, pancakes, sausage, and bacon beckoned from within. My stomach
My eyebrow twitched in irritation. It was sounding like, other than the time I spent in my room, I was never going to be alone here. For someone who greatly values her alone time, this was a tragedy waiting to happen. I stood up and folded my arms in front of me. We were going to hash this out before we did anything else. “Do you have a problem with me or something, Maddox? Because I’m not the one who peed on your pancakes, all right? I’m not any happier than you to be in this situation.”
She stepped closer, trying to eye me down. Tiny freckles dotted her small nose. It had to be a challenge to come off as intimidating with cute little freckles on your nose, but somehow, Maddox pulled it off. “I have a problem with Healers in general. I’d try explaining it to you, but I’m not sure you’d hear me way up there on your pedestal.”
It felt like I’d been punched in the chest. “And just exactly what do you mean by that?”
Maddox rolled her eyes so far up into her head that they almost disappeared entirely. “C’mon, Princess, I’ve been here for a while now. You’re not the first Healer that I’ve had to babysit. And every one of them has been the same. Why should I expect you to be any different?”
My jaw clenched until it ached. How could she judge me so harshly before she even got to know me? “Well, I’ve never met another Healer, so I can’t speak for them. You could be right. But I’m not a snob.”
“Never met another Healer?” Her eyes widened, a peculiar smirk melting the bitter purse from her lips. “How could you have never met another Healer? What part of Tril are you from?”
My defenses went up. From what my parents had told me, most of the Skilled lived among the Skilled their entire lives. The fact that I knew so little about how things worked in this part of the world meant I was an easy target for anyone who wanted to make my life here more difficult, which so far seemed to be everybody. I hesitantly replied, “Kokoro. The village of Kessler, near the river.”
For a moment, she didn’t respond at all. Then Maddox did what I was beginning to suspect was the impossible. She smiled. “No kidding?”
“Yeah, why?”
“So, you grew up around the Unskilled, not in one of these prissy boarding schools, huh?” The left corner of her mouth was raised slightly higher than the right, giving her smile a slight crook.
I couldn’t help but wonder where this was going, exactly. “So? Do you have a problem with Kessler?”
“Nah. I spent a summer in Kessler when I was eight. It was gorgeous. We stayed at this cabin and my dad and I went fishing. It was so much fun.”
That was enough to give me pause. For one, according to what my parents had explained to me, unless it was to trade tools or barter for food and supplies, Barrons and Healers didn’t tend to interact with the Unskilled. It was just socially unacceptable, for some stupid reason. As a result, the Unskilled had no idea that people like Barrons and Healers even possessed the skills they did. And for two, they sure as hell didn’t vacation among them. That’s how my parents had managed to stay hidden for so long, because they could always count on those certain sects of society staying separate. “Wait. How is that even possible? Kessler is—”
“An Unskilled village?” Maddox nodded. “Come on, let’s go get some breakfast and I’ll tell you all about it.”
Once my shoes were tied, Maddox led me into the hall, which was relatively empty, and then downstairs, which wasn’t. She strode forward through the sea of students without effort, throwing a glance over hershoulder every few steps to make certain I hadn’t wandered off. At the end of that hall stood a set of immense carved wooden doors, which were standing wide open. Delicious, warm, breakfast-y smells of cinnamon rolls, pancakes, sausage, and bacon beckoned from within. My stomach
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