Promises

  Ty yawned, covering her face with her hands and wiping away the tired tears from her eyes before sitting up and knocking over the pile of papers that she had been reading last night before falling asleep.

  “Oh no,” she whispered to herself as she reached over to slowly pick up all ten dropped pages, feeling everything ache all over. Being the afternoon battle, they had only gathered everyone and everything up when sunset hit; then, they had to make the trek back, and she made sure all her students’ affairs were in order and prepared for the next year. When that was done, and Theo had finished tending to both Sel and Callie with Cyril assisting, it was already well into the night. She had gotten a bit of rest—never enough—before doing a final once-over of her classmates’ reports in the dead of night with Theo sleeping to her side.

  Picking up the last sheet, she heard the door to the bedroom open.

  “Back?” she called, slowly flipping through the reports she was supposed to hand out to everyone today, before they left for the summer break.

  She heard a heavy thud accompanied by a grunt. “Ah, you’re up.” Papers shuffled around, followed by some more thuds. “Just came back from checking on Callie. She’ll need a bit more time to recover before she can walk unassisted, but she’ll be right as rain within the week.” He poked his head through the bedroom opening. “I remembered to tell you that Sel was discharged yesterday evening, right?”

  Ty smiled and nodded at Theo, who seemed more than a bit pleased to be back at work again after the month of listlessness. “Yes, you did.”

  “Good, good,” he smiled back before disappearing again into the front section of the room, still moving things around by the sound of the bumps and shuffling.

  “Was anyone else there to see her?”

  “Callie? I saw Alex and Elias before I left last night, and Kor checked up on her when picking up Sel. I know Elias was there this morning.”

  Of course.

  “That’s good,” she murmured, getting up with a small groan to see what Theo was doing in the other room.

  With a giant stack of books in his arms, about to put them into a crate on his desk, Theo stopped to crane his neck when he saw Ty walk out. “Finished your reports?”

  “Mhm.” She yawned into the back of her hand and peeked into the box. “Why are you packing up so many of your books? We keep these dorms until we graduate.”

  After gently dropping the books in his arms into the crate, he gave Ty a forlorn look. “Some of these I’ve promised to give back to Em at year-end. Maybe I’ll get ‘em back for second year, maybe not. Oh, well.”

  Watching him gather some more books as she slid her reports into her bag beside the crate, she noted the melancholy in his tone and asked softly, “Need some help? I’ve finished the reports, so the only thing left would be…”

  He looked up only for a moment before returning to his task. “One last supper in the evening, and then everyone’s off for the next four months, huh?”

  “Yeah.” She felt a slight ache in her chest. “And then we’ll be back the Month of the Ninth Grace.”

  “It’ll be good,” smiled Theo a bit unsteadily, walking over to his desk. “I’m sure a lot of people will appreciate the break. It’s just four months, after all.”

  She could do nothing but look down and nod, feeling the weight of everything bogging her down now that there wasn’t anything left to do. “Yeah. It’ll be alright. You’ll be alright?”

  “I’ll be alright. Because this isn’t goodbye. We’ll see each other again, like we promised. Right?”

  “Right.”

  There was a tug on her arm, and then warmth enveloped her. A soft whisper. “And there’s someone else you need to talk to before you leave, right?”

  * * *

  Ty recalled two memories upon visiting the infirmary again: the day she had woken up after the duel, and the day she had authorized an Araise for Theo.

  As her heeled boots echoed in the large hall, her eyes caught the mosaics of the Graces and found them unsettlingly lacking.

  “You came.”

  Ty turned her head toward the quiet voice and saw Callie sitting upright in a bed. She had almost walked past her.

  “Yeah, I did,” the tactician answered softly at her bedside, her gaze drawn to the small contraption Theo had fashioned to support her broken leg. “I’m sorry I didn’t find time to visit you last night.”

  Callie shook her head, a gentle smile on her face. “No, it’s alright. You have a lot to do. It’s the last day, after all.”

  Unable to bring herself to look her classmate directly in the eyes, Ty stood at the end of the bed, staring at her friend’s leg. The wound had been expertly wrapped, leaving no trace of blood.

  But in her mind, she could still see the hole left by the pole, the pool of red, the way it all bent at the wrong angle.

  “Theo did a good job, huh?” Callie continued to say with a smile on her face, using a hand now to stroke the bandages. “Doesn’t hurt much, though yesterday—”

  “I’m sorry, I should have handled that differently,” blurted Ty before Callie could even finish her sentence.

  When Callie didn’t answer, Ty finally looked up.

  “That’s okay,” Callie said softly when she met her eyes, face full of forgiveness. “I shouldn’t have run in there, and I didn’t listen to you. You don’t need to apologize. I’ve endured worse.”

  “No.” Ty averted her eyes again, feeling a deep sense of shame at being absolved so easily. Why was she surprised? It was Callie, after all. “I’m responsible for everyone, including you. There were a lot of things I could have done differently that would have resulted in a different outcome. I shouldn’t have been selfish.”

  “…life for the world.”

  Her eyes widened, and she gradually turned her head to meet her classmate’s gaze. “What did you say?”

  “One life for the world,” repeated Callie perfectly. “I don’t mind getting hurt if it means I can help others, if it can help the greater good. This pain feels so infinitesimal when I remember what others put themselves through every day for me. For everyone else.”

  Ty kept staring at her, understanding but not understanding at the same time. Feeling like she was at the edge of a precipice, so close to the truth yet unable to fall in. There were too many missing pieces, too many fragments to form a complete puzzle.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  “I saw you, that night.”

  Ty’s fragile smile shattered.

  “I know what you did.”

  No, it was just one piece. There was only one piece missing.

  “What you said to Theo.”

  It was one night.

  “It hurts, doesn’t it?”

  One.

  Callie sat up further, lifted her leg off the contraption, and sat at the edge of her bed so that she could take Ty’s stiff hand with both of her warm ones. There were tears in her eyes. “I know you, and I know your heart. Anyone can see it from the way you look at us when we’re all together. I don’t understand your pain, but I understand you. And I know there’s nothing you wouldn’t do for us.”

  You’re wrong. You’re wrong.

  “That’s why I forgive you, Ty.”

  Faintly, out of the corner of her eye, she could see someone approaching, but her heart was beating too fast, her gaze was fixed squarely on Callie, she could not think of anything other than what truths would be uttered right there, in front of all the Graces, in front of the all-seeing Earth Mother, all the lies she had been telling everyone since that day, since that night, all the things she was holding in—

  “But when will you forgive yourself?”

  Ty jerked her hands away to finally face the new visitor.

  “Did I interrupt something?” asked a wide-eyed Elias with a brown paper bag in his hands, eyes darting from Ty to Callie.

  “No, no,” chuckled the latter, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. “We were just talking.”

  He raised a suspicious eyebrow. “Talking?”

  “Talking! You caught us at a bad time,” Callie continued to laugh, sitting back in her bed.

  “So what’re you here for?” Elias now faced Ty critically—they hadn’t really spoken since the exam, not that they wanted to after the small spat.

  “I—I wanted to make sure she was alright,” nodded Ty with a shaky voice, not even trying to attempt a fake smile, knowing that Elias would easily see through it. “I should…I should go.”

  “Okay,” replied the support, cheerily shuffling into her seat. “I’ll see you at supper?”

  Ty nodded, trying to smile for Callie, and then rushed away as fast as she could before the tears could fall.

  * * *

  “Hey Ty, I’m heading out now.”

  Ty hastily put down her mug and got up from the kitchen counter. “Already?”

  Cyril shrugged indifferently, but his expression betrayed him. “Yeah, my father’s at the gates to pick me up—don’t want to keep him waiting.”

  “Ah, I see.” She rummaged through her bag for the remaining reports and flipped through them until she got to her healer’s. “Here it is.”

  But before putting them into Cyril’s outstretched hands, Ty hesitated for a moment.

  “Something the matter?” he asked quizzically, eyes wide and innocent.

  “No,” she answered so quietly it was almost inaudible, until Cyril repeated his question.

  “No, no,” she insisted louder this time, shaking her head to try to get her thoughts back in order. “I was just thinking that we didn’t really have much time to speak together this year, that’s all.”

  “Aw,” cooed Cyril, giving Ty an affectionate pat on the head. “We’ve had plenty of chats.”

  I want to know more about you, Ty forced down as she gave the mischievous student a weary grin. “Maybe I’ll finally listen to some of your escapades when you get back from the summer break.”

  His eyes glittered as he laughed unabashedly, grabbing the comparatively small Ty in a tight hug. “You bet. Just you wait, I’ll have the best stories to tell you when we get back.”

  “Sounds good,” she said in a whisper, patting him on the back and feeling sad about having to leave everyone for the umpteenth time that day as she pulled away and extended his reports out to him.

  With his typical lighthearted candor, Cyril took them with a polite bow and lowered eyes. “Thanks for taking care of us these few months, lead. I’ll look forward to seeing you later.”

  “Me too,” she smiled genuinely at the royal, thinking to herself that he hadn’t really changed all that much as she watched him run out of the door with bags packed full to the brim.

  That left her with five more reports. Four more goodbyes.

  Ty looked around the common room and saw Darius, Elias, Theo, and Alex all sitting together at the couches, three of them still chatting and one Alex asleep with her shoulder resting on an amused Theo—no doubt waiting for the duelist to react bashfully upon waking.

  Sitting back in her seat and picking up her coffee, Ty realized it was already an hour until midnight, which was the deadline for students to leave before the gates were locked. Anyone who wanted to leave after that would have to wait for the morning as per Academy guidelines, not that she was going to leave tonight, anyway—her mother had arranged for a Tomecart to pick her up in the morning, loathe to think about her daughter traveling in the dark.

  She sighed at the memory of her mother, missing her after all.

  “Whuh…wh—oh my Graces,” began Alex quietly before ascending into her usual levels of exclamation. “Oh, I—Theo, why didn’t you wake me up? Oh! Oh my Graces!”

  Startling even the calm Darius, she jumped up from her spot and surveyed the room until she spotted her tactician. “Ty!” she practically cried. “Oh, thank the Graces you’re still here!”

  Setting down her coffee again, Ty nodded and grabbed Alex’s report, walking up to the front entrance where the duelist was busy scrambling to identify which bags were hers.

  “Thank you, thank you,” spoke Alex even quicker than usual without taking the outstretched papers, getting her shoes on and throwing her bag over her shoulder. “Goodness, my parents are going to be peeved when I sleep through the afternoon and miss breakfast with my s—”

  Ty retracted her papers. “Afternoon?”

  The duelist threw her long, wavy brown hair over her shoulder as well, blinking a few times as if even more surprised than Ty. “Of course! I live like, three hours away. I’ve gotta walk, don’t I? How else am I gonna get home, silly?”

  With her own mother’s words deeply ingrained in her, Ty eyed Alex with great concern. “It’s almost midnight—are you going to be okay?”

  “What?” retorted Alex with a high-pitched voice. “Of course! I’ve done it so many times, I’ve got my trusty sword with me—” She patted a sheathed weapon at her side. “And a pocket tome in my bag.” She patted her coat pocket this time. “Anyway, if there’s anyone to worry about, it’s Darius.”

  Ty let out a small sigh and held out Alex’s report for her. “Enjoy your break, Alex.”

  “Thank you, lead,” grinned the duelist with the biggest smile on her face, accepting the paper graciously. “I’ll miss these suppers and get-togethers, but I’m sure we’ll be able to get back to normal once the new school year starts.”

  “Likewise,” smiled the tactician. “Have a safe trip.”

  “You betcha!” called Alex as she ran out the door too, leaving two lonely bags by the door.

  “So, Darius.” Ty turned to the Ancient with an inquisitive-yet-stern look. “What’s this about being worried about you?”

  Upon hearing his name, he got up from his seat with a weary smile, walking over to the entrance. “Ty worry too much. I visit only my people. But will come back later, not four months. Academy is home.”

  Slightly unenthused that the answer he gave her was good enough, she walked back over to her bag by the kitchen and took out Darius’s report. “Well, you have a safe trip too. Alex was right—I should be more worried about you.”

  “Do not worry.” He patted Ty on the head like Alex did. “I know where is safe, where is not. I will see you when you come back.”

  “I believe you,” she nodded solemnly, handing him his papers before bowing deeply to him. “Thank you for everything. I’ll keep your sword safe. Thank you.”

  And when she lifted her head, she saw Darius was bowing to her as well.

  “Oh—oh, Darius, you don’t need to bow to me. Lift your head,” she scolded him gently as he straightened his back and then bowed one more time to Ty, who most assuredly saw it this time in its entirety.

  “Thank you for giving me more time.”

  Without another word, he was out the door.

  “I guess that leaves me, huh,” groaned Elias loudly, sprawled out on an armchair, looking at Theo.

  “Well, if you don’t tell her, I will,” chortled the physician, looking amusedly at his classmate.

  Another groan. “And here I was, thinking you’d be a pal and make up an excuse for me. Bah.”

  Ty grabbed her remaining papers and walked up to the couches. “What’s this?”

  “I was gonna stay longer,” grumbled Elias, not meeting her eyes.

  She straightened her head and addressed Theo this time. “What’s so suspicious about that?”

  He chuckled and divulged nothing, enjoying the moment.

  “You know that you could have just told me that and it wouldn’t have been suspicious, right?” Ty tilted her head at Elias, whose groans had turned into grumbles.

  “I just wanted to make sure Callie was alright, me getting her into trouble and all,” he muttered. “That good enough?”

  Ah. Ty turned to Theo, narrowing her eyes and trying not to laugh. “You are weirdly perceptive about these things.”

  Elias made some more incomprehensible grumblings as Theo laughed some more.

  “Alright, here, take your report and bring it to Callie by the infirmary. And don’t look.” Ty held out two reports and watched Elias slowly slink out of his armchair to pick them up. “I look forward to seeing you in the new school year,” she stated politely, watching him put on his cloak and push open the door.

  A bit begrudgingly, he averted his eyes and then bowed stiffly as if it physically pained him to do so and then grumbled his goodbyes before disappearing through the door.

  “So, hey,” began Theo, craning his head upward toward Ty, who was still standing up from watching Elias leave. “Darius left me something to give to you.”

  Ty spun toward Theo.

  “Is that a note from the admin office?” she asked, watching him flip a card between his fingers.

  “Yeah. I’ve gotten a few. Look.” He held it out to Ty.

  Official Department of the Administrators, read the card. Delivery. Floor 9. Box 1.