Of Caverns and Casters ✓ [TLRQ #1]

Chapter 37 - Leavi

Self-centered. Selfish. Egotistical. Manipulative. I expect all of this. I mean, he is a scientist after all.

But when someone's life is in the balance?

I shove through his room. Self-centered. Selfish. Egotistical. Manipulative. I'm these things, too, I suppose. All the intellectuals of the High Valleys are. But we're all still human. There are certain things we all know are wrong, we all know are right, that we would never do, or that we must do. Animals are the only organisms that act solely for self-preservation.

Or that's what I thought. In truth, it seems I've managed to meet the one person in the world that doesn't have any intrinsic humanity to him.

I swipe my eyes. Facts and figures. Risk assessments. That's all that lies inside Sean Rahkifellar's head. He has more in common with a textbook than he does a person. But I suppose I've known that all along. It was foolish to pretend otherwise.

I blink away my blurring vision. My feet rap against the wooden planks, but as I spot Jacin at the bottom of the stairs, I hurry to compose myself.

He glances up. "Leavi. What's wrong?"

I open my mouth to tell him 'nothing,' but stop. Sean might not care, but Jacin obviously does. Maybe I can convince him to help me.

But then another set of footfalls echoes behind me. "Leavi!" My feet freeze—Sean never calls me by my first name.

Jacin narrows his eyes and hurries up the steps. Skies. Sean's cynicism was not the first impression I wanted this plan to make. My mind flits to the boy in the dark, waiting for someone to come find him. I turn back toward Sean, determined to get this over with as quietly as possible. "What is it?" I ask in Errelian.

He skids to a stop. "I..."

I cross my arms, waiting.

Jacin pads up the hallway. "Is everything okay here?" He looks between us.

Sean glares at him. In Avadelian, he says to me, "I was hoping to talk to you privately."

I cringe. Is he trying to sabotage this?

Jacin steps close behind me. "I'm sure if Leavi wants to talk, she'll come find you."

Sean opens his mouth, and I hurriedly wave my hands. "No, no. It is"—I turn, stepping away from Jacin—"okay. He is okay."

Jacin's brow knits in concern, eyes searching my face.

Wishing my tongue moved more smoothly in this clunky language, I say again, "It is okay." Whatever Sean wants to talk about, it's best to do it without anybody else here. I offer Jacin a strained smile. "We can talk later?"

"Yeah," Sean says, "I'm sure if Leavi wants to talk, she'll come find you."

Jacin bristles, taking a half-step forward. I thrust out my palm. "We can talk later," I insist.

He hesitates, glaring past my shoulder.

"Please."

Lips twisting, he clips a nod. "I'll be just downstairs if you need anything." He tromps back down.

I turn on a smirking Sean. "Are you trying to get yourself beaten up?"

"No."

I shake my head at him. "Why don't you just tell me what you want?"

He taps the side of his leg, looking away. At length, he turns back to me, forcing his fingers to still. "Fine."

I stare at him for a moment, expecting him to continue. But he doesn't, just stands there looking slightly put out. "Well? Go on."

He scowls. "What? What else do you want?"

I tilt my head, considering him perplexedly. "Whatever it was that you came down here to tell me."

"I came to say, 'fine.'" He crosses his arms.

I blink, open my mouth to respond, and then close it, not sure what to even say. Opening it again, I finally settle on, "You came all the way down here just to tell me 'fine'?" My tone is even, but incredulity hides beneath its surface.

He's staring at me. "Yes. Fine. Whatever. I won't, you know, let you sacrifice yourself alone, especially if your quest will probably get me killed anyway. So, fine."

Now I'm speechless again but for a different reason. Without thinking, I launch myself at him in a hug.

"Ack!" He shoves me away. "What was that?"

My lips press together, and heat flushes my face. "Nothing," I manage after a moment. "Thank you, then. For your offer, I mean."

He just shrugs. "What's the plan?

I wince. "Well... we come up with a plan."

He closes his eyes, jaw clenched. "Really, Leavi?"

"It's not like I haven't done any work on it. I have a map—"

"A fraction of a map."

"And I've been to his cell. I understand what we're dealing with, and that's the first step to any solution, right?"

He shakes his head slowly, eyes still closed. "What are we dealing with, then?"

I walk down the hall, pausing outside my room. "A locked door, a prisoner who probably doesn't have the strength to stand, and a watchful Lady Veradeaux."

He follows me, eyes open. "Guards?"

"Not yet."

I push open my door.

"Skies." Sean momentarily freezes in either shock or revulsion. "Your room is worse than mine."

I lay the map out on the floor. "There are worse places to be," I say, thinking of the boy in the cell.

"Yeah." He comes in. "There are." There's something strange in his voice, but before I can ask him what he's thinking of, he sits, and we begin.