A Dove's Tale

Chapter 95

Sariel's office was silent, save for the scratching of quills across paper. I had one corner of his desk for my use during my test. The rest was his. He had a thin sheaf of documents, several blank pieces of paper, and a thick book in front of him, which he referenced frequently as he read the documents and filled the blank sheets with his elegant cursive. We hadn't spoken since I walked into his office and sat down to take my test. I hadn't told him I was upset, and, if he noticed, he didn't say.

My boiling blood cooled as the minutes turned into an hour.

I'd asked him to be hard on me, and this test was hard. There was no room in my mind for me to dwell on what Leon said. This required my full attention.

I wished I'd studied more.

The click of the latch as the door opened behind me broke my concentration. My quill slipped and left an ink blotch in the middle of a sentence. I grit my teeth in annoyance and scratched out the line. My wording wasn't quite right, anyway.

"Prince Nokto," Sariel said in his sonorous voice. "May I help you?"

I did my best to shut them out as I started over. This was the last question. All I needed to do was focus, write the answer on the tip of my quill, and I'd be done.

A shadow fell across the page.

"Hm. You forgot something here," Nokto said, tapping an answer at the top of the page.

"What?" I asked, surprised. I scanned the lines again, searching for the mistake. There was none.

"Prince Nokto," Sariel said sternly.

"You're looking too hard," he said, ignoring Sariel and dropping into the chair next to me.

I reread the sentence again and again. Nothing was wrong. I sighed in frustration and returned to the last question.

"Giving up so soon?" Nokto teased.

"Perhaps it would be best if you came back later. After she's finished," Sariel said pointedly.

"She's almost done," Nokto replied. "One last thing."

I bit my tongue to stop my sharp response. He was goading me on purpose. If it weren't for him, I'd already be done, and-

Oh. One last thing.

I finished the answer and moved my eyes and my hand back to the top of the page. There was no period at the end of the sentence he pointed out. I added it, set the quill in its inkpot, and pushed the test across the desk to Sariel.

"Thank you, Nokto."

He shrugged lazily. "Sariel has to deduct points somewhere."

"I will review this later," Sariel said, shuffling the papers into a neat stack and depositing them in a desk drawer. "Prince Nokto, you had something you wished to discuss."

I looked back at Nokto, lounging in the chair next to me. His posture was relaxed and his attire disheveled, as usual. I'd always noticed that, but now it frustrated me, since I couldn't get away with either infraction. But he had an intrinsic elegance in every movement, too. Even the slightest gesture of his hand was graceful.

"It wouldn't interest Ivetta," he said, examining his fingernails with detached disinterest. "And, after that test, I'm sure you'd rather take a break, anyway."

I sighed in frustration. Now I understood why he wasn't looking at me. "If it's about me, I'd rather stay."

"That won't be necessary," Sariel intoned.

"Let me rephrase. I'm staying," I said firmly.

Nokto gave a soft laugh and dropped his hand to his lap, lifting his head to look at me. "I thought you'd say that," he said, a grin on his lips. "But just remember that I gave you the opportunity to leave."