Young Immortals

Fourteen: Clean It

As the days tick by to the finals, Silas does not approach me again – at least during the daytime. After sunset, he comes to my chamber for a fresh set of bandages. I change them in silence, and start skipping dinner to get him out faster, which only puts me in a worse mood when he brings leftovers from the Mess Hall.

"Evening," he says conversationally, when I open the door.

"Hurry up." I pull him inside my chamber before someone sees and accidentally close the door over the corner of my skirt. 

He reaches for it, but I knock his hand aside, figuring he would probably tear it in his impatience. It's not lost on me that other mortals have probably lost their lives for doing a lot less to a fae, but I don't think Silas would kill me. At least, not before I finish the other two cave walls.

Then, while Silas eats, I get to work on his back. 

"Hungry?" he asks, gesturing at one of his bread rolls. It's lightly toasted and glazed with butter and salt – the good stuff we coppers are only allowed to make, never touch.

My stomach clenches, but I reach over his plate to grab some more bandages instead. "Am I going to be more in your debt if I eat that? Is there some fine print about accepting food from a fae?"

"No, I just thought you looked hungry."

I squint at him. "So?"

"So I'm trying to get a reaction from you." He turns his head faintly, just enough to be able to see me over his shoulder. "Should I try being cruel, next?"

Was he on edge now that I started pushing back against his orders? Wondering what would get me back in line faster, favors or threats? But I didn't need a reason to be a good scribe. I will draw those cave walls to the best of my abilities so he has no reason to demand more of me or come back knocking on my door.

"You want a reaction?" I say. "Burn a page."

That earns me a dull look. "You're already charging me a page each time I enter your chamber and get my wounds treated. What's next, a page for every word I say?"

"I should charge you for the air you breathe," I mumble darkly, dabbing a wet rag across some more of his dried blood. 

His wounds are still pink and tender, the beast's claws no doubt possessing some magical properties to further slow his healing. 

He won't be able to fight in another month, much less tomorrow's finals.

•••oOo•••

When I reach the kitchen for breakfast, everyone goes silent, like all the air has been sucked out of the chamber. The coppers stare at me, a sea of frigid faces, and we all stand and stare for a three-second time span that feels like it lasts an eternity. 

Madame breaks it, with that cool, sharp voice of hers, ordering everyone but me to leave. On the way out, a silkie calls me a whore on her way out of the kitchen, and two more knock into my shoulder.

If it wasn't clear before, it is now. Madame knows I am the copper that kissed Silas and humiliated her daughter. I thumb the black band on my finger, wondering if I am in enough danger to call Silas.

"You three," Madame says, pointing at the largest three males. One must be half-ogre or giant because his body is wider than I am tall, and his biceps are bigger than my head. "Stay."

Okay, time to call Silas. While I whisper his name under my breath, so quiet that my lips barely move, Madame drops a bucket of water at my feet. Then she smacks a bag of flour off the countertop, and it explodes on the floor in a cloud of white.