The Half-Class by Kayvion Lewis

Chapter Thirty-Three

Evie,

Try not to throw the book across the room when you get to chapter twelve. I promise Taliver will make up for all of his missteps before you get to the end of the book.

With love,

Cass

I smirked, rereading the little note that fell out of cover once I opened the new volume of Taliver Cass had sent over. It’s been a week since I left the castle, but with the daily letters and new tomes he sent over for me, I felt like I’d seen him only yesterday.

I flicked the edge of the little paper and shifted my legs under the barstool, about to start the chapter Cass had warned me about. Reading this volume almost made me forget that I was trapped here in the barn, with the half-class restrictions still in place.

Right as I turned the page to Chapter Twelve, footsteps sounded in the hallway behind the bar. With the door open, I looked up to see Kat leaving the kitchen. She stopped when she saw me, grimaced, then tilted her chin up and strode away. It had been a week since she’d heard about Brison and Richal, and she still wasn’t talking to me. At least Auntie was cordial enough to say good morning and good night.

I rubbed the back of my neck and put my attention back on my book. I just needed to think about Taliver. Kat would come around eventually. Hopefully.

A faint rapping came from the barn door. I sighed and closed the book. Probably another letter from Cass. I pulled the door open, expecting my newest letter, but before it could open halfway, the last two people in the world I was expecting to see shuffled in. Jace and Gilow.

I slid the door shut as Jace removed her hood, freeing her long braids. Gilow strode across the floor after her.

“What are you—"

“You couldn’t come to us, so we came to you,” Jace smiled. “Kitty Kat told us about your dinner—and the twins, of course. She’s not here, is she?”

Gilow paced behind us, scanned the floor, and even peered behind sofas. Probably seeing that no one else was here, he stopped beside Jace.

“She’s been gone all day.” I rubbed my wrist and stared down at the floor. “About the twins—"

“It doesn’t matter,” Gilow said. He waved his hand like he was swatting the thought away—a completely unimportant one, at that. “This is a war. Casualties happen. Let’s not dwell on what we can’t change.”

Jace nodded her agreement.

That was too quick. Why weren’t they angry? Disappointed? Anything. How could they be so indifferent about the maiming of a child?

“Thank you,” I said cautiously.

“What happened at the dinner?” Gilow took the last stool at the bar. We were cutting straight to the point. “Did you learn anything from the court?”

Jace followed him to the bar, and I apprehensively did the same. With each step towards them, one question grew louder in my mind: how well did I really know Gilow and Jace?

I reached down and retrieved the map I’d been obsessively keeping with me in my boot. The prize Brison’s sacrifice bought. I only hoped the information was worth it. I unfolded the paper and pressed it into the bar between them.

“I learned this,” I said. “And it’s big.”