The Mountain Dancer

Chapter 31: Shaynike & Zaksar

“Is your boyfriend trying to complicate my life?” Ellawek wanted to know. Her eyes drilled into Shay from between the straight curtains of her jet-black hair. Shay didn’t know what to say. “And you,” Ella continued, shifting her stare to Affsol. “What has he told you?”

“I said, hey, no shards or nothin’ from him a since that night.”

It was true. Shay hadn’t gotten a shard from Rek since the night he had woke her up to ask about her about the stanza. Five days had passed. It was worrying her sick, and she kept having terrible nightmares about something crawling out of the innocent little Oceanic Mappings book and rendering Rek alive. But the shardtrade rumours said he was under some kind of extreme detention in the Headmentor’s Chambers. Word was that he had tried to flashstep the boreway and got caught. Tutor Stoneworth had also told her not to worry too much. She wished she could follow that advice.

They sat around the council table, having just finalized the decorations and wonderments for the seating area devoted to the Crown Artyss. Ella had been on edge the whole time, since no one knew if Rek was going to be stripped of his title or not. Shay didn’t think they would do that, but on the other hand, Rek had been given his appointment rather reluctantly in the first place.

“You said you saw him that night; you were the last one to see him – what was he doing?” Ella was looking at WeeSeu now.

“We spoke about our birthrights. He was following a book-quest,” WeeSeu said.

“A book-quest. Do you know anything about this?” It was directed at Shay. She tried to keep her face still as she remembered the weird vision in the library, and those odd late-night shards. What had happened when he brought the book into the moonlight? Had he even had the chance?

“I think Tutor Minyel had him doing it for practice or something. We– he was at a dead end when I last saw him that night.”

“Enough. I’ve heard enough.” Ella closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. “I’m done for today. Dismissed.”

They filed out and took the waterway one by one. The delicious tugging feeling was nowhere near as strong now that she had gone through a bunch of times, but it still left a pleasant and refreshing feeling in her crystal. She could see the improved mood on her council-mate’s faces too – it had been a long and trying meeting. Well, almost all of them. WeeSeu was impossible to read and Ella still looked grouchy.

“Your commune was productive, I trust?” asked Advisor Risper-us-Along, as they filed through her office and out the door with the stringy-spider art.

“I’m-a thinking I’m-a need a downcycle or three, I say, if that’s what you’re ameaning,” Affsol said, winking at the librarian. The others chuckled softly, and Shay did her best to avoid stealing a glance at Ella’s reaction.

The little group dispersed as they made their way through the Upper Library. Shay had an afternoon lecture that wasn’t starting for a while yet, but made for the lower lecture halls anyway. Eckfay and Bellajak walked and chatted with her for a little while on their way down the boreway before splitting off to wherever they were going.

Along the way, several other pupils bubbled around her, chatting, asking for advice or homework help, and seeing if they could pry any Songmaster-related gossip out of her. It was kind of like dealing with a small army of Monarecs, although Shay found that it wasn’t all that aggravating. Especially not some of the guys that seemed to take a lot of interest in asking her things about academics, geography, histories or languages. She supposed her successes with sub-tutoring the twins was getting around too, although she suspected that they were learning from other sources now too. Tuneryke had picked up a lot of funny sayings in the past few weeks. Maybe their first year lectures were starting to break through. Overall, the fuss helped to keep her from worrying about what had become of Rek.

Shay was nearly at the first lower lecture hall, chatting with a younger girl about some of the musical arrangements of past Dances, when someone shouted from behind. “Hey! Hold up.”

She turned and saw Zaksar bounding down the steps. He glowered at her erstwhile companion, who squeaked a fast goodbye and became highly interested in catching up on her shards. Zak fell in step with Shay.

“That was rude. What do you want?” Shay asked.

“Nice dress, Crown Nerd.”

“Just come to torment me, then?”

“Can’t take a compliment? You’re going to be fun date, I can tell.”

Shay straightened the fabric of her outfit. It was a slim little green piece with a brown frill that matched her hair. Lauresh had helped her craft it and everything. She thought it fit rather nicely, and tried to read the tall boy’s face to see if he had really meant what he said. They reached the landing that fed into the lower lecture hall’s foyer.

“This is me. Bye,” she said, and walked in.

“This is me too.” He kept by her side.

“Oh, you have a lecture now, huh?”

“No, but you do in about an hour.”

“So you’re stalking me.”

“I’m getting to know you. At least, that’s what I’ve been told I should do.”

“At least you follow orders. I wouldn’t have thought you trained so well.”

He smirked. “Some things just ain’t worth messin’ with, babe. I’m not the kind of dumbass who screws with the daughter of Sossos Summittask.”

She smirked right back at him: “At least not figuratively, huh?”

He laughed good and hard at that, and not at her either. It was an unexpectedly pleasing thing to watch; she found herself surprised that she had not only made the racy remark, but that it apparently had hit the mark as well.

“I should stalk you more often, Crown Nerd,” he said, recovering.

“One, that’s creepy. Two, my name is Shaynike.”

“Speaking of stalkers,” he said, ignoring her, “can you call off your pups? They hang around me like they’re my shitting shadow. Look.”

Shay glanced back over her shoulder. Sure enough, Tuneryke and Ryketune strolled several paces back, holding hands. Tune caught Shay’s eye and made a silly face.

“They follow people they like. You must be the exception to the rule.”

“A regular comedian, you are. At least you’re not as boring as I had figured you’d be.”

“Your compliments are just so endearing,” she said. He didn’t reply, and seemed to be checking his shards or something as they continued to walk along the foyer. “So then, if we’re getting to know one another, why don’t you give me your birthright?”

“I’ll give you more than that,” he said, bouncing his eyebrows.

“You are disgusting.”

“Griphill, Massus, stonechoice, fuckin... Tomecliff Stone, blah blah. Happy?”

“You can’t even... ugh, why do you have to be so infuriating?”

“’Cause,” he said, “I can.” With that, he flicked his wrist and sent a touch of Distanceska into her hairpin, whizzing it away to clatter somewhere behind them.

“Hey!” she cried, grabbing at a tuft of hair that started to fall loose. He strolled away laughing, and Shay went to get her pin, red in the face. Ryketune had it in his hand, and held it out for her. Shay snatched it up, muttering thanks.

“I like him!” said Tuneryke.