Traitor Savant (Second Seal of the Duelists) by Jasmine Giacomo Page B

arrive in ten beats,” he warned. The gossiping Avatar students began to spread out, ready to begin class. “What do we do about Master witten Oost’s new no-off-campus-excursions rule?”
    “It’s only for our safety,” Tarin said.
    A hot flash of alarm shot down Bayan’s spine. “Are you saying you’re done with Savantism?”
    Tarin flu shed and shook her head. “I’ve no idea what would happen if I stopped now. And passing Avatar is too important.”
    Bayan nodded. So many things were suddenly too important. But at that very moment, after one of his mentors had been ripped from his life, probably never to be seen again, it seemed that the wrong person’s important things were taking place.
     
    ~~~
     
    “And leave Bayan to his training, please,” Kipri added as the newniks streamed out the door of his classroom. “You don’t want to be responsible for his, or any of his hexmates’, failure to pass their Avatar exams.”
    Several of the girls flushed and giggled as they left . None of them tried, anymore, to touch or shove the young eunuch instructor, thanks to the new crossed-arms pose he had adopted. He had Tarin to thank for that suggestion, in addition to the more authoritative tone he found himself using with his students. If he hadn’t run into her at one of the solitaries one night, he might still be stumbling around and trying too hard to relate to everyone.
    “Liaison Kipri?” Sivutma had stayed behind, only approaching when the rest of the newniks had left. “I know many of my classmates idolize Bayan for being a hero. But didn’t you play a part in saving the emperor, too?”
    Kipri felt his cheeks warm beneath his coppery skin, even as he registered that she hadn’t sworn once. She was already fitting in. “I did.” At her prompting, he detailed how Philo had learned of a mysterious plot and arranged for Bayan to spy on the conspirators in Muggenhem. Kipri had been the messenger, delivering Bayan’s instructions, but he’d unwittingly become part of the action when he discovered his own uncle was among the rebel assassins. He’d told Bayan what his family’s history of rebellion meant for the emperor in time for Bayan and his hexmates to save the emperor’s life.
    Sivutma listened with rapt attention. When Kipri finished, she said, “What do you see in your emperor, in your empire, that makes you choose them over your own blood?”
    Kipri felt an itch beneath his Waarden wig. He knew it marked him in Sivutma’s eyes as merged with their people’s conquerors. His hand, about to scratch, returned to his side. His words would be foreign enough to her. “The Raqtaaq culture puts its emphasis on loyalty to family and society, but my family betrayed my father, and me as well, to save themselves. Because of that, I grew up in the Waarden culture. It’s not perfect either—don’t get any illusions about that— but the eunuchs took me in and gave me a proper education, work experience, and now this new job. They’ve made me feel useful, which is more than I felt when my family sacrificed my father to their own ambition. They discarded me at five years old. I can’t respect that.”
    Sivutma frowned as if she were in pain. “I know that feeling. My father would have killed me with a filthi—with a melon machete the very day he found out I was cursed.”
    Kipri’s expression softened. “You’re not cursed. Your magic is a talent that you must learn to control.”
    Sivutma clanked her iron bracelets together. “These help with control? They make me feel like a slave.”
    “As I said, the Waarden Empire is not perfect. But you and I both know that you’ll have more opportunities within its borders than you’d get at home. All you need to do is work toward them instead of fighting the system.”
    She pouted in thought. “I admit, it is hard to accomplish things if you’re dead. I will consider your advice, Liaison.”
     
    ~~~
     
    At Bayan’s next Flame class, he noticed