Among Wolves. Nancy Wallace K.

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ he’d had little sleep, spending half the night studying for his own exams and the other half tutoring Gaspard. He gave into temptation, slumping down on the bed and closing his eyes.

      A moment later, he heard running feet on the stairs.

      “Devin?” Henri Ferrare, a first year student, hung on the doorframe, his breath coming in gasps. “It’s Gaspard. Can you come?”

      Devin dragged himself up off the bed. “What’s the matter? Is he hurt?”

      Henri shook his head. “No, just drunk…and Antoine needs to close up.”

      Devin quelled his annoyance. It was typical of Gaspard to go on a binge when he needed to concentrate his energy elsewhere. He clattered down the stairs and out the front door after Henri, feeling a chill as the night closed in around them. The sky was as clear and starry as midwinter, and Devin wished he’d brought his jacket. A spring peeper piped his bell-like solo from the edge of the fountain. Behind them a cabbie shouted anxiously for a fare, but they kept on going.

      “Antoine sent for Gaspard’s father,” Henri confided as they hurried along.

      “God,” Devin murmured. “I hope we get there before he does!”

      At Antoine’s, candles burned on every table, though the sign by the front door said “closed.” Devin stopped just inside, realizing he’d never seen this room empty before. Its cozy warmth faded without the camaraderie of dozens of students and scholars clustered around the bar and sitting at the tables. The silence seemed jarring, bereft of the sound of laughter and the clink of glasses.

      They found Gaspard on the floor under a corner table, a cut oozing blood across his right cheekbone. Antoine knelt beside him, a wet cloth in hand.

      “How badly is he hurt?” Devin demanded.

      The barman shrugged and stood up. “It’s nothing. The cut will heal without a scar.”

      Devin leaned down to see for himself. Gaspard’s breathing was smooth and regular, his parted lips emitting an occasional snore.

      “What happened?” he asked.

      “I sent for his father,” Antoine replied. “I thought you’d gone home.”

      “I went home for dinner but I had to come back to pack,” Devin answered. He had barely a month to spend in each province. He needed every moment of his summer holiday plus his entire Third Year to complete his project. He couldn’t have lingered a few days with his parents even if he had wanted to.

      “Monsieur Forneaux came himself,” Antoine continued, “and Gaspard was not glad to see him.”

      Gaspard’s father was René Forneaux, a high ranking Council member. He must have been very angry or very worried to have come himself to drag his son out of a bar in the middle of the night.

      “Monsieur Forneaux tried to take him home,” Antoine continued. “Gaspard told him he hadn’t finished his exams. He said, when he turned them in, Isaac La Salle told him he need not return to the Académie next fall.”

      Devin’s breath wheezed out in exasperation. The least Gaspard could have done was to finish his exam and not leave it half completed. The implication was that he didn’t care if he was ruining his chances at the Académie.

      “This is not true?” Antoine asked.

      “True enough, unfortunately,” Devin murmured. “And then, what happened?”

      “Monsieur Forneaux said he would hire tutors for the summer so that Gaspard could be reinstated. Gaspard told him that all the tutors in the world wouldn’t help him graduate. He said if his father couldn’t accept that, he could go to hell. Then Monsieur Forneaux hit him.”

      Devin winced, glancing at his friend on the floor. “He knocked him out cold?”

      “No, no!” Antoine explained. “Gaspard passed out. He drank a whole bottle of wine after his father left.”

      Devin rolled his eyes. “Can you help me carry him back to the dormitory, Henri?”

      Antoine grabbed his sleeve and pointed. “That won’t be necessary. I think your father sent his carriage.”

      “What?” Devin said in disbelief. He turned to see Marcus’s formidable bulk standing in the doorway.

      “I’ll take care of this,” his bodyguard said, bending to pull Gaspard from under the table. “Go back and get your things and his. I’ll meet you at the bottom of the dormitory steps.”

      “How did you hear about this?” Devin asked.

      “Your father had me follow you. I called to you from outside the dormitory when you ran down the steps. You must not have heard me.”

      So the protection his father had assigned him had started immediately, even before he’d left the city of Coreé. Devin found it odd.

      Marcus paused, Gaspard slung over his shoulder like a sack of grain. “You’re certain Gaspard still wants to go?”

      “We haven’t spoken since this morning…” Devin said, suddenly unsure he was doing the right thing.

      Marcus made the decision for him. “We’ll take him with us. If he decides to return, your father will pay his passage back. Go now. You’ll be late.”

      “What time is it?” Devin asked.

      “Nearly five,” Marcus told him.

      “The ship…”

      “Will wait,” Marcus replied “You father’s seen to that.”

      Devin smiled. This morning there seemed to be some advantages to being the Chancellor’s son.

      Even though the sun had yet to rise, the docks in the harbor swarmed with activity. The Marie Lisette sat low in the water, her hold filled with Sorrento wine bound for the Northern Provinces. Marcus carried Gaspard aboard while Devin gathered their belongings from the carriage. He turned to see his father ride up on his dappled gray gelding.

      “I decided to see you off,” Vincent Roché said, drawing his coat closer around him. “It’s a cold morning to be heading north, son. You’ll keep an eye on the weather?”

      “Of course. But we have to visit the Northern Provinces first; they’ll be snowbound again by the first of September,” Devin said, even though he’d left his father their proposed itinerary.

      “Just be careful and listen to Marcus. He’s got a good head on his shoulders.”

      “I will,” Devin replied. “I hadn’t expected to see you this morning.”

      “I have a small gift,” his father said, extending a package.

      Devin laughed, pleased that he’d come. “I thought you’d already given me Marcus.”

      “Marcus is going with you to ease my concerns.” He held the package out again. “Open it.”

      Devin СКАЧАТЬ