Chapter Seven: Man of the Hour | Part 3
Immediately after class, Thirtyx sought out Dain in the crowd of students heading to various activities. “Hey, I think we should call an emergency meeting for breakfast tomorrow, but I don’t know how to get a note to everyone that fast. Do you know how to do that… purple smoke… letter… poof thing?” The lame finish twisted his stomach into knots. This was why it was so much easier to let Rhea take charge of things.
But instead of mocking him, Dain nodded knowingly. “Yeah, I can do it. Do you have the letter?”
Thirtyx produced the piece of paper he’d agonized over during his last class. Dain frowned. “Is this the only copy you have?”
“Yeah, uh… do I need to write some more?”
“No, no. I can duplicate it. The ink might fade a little, but it should still be legible. How many do you think we need?”
Dain agreed to Thirtyx’s list of underclassmen before he slapped the page against the wall and drew a sigil around it. Although Thirtyx watched the work carefully, he must have blinked as the single paper turned into a stack.
Dain handed him the pile. “Can you hold up each copy while I draw the sending sigil?”
Thirtyx had to fight his instincts to position the first sheet against the wall. Any time anyone other than Rhea and Benn used magic this close to him, it was typically for a malicious purpose. “You’re not going to send my hand with the letter, are you?”
Dain grinned, exposing his pointy, draconic teeth in a way that didn’t put Thirtyx at ease. “Then I wouldn’t have any way to hold up the rest of the copies.”
Thirtyx held his breath as Dain traced the sigil. It felt like lying prone before a particularly dagger-happy enemy, but the panic was short-lived. The paper vanished from under Thirtyx’s fingers in a puff of purple smoke. He barely felt it.
Was it true that the twins’ departure had triggered some sort of ceasefire around him? Had Dain been right about the power he currently held? You’ve got the forbidden knowledge about why Rhea and Benn got dragged back to the palace. If there was ever a time you could count on people listening to you, it’s now…
Dain sent each copy, his sigils quickening as he went. When the stack was exhausted, Thirtyx breathed a sigh of mingled relief and gratitude. “Thank you, Dain. I really appreciate your help. I mean, with everything Rhea has going on, seeing that this was a success—whenever she manages to come back—will mean so much to her.”
Dain chuckled, showing off those teeth again. “I’m not the one you need to play that angle on, buddy. I already told you I’m in.”
“What… what do you mean? I was genuinely thanking you.”
“Well of course you’d have to mean it somewhat. Look, I’m not falling for your tricks, but that’s a good script for when you’re rustling up donations—using those slippery Verith skills of yours for good instead of evil.”
Thirtyx crossed his arms. “I’m not accustomed to using my ‘slippery Verith skills’ for good or evil, thank you very much.”
Dain released a prolonged groan and raked his hand across his face. “By the Twins, Thirtyx, why not? Everyone is so anxious around you because they think you’re manipulating people. And after all this time, it turns out you don’t even know how to properly be a Verith?”
Thirtyx didn’t know what to say to that, and he didn’t come up with anything for an embarrassingly long time. After several moments, Dain scratched awkwardly at the scales behind his ear. “Well, uh, I have a study group to go to, but… let me know how else I can help. I’ll catch you at breakfast tomorrow.”
Thirtyx put off most of his homework to plan for tomorrow’s meeting—a process repeatedly interrupted by the memory of Dain’s goading. Sure, he’d held tantalizing knowledge over people’s heads before, but only when he was desperately hungry. Even though he was designed to get pleasure from secrets, delighting in deception typically made him feel dirty and wrong.
But could it be used to help others?
He experimented at the meeting over breakfast. As he launched into those same sentiments of making Rhea proud when she had so much else to worry about, he caught Dain’s eye, and the Dragonfolk gave him a satisfied nod. Thirtyx laid out the tasks that needed doing and passed around a sign-up sheet. Nearly everyone put their names down.
Even Rhea typically couldn’t get those results.
Calley Jones 