“Asta?” Viggo said, face scrunched in confusion.
I put my hands on my hips. “Who else would be looking for you?”
He looked me up and down several times, mouth going slack. “I had to be sure. You’re so…”
For a moment, I thought he was going to pay me a compliment. My face burst into flames.
Viggo cleared his throat and finally looked away. “Different.”
I let out a sigh of relief and shook my head at my own silliness. “What is this? A secret hideout?”
“When we were young, Bryn and I found this door in the wall,” he explained, moving aside to let me in. “We used it to escape the boys who bullied him. Olga’s store was bought by that mystic sometime after Bryn and I were enrolled in Dotharr’s Academy. He isn’t in there. I thought he might’ve come here when he realized how much this neighborhood had changed.”
What I’d thought was a hidden room was actually a tunnel, sloping down into the earth. A small lamp hung from the wall, lighting the way even after Viggo had shut the door behind us. I had to suppress the urge to sneeze. It smelled like damp earth and rotting plants. We walked through semi-darkness until we came to another door made of stone.
“What was it originally built for?” I asked.
“I think you’ll figure it out once we reach our destination.” Viggo pushed on the door and then slid it to the side. It caught on something, forcing Viggo to push harder. With a final grunt, he managed to force the door open.
We walked into what appeared to be an underground wine cellar. The room had been cut from the earth. Barrels of mead and wine were stacked up against one wall, and decks of playing cards, wooden chips, and metal mugs were lined up on a shelf against the back wall. A table and four chairs took up the farthest corner. There Bryn sat, beaming at me. His curly black hair almost reached his shoulders. He wore the white robes of a medical student, the sleeves of which he had rolled up to his elbows, and he was trying to grow facial hair. It made me grin even wider.
He rose at the sight of me and bowed.
Shooting Viggo a look of disapproval, he murmured, “Where are your manners? We’re in the presence of a lady.”
I covered the distance between us in two bounds and threw my arms around him.
Viggo scoffed. “A lady wouldn’t come anywhere near you. She might fear the caterpillar on your face is carnivorous.”
I laughed and pulled away to look into Bryn’s eyes. He didn’t seem the least bit upset about Viggo’s comment. He held me at arm’s length. “I think you’ve grown! I can see into your eyes now without looking down.”
I punched him in the arm and almost knocked him over. “You lied to me.”
Bryn regained his balance and rubbed his arm. “I had to. If you knew anything, anything at all, my father would learn of it. I knew about the truth serum. I invented it by accident when I was fifteen and he confiscated my formula. I couldn’t tell you the truth without putting myself and my plans in jeopardy. Surely, you can understand that.”
“Yes, but you still lied,” Viggo chimed in. “That makes you a scoundrel and Asta has every right to be angry with you.”
Bryn hung his head. “I’m sorry.” He peeked up at me, suddenly hopeful. “But I’m excelling in medical school.”
I smiled. “Of course you’re excelling in medical school. You’re a genius.”
We proceeded to sit at the table and talk. I had never seen Viggo so animated. He walked Bryn through everything that had happened to him and me this year. I hardly said two words, but I wasn’t bothered. Viggo had known and loved Bryn for much longer than I had. He didn’t go into detail about today. He simply said we fought and I won, and instead of killing him as I had been ordered to, I convinced the king to spare his life.
Bryn sent me a worshipful look. “Strong-willed indeed. And fearless! The king could have decided to let General Halvar punish you in whatever way he liked for your disrespect.”
“Well, he didn’t,” I said, eager to change the subject. “So what have you been up to for the past year, Bryn? Or do you go by Behnam now?”
The big, bright grin reappeared. “I’m both, just as you are Asta and Isa. Call me what you wish. After I escaped Dotharr’s Academy—”
“How did you manage to escape?” Viggo interrupted. “I’ve wondered all year.”
Bryn shrugged. “Bode manages the meals of the staff. I merely distracted him long enough to slip a sleeping draught into the pitcher of tea he was going to deliver to the staff dining room.”
I laughed. “So simple! You should’ve seen how frazzled he was on the night of your escape. He was convinced you were a criminal mastermind.”
“Who’s to say I’m not?” Bryn asked, wiggling his eyebrows. “Anyway, after I escaped I needed to find a place to hide for two weeks while my application was being reviewed by the medical school board. I sent several of my medicinal concoctions to prove my worth along with my academic file and the forged expulsion document, gave the board the address of the mystic’s store, and waited for their acceptance letter. I hid here and checked the letterbox periodically before I received my letter. Then I moved into the lofts of Ishem’s School of Science.”
Passion made his copper eyes burn. “You two would die from the lack of physical activity, but Ishem is amazing! We study herbs and plants and their medicinal properties. We study illnesses, their causes, and their remedies. We study human anatomy and dissect animals. I’ve picked apart a cat’s brain and made its body move even after it has been dead for many days!”
I flinched and Viggo grimaced but Bryn continued, unaware of our discomfort. “I know the reasons why anyone does anything because of my advanced psychology class. We don’t only study physical health, you see. I’m studying mental and emotional health as well. And I love it! Everyone at the school doubted me at first because my eyes glow, but I’m ahead in all my courses. I’m meant to be there. I’m meant to be a doctor.”
Viggo ducked.
I rolled my eyes at him. “Dotharr can’t strike us. We’re underground.”
“It’s a habit,” he murmured, sitting up straight again.
I smiled at Bryn. “I’m glad to hear you’ve found happiness at last. Have you discovered an alternate explanation for the color change of your eyes? Or do you think Dotharr made a mistake?”
Viggo crossed his arms. “Heavenly Masters don’t make mistakes.”
Bryn wasn’t so quick to defend their gods. He pursed his lips and considered his words carefully before answering. “Every warrior that has been supposedly chosen by Dotharr has witnessed or survived great horror, tragedy, or pain. Following a hunch, I traveled to Temple Island and visited Dotharr’s monastery.”
“Temple Island?” I asked.
“It’s a smaller island along our western coast, attached to the main island of Holger by a giant purple bridge. It’s where all the temples of the Heavenly Masters were built so it was called Temple Island.”
“No one is allowed to enter the monastery but the warrior monks,” Viggo said. “Don’t tell me you were foolish enough to walk upon holy ground without their blessing.”
Bryn smiled sheepishly. “All right. I won’t tell you that. Just know I was able to look through the archives of the first warriors chosen by Dotharr and all those that came after.”
Viggo slapped a hand against his forehead and ran it down the length of his frowning face. “You must have a death wish. It’s bad enough that you’ve been defying Dotharr since your eyes began to glow, but this—”
“Don’t you want to know what I found?” Bryn asked.
“I do,” I said, earning a glare from Viggo.
Bryn grinned, unable to contain his excitement. “Copper eyes are passed down through family lines.”