Page 94 of An Arcane Education
I swallow against the knot in my throat. “Thank you.” The words feel insignificant in comparison to the impact of the situation.
Delilah takes my hand and squeezes it twice. “That's what friends do.”
We all grab coffee before reconvening at a table.
“How did you manage to get everyone together like this?” I ask Max. “Especially Alaric.”
“I went to these ladies’ dorm rooms first, and then we may have marched down to Dr. Vale’s house and threatened him slightly.”
“Youwhat?” I laugh.
“Well, it started off with me going off on him about you potentially getting expelled, but when I told him about the expulsion hearing, he was furious. Apparently, nobody had told him.
“I’ll definitely need to talk to him later,” I say. “The last time we spoke, things did not end on a good note.”
“Well, he showed up for you today and gave up his anonymity to the entire board and administration. That has to count for something,” Callista chimes in.
“It does. I didn’t know anything about that. I can’t believe his dad is president of the board.”
“Which means he’s at least half Fae, which totally makes sense in retrospect,” Delilah says. “You’ll have to ask him about that. I’d be interested to know how many traits carry over if someone is only part Fae.”
“I was planning on it.”
“Actually, you should go now,” Max urges. “Otherwise you’ll have to go through two classes thinking about it before even maybe having a chance to talk to him. He’s probably still in the castle talking to his dad. Everyone reconvene at our dorm tonight at six tonight?”
We all agree on meeting up, and I follow Max’s advice and rush back over to the castle.
The door to the meeting room is cracked open, and I pause to listen before I enter. It sounds as if everyone hasleft aside from Alaric and his father, who are speaking in hushed tones.
I catch fragments of the conversation—“reckless,” “necessary,” “we’ll discuss this later”—but can’t quite make out full sentences.
I don’t want to interrupt, but I’m also desperate to talk to Alaric, so I push the door open.
The voices stop, and I wave awkwardly.
“We’ll speak about this later,” Mr. Escher says in a low tone before striding out of the room, nodding politely at me as he leaves.
Alaric and I stare at each other for a moment. He looks exhausted but relieved,
“Hi,” I say, because I can't think of anything more eloquent.
“Hi.” He smiles, moving toward me until we’re inches apart. Before I can speak, he says, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you everything sooner. I was desperate to protect my anonymity because it was crucial to my goals here.”
“So you basically just gave up everything you’ve been working toward to protect me?”
He nods, and I blow out a slow breath, realizing that his confession had more levity than I’d originally thought.
“I would do anything for you,” he murmurs, tucking a strand of my wild hair behind my ear. “You're worth every secret, every sacrifice, and every risk. And I’m going to explain everything to you, starting now.”
“Okay,” I whisper.
He glances around, then asks, “Walk with me? I’d like to get outside where there’s less of a chance of being overheard.”
We walk in silence as we make our way down the castle steps and along the winding path through campus until we reach the stairs to the beach near the freshman dorms.
We find a fallen tree trunk to sit on, and I wait patiently for him to explain.
“I’m going to tell you something first that will change everything for us,” he says, “and I’m trusting you to not tell anyone else or use this information for gain.”
