A Student's Dream (Twisted Cogs Book 1) Read online

  “Elena, what happened last night was a horrible misfortune, but we’ve already taken steps to make sure it won’t happen again. We’ve hired two new servants that will make the studio much more secure, and we’ve made other, more subtle steps to ensure our garzoni’s safety.”

  There was nothing Elena could do to avoid the demand, and they both knew it. If she disobeyed and shared what had happened, it would accomplish nothing but getting her kicked out of the studio. She glanced at Ele’s sleeping figure, then dropped her gaze to the bedsheets, a gesture of defeat. It wasn’t hard to imagine the advice he’d give. Bea continued in the same gentle but firm voice.

  “We won’t lock you in your room anymore, given your antagonistic relationship with the locks of this studio. We will put measures in place that will tell us if you leave your room at night again. You are excused from your duties for tomorrow, but I’m sure Master De Luca would encourage you to spend the time thinking about your first project. If you need anything at all, we’ll try to get it to you.”

  “Are the others starting on their first projects already?” Elena asked, glad to change the subject.

  “Garzoni usually scramble to impress in the first two months of apprenticeship, right up until the day Master De Luca lets all but four go,” Bea explained, “so the autumn usually sees four to eight projects completed per garzoni. Don’t worry, things usually quiet down in the other four seasons of the year.”

  Elena clenched her hands into fists. The intense night and the nearly full day of sleep combined to give her an odd combination of energy and helplessness.

  “If they’re starting their projects tomorrow, then I am too,” she said. If Ele had been awake, he would’ve recognized the stubborn set to her chin. “In fact, I have something I have to do this evening.” Mustering all of her energy, Elena pulled the bedclothes off of her legs, reaching beneath her pillow to retrieve the tight bundle of woodworking tools.

  “Elena, don’t be silly.” Bea sighed. “Master De Luca isn’t going to penalize you for being on bed-rest after your ordeal.”

  “What ordeal?” Elena pushed forward and landed on her feet, wobbling a little bit. She felt weak, but she tilted her chin up in defiance, in what Ele referred to as her ‘Joanna face’. Bea didn’t answer, but she folded her arms. “If nothing happened to me last night, then I should be able to get right back to work, right?”

  “If being obstinate is how you deal with the situation, I suppose I deserve that,” Bea sighed, “but please, please try not to wear yourself out.” Elena tossed her hair and walked slowly to the door without another word.

  ***

  She thought the stairs would be the worst, but Elena revised her view as she staggered down the hallway. It was the hallway after the stairs that was the worst, as her sore and aching legs, already on fire from the stairs, now had to carry her down a hallway that seemed much longer than they had the day before.

  “Stupid,” she muttered to herself, leaning against the wall for support to keep herself from falling, “should’ve just taken the stupid day off.” When she reached the door of the workroom, she pulled herself up and took deep, steadying breaths. She refused to look weak in front of Frederica.

  Leanarda was the only provisional garzoni in the workroom when Elena entered, and on the other side Frederica and the mop-top Artifex Carlo were the only full garzoni present.

  “Elena! Bea told us you were sick today like Vittoria!” Leanarda called from her workstation.

  “I’m feeling a little unwell,” Elena said as she handed the bundle to Frederica, ...understatement of the year... “but I had to bring Frederica her tools.”

  “You still got the tools?” Frederica asked, unwrapping them, “and you even got them from Tellem’s Shop! I’m...actually kind of impressed.” Something about her choice of words poked at Elena’s subconscious for a moment, but she couldn’t quite figure out their significance.

  “Where’s Ele?” Leanarda asked, crossing the workshop to join the pair. Across the room her Echo Leo was looking at the small canvas she had left behind on the bench. “He doesn’t seem the type to leave your side.”

  Maybe it was a microscopic change in Fred or Frederica’s expression, perhaps it was something in the way Leanarda had asked, or maybe it had just taken so long for Elena’s worn out mind to work through things. Either way, several small pieces clicked together in her head at the same time.

  “What do you mean, ‘you’re impressed’?” Elena said suddenly, turning to Frederica.

  “What?” Frederica’s face was a mask, but behind her Fred’s expression twitched. “I’m just impressed you were able to find Tellem’s is all. It’s a small shop, out of the way-”

  “No...no you said I ‘still’ got the tools, as if you were expecting something to have happened that would’ve stopped me. And Vittoria just happens to be sick today, does she? ‘Sick’, just like me?” she whirled to face the other full garzoni. Carlo and Carla were both bent over the desk, as if they were absorbed in work and hadn’t overheard the conversation. Since they were only a few feet away, the act wasn’t very convincing.

  “You know,” Elena said quietly. “You know, and Vittoria knows. All of you full garzoni know!”

  “Know what?” Leanarda looked back and forth between Frederica and Elena’s faces, riveted. “What’s going on?”

  “Elena, don’t be stupid,” Elena hadn’t heard Carlo’s Echo speak before, but she snapped the words like someone might brandish a weapon. As if without thinking the woman took a step forward to stand between Elena and Carlo.

  “No, Elena, please do be stupid,” Fred needled from over Frederica’s shoulder. “Please give them an excuse. The studio would be better off without you.”

  Frederica herself didn’t say anything, she simply stood with her arms folded in front of her. Elena’s broken wrist throbbed, and she looked down to note that she was clenching her fists so hard that her nails had left crescent-shaped marks in her skin.

  “So. What are you going to do about it?” Frederica asked, so quietly that Elena could barely hear it. Her voice was even, the phrase neither a worried query nor a smug challenge, just a simple question. Elena actually considered it for a moment, while beside her Leanarda practically bounced up and down with curiosity.

  “I’m going to Master De Luca,” she announced finally. Her answer seemed to disappoint Frederica.

  “Unwise,” she muttered as Elena turned away. Leanarda went to follow, but something in Elena’s eye seemed to warn her away. She heard Carlo and Carla muttering to Frederica as she left the workroom.

  Either her brief pause in workroom had rejuvenated her weak legs, or the power of righteous anger was propelling her faster than stubborn duty had, because they didn’t hurt as much on the path back down the hallways. Her head was another story. Somewhere along the line she started to feel dizzy, and halfway down the hall she had to lean one hand on the wall again just to keep her balance.

  “Elena!” She didn’t turn to see who it was, but the pounding footsteps soon caught up with her, and Carlo was by her side. “Elena this is a seriously bad idea.”

  “If Master De Luca and Bea and Pietro want to keep secrets among themselves, then fine. They run the studio, they can do what they want,” Elena pursed her lips, “but I’m a garzona, same as you all! If you can know what happened last night, why can’t I? And how am I supposed to compete with you if you know more than I do?”

  “If you burst into his office in this mood, you’re going to get on his bad side, then you’ll really struggle to compete,” Carlo gave her a worried look, “and you don’t seem to be at the top of your game right now anyway. Please just...at least get some sleep before you do something big like this.”

  “Stop sticking your neck out for her,” Carla walked by Carlo’s side, “it’s not worth it.”

  “It doesn’t hurt anything to try to help her,” he replied to his Echo, and Elena was glad the attention was off of her when she almost stumble
d.

  “If she wants to sacrifice her spot here, let her. We’ve gotten this far by not sticking our necks out. She’s not worth risking that,” Carla repeated. As the threesome passed the head of a set of stairs, another voice broke in.

  “Oi! Someone having a party and forgot to invite me?” Niccolo, the Saggitari garzoni, took the stairs two at a time, an easy grin on his face. He had his bow slung over one shoulder and a quiver dangling carelessly from one hand, his leather shoulder-guards creaking as he walked. “Hello Carlo, Carla. They told us you were sick in bed today, Elena.”

  “She knows,” Carlo informed him as Niccolo’s Echo followed up the stairs, “she must’ve seen something last night, I don’t know. She’s going to go yell at Master De Luca.”

  “That’s not a very smart move,” Niccolo’s brow furrowed, “besides, she doesn’t look very well. Elena are you alright?”

  “Dizzy,” Elena mumbled. She was still bracing herself on the wall, but the wall was rocking back and forth gently, and she didn’t trust herself to walk.

  “She’s got a hit of Slug, why are you letting her go up to De Luca in this state?” Niccolo asked Carlo and Carla.

  “I’m trying to stop her!” Carlo protested, “I’m telling her all the reason she shouldn’t go, I’m making a very convincing argument...” His voice died out at the resigned look on Niccolo’s face. The Saggitari wordlessly handed Carlo his quiver and bow, then swept Elena up in his arms and began walking towards the dorms.

  “Oh!” Elena gasped, but the world was spinning so much that she could hardly argue. She let him carry her without protest, breathing in his surprisingly pleasant scent of leather tinged with...some sort of flower? If she had had to guess what Niccolo smelled like, she wouldn’t have anticipated that. The two smells went nicely together, but the lurching room suddenly took her mind off of them, “too dizzy.”

  “I would really appreciate it if you didn’t vomit on me,” Niccolo smiled down at her, a lopsided grin. It was a nice smile, though she apparently thought every boy had a nice smile. She did notice that it was entirely unlike Arturo’s hungry smile had been; a little softer and warmer. It reminded her of the smell of leather and flowers.

  “Okay,” she replied.

  “Oh my god, Niccolo, you’re shameless. You already have one of the new garzona crushing on you, are you planning on collecting the full set?” Niccolo’s Echo rolled her eyes.

  “Nicci thinks I act the way I do so that girls will love me,” Niccolo dropped his voice to a stage whisper, leaning towards Elena conspiratorially, “little does she know girls love me no matter how I act.”

  “The goal is for her to not vomit on you, mister peacock,” Nicci laughed, and Elena giggled along with her. Niccolo turned to open the door to her room with his back, then crossed the distance to her bed with a few long strides. Elena felt so weak that she was grateful when he gently pulled the covers over her.

  “I doubt you’ll be comfortable sleeping in those clothes, but I’ll leave it to you to take care of that.” He chuckled with a wink as he turned to leave. At the doorway he turned back, his face series. “Listen...if you’re still convinced to confront De Luca tomorrow after you’ve gotten a good night’s sleep, promise me you’ll talk to me first.”

  “Carlo got a crack at you, maybe our arguments will make more sense,” Nicci added.

  “Okay,” Elena mumbled, already feeling sleep steal over her again. It couldn’t hurt to let them talk. The door shut quietly, and in the silence of the room Elena closed her eyes and tried to focus on stopping the dizziness. Her stomach roiled a bit, and she was reminded that she hadn’t had anything to eat all day.

  “Elena?”

  “You’re awake!” Elena smiled and opened heavy eyes to see Ele standing by her bed, smiling down at her.

  “Yeah, but I’m really sleepy still. Do you mind if I lay in the bed?”

  Elena patted the blankets, and Ele flopped down to lie beside her. The pair fell asleep together, their hands resting in the same place on the blanket.

  Chapter XIV

  The Pair Gets Back Together

  The day had only just begun and it already seemed like it would be better than the one before. The room wasn’t spinning, Ele was awake at the foot of her bed, and Elena could lift her head with only a little bit of extra effort. She had only woken up, but Elena already counted it as a win.

  “Elena, before you say a single word,” Ele held up a hand, “I have something to say. This is the first time we’ve ever slept at different times, and the time alone has given me a chance to decompress, to work through some things in my mind. The whole experience has taught me something very valuable. Something I’d like to share with you.”

  “Of course, Ele,” Elena struggled to sit up, giving her Echo her full attention. “What has it taught you?”

  “It’s taught me about you, Elena,” Ele leaned closer, his eyes bright and serious, “it has taught me that you snore so freaking loudly.”

  Elena threw a pillow at him, and he laughed as it passed through him to fall on the floor.

  “Seriously, ‘Lena, it sounded like a puppy with breathing problems trying to take a drink through its nose. You would tell me if you’d eaten a puppy live, right?”

  “You are quite literally the worst person ever,” Elena couldn’t keep the angry look on her face for more than a few seconds. She couldn’t remember him ever calling her by a nickname before. “I was worried about you.”

  “Bea told me,” Ele smiled, “she said you were so worried that you kept asking about me before launching into nosy interrogations about what happened. I told her she must be mistaken, you aren’t physically capable of putting off your nosiness.”

  Out of pillows to hurl, Elena merely stuck out her tongue. “I missed you.”

  “I missed you too. Now,” Ele sat up straighter, suddenly all business, “since I am bound to the queen of nosiness, I might as well reap the benefits of it. What did you learn? What happened last night? They said you were knocked out right after I was.”

  “They won’t tell me. Master De Luca, Bea, Pietro, they all know, and the full garzoni all know too, but they’re all refusing to share. Bea even warned me that they’d kick me out if I told Leanarda, Mella, or Lorenzo.”

  “So,” Ele rubbed his chin, staring into space, “they’re only keeping it to the people who have been here the longest, the people who will have the most loyalty to the studio. That means the studio stands to lose something if the secret gets out.”

  Elena blinked. She hadn’t considered the mystery from that angle before.

  “So the question we have to ask ourselves is ‘what could the studio lose if it was known that a student and her echo were knocked out?’”

  “I was shot in the chest, not knocked out,” Elena said quietly. In the morning light two days after the fact it felt strange to say, and she prayed Ele wouldn’t instantly reply with something condescending and snarky. She knew it had happened, the memory was still fresh in her mind, but the fact that she was sitting in bed alive seemed to contradict her statement.

  “You were shot in the chest. ‘Shot’ as in ‘with an arrow’, ‘in the chest’ as in ‘the place your heart and lungs reside’,” Ele repeated in a flat voice.

  “Yes.”

  “And now, two days later, you’re sitting up in bed, feeling perfectly fine?”

  “Yes,” she bit her lips and looked down at the blanket.

  “Well then, we’ll need to figure out how you were healed so fast, and if there was anything special about the arrow.”

  “What?” Elena looked up, startled, to find Ele already on his feet and pacing, his brow furrowed in thought. “You believe me?” Ele raised an eyebrow at her as if she had just asked if the sky was really blue.

  “Do you feel up to standing?” he asked, not deigning to answer her question. “If you can come into the next room we can gather some information.”

  She followed him into the water closet that adjo
ined the room. Walking was a little bit easier today, and the dizziness had left altogether. Her reflection in the large mirror on one side of the room showed her a bedraggled girl with dark circles under her eyes, her tanned skin a little paler, her black hair a little stringy.

  “I look like a mess,” Elena said, glancing towards Ele’s reflection where his black hair lay in its casually perfection. Neither his skin nor his eyes bore any sign of being affected by their recent ordeal, which Elena thought was quite unfair.

  “Yes you do, but we’re not here to admire ourselves,” Ele had adopted a businesslike tone. “Take your shirt off.” Elena gave him a blank look. “So we can examine where you were hit, check for scars, get more information,” he clarified.

  Elena slipped her loose shirt off, then slowly tugged at her undershirt, uncharacteristic bashfulness creeping over her.

  “Calzini di dio, Elena, we’ve been around each other every day for sixteen years, do you really think I haven’t seen them before?” Ele said with an exasperated eye-roll.

  “You’ve always turned your back when I changed, ever since we were children! When have you seen anything?” Elena asked indignantly. Despite her annoyance it did make her feel more comfortable, and she stripped off her undershirt and turned to the mirror.

  “Just now,” Ele grinned. Elena glared at him, feeling the blush creeping from her cheeks down her neck. “Huh...you’ve always complained so much that I expected smaller. You should start wearing clothes that accentuate them more.”

  “...literally the worst person ever,” Elena muttered, turning back to the mirror and blushing so hard she felt over-warm. She did think her chest was small, but that was hardly something she was going to argue about with Ele right now. He wasn’t all wrong though, maybe she could start buying clothes the accentuated the little she had...she wondered if clothing was one of the things Master De Luca’s studio would pay for...

  “If you’re quite done ogling yourself,” Ele interrupted her musing, “what do you make of this?” He pointed carefully, and Elena leaned closer to the mirror to make out what he meant. Just between her breasts, the skin had been broken by a mark the size of a pinprick.