Cave of Nightmares (30 page)

Hayden felt his mouth fall open in surprise.

“Wait—you mean I’m related to
Jasper
?”

Oliver shrugged,
“Distantly, by marriage, yes.” He didn’t look nearly as stunned as Hayden felt right now. “One of your few surviving relations, I expect, since your father was fairly thorough about offing the rest of them; the ones who were threats.”

Hayden groaned. “Is there anyone in the
Nine Lands my father hasn’t attempted to murder? It’s getting hard to keep track of all the people who hate me because of him.”

Oliver idly examined his fingernails
. “I doubt it.” Without another word to him he ducked out into the snow, tucking the remnant of his prism back into his belt. Hayden shivered and did the same, his wet hair and skin freezing instantly in the biting wind.

The snow wasn’t falling as hard now, though Jasper was nowhere to be seen. His footprints were visible headed around the bend up the hill, and Oliver narrowed his eyes and followed without checking to see if Hayden was
still behind him.

They caught up t
o him after a few minutes and hiked the rest of the way up the mountain in uncomfortable silence. Hayden breathed a cold sigh of relief when he saw the small pond on top of the mountain, the water miraculously unfrozen even though everything around it was. Oliver filled the small bucket and looked up at the sky for some sign of Master Willow.

Fortunately they weren’t waiting long, and the Master
alit on the ground as a bird before reappearing in a swirl of red robes, taking a look at the three of them and nodding his head.

“Finall
y finished? Good, then let’s go, I have other things to do tonight.” He motioned them towards him and clasped his Mastery Charm. Hayden had no idea how he was going to transport them without a summoning circle, but his question was answered when they appeared in the stone rectangle where he had Conjury lessons and saw Master Reede tucking his chalk away.

He must have summoned
us from this side.

“Off you go, boys, and do try to avoid unnecessary squabbles in the future.” Master Willow walked away from them without a backwards glance, red robes swishing behind him.

Hayden removed his coat, disoriented by the abrupt change in climate, and tromped back to his dormitory without talking to anyone, thinking about the things Oliver had told him back on Mount Arawas. His father’s shadow seemed to haunt him everywhere he went. Had he really been so paranoid that he murdered Jasper’s parents while he was at a friend’s house, just because they didn’t want to join him in taking over the world? And could he blame Jasper for hating him now, if so?

***

Hayden was almost surprised when he made it through the next three months without getting in trouble and
officially completed his first term at Mizzenwald. All around him his classmates were talking excitedly about their plans for the one-month summer break from school, most of them involving seeing their families. Hayden seemed to be the only person who wasn’t looking forward to the break at all, because he had nowhere to go and no one to see.

After listening to Conner, Tamon, and Mira brag about their plans for the following month for forty-fi
ve minutes at dinner on the eve of their departure, Hayden made up an excuse about needing to ask Master Asher a question just so he could escape.

It was still sunny outside when he stepped onto the front lawns to clear his head, and would be until almost bedtime at this time of ye
ar. As far as Hayden could tell, he was alone right now on the grounds; everyone else was finishing dinner or hanging out in the common areas, saying goodbye to their friends or making plans to meet over the holiday. He frowned and set off at random, walking around the eastern side of the castle and hoping the fresh air would soothe him.

He tried not to think about how empty and lonely the school would be once everyone else left, instead focusing on how nice it would be not to have to see all the people who hated him or thought he was an attention-seeking show-off. Oliver and Lorn would doubtless be returning home to visit their family, and Jasper might even accompany them since he didn’t have parents of his own.

The thought of Jasper made him distinctly uncomfortable now, especially because Hayden knew whose fault it was that the older boy no longer had a mother and father to go home to.

We’re both orp
hans because of my dad.

That line of thou
ght did nothing to cheer him up, so he pushed it to the back of his mind for the umpteenth time and continued walking. The lights were on in Torin’s cabin, and Hayden brightened fractionally as he realized that Torin and the Masters were likely to remain at school for the summer.

At least I won’t be completely alone.

He knocked on the door and was surprised when a seventh-year student opened it and greeted him.

“Oh, hello…” Hayden said awkwardly. “Is Torin in?”

“Yeah, go on in, he just finished giving me my instructions for watching over the pen during summer break,” the older student said pleasantly, walking out of the cabin as Hayden entered.

Why is he telling a mastery-level student how to care for the animals over break?

His silent question was answered when he saw the packed bags stacked next to the door. Torin had his back to him and seemed to be completing an inventory of the bottles of herbs and medicines shelved along the wall. He turned when he heard Hayden’s footsteps behind him.

“Hayden, what brings you out to see me so late in the evening?”
he greeted him pleasantly, continuing to search for items on the shelves and making notes on his clipboard.

“I was just taking a walk to
clear my head and I saw the lights on in here.”

“Oh, yes. I’m just finishing my inventory before I take off tomorrow.”

Hayden tried to keep the disappointment in his voice to a minimum. “Where are you going?”

“Oh I’ll do a bit of traveling over the holiday, see if I can find any interesting creatures out there to study.” He looked absolutely thrilled by the prospect.

“Is Master Asher going with you?” Hayden tried to sound as casual as possible.

“Na
h, he likes to do his own thing. Research, I suspect, though he claims he’ll be off partying just to annoy me.” Torin rolled his eyes at the bottle of belladonna he was examining. “The Masters usually take off during the summer and winter breaks to travel the world and bring back new research topics.”

“Oh…” Hayden couldn’t entirely keep the disappointment from his voice thi
s time, his stomach turning to lead. If even the Masters were leaving for a month he would truly be alone here. Would the cooks even stay behind to feed him, or would they leave him behind as well?

Torin must have heard the desultory note in his voice
, because he stopped taking inventory and turned to look at him. “Why do you ask?”

Hayden smiled reflexively and tried to look nonchalant when he said, “Oh, I was just curious what you all did during breaks,” like it was a matter of no importance. Torin seemed to see right through him.

“You sticking around here with the cooks and cleaners, or do you have somewhere else to go?”

“I’m going with
Zane to visit his family,” he lied instantly, surprised at the readiness with which it came to him.

Torin’s
face relaxed. “Oh, good. I don’t like to think of you here all alone this summer. The place feels like a mausoleum when it’s empty.”

Hayden suppressed a grimace at the thought.

“Yeah, well, I just wanted to say goodbye before I left…” He was beginning to wish he’d never come out here. “I’ll let you get back to your inventory.”

“Take care, Hayden.” Torin gave him a brief wave. “See you at the start of term.”

The walk back to the castle was thoroughly depressing after that, a preview of what it would be like to have the place all to himself, since he didn’t pass another soul.

Well, at least I’ll have Bonk. I’m pretty sure
he’s
not going on holiday anywhere.

Hayden snickered at the thought and stepped inside, making his way to the dorm
itory now that dinner was finished.

At least I’ll be able to…
he struggled to think of some benefit to being locked in a castle for a month by himself…
I can get a head-start on my reading for next term…practice my conjuring and wands and stuff…

Even in his head it sounded like the l
amest holiday ever, but he was at a loss for what else to do. He passed dozens of rooms with the sounds of laughter and chatter permeating through the walls, especially in the common area. It was like poison to him right now.

He was thoroughly depressed by the time he pushed open the door to his own room. Connor and
Zane were inside, doing some last-minute packing before tomorrow morning.

“Where’ve you been?” t
he former asked.

“Oh, I went to say bye to Torin si
nce I won’t see him for a month. He’s headed off to look for wild animals to study or something like that,” Hayden shrugged.

“That sounds like my idea of a nightmare,” Conner grumbled, and
Zane laughed. “Anyway, where are you headed for break?”

Hayden winced and looked away from them, walking over to his bed on the pretext of checking on Bonk, who was fast asleep.

“Oh, I thought I’d just hang around here for a while…get a jump on my studying.”

Zane
surprised him by saying, “Nice joke, my friend, but you’re coming home with me for the holiday, remember?”

Hayden, who remembered nothing of the sort, turned around and gave his friend a strange look.

“Uh…when did we decide that?”

“
Weeks ago,” Zane gave him a mock-scowl. “I can’t believe you forgot you were invited! I guess that explains why you’re not done packing yet.”

Conner laughed at Hayde
n’s apparent memory loss, but Hayden was too choked up with relief to care.

I have somewhere to go. I don’t have to stay here all by myself…

“Oh, well I guess I’d better start packing then,” he said with a strangled laugh, and Zane rolled his eyes and loaned him a bag to cram his things into.

Hayden wasn’t the only one to wake up very early the next morning. Conner was already dressed and heading out for breakfast, and Kayce and his bags were gone before the sun even began to rise. Zane yawned blearily as Conner announced his goodbyes to their sleeping forms from the doorway and then took off.

“Hayden, you awake?”
Zane mumbled up at him.

“Yeah, you?”

Stupid question. If he wasn’t awake he wouldn’t have spoken to me.

“
Heh, not really,” his friend chuckled. “Better get up and get a move on though, or we’ll be in line for hours.”

Hayden didn’t really understand what he meant until they made their way out to the front lawns, where dozens of students were lined up with their belongings in front of the main courtyard. A group of mastery-level students wer
e drawing translocation circles while Master Reede called for groups of people to come forward who were going to the same place.

“It’s
chaos out here,” Hayden observed with interest, watching Lorn and Oliver Trout shove a cluster of first-year girls out of their way to get to the translocation circle ahead of them.

“Yeah, come on, l
et’s get in line.” Zane led the way towards the courtyard, weaving in and out of groups of people with much more baggage than them. Hayden followed as quickly as possible, glad to only be carrying the one bag, with Bonk perched sleepily on his shoulder. Felix the fox was wrapped limply around Zane’s shoulders like a scarf, fast asleep.

“
Merina!” Master Reede called out as soon as the next circle was completed. “Anyone headed to Merina step forward now.”

Hayden’s stomach did a flip-flop at the mention of his hometown. He wondered whether he would ever go there again, and how Anna was doing at the orphanage. He felt a stab of guilt that he hadn’t thought of her much since he came to Mizzenwald.

I’ll visit her. Someday I’ll go back and thank her for her kindness to me.

A few people went forward and squeezed together in
the circle, fumbling around a bit to make sure all their bags came with them.

“I
f they send us all out by magic, how does everyone get back?” Hayden asked curiously.

“That’s up to us,”
Zane grinned. “Usually Mom or Dad takes some time off work to ride back with me.”

The mastery students touched their hands to the edges of the circle and the group headed to
Merina disappeared. They immediately began drawing another diagram in its place.

“That must get exhausting,
” Hayden observed.