“I’ll catch up with you two later,” he called over his shoulder.
I glanced at both men behind him. They were the same pair that had been with him in the Wyldwoods, I was fairly certain—and now that I got a closer look, I had to admit that this trio was a sight to behold together. All handsome in their own right, though the captain still blew them both out of the water.
I definitely recognized the man on the left, with that rich, warm brown skin of his, the tidy goatee, and his dark brown hair that had previously been pulled back into a thick bun atop his head earlier this afternoon. Now that he let it loose, I could see that it was even longer than his captain’s—the wavy, curling tipsbrushing the bottom of his ribcage. He was smirking now, green eyes twinkling with intrigue as he crossed his arms.
The taller man beside him carried himself differently. He was pale, and compared to his companions, he looked downrightghostly.Up close, I could see that his face was also littered with scars—but none so striking as the man who was still invading my personal space. There was a harsh one across the bridge of his nose, though, beneath stormy gray eyes that looked rather exasperated at present.
“You still owe me a drink, Vistarii,” the first man said, rolling his eyes as if this was something that happened often.
The guardsman who they had just called Vistarii—a last name, maybe?—dug into his pockets, pulled out a single gold coin and flipped it towards the man who had complained.
“Enjoy it, Hans,” he chuckled.
Great. His voice was attractive, too—all low and slow and deep. There was a slight rasp to it, as well, which I found obnoxiously sexy. As if the man needed any more advantages when he looked likethat.
I couldn’t help but notice hestillhadn’t moved away from where he’d bumped into me, so I was still uncomfortably close to his groin. And good gods, he was tall.
Once the other two men had headed off to the bar, the familiar guardsman finally took a step back, making it easier for me to see his face.
“Well hello there, Little Conduit,” he started with a smile and a curious tilt of his head. “How do you know I’m a captain?”
Little Conduit?
I was hardlylittle, and besides, he didn’t look all that much older than me. He had to be in his mid-to-late twenties at most. He could be slightly older if he was a Conduit. We aged slightly slower than the average human due to the higher amount of aether in our bodies.
I raised an eyebrow as he helped himself to the seat across from me, and answered his question with one of my own.
“How do you know that seat’s not taken?”
He tilted his head again.
“Is it?”
“I mean, no, but—”
“Ah, so you’re just changing the subject, then.”
You know, I wasn’t sure I particularly liked this man.
“I could tell based on your uniform,” I explained, feeling like this should have been a little more obvious for someone of his rank and status. “Seems like a couple of those fancy tassels and pins indicate a position of leadership.”
“That’s a pretty specific detail to pick up on for a freshling. You must have been paying very close attention, considering I was several yards away from you the entire time.”
“Freshling?” I asked him, ignoring the second implication and the smirk it had earned me.
“Fresh blood. Baby Conduit. First-year. You’re brand-new to Sophrosyne, are you not?”
“Do you keep track of all the comings and goings of the members of the Studium? That sounds exhausting,” I replied, mildly irritated by his suggestion that I was the equivalent of an infant.
“No, though I am very observant,” he replied. “Besides, you were in an entry level lecture this morning. Jude was covering the basics. Even if you weren’t paying much attention,” he added with a wink.
He had a point there. He was also irritatingly perceptive. I sighed.
“I mean yes, I suppose you can say I’m still new here. I arrived about three weeks ago, but I’m alsovery observant,” I replied, mimicking his tone.
“Clearly,” he said, raising an eyebrow again. That glacial blue eye was drifting a bit, examining me as if he were taking my measure. I could feel my cheeks warm under his gaze.
“Last I checked though, not everyone here is a Conduit,” I challenged.