Arson of the Heart Page 6

  "Yours is closer. I want to sleep," Toma said, awkwardly patting Lajos's arm for some reason. Lajos snickered, feeling ten times better than he had half an hour ago. It helped that he'd have Toma to wake up to in the morning.

  *~*~*

  Toma was all but vibrating with nerves. The written portion of the accolades exam was barely over; it had taken place yesterday. Five solid hours of short answer questions and essays and quizzes on every subject imaginable.

  The practical portion of the exam was going on now, and Toma was currently waiting his turn to go before the panel of judges with the two dozen other mages waiting their turns. The practical exam would take most of the day; each student was slated twenty minutes for their demonstration. Going over time lost points, but you earned points if you went under with a suitably impressive display.

  They were outside, in the courtyard in the center of campus. A large stone wall had been constructed in the center of the clearing, and they waited on one side until their names were called. Then they walked to the other side where the judges and the crowd were and did their last bit of magic as a student. Hopefully.

  It was torture, listening to the judges being named, hearing the crowd's reaction to whatever was being done on the other side of the wall. Toma was trying to hold still, but it was hard to not get up and pace like a few of the other waiting mages were.

  There were a lot of spectators, judging from the noise. That wasn't helping Toma's nerves any, and neither was Epsen. He was standing maybe a dozen feet away, alternately scowling at the ground and shooting Toma speculative looks. Toma ignored him as best he was able, his thoughts scattering between what he'd do after the exam, to the spell he was going to perform, to waking up in Lajos's bed each morning this week, to the whispered promises with which Lajos kept tormenting him.

  "Chalar Ivenshar," boomed an unfamiliar voice from the other side of the wall. A nervous looking girl edged her way around the barrier, and Toma made a face, plucking at the grass he was sitting on. They were doing it alphabetically by last name, and his last name began with an S.

  Epsen's began with a P, if Toma wasn't mistaken. Making a small pile of the grass he'd pulled up, he smiled faintly as Lajos's name was called for the board and his voice boomed through the courtyard as he accepted.

  Hopefully he wouldn't be called for Toma's board. No one had yet declined a position on the exam board for a student—Toma didn't want to imagine the reaction were Lajos to do it for him. Biting his lip as the girl did something that made the crowd gasp collectively, Toma wished in vain that he'd taken his father's name instead of his mother's. Then he'd have been one of the first to be called.

  The next name was called, but Toma barely paid any attention as someone sat down next to him. Epsen. Toma regarded him coldly, wondering what the brat was going to try now.

  "Do they do it like this in Kajal?" Epsen asked as the announcer declared the names of the professors to judge the next student.

  "No," Toma said shortly, curling his fingers in the cuffs of his pant leg. He refused to move; Epsen was not going to get to him now.

  "How do they do it?" Epsen fidgeted a little, and Toma wondered if he was nervous. Probably. The accolades exams were no small matter. Still, that wasn't Toma's problem and Epsen would deserve it if Toma decided to fuck with him now.

  "Read a book," Toma said, rolling his eyes and turning back towards the stone barrier as a strong gust of wind ripped around it.

  Epsen huffed, sounding annoyed, but Toma didn't really care. He just wanted Epsen to go away, to get his exam done, and then to drag Lajos off somewhere private.

  "Look, I'm sorry," Epsen said, not sounding very sincere. He sounded more annoyed than anything, and Toma scoffed in disbelief.

  "Look, Epsen," Toma parroted, shifting a little so he could face Epsen. "I don't care what you thought you were doing, I don't care if you never speak to me again—I would prefer it if you just went away and left me alone."

  Epsen looked thoroughly affronted, and Toma rolled his eyes, climbing to his feet. He wasn't giving ground; he was removing himself from Epsen's proximity before he did anything irreversible to the bastard.

  Maybe he'd get in on Lajos's to-do list.

  Pacing around behind the barrier, Toma tried to relax as more names were called. Epsen stayed sitting next to Toma's previous spot. He didn't try to get up or do anything though; he just sat there, looking increasingly nervous as more names were called.

  "Epsen Palincik."

  Epsen got to his feet and walked quickly out. Toma sighed, running his hand over his face as the announcer began to name professors. Toma nearly fell over laughing though, when the third name was announced.

  "Professor Lajos Misyk."

  Toma stifled his laughter at the utterly incredulous look he got from a few of the students still waiting with him. He was sorely tempted to peek around the stone barrier to see the look on Epsen's face, but he wasn't willing to be docked any points so he stayed where he was.

  "I decline," Lajos said, his voice supernaturally amplified. The spectators burst into whispers and Toma covered his mouth, like the wide smile he was wearing was as inappropriate as his laughter had been.

  Whatever Epsen did for his exam, the spectators seemed pleased. They were an easy lot, though; they'd seemed pleased by every display so far. There were three more students before Toma's name was called, but they went too quickly and then it was Toma's turn to walk out from behind the barrier.

  There was a spell cast around the exam area—to keep in any stray magic and to protect the judges and spectators. They looked much like the shields in the casting hall, absorptive and protective, but much, much stronger.

  Toma glanced around a little nervously, catching Epsen's eye—he was sitting in one of the first rows with the rest of the students who'd already finished their exams. Toma didn't let his gaze linger, scanning the ranks of the professors—and there was Lajos, smirking like he knew something Toma didn't.

  Toma relaxed a little despite the urge to roll his eyes at the man. Then the announcer—a tiny wisp of a man with a basket of names next to him—picked out the first professor to make up Toma's exam board.

  The first professor was a woman who taught an intermediate fire casting course that Toma had taken last semester. The second was Professor Jacia, who smiled reassuringly at him as she accepted, even though she should have declined. The third was a man he'd never heard of, and the fourth and fifth were professors he knew by sight but had never had a class with.

  The five of them settled at the table in front of the mass of spectators—Toma noted a bit uneasily that not all of the spectators were students; there were some townsfolk mixed in.

  "You may begin," the announcer—mediator?—declared, his voice booming across the courtyard. Toma nodded in acknowledgement, took a deep breath, and drew out his crystal wand.

  Speaking the words to the fire sculpting spell loudly and clearly, Toma weaved in the first few colors. His nerves fell away as he worked—he'd done this too many times to count—weaving the blossoms, then concentrating fiercely on the stems and leaves of the bouquet.

  They came out green—to the audible shock of the spectators—and Toma relaxed, ignoring the cheers as he conjured a bright blue ribbon of flame and weaved it into a bow around the stems of the flowers.

  Finishing the spoken spell to set the bouquet, he waited a moment to show that it would hold before dissipating the fire and strengthening the barriers around the exhibition area.

  "Well done," Jacia said, dismissing him from center stage. Toma smiled a little, thoroughly relieved as he trudged into the spectator area and took a seat as far from Epsen as he could. Epsen didn't look like he was planning to do anything though; he looked utterly flummoxed and Toma stifled a snicker as he slumped in his chair and waited for the last two students to finish the exams.

  *~*~*

  Lajos narrowed his eyes at the reed thin air mage who was insisting on beginning the grading tonight.
He and Jacia were having it out, and Lajos wanted nothing more than to leave them to it and go rescue Toma.

  His fire mage was being badgered by a small group of men from town—and Lajos was annoyed that the college issued invitations to view the accolades exams to anyone who gave them funding. It let in unsavory types who were searching for talented mages to do their dirty work.

  "The students will want their grades quickly!"

  "Not tonight they won't!" Jacia snapped, crossing her arms. "Does anyone else want to begin grading tonight?" Jacia asked, turning and glowering dangerously at the other professors.

  She was a slight woman, but formidable and Lajos grumbled out a forceful, "I don't."

  "Tomorrow's good enough," a professor Lajos didn't know spoke up. "We can meet in the library in the morning; I can guarantee there won't be any students there."

  "Sounds good," Lajos agreed, turning and stalking off before anyone could disagree. Crossing the courtyard, he ignored the faint protest behind him as he approached the spectator's area.

  Toma caught his eye as he threaded his way through the chairs, rolling his eyes as he walked away from the three men trying to talk to him. One of them was mid-sentence, but Toma was obviously ignoring him and he trailed off.

  "Hi," Lajos greeted, not giving Toma a chance to do anything more than smile before he hooked his hand in the front of Toma's shirt and pulled him close. Crushing his mouth to Toma's, he made a rude gesture towards whichever professor wolf-whistled at them. Toma kissed back fiercely, his arms twining around Lajos's neck easily.

  "Hi." Toma breathed the word against his lips when Lajos regretfully let him up for air. "I haven't actually passed—

  "

  Lajos snorted in amusement. "You passed. You probably got perfect marks. Your spell was impressive and perfectly cast and no one else thought to reinforce the barrier."

  "Huh," Toma said, a smile curving his lips. "Well, then."

  "Your room's closer," Lajos said, kissing Toma briefly. "But my bed's bigger."

  "I have to get my things out by tomorrow," Toma said, making Lajos scowl. "Can I move in with you or should I move into the room they're giving me?"

  "Who's giving you a room?" Lajos asked suspiciously, shooting a dark look over his shoulder at the three men conferring agitatedly. They backed off even more, taking a few steps away.

  "The college," Toma said, tugging at his hair playfully. "I'm working with Jacia on her research project –"

  "What? Why aren't you working with me?" Lajos asked, scowling, even as the little knot of tension over Toma's future plans unraveled. "I could use an assistant."

  "Yes, and I like you, but I don't think I could spend all day, every day with you without wanting to set you on fire," Toma said honestly. "I can still help you, if you want."

  "Hmm, of course you can help me," Lajos drawled, smirking a little at the flush that bloomed to life in Toma's cheeks. "But first we'll get you moved."

  "Or second, we'll get me moved?" Toma suggested, pulling Lajos's head towards him suggestively.

  "I like the way you think," Lajos said, obligingly kissing Toma lightly before pulling away completely. Toma might technically not be a student any longer, but that didn't make ravishing him in the courtyard in broad daylight any less illegal. Smirking, Lajos pulled Toma towards the student dormitories, his hands in totally inappropriate places.

  Fin