Scholar of Magic (Art of the Adept #3) - Michael G. Manning Page 0,217

cheeks reddened as Tiny began waving his hand in front of his nose.

“Obviously you didn’t have enough room left to keep everything in,” remarked the squire with a chuckle. “Maybe you should wait until you’ve had a chance to digest your food properly before you engage in more acrobatics?”

Smoothing her features, Darla ignored them and proceeded to the door. “I’ll resume my watch,” she told them.

Tiny lifted one leg slightly and made a voluminous contribution to the fetor that Darla had started. “Don’t be like that,” said the big man. “See? You aren’t the only one!”

She shut the door with a firm and resounding thud, and the two men began giggling like small boys. After a moment Will went to the window and threw it open to help clear the air. “That really is foul!” he gasped.

“Not my fault,” said Tiny with an air of self-righteousness. “My portion was rose-scented.”

Will laughed, then caught himself in a yawn. He was tired. The excitement, along with all the odd hours of the past few days, was working to wear him down, even though it hadn’t been sixteen hours since his last rest. I’m not used to being up over the middle of the night, he told himself.

But he had a lot to accomplish. Turning back, he took a few minutes to explain the rough details of his plan to Tiny.

“So you need to go back to the college and find some of your teachers?”

Will nodded.

“They’re most likely asleep,” said the big man.

“Then I’ll rouse them.”

His friend scrutinized him carefully. “You’re tired. Get some sleep. Rest for tonight. You can get up early and brace them when they’re also rested and ready to face the day. Everyone will be smarter and better able to think.”

As usual, Tiny’s words made a lot of sense. With a nod, he went to the door. “We’re going to get some sleep. Why don’t you come sleep in the bedroom with Laina?”

“I’ll keep watch,” insisted the former assassin.

“We can bar the door. You need rest, and it won’t matter if the king’s men eavesdrop on us sleeping.”

She thought about it, then relented. “Perhaps you are right.”

Darla made a show of sleeping on the floor in the bedroom, though Will wondered how long that would last once the door was closed. Then again, I really have no idea how their relationship works, he reminded himself. The Arkeshi was a strange person, and it was entirely possible she insisted on such privations except for well-circumscribed moments of intimacy. It wasn’t his place to pry or interfere.

Will and Tiny bedded down in the front room, borrowing pillows and cushions from the furniture. Will had a few blankets stored in the limnthal, so he summoned two of them and handed one to his friend. It was almost like their days in the army together, except they’d never had such neat and level ground to lie on back then. The palace rugs weren’t quite enough to soften the hard stone floors, but they went a long way in that regard.

Neither of them had trouble falling asleep.

When he awoke after some unknown time, the sky was still dark in the window, but his back felt uncommonly warm. Tiny was sprawled out across the room in front of him, and he was lying on his side a few feet from one wall, so that didn’t make much sense. Turning his head carefully, Will saw the back of Laina’s head. She had snuck in at some point and worked her way in between him and the wall, putting her back against his and pulling her knees up to her chest.

She had to be cold and uncomfortable, with no pillow or cover. Reaching out, he snatched a small cushion from a nearby chair before carefully turning over so he could ease it under her head. If the movement woke her, she gave no sign of it. Resuming his former position, back-to-back, he shifted his blanket and tossed half over Laina, then he went back to sleep.

Sometime later Tiny shook him awake. “It’s almost dawn.”

Groggy, Will looked around. Laina