Read Heroes' Reward for Free Online Page B

bedchamber. “I hope you’ll be
comfortable here, Shield Mallorough. This way, Source Karish.”
    Taro didn’t
move. “I’ll be here with Dunleavy.”
    The Shield’s
expression became stiff and cool. “That is inappropriate.”
    “Do you honestly
think that by putting us in separate rooms, you’ll stop us from sleeping
together?” I asked.
    “These were the
instructions I was given. Please don’t make things difficult.”
    Pompous little
prat.
    Taro rolled his
eyes but followed the Shield down the corridor. Probably just to get rid of
him.
    I dumped my bags
on the bed before searching through my smallest satchel for paper, a pen, and
my ink pot, arranging them on the tiny desk that had been crammed into the
small room. I sat on the wobbly chair – who had this room been designed for,
anyway? – and wrote on the first page, Dear Mika .
    Taro had told me
several times that when students were found to have unique talents, they were
sent somewhere by the Triple S and were never heard of again. Was this where
they were sent? Did the Triple S expect us to just disappear?
    Well, if they
did, they were out of luck. Fiona and a whole lot of other people in Flown
Raven knew where we were. My brother, Mika, would be the next to find out, and
I would be sending letters to anyone I could think of.
    Only a few
moments later, Taro stepped into the room with his bags. “So mine is as bad as
yours. At least you have a window.”
    “Yes, and it
looks like it even opens.”
    Taro hadn’t even
finished unpacking before a staffer came in with a wooden tray of the sort I
remembered from my Academy days. It held plates of hot sliced meat, fried
potatoes and a pile of cut tomatoes.
    He stopped short
after a glance at Taro. “You are expected to be in your own room, Source
Karish.”
    Taro waved a
hand in a languid gesture. “Meeting expectations is direly boring, my good
fellow.”
    “You are only
making things more difficult for yourselves.”
    “I’m pretty sure
we’re making things more difficult for you all, too, which is delightful.”
    The man didn’t
know how to respond to that. It was sort of funny.
    And in one
moment, Taro slipped from fool to aristocrat. He snapped his fingers. “You may
go fetch my meal now.”
    The man frowned,
but he didn’t object. He set the tray on the desk, letting it drop for the last
inch right on top of my letter, and left without another word.
    “I must say, I’m
shocked to experience this lack of respect from Triple S staff,” Taro
commented. “He’s paid to be here, right?”
    “Not everyone is
delighted with their occupation.”
    “That’s no
reason to cut into us. We didn’t do anything to him.”
    The staffer came
back with Taro’s meal, which turned out to be lukewarm.
    “Is there a
reason we can’t just eat wherever everyone else is eating?” I asked. I assumed
there was a dining hall somewhere.
    The staffer
didn’t bother to answer us before leaving the room.
    This was becoming
aggravating. Was this what we could expect from everyone? So far, none of the
people we’d encountered had so much as smiled.
    During our five
years in Flown Raven, the world had skewed into something almost unrecognizable
without our knowing about it. We needed to learn what was going on.
    I looked at the
small bed dubiously. “Not much room.”
    “We’ve had
less.”
    “Yes, but having
any fun will be difficult.”
    He smirked.
“Where’s your creativity gone?”
    “I’ll leave that
to you.”
    “I shall
endeavour to rise to the challenge.”
    I picked up a
pillow and hit him in the face with it. He deserved it.

 
    Chapter Five
    I was yanked
from a deep sleep so quickly I was left disoriented and unsure of where I was.
    “What the hell?”
Taro disentangled himself from me and rose from the bed.
    A sound came. A
knock on the window.
    So, of course,
Taro went right over to it and opened it without demonstrating any thought
about being cautious. “Who the hell are