“I—I can’t believe there are any better than what you just showed me.”

A tart reply formed on Karigan’s tongue, accustomed as she was to the criticism and sarcasm that she always received from Drent and her fellow trainees, but then she saw the awe forming in Cade’s eyes.

“I have never seen anything like that,” he said. “Such beauty . . .”

Taken aback, she did not know what to say, especially when Cade knelt before her as if in obeisance.

“You can teach me how to . . . how to do as you did?” he asked.

“Um . . .” His tone was so humble, his reaction so unexpected that it took her a moment to regain equilibrium. “I think so. It’ll take some work though.” She smiled tentatively.

Cade seemed to collect himself then. “Good. I had no idea what . . . I just had no idea.” He bowed his head, then stood.

Karigan wasn’t sure whether he meant he’d had no idea of what she was capable, or what the forms were supposed to look like when executed properly.

“It’s fortunate you are left handed,” he said, indicating her right wrist in its cast.

“I’m not. I’m right handed.”

Cade stared once again.

His discomfiture both pleased and amused Karigan. “I was made to train my left side after a previous injury to my right elbow. Swordmasters, especially those who become Weapons, are trained to be capable fighters using their whole bodies.”

Cade shook himself. “Seems I’ve a ways to go.” He turned and placed his sword on its wall mount, and stood there in silence for a moment before striding over to the closest window. Behind the drapes it was boarded over, but there was a minute crack he peered through. “It is nearly dawn,” he announced, “so we’d better head back.”

As he dressed, she glanced at the cabinet of guns once more.

“Tell you what,” she said, “if I help you with the sword work, you can teach me how to fight with your gun weapons.”

Cade cocked an eyebrow. “I will have to ask the professor, but I will do so if he permits it.”

“Good,” Karigan said. It occurred to her that if she learned the use of advanced weaponry from this time, she might be able to reproduce and use it in her own, bringing Sacoridia an advantage over its enemies. It could change everything.

A CAT, THE GHOST, AND RAVEN

On their return journey to the house, Cade rarely spoke, but treated Karigan with deference. She caught him stealing surreptitious glances at her as they walked through the underground. His awe made her uncomfortable enough to wish he’d go back to his former dismissive self. What would he have thought of her performance if she’d been in top form?

Before they entered the library, he lightly touched her arm as if to reassure himself she was real. “You will teach me more?” he whispered.

“Yes. Of course.”

He nodded gravely, and then they emerged into the library, as the shelves that concealed the secret passage closed behind them. They made their way to the foyer, and Cade quietly let himself out through the front door. She wondered where he lived that he could sneak around at odd hours. Then she shrugged and returned to her bedroom. The first thing she noticed when she got there was that the window was open, the curtains billowing in a cool breeze that curled into the room.

“What . . . ?”

She hurried over to the window wondering who had opened it and how it had been done without rousing Mirriam. She inspected the window finding nothing amiss, but when she touched the inner edges of the frame, her fingers came away greasy. Someone had oiled the window so it wouldn’t screech when opened. It was not entirely the cool air that gave her a chill.

The second thing she noticed in the pre-dawn dusk filtering into her room was a cat sitting on her bed, watching her. It was the stray that had come to her window before.

“Hello,” Karigan said, glancing around her room to make sure there were no other surprises awaiting her. “Did you open the window?”

The cat just yawned and flopped, rolling from side to side, rubbing his whole body into the comforter. Lorine had referred to the stray as a “he,” and Karigan saw she’d gotten his gender correct. Karigan sat beside him and stroked his cheek. Before she knew it, he was bumping against her and purring so loudly she was sure it would cause Mirriam to come storming into her room.

“You’re a nice kitty, very friendly,” Karigan murmured. He certainly wasn’t skittish as many strays were. “Maybe you’re not a stray at all, but just like to visit other houses.”

She lay down on the bed, spreading her shawl over her like a throw, and the cat walked up her legs, sat on her belly, and started kneading her chest. “Ow!” she said as claws pricked her skin.

A short time later he curled up on her stomach, his purrs vibrating through her body as she petted him.

“Nice kitty,” she murmured, fading into sleep. “I think I’ll call you Cloudy.” His white and light gray fur made the name apt, and without worrying about who had opened the window, and content with a soft purring cat to soothe her, she fell into a deep slumber.

• • •

Pat-pat. Pat-pat.

Karigan groaned. Despite her efforts to keep in condition, sword practice with Cade had left her whole body aching, and there was an uncomfortable weight on her chest.

Pat-pat.

She fluttered her eyes open to find the cat staring into her face, his paw raised to tap her cheek again.