Whisper of Blade | ✓ (Crimson #1)

Chapter 35: Unraveling

Kaji's hand grew heavier in Minerva's grip, feet dragging until he nearly face-planted. At least they'd reached the Imperial Academy. She left him napping on a cushioned bench outside the hallway to the kitchens while she took the stairs up to Matsudo's office. Lamplight leaked from underneath the door.

She knocked.

"Come in." The former general had his inkwell and documents out.

"Finances again?" Minerva asked, taking the chair on the other side of his desk.

"When is it not?" Matsudo shuffled the papers to the side and brought a tray to the center. "Tea?"

"Please." The study comforted her and she looked around as he heated the tea. Books arranged in neat rows filled the walls. His pair of swords hung above the fireplace, cleaned and oiled to perfection. Two leather chairs sat at a sturdy desk of drawers. Nothing ever out of place and all where they should be. "You could hire a secretary, sir," Minerva said, as she always did.

He handed her a cup of tea with a steady hand. "So I could have more work and cleaning up to do? Not likely."

They sipped their tea together. He set his cup down and leaned back in his chair—her cue to begin.

"I have a boy out in the hallway downstairs," Minerva said.

Matsudo's eyes flickered with surprise and amusement before stilling. He didn't speak. He never hurried to draw the attention to himself.

"I'd like for him to be enrolled here. I'll pay his tuition as an anonymous patron. Bring him into the new year with the students you'll pick up and let him be one of their number. He's outer ring-born."

Matsudo ran his fingers through his grey beard. "I almost jumped to a conclusion."

"Even the best of us do sometimes," Minerva said into her tea.

"I almost thought you meant another kind of boy."

She set her cup down with more force than intended. Matsudo's eyes shifted to her hands, missing nothing. "I'm not interested in that kind," she ground out through her teeth.

Matsudo let her stew while he opened a cupboard and unwrapped some pastries from a cloth. He unsheathed his belt knife and ran a finger of flame along its edge. "Someone's been rattling your cage," he said quietly.

She wasn't ready to face this yet. "The boy's tuition first."

"Consider it done." He sliced one bean bun in half and slid the plate to her. "What's his background?"

Biting into the bun, Minerva forced the tension out of her muscles, starting at her neck and shoulders. "His father was the assassin I executed yesterday. His mother is dead—Muran, probably from a golden bloodline—but she entrusted him to my care."

Mine and Kodak's. The addition wasn't vital at this point.

"Why did you agree to that?" Matsudo's eyes bore down on her. His gaze scared students to confessions because of its unreadability. He betrayed neither judgment nor compassion and let them tell their version of truth as they saw fit.

Minerva shrugged. "Guilt probably."

The silence went on too long for her. It made her think. Just as Matsudo intended.

"It was a dying wish, the kind that should be kept. I'd have to be heartless to have refused that woman."

She'd eaten all of her bun, once again forgetting her hunger until someone placed sustenance in her hands. Still, Matsudo didn't eat or speak. He didn't apply pressure—try to grill her like Nola did. Minerva met his eyes and tried to read them. She failed and all she knew was that she hadn't said everything she needed to. He would speak then.