Chapter 98: Encountering Ian
The morning bell echoed through the monastery corridors, pulling Renard from his light sleep. He’d been awake for most of the night anyway, processing the intelligence Boa had gathered and planning his next moves. The Thread Walking session had been exhausting, but the information gained was worth the effort.
As he made his way to the washing facilities, Renard noticed something different about the atmosphere in the student quarters. There was a tension in the air, whispered conversations that stopped when he approached, and several students who seemed to be avoiding certain areas of the corridors.
The washing facility, normally bustling with students preparing for the day, was strangely quiet. Most of the stone basins were empty, and the few students present clustered together at one end of the room, speaking in hushed tones.
It didn’t take long to discover why.
Ian stood alone at the far basin, methodically cleaning dried blood from his forehead and temples. The gash he’d inflicted on himself during the staircase trial had partially healed, but the wound was still visible - a jagged line across his brow that would likely leave a permanent scar.
But it wasn’t the physical injury that made other students give him such a wide berth. It was something about his presence, an aura of cold determination that seemed to radiate from him like heat from a forge. The boy who had climbed those stairs was fundamentally different from the farm child who had started the journey.
Renard observed the dynamics as he moved toward an empty basin. Students would glance nervously at Ian, then quickly look away when they thought he might notice. A few whispered among themselves, clearly discussing the scarred boy but careful to keep their voices low enough that he couldn’t hear.
One student who had been washing near Ian’s basin quickly finished and moved away, leaving a buffer of empty space around the transformed boy. Another student approached, saw Ian, and immediately changed direction to use a basin on the opposite side of the room.
Ian seemed completely unaware of or unconcerned by the avoidance. His movements were controlled and methodical as he cleaned his wound, showing no sign that he noticed or cared about the other students’ reactions. There was an economy to his actions that hadn’t been there before - no wasted motions, no unnecessary gestures.
Renard chose a basin several spaces away from Ian, close enough to observe but far enough to avoid drawing unwanted attention to either of them. As he began washing, he caught Ian’s reflection in the water and felt a chill of recognition.