I couldn’t wrap my head around it.
“What do you say Miss Demarco, are you up for the task?” Ilyan asked, his blue eyes pulling me from his brother.
“Yes,” I gasped.
I wasn’t sure which task I was agreeing to, however. Both the King and my father were looking at me with equal glares of expectation.
“Good, then we will send you to the Academy tomorrow. The final transport leaves at six a.m. You may spend the rest of your day with your parents inside of Imdalind. I understand this is a rare treat and the Skȓíteks outside the Hospital will be glad to give you a tour. They will assist you if you have any questions. It was a pleasure meeting you, Sia.” Ilyan spoke very quickly, giving us no room to thank, or bow, or bestow him with flattery before he turned away, the three of them walking back into the dark with straight backs, mumbling in a language that no one but they knew.
Right then I could see what my parents were saying.
They were better than us. Smarter than us. Lords over us.
My blood boiled. My magic steamed.
“What do you say, Miss Demarco,” My mother began, adopting the kings exact phrasing. “Are you up for the task?”
I only nodded.
Yes, I was.
7
Rowan
This was my parent’s idea of a joke.
They loved jokes. Or rather, they loved torturing me and my siblings with things they thought were funny. Seeing as Talon was over fifty years older than me, Dramin half that, and my little sister barely eight. I was all they had right now.
Which was probably why I was being forced to ride to the first day at Imdalind Academy in a horse-drawn carriage that I was sure was a relic of my father’s childhood, thousands of years before. The thing reeked of dust, mold, and that sweet perfume old ladies use to cover up the smell of dust and mold.
Although that stench might be from the girl who sat across from me. She had clearly bathed herself in some perfume meant to ensnare me. She was just another part of my parents’ little joke.
Escort the girl who had faced the would-be revolutionary in the Gauntlet. The girl whose parents had been undermining mine for so long my father had nearly imprisoned them.
Maybe he should have.
Then I wouldn’t have to put up with Sia Demarco and her smug arrogance.
I really hoped I wasn’t that arrogant. I had worked hard not to be, to not give into the role I was born into as my older brother, Talon, had. To not be part of the strange class system and monarchy that I was trapped in.
Trapped? No, I was locked right in the middle of it now. This damn carriage was the start.
It was all part of the act to get back in the good graces with the Chosen we had all effectively pissed off. My parents were trying to unite both mortals and Chosen, and instead had started some kind of low-key civil war.
I didn’t need to go to the damn school, and now I was being stuck there as their damn poster child. A face to a world that I wasn’t sure I believed in. The attack in the caves had made all of this worse.
I sighed, and shifted my weight, trying to dodge the intense stare of the girl across from me. She really needed to find somewhere else to look.
“So, Rowan,” Sia began, clearing her throat with a sound like a foghorn. I shifted my weight, but didn’t turn, choosing instead to keep staring out of the draped window like there was anything to look at besides trees. “Are you excited to begin your training at Imdalind Academy? I am sure you’re excited to gain powers like your family has.”
She sighed like the love sick crown chaser she was and it was all I could do not to laugh.
Unlike the Chosen, I was born with magic. It had been there when I was a toddler and figured out I could expand the ants in the cave to twice their size and terrify my cousins. Or when I was ten and my Uncle Ryland had begun teaching me how to spar. Or when I had taught Angie to cast a shield so she could play tricks on Talon and Dramin.
My magic was part of me. Curse or gift, I was still undecided, but that wasn’t the point. It was naive of her to think otherwise. I wasn’t interested in correcting her, however, there were too many other questions that came along with that.
“I am so honored to be able to go after what I witnessed,” she continued after I didn’t respond.
Shame. Looks like my attempt to continue this trek in silence was not going to happen.
“Yes, it was an unfortunate circumstance,” I said, keeping my voice monotone and my focus out of the carriage. “I am glad it was not worse, so many people could have been killed if you hadn’t intervened.”
My focus darted over to her when she sighed dramatically again. It was like she had sprung a leak, or had bad gas, no wonder a bright smile was spreading over her face.
Gas or not, I had to admit Sia Demarco was pretty. Long chestnut hair with a bit of red in the light. Eyes that shimmered in a blue-grey that I wasn’t sure was natural. A few freckles of the bridge of her perfect nose.
She knew how beautiful and desirable she was, and that confidence only added to the beauty. It was the smug, rotten, lying soul behind the glint in her eyes, however, that was making me wish this ride could be over. That we could just get there and I could lock myself in my room and away from all the baby Chosen.
Away from her lies.
“Yes, I was so very lucky to have been there when I was. Luckier to have run into her so I could try to stop her. I wish I knew more of what to do. I didn’t know there was still illegal magic in the world. I wasn’t prepared.” She sighed again, leaning forward as she looked at her hands.
I bit my tongue, there wasn’t really anything I could say to that. We hadn’t known there was still a Vilỳ loose, or that it had bit anyone.
Well, I did. I didn’t want to. But I did.
I could thank my mother for that.
Of all the people to inherit her Drak abilities, it had to be me.
“Well, now you will know what to do. And she will know how to control her magic so that accidents like this don’t happen again.” I chose my words carefully, turning back to that window in what I hoped was a conversation ending action. Too bad the sound of a deflating balloon from the other side of the carriage was making a grand return.
So much for the raging beauty. Her lips had pierced into a sour expression, her nostrils flaring as she breathed. The look faded the second I turned to her, the sweet smile from before replacing it as though it had been slapped there.
“Is that why she was allowed to enroll in Imdalind Academy, Rowan? Because your family believes it to be an accident?”
“Wasn’t it?” She knew it wasn’t, I knew it wasn’t. Sia didn’t know that last part though, and I would never betray my family by sharing that.
We weren’t sure what would happen if people knew exactly what my mother’s Drak powers could do, and with so many problems brewing it was important to keep it contained.
Which is why it was a miracle I was being sent to the school in the first place.
“No. She wanted to hurt people. She wanted to overthrow your family. They all do. Don’t you realize that?”
“We realize a lot of things,” I paused, my head beginning to spin as her eyes grew hard and angry. My magic was boiling, the Drak powers trying to pull me in. Being trapping in here with her was a mistake.
Perhaps she would understand if I bolted out of the carriage and flew myself the rest of the way there.
Doubt it.
“I’m amazed that your mother’s magic didn’t show her what had happened. Everyone says that Drak magic is the most powerful of all. I wish I had been able to see it in action.”
I froze against the hard cushioned seat as though I had been carved into them.
“It’s not as amazing as you would think,” I said under my breath, slinking down in my chair as she prattled on.
“I swear I could feel her power in the air. Like a dark buzzing fly inside my head. Did you ever feel that?” She paused, obviously tr
ying to bait me into conversation, into giving away information about my mother. About my family.
She was an idiot if she thought it was going to be that easy. First, she bats her eyelashes at me with such intensity she might be able to take off. Now she wants information.
What is this girl? A crown seeker or a spy? Probably both.
I wasn’t in the mood to tolerate either.
“It’s a shame that none of your family inherited the gift, imagine what you could do with it?” She continued on when I didn’t answer, asking a flood of questions that she clearly expected to get answers to. She would have more luck talking to the trees.
“What did you inherit anyway? How does all that work? I’ve heard rumors about differing strengths and abilities among the Eternals, that must be why you are eager to start school, isn’t it? Hone your skills. Find out which magical branch you fit into at the end of first year with the rest of us? I’m glad to see you are able to attend, so many were so worried that you would be too sickly to join our class.”
I broke her rambling off with a laugh, the sound cutting through the carriage as we changed course, the break in trees and road giving us a tiny glimpse of the ancient monastery my father had turned into the school.
Rioseco.
I don’t think she saw, she was still looking right at me, batting those damn eyelashes.
I leaned forward, green eyes digging into hers. Her breath caught, eyes widening as she sat back in her chair as though she had been thrown there.
“Is that what everyone has been saying? That I’m sickly? What bullshit. I have no interest in this horse and pony show. I would rather step away from the whole thing and live my life in peace.”
Starting with a quiet carriage ride to a forest somewhere in the north.
Sia smiled as though I had given her a gift, her hair swinging around her face in a sheet as she leaned closer to me, the two of us only inches apart as we pulled to a stop, the echoing voice of my Uncle Cail bleeding through the sides of the rickety structure.
“It appears we have one thing in common then.” Sia stood as the latch on the carriage lifted, the door to the ancient thing squeaking as someone pulled it forward.
“Which is?” I asked, but she didn’t respond, she smiled and stepped closer, the top of the carriage brushing against her hair.
“I believe you are supposed to escort me.”
I wanted to do nothing less right then. The way she spoke, the low snarl in her voice, the confidence that dripped from her. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to be scared of her or desire her right then, and both magic and heart couldn’t seem to decide either.
I stepped forward and gave her my elbow, thankful that I was wearing the awful crested blazer that was the uniform of this place. I didn’t want to feel her magic, I didn’t want to give her power any reason to try to mingle with mine. She didn’t have enough control of her power to know how dangerous that was.
I felt her magic anyway when she weaved her arm through mine, the rumbling strength pulling through the fabric as the out of control ability tried to infect me anyway.
Sia wanted me, I could feel it in her power. See it in the look in her eyes as she turned to me and smiled.
“Well, this feels nice, doesn't it? It’s like we are a perfect fit” She crooned. Damn. I had known what she wanted the moment she looked at me in the infirmary a few weeks before, I didn’t expect her to be this forward about it.
I gave her a smile as she reached up in an attempt to tuck the longer strands of hair behind my ear. Like I was going to let that happen.
I dodged and pulled her forward, ready to chuck her out of this carriage if I had to.
“Presenting, the third son of our king and our queen, Prince Rowan.” My uncle had put extra flair into my title and I almost sat back down, but the girl was pulling me forward, right out of the carriage and toward the hundreds of students who had gathered to witness my arrival.
Although, with the way the girl was acting, she clearly thought it was for her as well.
“They forgot me. I did sleep longer than anyone after my bite. Do you think they told him about that? They must have forgotten,” she mumbled, and I would have corrected her, but we were already out of the carriage, facing the students.
Facing her.
I hadn’t seen her in person before, although she had haunted my dreams for over a year. There she was, standing with the other mortals, hands folded over her chest, pierced lip snarling, eyes digging right into me from behind the soft curls of what used to be a spiky pink mohawk.
I had waited for the moment, but now my emotions were a twisted mess after what she had done. After what her actions had forced me into. Malice. Resentment. Exhilaration.
“Gemma.” The word was more of a gasp, a pained call that sent my heart into a vice. Her green eyes widened beneath her pink curls, Sia clutching her heart in shock.
The snotty girl little mattered, however. I couldn’t look away from the girl that I had seen so often I could have sworn I knew her. Well, until Sia had grabbed my collar, pulled me down to her and planted her lips right against mine.
Her magic flooded me, mine recoiled, and the crowd screamed and hollered in joy at the showcase.
By the time I was able to get away from her grip, however, the sound didn’t matter, only the smug laughter on Gemma’s face did.
“See, perfect fit,” Sia sighed and snuggled against me.
I nearly slugged her.
Would have, if my uncle Cail wasn’t smiling at me. If everyone wasn’t looking right at us, right at the prince.
Damn it.
I had officially stepped into hell.
8
Gemma
All of my life had been spent in hiding, and now these damn royals thought they could tame me by locking me behind enchanted walls. Watching their damn prince lock lips with the bitch who had tried to kill Aria was all I needed to see to know how much of a farce this was.
The whole thing was a damn joke.
I had never wanted to be here at the Academy, I had run the Gauntlet to teach those royal bastards a lesson, to fight back. But they gave me a choice. Enroll and learn, or give up my power. If I wanted to complete what I set out to do, I only had one choice.
So, I was trapped here.
They say that Queen could see the future, but she must not see far if she didn’t think this whole thing wasn’t going to backfire.
“What’s so funny?” Eddy asked in a whisper, leaning over to hiss in my ear as I laughed at what was easily the most awkward kiss in history.
“Everything, Ed, everything is just
‘
I raced around a corner and away from the hollers and excitement over two idiots swapping diseases and tried to remember the way back to the line of cells they were calling a dorm. This place was more of a maze than the sewers back home. Steps went to locked doors, hallways were blocked off, and at least one hall went around in a circle.
That was what I had discovered in my attempt to escape last night. Well, not escape so much as find every single crack in this place’s security and make my plan of escape.
So, close to the same thing.
“Does this
“Yes,” I smiled back at him, turning another corner to a hall lined with doors, this looked familiar. “Well, that and they are planning on teaching me how to use my magic so I can fight and kill him, so, you know.”<
br />
“Is he your new target then?” He was serious, his exhilaration twisting through my already tight muscles.
“More like a stepping stone,” I turned to Eddy, the guy still beaming. Made sense, he knew me better than anyone else.
Although he looked nothing like he usually did. His ripped Hawaiian shirts and stained cut offs were gone. Replaced with weird beige pants and a blazer that barely fit. Even with the gauged piercings in his ears, he looked like the rest of them.
I may have been forced to flatten the height in my mohawk down to lose curls, but at least I had the dignity to cut down my jeans to shorts, “lose” my skirt, and refuse to give up my sewer stained army boots. There was no question who I was.
“The target has always been to bring down the Eternals from the inside, Ed. Stop this class system and make sure our people have enough to eat. It was a miracle I survived that Vilỳ bite so we could get this far. It’s fate that he is here with us.”
“Forget fate. Maybe it’s prophecy,” Ed chuckled, at the same joke we had all our lives bubbling to the surface again.
“We’d have to ask their freaky ass Queen about that,” I said. He laughed, I didn’t. “You wouldn’t be laughing if you had seen her eyes go black in that interrogation room.”
Or listened to her recount what had happened in that last challenge room word for word. But I kept that part to myself. Knowing that the witch could actually see into the future was freaky, but it was also putting a damper on this whole plan. I didn’t need my team misstepping. She clearly saw enough that we would have to be careful if I didn’t want to be caught. How do you stay one step ahead of someone who can see the future anyway?
Hopefully, it won’t be too bad, she hadn’t seen me explode that room after all.
“I’m still going to put my money on it being a prophecy.” He winked at me as we turned into another hall full of identical doors. Judging by the numbers above each entry way, we were getting close.
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