Protector (The Full-Blood Book 1)

by Serena Nova

  “Come on, let’s go back to bed, and we will see what will happen over the next few weeks.” We got up, and I put out my light as Astra made a small one, so we could see where we were going. Listening for the sounds of the teachers who walked in the hallways, we waited until we could move out of the library. We had done this so many times, we knew when and where the teachers would be. Still, we needed to listen for them, to be sure and not to get caught. We made it to our room without being seen, and we both slid into our beds. Astra put out her light, and I heard her sigh. “It will be alright Astra, I’m here for you, and I will always be there for you,” I said to her. We didn’t have to whisper anymore, still, I kept my voice low.

  “I know, Isa, but you will be leaving after the graduation. And then I have to go through it all alone.” I turned over and looked at her, our beds were across from each other, with two small bedside tables next to each of them. Mine, full of books and Astra’s filled with magazines and makeup. Astra looked at me, her blonde hair falling over her shoulders. She had always been a pretty girl, and she had grown into an even prettier woman. All the right curves that would make her a model if she wanted to be. She was a little shorter then I was, which she was happy about. It meant she could wear heels and be the same height.

  “It will be fine Astra,” I said again to her. I sighed and wished her goodnight, not knowing what to say anymore. I couldn't go with her, I’m no Witch. And to be honest, I loved being trained as a Protector. It gave me a real goal, more so than learning spells and doing things without getting up. Still, it is pretty amazing if you can fill your bath from the living room. Only, leaving Astra alone would be the hardest thing I would ever do. Feeling tears pooling in the corners of my eyes, I blinked them away as I looked over at her. She had turned around, I listened to her breathing, which evened out, letting me know that she was sleeping. This would be a long, long night for me. I sighed and moved on to my back. “Gran, why do I have to keep this all a secret? Why couldn’t I stay at your home in the woods and be happy?” I whispered to the ceiling. Knowing I would never get an answer from her, I turned, laying on my side.

  My thoughts went back to the evening my Gran told me that I would go to Sevilay, the all-female school for Witches and Protectors. I was eight then, a normal age for girls to be placed in such a school. It was one of the best things I had ever heard, that I would be a Witch for real. Until she dropped the big news. “Now you must listen to me, Isadora,” she started, “It is really important that you never use your magic again. When you are at that school, you will be a Null.” Her cracking old voice sounded strong that night, filling the small room we were in. Holding her hand up before I could even open my mouth to say something, she went on. “You will be a Null, Isa girl. You are the last Full-Blood Witch there is. And that means that you are special.” That made me smile, I liked being special. But that smile disappeared with what Gran told me next.

  “People will be looking for you, those people will not be nice to you. They will try and kill you, Isa girl. And it won’t be a nice death, those people are bad, Isadora. Remember that.” My grandmother wasn’t the sugar-coating type of woman. I got used to it in the eight years I lived with her. Only, hearing that you would be killed, die horribly when you tell someone who you are is a little harsh. And Gran knew that as she took me into her arms and hugged me. “Isa girl, you need to remember this and repeat this, okay?” As she squeezed me tighter to her, I agreed to it. “Okay, good girl. Now you can’t tell anybody who you are. Never tell them that you are a Full-Blood Witch, never tell them that you are a Savill Royal, never show it. And I mean it, never show it in front of people from the palace. Okay, Isa girl?” My grandmother pinned me down with her grey eyes. I nodded and was pulled in for more hugs, she placed her chin on top of my head and sighed. “You need to be careful, Isadora, you need to train hard and become the best Protector there is. You have to be strong for what is to come.”

  I looked up at her and told her, “I’m already strong, Gran.” I meant my magic. I could do a lot, for an eight-year-old.

  “I know, Isa girl. You need to be strong in body and not only in your magic. You have to train. And they won’t allow any Witches to become a Protector. You have to be a Null for that, and more importantly, act like one, too. . . . No more magic for you okay, Isadora?” My Gran touched the tip of my nose while she looked at me, and I nodded again.

  “I promise, Gran.”

  She never explained why I needed to be strong or why I needed to hide after all this. I never asked her about it, I was eight and wanted to be a Unicorn Princess.

  The next day, she dropped me off at the school, breaking my dream of becoming a Unicorn Princess. She looked down at me, I saw tears in her eyes. “Remember what I told you, Isadora. Promise me, Isa girl,” she said again. She had been repeating that throughout the whole drive towards the school.

  “Yes, Gran, I promise,” I answered her.

  “You will be great, Isa girl.” And then she hugged me; tears blurred my eyes, and I wiped them away. I didn’t understand it all, but I knew that I needed to keep my promise to her. She had never asked anything of me before, except this. My grandmother never did or said something without a good reason, so I needed to be strong for her. And I knew she was a Full-Blood, too, with a powerful foresight. She made me listen to her, demanded that I would remember this. She didn’t use any magic on me, didn’t magically bind me to keep it a secret. I’m really good at keeping secrets, most of the time. Gran turned around and walked away, leaving me alone.

  Before I even turned around, I heard a voice behind me. “Are you alone, too?” That was the first time I met Astra; she smiled at me and I at her. “Come,” she said and took my hand. We both walked into the school where a teacher was waiting for us and the other children. That was my first day at this school.

  And twelve years later, we would soon be done. Thank everything for that. I loved being in school, and the teachers were amazing, but being back at my old home and using magic again would be great, too. I had kept the biggest part of my promise towards Gran, I had become the best protector there was. And the part about not telling anybody? I didn’t think she would mind. I had kept it for so long, and Astra is family. You trust family, right? And with that thought, I finally fell asleep.

  2

  “Come on, Astra, let’s get some breakfast.” I heard her grunting under the covers. “Come on, girl. We have history in an hour.”

  “We still have an hour,” she answered, her voice muffled through the covers.

  “Yeah? So, come on. Food is waiting.” Turning around, I walked towards my desk to get my books and knives. No Protector left a room without her knives. Before I could tell Astra to get out of bed again, a bell sounded, and we both listened to the announcement.

  “Last years, be in the dining hall in twenty minutes for an important announcement.” The voice of our headmistress died off.

  I looked at Astra, her head now out from under the covers. She looked at me and jumped out of bed. She sprinted towards the bathroom, and I heard the shower turn on. It made me chuckle. In record time, she was showered, had makeup on, and was dressed in her outfit for the day. I had never seen her that quickly out of bed. Laughing, I swung my backpack over my shoulder and walked after Astra out of the door.

  The halls were full with Witches and Protectors. They were talking about what the announcement would be. Most of them thought it was about the graduation or the Selection. I walked next to Astra. Before we reached the double doors that lead to the dining hall, I heard my name. I looked around, finding DeeDee, Madalena, and Banu walking towards us. They were three of the Protectors who were in my class. We hung out with them, and luckily, they liked Astra, too. Not all Witches and Protectors got along. Astra had Witch friends, but they didn’t like Protectors. It meant that most of the time, it was just her and me.

  It wasn’t always like that; Witches hating the people who protected them. We fought together with them, and n
ow, they hated us. Most Witches at the school were major bitches, they thought that being a Null meant that you were nothing. They thought themselves better than anything else in this world. They were a mean bunch, not knowing what was good for them, and hating the people who they needed to keep them safe. It wasn’t smart to make enemies out of the Protectors. Still, if a protector didn’t do their job, they were executed. Harsh I know, laws and stuff.

  Astra and I were the only Witch and Protector who shared one room and were friends. They’d tried to make Astra ditch me by using spells. Still, she stayed by my side, friends for ever.

  “What do you think this is about?” Banu asked me when they reached us.

  “I have no idea. We will hear it in a moment,” I answered her when we started walking again. We reached the double doors that led us into the dining hall. The teachers stood on the raised podium at the other end of the room. Our headmistress, Miss D’Moray, was standing in the middle, talking with Mister Ragdan, our history teacher. I looked around, all the other students were looking towards the podium, waiting for Miss D’Moray to start talking. When my eyes landed on Thalia, I found her looking at us, though when she saw me looking, she turned around, her head held high. She was one of the other powerful Witches around school, and she thought that she was the best at everything. Her two friends, if you could call them that–Sada and Elodi–looked at us and started laughing when they turned around. I rolled my eyes and looked at the teachers in front of us, not knowing what their problem was. Miss D’Moray walked to the front of the podium and cleared her throat. All the conversations stopped, and we focused on her.

  “Good morning, ladies. I’m glad that you are all here. We have some important news about the Selection that will take place this year. We received a message from the Kings that this year’s Selection would be different.” The Witches around me had started to whisper. I looked towards Astra who had stayed silent, her eyes focused on Miss D’Moray.

  “We will be holding a competition.”

  With that, all the Witches fell silent. “How do you mean competition, Headmistress?” one of the girls in the back asked.

  “Isn’t that normal?” another Witch asked. More questions were shouted. The Headmistress motioned for silence, raising her hands up. The tension in the room grew thicker. You could almost slice it with a knife.

  “No, we normally have a test. Please hold all of your questions till I have explained. I believe that the majority of them will be covered by what I have to say.”

  “Yes, Ma’am,” we all answered.

  “The normal Selection test consists of a power test. We use a powerful spell to measure your magic level. It is painless, simple, and always accurate. When we know your power level, you girls are placed in categories, and the Selection members choose the Witches they think are strong enough to enter the government or other important positions. You are then sent to the castle for more testing and to meet the Kings.”

  A Witch next to me raised her hand. “Yes?” Miss D’Moray answered to the girl.

  “What is different this year?” I looked back towards the headmistress, waiting for her response.

  “This year, as I said, we will have a competition. We will test not only your magic levels, we will also test how you react to a certain situation.” The headmistress looked at us all, making eye contact with every Witch here before she turned around to give Mister Ragdan room to speak.

  “Okay, girls, we know that you didn’t train for a competition. We told the Selection council that as well. They told us it was an order from the Kings, and they couldn’t do anything about it. They gave us instruction about what we could tell you and what not. We will explain it all in your first classes.” He folded his hands behind his back. “Go have breakfast and save the questions for later, please.” His eyes landed on me, my hand was raised up into the air. I let it slowly fall back down. He nodded and turned around. The teachers walked off the podium, and we all went to get some breakfast.

  “What was that all about?” Astra asked me when we stood in line for some food.

  “No idea. Do you have an idea what this competition would be?” I asked her. She shook her head, her blonde hair moving around her face. “Do you girls have an idea?” Turning around, I looked at the other three Protectors. All three of them shook their heads no. The line started to move, and we reached my favourite breakfast stand. Pancakes. They made the best pancakes here, best thing about this whole school. The kitchen!

  We grabbed some food and walked towards our usual table, next to one of the high windows. The dining hall was big, with a full wall of giant arched windows. There was a large double door that led into an outdoor eating area. We sat at a table facing the windows and the beautiful gardens outside. The room looked really cold; stark white tables, blue chairs, and grey walls. Only the food made it one of the best areas in the school. The smells were amazing. I took a big bite of my pancakes, already forgetting what Mister Ragdan had said.

  “What do you think they will tell us?” Astra asked. We all had history together, meaning that we would find out together. I felt nervous, my stomach protesting the food for a second, until I smelled my pancakes again.

  “Why did you just sniff your food?” Banu asked me, with her eyebrows shooting up towards her hair.

  “I thought about what they just told me and needed some comfort,” I answered with a broad smile on my face.

  This made them all laugh, while I just shrugged and started eating again, enjoying my pancakes. We ate in silence, and there wasn’t much noise in the dining hall. Normally, it was really busy, everyone talking and laughing. They were all eating and thinking about what the competition would mean for them. They talked about the Witches and not the Protectors; it made me wonder if things would change for us, too. We would find that out soon enough.

  “Come, let’s go.” Banu got up after we finished our plates. We followed her towards the hallway that led us to the classrooms. The hallway had no natural light, but lamps hung from the ceiling–they gave the hall a doomed feeling, with the grey stone of the building on each side. Heavy brown wooden doors led towards the classrooms. We entered the door to our right; a small golden plaque on the door showed us it was the History classroom.

  We walked into a room filled with chairs and tables all placed in a half circle, facing the desk of Mister Ragdan. He was already there, seated behind his desk. A board behind him was filled with the tasks we would be doing. A few bookcases lined the walls, and some geographic posters hung above them. They showed the old divided kingdom; how it was thousands of years ago, and how it became when a Queen took over the world, progressing to how it was now with the four Kings on the throne. I took my seat in the second row with Astra and Banu next to me and DeeDee and Lena behind us. We waited for the others to walk into the room, too. The first bell had sounded when we took our seats, so we didn’t have to wait long for the rest.

  Mister Ragdan stood up and walked around his desk to lean against it at the front. He folded his arms over each other. Mister Ragdan was one of my favourite teachers, he had short brown hair with grey streaks in it and kind brown eyes. He was an old Protector who was injured in a fight. His right leg was badly damaged; it made him lose his function as a Protector, making him ideal for the function as History teacher. He looked us over, waiting for us to be quiet, before he started speaking.

  “Good morning, ladies. Thank you for being silent this quickly.” He gave us a smile before he continued. It made me chuckle a little. We were never quiet that quickly, only today.

  “You all know now that this year's graduation test will be different. I think all your minds went on a walk, and you tried to come up with an idea that will replace this year’s test. I can tell you, you all will be wrong.” He unfolded his arms and placed them on the sides of his desk.

  “The Witches are going to fight Ilunias.” And with that the whole room exploded into sound. People talking across each other. I looked over at Astra; her eyes w
ere wide and her face pale. I grabbed her hand and squeezed. Ilunias are dark-world creatures, terrible creatures.

  “Quiet!” Mister Ragdan said, his voice silencing us all. “They decided to test you all differently this year, like we said in the dining hall. They want to see more of you than your power and strength. They want to know how you handle situations, how you react to things. And fighting Ilunias will give them that.” I arched my eyebrow with his last statement.

  “Mister Ragdan,” I started, he looked at me and nodded, so I went on, “Why do they need to do it that way? You can make other tests that will show those skills.” I heard others agree with me.

  “That is true, Isadora. Only this was decided by the Kings and the Selection masters. We can’t say no to this, otherwise nobody will end up in the Selection.” And with that, the whole room went silent; so silent you could hear a pin drop.

  “Witches get three weeks to train for this, there is information in the library, and you all get six hours of fight training each day during those three weeks. You are fighting Ilunias–a scary bunch of dark-world monsters. Research as much as you can and train as hard as you can. And for the Protectors . . .” My head snapped around, I had been looking at Astra, checking how she reacted to all of this. Once Mister Ragdan had named us, he received my full attention. “You girls will be the security detail for this fight. The Selection wants to see what you can do. You are only security, remember that. This will also add to the test that you ladies will take the week after the Selection fight.”

  “Wait, what?” I asked out loud.

  Mister Ragdan looked at me and sighed. “The test for the Protectors has changed, too. You have to fight the Ilunias, too, a week later than the Witches.” My breath hitched in my throat. We never had to fight creatures. Only the teachers, also the Witches’ teachers. This was something new. I felt Astra squeezing my hand, and I squeezed back.