by G. Bailey
“No, I can’t. I have a guard who’s gone to get me food. We have been here a good three hours now, and I can’t risk that he will come back and find us gone. Not if I need to keep a pretence up,” I admit. I was worried what would happen when Warren came back to find us all gone.
“I’m worried about you being around Quin more than anyone. You loved him. Hell, I treated him like a brother, and so did Sin...he can’t be trusted now,” Noah says. “You know that, right?”
“I hate him for what he did. Don’t worry, he won’t get close,” I tell him. “But I want to know what happened to him. Quinton wasn’t always like this, and if I can get him to help me take down his uncle, then maybe—”
“Hate and love are just one coin flip away. It’s okay to hate that you love him, Sleepy, but to forgive him? That is an entirely different thing,” Noah says, and I lean up, pushing his words out of my mind as I gently kiss Noah. I can’t think about Quin right now, it hurts too much. Almost as much as it hurts to even think of Sin at all. I don’t have to say anything as I lean back, because Noah always could read me.
“I miss him too. So fucking much,” Noah admits to me and slowly wipes a tear away that fell down my cheek without me noticing it.
“I saw him,” I admit to Noah.
“What do you mean?” he asks.
“I don’t know how to explain it, but I’m sure I saw his ghost and had a conversation with him,” I say. “Maybe I have the power to see the dead or something?”
“As far as I know, you shouldn’t have that ability, Sleepy. I will ask around, a lot of the people here worked in the tales’ library and history department. They might know,” he says. “But be careful. It could be a dark tale messing about with you. Trying to break you.”
“I would ask Lane, but they took all our books from us. I miss him,” I say.
“The books have their own magic, lost and powerful magic. If you can find them and bring them here, that would be helpful too,” he suggests, and I remind myself to remember to try and find them.
“That can be my job,” Tavvy says, coming to my side and looking at us both. “Sorry, I was totally eavesdropping. This room echoes.”
“It’s cool. Are you ready to go?” Noah asks us. I step away from him and nod once. It’s going to be hard to leave here, especially as Knox is sleeping, Tobias is missing, and Noah is struggling to rein in his parents and look after everyone while grieving himself. Tomorrow night, I will be back and have more time with him. I think we both know that.
“Wait, how are we getting back without Knox?” I ask Noah.
“Knox pushed his power into this necklace. I would give you it, but there is only one, and it only works if you open the portal this side of the dimension,” Noah says before pulling the necklace off and showing me the gemstone that glows red. He holds it out into the air before whispering tales under his breath. The gemstone projects a portal into the room, and Tavvy doesn’t wait before jumping through it to the other side as Noah lowers his hand. I walk to Noah, placing my hand on his cheek briefly before stepping through the portal into our bedroom. Seconds later, the portal closes and the door to our room is knocked before it is pushed open by a dark tale in a hood, pushing a trolley of food. Warren stands like a statue outside the door, and he surprises me by pushing his hood back so I get just a small flash of bright grey eyes and white hair for a moment. It’s his eyes though that worry me the most...he knows something is up. I can feel it, especially as he searches the room with just one look.
Let’s hope he doesn’t figure out exactly what it is anytime soon.
Chapter 6
“History of the importance,” Tavvy reads out the class schedule, and it looks like we have history class all day today, except for an hour dinner break. The rest of the week looks the same, one class a day. Monday is the science of deadly poisons to use in battle. Tuesday is history, Wednesday is fighting class, Thursday is social studies and Friday is a weakness of the tales. Overall, these classes don’t seem like the best time for anyone here. Someone knocks on our door before it’s opened by Warren. Today, his hood is on again, and I can’t see any of his features like I barely glimpsed last night. I found myself briefly thinking about him last night, wondering why he is different from the rest of the tales here except for Quin and Rueben who seem to have their own set of rules.
“Class starts in ten minutes. I am positive your new teacher does not appreciate lateness,” he tells us. I’m somewhat grateful for the advice.
“Got it, thanks for the tip,” I say, picking up my black cloak and wrapping it around my shoulders before clipping it up. The cloak is heavy and thick, with gaps for me to place my arms through. I pull the hood up and smile at Warren. “See, we are matching now.”
“You are not amusing, Miss Dormiens,” he responds. I think I am, but hey ho.
“Oh I am, and you know it, Mr. Warren,” I reply, and even though I can’t see it, I know he is smiling at me. Tavvy hooks her arm through mine, snapping me out of it and making me remember who exactly I’m dealing with. She looks at me like I’m crazy as we walk out the room, following Warren down the corridor.
“How can you stand to be anywhere near them? That urge to kill them is so overwhelming that I can just about talk to them through gritted teeth,” she whispers to me.
“I don’t feel that,” I tell her, shrugging a shoulder and glancing back at Warren for a brief moment, catching a glimmer of his silver eyes under his hood.
“You’re very odd and playing with fire,” she says, and I look back to where we are walking.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I respond.
“Sure you don’t,” she replies with a small smile I don’t get. We walk silently down the corridor, which is eerily quiet as we must have left much earlier than anyone else for class. I almost trip on my feet when I get a look at the new entrance hall to the academy and how much it has changed. Instead of the old, almost comfy feel to the academy, everything is now modern, mostly black and very creepy. The walls are painted black, with white lights littering the tops of the walls. The chandelier has gone, and in its place is a long flag with the symbol of the dark tales on it in silver. The bannisters of the stairs are painted silver, with the rest of it changed to look like black glass. Overall, I don’t like it, but I’m sure the dark tales do.
“Seems someone went too far with good old black paint,” Tavvy comments, and it makes me smile as we walk down the steps.
“Where is history now?” I turn back to ask Warren, but it isn’t he who answers first.
“This way. Let me walk you there,” Quin says just before he walks around the stairs. As usual, he has a long black cloak on, clipped around his shoulders. His black shirt is tight, fitting him well, and I can see he has been working out more than before. Oddly, it just doesn’t do anything to me anymore. I’m starting to realise that whatever Quinton and I had is long lost, maybe even before Sin died. Though that raw pain is still so overwhelming every time I see him. “You never introduced me to your friend.”
“This is Octavia,” I tightly say.
“As long as you don’t keep being an asshole, you can call me Tavvy,” she says through gritted teeth, and I sense she is trying to be nice. Almost. There is too much sarcasm to say it was overall a nice comment.
“We should be getting the girls to class, Mr. Frostan,” Warren interrupts with a stern voice.
“Right,” Quin says and places his hands behind his back in a similar motion to how his uncle stands, before leading the way to class. I don’t feel like I know this Quin at all; he is long lost from the boy I fell in love with. I think he has been brainwashed by his crackers uncle, and I’m not sure there is any coming back from that. We walk silently to the classroom, where Quin stops outside and pushes the door open after knocking once.
“Have a good class. I hoped we could hang out later after the day is done?” Quin asks. I don’t want to lead him on, but some part of me knows I need to keep h
im as a friend to stay safe in this place now.
“Sounds good,” I say, and he smiles widely before walking away. Tavvy heads into the classroom, and I go to follow her, but a hand grabs my arm. I look at the pale, large hand gently holding my arm and up to Warren’s eyes which are all I can see under his hood.
“You are playing a dangerous game, leading Mr. Frostan on. Be careful, Miss Dormiens,” Warren warns, but I honestly don’t have a clue why he is giving me advice at all. My arm feels warm under his grip, and I look down to see his pale hand on mine, with a silver ring bearing a gold R in the middle of a circle on his middle finger.
“What do you care, Warren?” I ask, tugging my arm away and shaking my head at him. “You’re just another slave to whatever your king asks you to do. Even if your king is a murderous bastard and you know he’s fucking crazy.”
“If I really was a slave, I’d tell everyone about how you had a portal open in your room last night,” he pauses, leaning closer as I’m paused in shock for a second. My heart beats faster, knowing he has something over me now. “Was it a fun visit from the Tale brothers, Miss Dormiens?”
“Whose side are you on?” I quietly ask, and we both stay silent as two dark tale guards walk past.
“You’ll have to figure that one out on your own,” he tells me and lets my arm go. I walk into the classroom, wondering if maybe the dark tales aren’t as dark as we have been led to believe.
Or quite possibly Warren isn’t like the others.
Chapter 7
I scream as a cat flings itself at me, swiping its claws across my face the second I step into the room. I call my powers as I grab it, holding it away from me as it desperately tries to claw me to death, looking like it has rabies or some shit. I sprinkle the dust into its face, and it falls asleep instantly. I gently put it on the floor and look over as a woman steps into the room. Her grey hair is swept up into a bun, her eyes are fully black and match her cloak, but the look of horror on her face as she sees the cat makes me step away.
“My fur baby!” she screams, running over and picking up the passed out cat. “You monster, how could you do that to an innocent creature?” she asks as I rub the claw marks on my shoulder and chin.
“Innocent? The cat attacked me, so I put her to sleep. I hardly hurt her, I’m not a monster,” I reply, though I might have used more sleep dust than necessary. I do not like cats, and they do not like me. I thought I was safe at this place, but clearly not. That cat just reminds me of all the times I’ve been literally chased down streets by cat gangs. Yes, they have gangs, I know it.
I start to explain again, “Sleep isn’t going to hurt her, Miss—”
“Miss Porter, now go and sit down this instant, you horrid students,” she snaps, and her eyes change to resemble cat eyes in an instant, and when I see her hands, long claws are coming out of them. I quickly walk to a desk with Tavvy and sit down, knowing Miss Porter and I are not going to be the best of friends. Watching as Miss Porter walks away, I see a tail on her back, mainly hidden by her cloak. I watch as she carefully places the cat on the desk before stroking her lovingly.
“Cats really don’t like you, do they?” Tavvy asks with a chuckle, and I can see she is trying not to laugh out loud at me.
“They never did,” Sin’s voice is a shock to me, and I jump out of my skin before looking to my left where the ghost version of Sin is sitting on the desk.
“Madi, you okay?” Tavvy’s worried voice doesn’t make me look away from Sin, who smiles at me.
“Remember that one time we got chased down three streets by four angry cats? What were we, eight at the time?” Sin asks me. I’m so shocked that I can’t help but gape at him for a moment before I remember to answer him.
“Seven, and there were five cats,” I reply, lifting a hand to touch him, but he shakes his head.
“Madi, you are really freaking me out now. Who are you talking to?” Tavvy asks, grabbing my shoulder and gently shaking me. I look to her for just a second, and when I look back, Sin is gone.
“No!” I whisper, placing my hand on the desk where he just was, and it’s just cold. It’s just a desk, and Sin is gone. My heart hurts once again, and I hear a raven squawk in the distance, but I can’t see it.
“Madi?” Tavvy asks again, this time she is more panicked than before, and it makes me take a deep breath before looking at her.
“It was Sin. His ghost, his soul...I don’t actually have a clue what it was,” I whisper. “But he was here.”
“Sin is dead, babe. He’s gone,” Tavvy gently tells me, and I see she is super concerned for me. I don’t blame her; I’m telling her I just saw a dead person sitting on the desk, talking to me.
“I know that, but I swear he was just here,” I tell her. “You don’t have to believe me, but I know it was him. He has something to do with the ravens. They are always near when he is.”
“Grief does funny things to us all, I guess, but I trust you. If you say he was here, then he was. I’m just a little freaked out since I watched a ghost hunting show years ago and couldn’t sleep for weeks,” Tavvy says and strokes my arm before lowering her hand as the room starts filling with students. I don’t know why it doesn’t scare me like it does Tavvy. I guess it’s because I’m so desperate to see Sin that I don’t care how it happens. I just need to see him.
I look up as Ella walks into the room, looking far more like herself. Her red hair is up in a bun, and her cloak has been restyled by tying a belt around it tightly at her waist. A long slit runs from her neck all the way down, revealing her long legs in red high heels.
“That is not proper clothing attire, young lady,” Miss Porter says.
“I’m no lady, Miss whatever your name is. If you want my fashion advice, I would be happy to help you,” she says, placing her hands on her hips as she eyes Miss Porter’s outfit.
“Just sit down. Now!” she shouts, and Ella smiles as she passes her and comes to sit at my side before winking at me.
“Welcome, students, to your new class, History of the importance. The importance in the title is the joint history we both share: the triple goddesses who created everything around us. Now we are going to be heavily studying every bit of information we can find out about them in the books in the cupboard at the back of the class. You are expected to read the books and write notes on what you find. One book a day must be completed, or you are not permitted to leave the classroom until it is done at the end of the day,” she says. “And I will be checking the facts, so do not try to cheat.”
“What happens if we decide to do nothing and just leave?” Ella asks, and to be honest, I’m curious about the same thing.
“You will be sent to King Rueben for punishment. I am very good at controlling my urge to kill you all like my genes beg me to do. King Rueben is not, and you, Ella, are the child of the old Masters. It would not be a quick death for someone like you. Now get on with your work, and no talking,” she demands, and we aren’t left with much else but agreeing to do what she asks. None of us want to deal with Rueben on our own just yet. We need a plan, a damn good one, if we are going to stand any chance.
I slide out of my chair first, and everyone follows me to the back where I open the cupboard to find boxes of books. I open the nearest box and pull out a book, seeing that these are the old ones from the library. It makes me think of the dagger hidden in my room. This lesson makes me wonder why Rueben wants us to spend so long reading these books and what exactly he is looking for.
Chapter 8
“You look tired,” Quin comments after we have walked in silence for a good ten minutes around the academy. My feet crunch against the cold grass with every step, and snow lightly falls around us. His powers and…well, it is everything about him that I don’t like. It’s a stark reminder of who he is now. Whereas I used to feel comfortable in his presence, I only feel nervous and annoyed now. I want to hit him again and hope that it knocks some sense into his head and he realises how much of an idiot he has been
to follow his insane uncle. Another part of me still loves him, but it’s not the same love it was. It’s not even a quarter of it anymore because I don’t respect Quinton after what he did. Or didn’t do, I guess. Respect and love have to be equal…and so does trust. I could never trust Quinton again.
“What are you a descendant of?” I ask him.
“The Snow Queen,” he tells me. “Did you ever read that fairy tale?”
“No, but then I never did look at many fairy tales until I came here, and now I wish I had read them all instead of being a tomboy and playing outside all day with you and the brothers,” I reply, and he chuckles a little. For just a second, it feels like us before I left. Before everything went so wrong.
“What happened after I left, Quin?” I ask him, because we can’t pretend it is the same as it was back then. I want answers, and I want to know how he got to this.
“You remember how I wanted to tell you something, the last phone call we had before you went?” he asks, and I nod because I do remember. I spot a bench pressed against the stone wall, so I head over to it and sit down. Quin sits next to me, looking down at the frosty grass.
“I was going to tell you that my uncle turned up on my door and paid my mum to give him custody of me. So he moved me into the local hotel, and he started telling me everything. I was shocked at first, but then he told me where you had gone...and that I’d get powers soon if I was strong,” he explains. It makes me wonder what would have happened to Quinton if he didn’t get powers. I doubt Rueben would be even a tiny bit interested in him then.