17

Ruva woke up before dawn, shuddering from her latest nightmare. Over the years her nightmares about her parents had slowly decreased, but now they returned with vengeance.

Her subconscious mind had composed the perfect villain. He had the looks of the man who killed her parents, those unforgettable golden eyes. He had a deep voice, the same voice as her kidnapper from the palace had. This particular dream involved the golden eyed man dragging her underwater, whispering terrible things in her ear. Someone would dive down, but they were always too far away.

Ruva stared out her window, noticing the little patches of frost were bigger than before. It was only a week until Kaldoras, and Ruva couldn't wait to see Sela and Corbin. She longed to ride through the palace grounds, to walk through the winter wonderland. Ruva wanted her home.

But, Ruva had another week of classes before her fortnight of freedom.

Ruva shuddered as she remembered her nightmare. 'Your parents died. Everyone you ever love will die.'

She needed a distraction, so Ruva put on her boots and jacket. She was going outside, and not even a hurricane would stop her.

A hurricane would be a good distraction, she mused.

She left her room, silently closing the door behind her.

Her boots crackled on the frosty grass, and Ruva went towards the tree line. If she was at the palace, Ruva would already know where she wanted to go. She knew every nook and cranny in that forest, but this one was different. She recognised some plants, but many were unfamiliar. Ruva stopped when she reached the trees. She was next to a birch, its frosty white branches reached to the sky with skeletal fingers. Which way should she go?

After a while, Ruva decided to follow the natural path to her left.

Ruva had been walking for hours, but it felt like she'd only entered the trees a few minutes ago. When she saw the golden light that heralded day, Ruva turned around and started walking back. She felt refreshed from her morning walk, but Ruva knew she would be tired after class today. Her lessons for the day were Med Sci, Archery, SOSAC and Core Skills. Ruva would have been exhausted if she had ES, especially with all the challenges Tayla made her do afterwards.

The academy was bathed in golden light, and Ruva gasped at the splendour of the sunrise. Akarnae was beautiful, but Ruva missed the palace. Just five more days of school and she'll get to see Sela and Corbin. They holo-called her often enough, but it wasn't the same. She couldn't hug a hologram, she could only talk to it. Talking was difficult for Ruva, she found it hard to find the words for what she wanted to say.

The frost on the ground had melted, and Ruva knew it would soon turn to sludge with all the students walking on it. Ruva went into the dorm building, planning to put away her coat and swap her shoes over. But in the corridor on the fifth floor, she knocked into Jaiden and his caramel haired friend, Tyron. Ruva quickly scuttled past, trying to stay out of their way, but Jaiden grabbed her shoulder.

"Get back here, Angel girl. You haven't apologised for bumping poor Tyron. Look how upset he is."

Tyron didn't even try to look distressed, he just smirked.

Ruva, not wanting to stay near them, said, "Sorry, Tyron." She tried to walk off, but Jaiden kept a firm grip on her arm.

"Hold up, Angel. Tyron has something he wants to say to you."

Tyron stepped closer, his caramel hair glinting under the lights. In a gravelly voice he said, "For someone who is in Delta for PE, you sure do panic near water."

Ruva gulped, not at all liking where the conversation was going.

"I saw you splashing about like a headless chook in the water, and I thought 'hey, I should teach you how to swim.' So I grabbed your ankle and pulled you down to the bottom."

Ruva took in a stuttered breath, it wasn't some underwater beast that had grabbed her, but Tyron.

"I was going to teach you how to swim, but it was so funny watching your pathetic efforts, I couldn't stop laughing!" Tyron was grinning like a predator at its prey.

Ruva started to shake. She had almost drowned because he found it too funny to pull her up. She pulled against Jaiden's grip, but he was unrelenting.

Jaiden smirked at her attempt to escape his hold, he knew he had hit a sore spot. "I guess it's hard for Tyron to remember that people have to hold their breath underwater, especially when his gift is water breathing."

Ruva's muscles locked up. She needed to move, get away, anything.

And then, her saviour came.

Arra came down the hallway, her hands balled into fists. "Back off, Jaiden. Leave Ruva alone." Arra didn't yell, but her words were loud enough to convey the message.

Ruva felt Jaiden stiffen at the sight of her, and he immediately let go of her. She stumbled a few steps back, putting a safe distance between them.

"Hi, Arrabella," said Jaiden. "Don't worry, we were just… talking with Ruva, weren't we, Tyron?"

Tyron nodded enthusiastically, his predatory grin nowhere to be seen. "In fact," he said. "We were just going now."

The two of them took off down the corridor, running into Room Six and shutting the door behind them.

Arra frowned as they left, but then she turned to Ruva, her eyes softening. "Are you okay?"

Ruva fingered her necklace, then shook her head. "No. He – Tyron's gift… Pulled me under… Laughing… Too deep…" Her breathing became quicker, and she was unable to finish.

Arra squeezed her arm, saying, "Come on, I need to fix your hair in our room."

Ruva nodded, letting Arra bring her down the hallway towards their room.

But before they made it to Room Ten, Room Six's door flew open, whacking Ruva in the nose. Jaiden and Tyron ran out snickering, disappearing before Arra could act.

Tears pricked Ruva's eyes, and she placed a hand over her nose.

"Ouch, that looked like it hurt. Let me see it," said Arra.

Ruva gave a thin smile. "I'm fine." Ruva lowered her hand, only for blood to start trickling out.

Arra winced when she realised how injured she was. "Let's take you down to see Fletcher, it won't take too long."

Ruva was about to argue that she was fine, but she felt a sharp pang in her nose. "Yeah, let's go."

The Med Ward was quiet and peaceful in the morning, and Fletcher was having his coffee break. Ruva cringed as their wet and grassy boots made marks on the sterile floor.

"Just as I sat down," Fletcher sighed. "How can I help you, girls?"

Arra laughed awkwardly, trying to stall. Her eyes darted to Ruva and she shook her head. Telling Fletcher what had happened would only make it worse. After a moment of silence, she said, "I – uh, accidentally slammed a door into Ruva's face." Arra laughed again, the sound unnaturally high.

"Now I've got a nose bleed," added Ruva.

Fletcher eyed them for a second, before saying, "Okay. I'll just give you a check for concussion, and then you can have a pain reliever." Ruva nodded and sat on the nearest bed.

She sat there awkwardly as Fletcher poked and prodded her, when she noticed something on the opposite side of the ward.

"What's that?" She asked, pointing at a handwritten sign sitting above a bed.

Fletcher gave an easy chuckle. "It's a sign saying 'Alex's bed', Alex is a third year, and about as accident prone as they get. I see her here almost every day, and one of the third years thought it would be a good joke to stick up a sign." Ruva smiled, easily imagining Alex's face when she first saw the sign.

Alexandra Jennings – or Alex, as she preferred – always seemed a little strange to Ruva. She was a third year transfer student, and seemed very out of place at Akarnae. Ruva had heard rumours that she was in Epsilon for Combat and ES, but she had never ridden a horse or done any offensive fighting.

Ruva didn't know about Combat, but Alex was definitely a natural rider. She had no idea how to saddle up her horse, but she picked up the skill easily enough. She rode with natural talent, reminding Ruva of her own skills when she started riding, – even if she started at seven. Ruva was in her class for Archery, PE and ES. No one knew where Alex was from, but Ruva had to admit it, Alex was hilarious.

Just then, the doors burst open. Alex came limping in, her face red with embarrassment.

Fletcher looked up. "Hello there, Alex. I was wondering when you would turn up."

Alex limped over to Fletcher. "It's nice to see you too, Fletcher. It feels like only yesterday when I last saw you last."

Fletcher's lip twitched. "If I remember correctly, it was yesterday."

A wry smile covered Alex's face. "You know me too well, Fletcher."

Fletcher just rolled his eyes. "Make yourself comfortable, Alex, I'll just be a minute more." –Fletcher turned to Ruva– "Luckily, there's no sign of concussion. I'll just give you a vial of pain relief then you can go. For the future, just remember," –Fletcher eyed Arra– "to open doors carefully."

It was late at night, and Ruva had a bad headache. Marmaduke had kept her for two hours after class to research her gift. If there was one thing Ruva hated, it was research. Why should she read paragraph after paragraph when she could experience things?

Ruva had always struggled with reading, her parents had never taught her how. When Sela and Corbin found out she couldn't read, they almost had a heart attack. Ruva didn't see what the big deal was, it was just a bunch of squiggly lines. She didn't understand why she had to learn. She was signed up for lessons with Princess Delucia's tutor, Master Ying. But even after she learnt the basics, she didn't understand what everyone was raving about.

Ruva walked towards her dorm door, carefully keeping her arm out in case it suddenly flew open. Once she was inside her dorm, she found out that Arra was already asleep. Ruva felt her comTCD buzz, and she pulled it out. She had a holo-message from Sela and Corbin. Ruva pressed it, and the pre-recorded message came to life.

"Hi, Ruva. We hope you're having fun at Akarnae." Both Sela and Corbin wore identical fake smiles, and Ruva could tell that they both missed her.

As if Corbin heard Ruva's thoughts, he said "We really miss you Ruva, and we can't wait to see you in the Kaldoras holidays."

Even as a hologram, Ruva could see Corbin's sadness. It was made more apparent when Sela gently touched Corbin's arm.

"We'll see you soon, Ruva. Call us if you get the chance!" The message ended there, and the room suddenly fell dark. Ruva blinked as her eyes adjusted to the dark room. She kept blinking, and tears started to fall. Ruva stopped blinking, thinking she was over-blinking, if that was a thing.

But the tears continued to fall. Ruva felt a tightness in her throat, and she realised she missed them. She missed Corbin's easy smiles and Sela's practicality. She missed walking through the palace grounds and the stables. She missed helping Sela with patients, racing Corbin on horseback.

She missed home, Ruva realised.

And so Ruva lay down in her bed, tears silently flowing down her face.