Chapter 14

Marelda's POV

It was a spur of the moment, completely in the moment, decision.

Meaning, highly unusual for me.

I'm not sure why I invited him to my place for the summer. But I'd gotten to thinking about what he said, concerning my family. He looked absolutely pitiful, that's for sure. I don't even think he realized it. The envy was apparent, and he's usually better at hiding his emotions. So, I invited him to meet my family.

Authoress: Cute! How's this going to go? Willie will get a new big brother, is that it?

Wow. I can't believe this supposed all-knowing Authoress is so…not smart.

Authoress: Hey! That was rude. I'm only teasing, you know! *pouts* Luca is so much nicer to me. You're acting like Elias and being mean. Imma go bug the nice person! Because he's nice!

I rolled my eyes. For heaven's sake. She's quite childish.

Authoress *in the distance*: I heard that!

She was meant to.

Moving on, it seems I actually need to tell my mother a few things. Like that I've got a buddy. Who I may have invited to come to our house over the summer. This will be interesting. By interesting I mean awful because my mother will be so preoccupied with Luca being male that she'll ignore anything else I say and assume the two of us are dating and get way overexcited.

I will have to have Aaron, my stepfather, do damage control. He usually takes my side with these things, thankfully. But, unfortunately, that doesn't mean he won't pull Luca aside if I get distracted to interrogate him about his "intentions"—as if I wasn't totally capable of destroying the boy in combat myself. Luca's got plenty of talent, but no refinement.

Thinking about it as I wander into bed later that night, after Luca and I went our separate ways, I think I did the right thing. He probably didn't realize just how happy he looked from then on out, as we continued to talk, most of it things of little to no importance.

The boy had no idea what a family was like. And, it seemed as if he was coming to trust me, something that I found greatly satisfying. I think, at this point, I could consider him an ally, at the very least, if not a friend. Heavens know the boy needs them. No one deserves to be alone like he was. It's cruel.

Luca's POV

It was Friday, a little over a week since the picnic. School had ended about two hours previous, and I was running around trying to find Marelda. I'd been eavesdropping again, and the information I gained was well worth the scolding I'd probably get.

She wasn't at the training grounds. Or the clearing. I was currently on my way to her dorm, and if she wasn't there I had absolutely no clue where she was.

It was long before curfew, so I was able to easily enter the girl's dorm. I went mostly unnoticed as I made my way to her room. I'd only visited it twice, but both I'd come from outside, it being past curfew. This was the first time I'd come from the inside like a normal person.

Reaching her door, I knocked. A few footsteps later, it opened to reveal Maeghan.

She took one look at me and said, "She's in the library, probably in one of the back rooms."

I could barely get out a "thank you" before the door was shut in my face. For such a normally cheerful girl, she sure didn't seem to like me.

Sighing, I headed to the library. Upon arrival, I made my way straight to the back. There were several study rooms, and I found Marelda in the third room I tried. She was surrounded by a mess of papers, with a few books scattered in, and looking highly frustrated. Her hair looked like she'd been running her fingers through it, sticking up at odd angles, and her nose was scrunched up. I'll admit, it was entertaining seeing someone normally very put-together such a mess.

I leaned against the doorway. "Hey."

She jumped, looked up, saw me, and then rolled her eyes. "Do you need something?"

"A little irritable, I see. Homework troubles?"

"Do you need something or are you just being disruptive?" she snapped.

Well, she was in no mood where I felt comfortable telling her about my eavesdropping. I'd probably get punches instead of scolded, the way this was looking. Better calm her down first.

"I did have a reason but we'll get to that once we get through your homework. What're you working on?"

"You probably wouldn't have learned it in class yet, seeing as you're two levels below."

I slid next to her, glancing at the papers. "Theory of infatuation potions?" I normally would've teased her about it, joking about how she better not be making one to slip into my drink, and how she only had to ask, but I decided to keep serious for once because I'd rather not risk another black eye. "What part has you stuck, I did research on these last year after I read a novel where one was a big part of the story."

She looked surprised, then laughed, instantly less tense. She was laughing uncontrollably, and I could do nothing but watch uncomfortably as my buddy finally snapped. If I hadn't caught her and pulled her back up, she would have fallen off her chair. It was a few minutes before she calmed down enough to breath properly. Still red in the face and breathing heavily. "Sorry, I just tried picturing you curling up with a romance novel that had a risque cover and completely lost it."

I smiled, shaking my head. "Well, as it's seemed to cheer you up, bella, I'll ignore that. I'll have you know that it was actually about a master potions maker who took the wrong commision and had to clean up the effects of a love potion gone wrong."

"Sure, sure." She smirked, but I could tell it wasn't serious. "But I wouldn't reject help with this. I'm crap at theory."

I mimicked her, rolling my eyes and sighing in exasperation. "If you insist, I suppose I could help."

Marelda's POV

"There. That should do it for your essay," Luca said.

We'd spent the last hour on my essay. He'd actually been incredibly helpful, even before we started. I laughed harder than I had in a long time, and it entirely resolved the headache I'd gotten from the stress of trying to figure out the essay. And we still had over an hour until curfew.

"Thanks. I'd offer to help with your homework, but we both know you don't need help with doing it. Just help making sure you do it."

He stuck his tongue out at me, but then smiled. "I have a Mother Selene, I don't need a Mother Marelda."

I raised a brow. "Speaking of your work, I hope you're actually doing it because my class grades are bad enough without you bringing them down further."

He pouted, making a high-pitched whining sound. Not saying anything, just making the annoying noise. So I punched his arm, making him yelp.

"…I deserved that."

"You think?" I deadpanned. "Anyway, what did you need? As in, why did you come, because I know it wasn't to help me with my homework."

He paused. "You know, that totally slipped my mind. I did have a purpose in finding you. The Emperor is back. And, before you hit me, I know I should have eavesdropped. See?" He smacked his arm. "Punished. But it was important information."

The prefect was back? Did that mean…?

"Selene isn't back. Apparently no one is sure if she will."

I widened my eyes in alarm. "Is she alive?"

He inhaled sharply. "Oh, yes, yes, she's alive. I didn't mean for it to come off like she was dead, sorry. It's just, apparently not even her buddy is sure if she's coming back to the academy, or if she'll quit and stay home."

"That sounds pretty serious. Why wouldn't she come back?" I mean, it was unusual that her buddy went to visit her, even if she did leave because of a family emergency, but most unusual was the fact that they both were gone for about a month. Next week is the last week of school before winter break.

"I'm not sure. They didn't really talk about that," he admitted. "However, I did learn two big things."

"Go on."

"The Prince and his buddy were lured to the Tower of Sorrow by Ex-Professor Merkulova."

I didn't have the man as a teacher this year, but I had last year. He'd been a mild-mannered, kind teacher. Well-liked by the students. I'd heard of his sudden firing the other week, but no one seemed to know why. "Why would he do that? It seems incredibly out of character."

Luca just shook his head. "Power-crazed. He was tempted by a fantasy of being able to gain a lot of power, that the legendary treasure of the Tower had the ability of making him much more powerful. Unfortunately for him, the Prince managed to take him out and keep his buddy from getting killed. Impressive, I will admit."

"You tried to reach the Tower once, didn't you?"

"Yeah. That wasn't smart. I underestimated the protections surrounding it." He talked about it like it was more an experiment than anything. "Who knew that the legendary fog of illusionary insanity would be one of them. It's a fae-made one, too, meaning it's a lot stronger than a human one. Nearly went legally crazy, and I'm not in a rush to rush in again."

"You sound like you're going to try it again." My tone held a warning. He can't be that stupid, to try again.

"Not on my own. I plan on figuring a way to reach it safely. Recruiting a…bit of help. We'd need Katalina, because she can hear the guiding song, and I was hoping you, too, would come because you're a good fighter, and you know about what my researching is. After we research how exactly to take care of a chimera."

I stared at him, wide-eyed with shock, but he kept going on with his plans.

"Selene not coming back would be a problem, so I might have to figure out how to get a letter explaining all this to her. I'd prefer to do it in person, it's safer that way, but if all else fails…anyway, she'd also be someone I'd want along. We'll have to see if she'd not tell the Emperor, because he most certainly wouldn't approve and would probably stop us, if not report us. Hmm, maybe Selene could convince him. She's good at that." He kept going, and I was having a problem finding words to say.

"You…"

At the sound of my voice, he paused. "Yes?"

"Idiot." I inhaled. "You nearly go mad trying to reach it once, so, because it didn't, you're going to try again? Pray tell, what is so important about it?"

He gave a long-suffering sigh, which I found quite a bit annoying. "The Tower doesn't hold much more than the petrified Dragon of Time. The rumors of it holding riches aren't true. The wealth of the royal family is held in the treasury. But what, besides materialistic things, is valuable? What do so many people risk lives to gain? Think about it."

It took a few minutes, but I came up with the answer. "Information? You think it contains information on the royal family, don't you?"

"Why else would it be so heavily protected in the middle of a powerful country? The dragon itself isn't all that big a deal, all things considered. So something in the Tower must be holding some secrets of the family. A record, maybe. Something."

Everything, in an instant, clicked into place. "You think going to the Tower would allow you to prove you're the son of Princess Aulelia."

He nodded.

"You idiot!"

He recoiled from my sudden shout, eyes wide.

"If you keep focusing on the past, you'll never be able to move forward. You're not the same person you were, but you're not yourself either. You keep trying to pull on this mask, but you refuse to let yourself, your true self, come through. You're stuck, Luca, stuck in a place you were put in, a place you refuse to leave. You're seeking a family among the dead, when you could be looking for one among the living! You're willing to risk your life, the life of others, so selfishly, for the sake of figuring out the secrets of the dead!" My voice got louder, and I was glad we were in a deserted part of the library. "I know that's a bit hypocritical coming from me, but at least I'm making the effort to move forward! You, one the other hand, you! You're stagnant, refusing to move forward as you struggle to impossible move back! If what you think is true, then why are you wasting it? Why are you wasting away the life you were given? I knew you were selfish, Luca, but I didn't think you were this greedy!" I snatched my things and stomped out of out the library.

This fury was "unbecoming" but screw it. I'm pissed.