Chapter 5:
"It is the friends we meet along the way that help us appreciate the journey," - Random quote.
Pigeon crap? Aelin's eyes narrowed. The man flicked his hand and the cupcake was crushed, as if some phantom hand wrapped around it and squashed it.
Aelin put her hands on her hips, "That took a long time to make. And that was for you. It's your loss."
The handsome man just stared. It didn't take a genius to understand that he probably didn't eat sweets. Given his toned body. Aelin swallowed as he took the man in.
He had hip length silver hair, striking green eyes, the same color as the trees around them, and a stark black tattoo along the side of his face that continued on his arm and became hidden under his clothing. Fae words. Aelin studied them in court. Only a pure fae could understand a language that old.
The man shifted to avert the attention. Aelin's eyes snapped back up.
The man frowned, "Wipe your drool." He jerked his head, "30 laps around the arena. Now."
Aelin gritted her teeth. She grabbed the leather wrapped around her wrist and tied her hair. She walked over to the starting point and spared a glance at the man before she sprinted.
It was going to be a long session.
And it was a long session. The whole time, Aelin learned nothing of her mentor. The only thing she managed to achieve was coming close to cardiac arrest with his demanding orders.
She walked into her tent with little to no feeling in her legs and arms. She could barely walk and her vision was blurry. She closed her eyes for a moment. Now was no time to be weak, she had two more classes left. She could get through them. It was only day one, after all.
Her six class was a breeze. It gave her time to rejuvenate her strength. Which was good, since Aelin was looking forward to her final class.
Not just because it was the final class, but because it would be perhaps her most favorite class. Language Arts.
Aelin hopped to her next class, sat in the front of the class and waited.
Slowly, the class began to trickle in. And finally the teacher arrived. An old woman whose gray hair was wrapped back in a tight bun. And her eyes held no mercy. The woman cleared her throat, and everyone sat straight.
She snapped her fingers and the same book was put on everyone's desk. Aelin eagerly grabbed it and examined it.
She frowned. The title was Examining Slide and Drag Techniques.
What was this? A mechanics class. Aelin didn't notice that the teacher began with the lesson, for she was too lost in thought. This was language arts. Where was the romance? The adventure? Aelin gritted her teeth. She stood so fast, she knocked over her chair.
"This is ridiculous. What kind of trash is this? We shouldn't need to read this," Aelin glared at the teacher.
The teacher glared right back. "Miss, I don't care if you are the princess of anything, you still have to raise your hand like everyone else. As for your complaints, you can head right out the door into the office."
Aelin didn't allow herself to ponder of her aunt was in the office. She just stood there.
She thanked Mala when another person stood up. She had dark hair and green eyes… and complementary assets. She was quite gorgeous. But not as gorgeous as Aelin herself, of course.
With a syrupy voice, she purred, "Teacher, I'm quite sorry for my friend's disturbance. I promise this will not be a repeated occurrence."
The teacher huffed it off and rolled her eyes. And if the girl wasn't holding her back, Aelin would have tackled her.
After class the girl approached Aelin.
Aelin was in the midst of packing her things, "What?"
The girl just smiled, "Nothing, I just wanted to let you know that we'll be reading a lot more of these sorts of texts. And although they are undeniably boring, they are important - and I'd rather not have to deal with a princess's tantrums for not getting her way." The green eyed woman winked and turned to walk away.
But Aelin couldn't let her go, not yet. So she reached out a phantom of a hand, "What's your name?"
The girl smiled, "Lysandra."
And Lysandra walked away.
Ly-san-dra. Aelin pronounced every syllable. It sounded royal. But… she didn't look like royalty.
Aelin was too intrigued. So she chased after Lysandra.
It seemed cold. And not a normal cold, but a cold so freezing it seemed to stop Elide's heart. But the sun was beating hard, so it must have just been Elide. She nervously played with the edge of her sleeve - her witch gear was far too big for her. But it was the smallest one they had, it barely would have fit a 6 year old, according to a servant witch. Elide probably looked ridiculous with her nerves and oversized clothing. She came five minutes early, she probably looked like a dork.
Elide froze as she saw the first witch enter the arena. A few more trickled behind her. And soon enough, they all had arrived. Manon stalked over to Elide. Manon grabbed Elide's wrist and held it up, "Witches - we have a new addition to our group. This is Elide Lochan - the princess of Peranth. Although she is not a complete witch, I expect her to be treated with respect. Understood?"
The other ladies nodded. Manon let go of Elide's wrist - which was now bleeding from Manon's claws digging into them. The head walked over to the main entrance of the arena and got on one knee. The other witches quieted. Waiting, Elide realized. Men brought beasts of scales and wings out.
Somehow, Elide found the witches more deadly than the dragons.
The men left, and Asterin came forward and faced the coven, "Today, you will have the opportunity to choose between these dragons. Approach them with caution, or you'll have your guts come out of your eyes."
The witches chuckled. Elide did not.
The witches bravely approached the beasts. Elide stayed put.
But she realized that if she stayed behind, all of the better dragons would be taken. So slowly she approached them. She noticed one particularly smaller dragon already had a saddle on it's back. One of the witches caught her staring and nudged her shoulder, "That's Manon's. I wouldn't stare at it too long unless you wish to lose a limb."
Elide looked to the ground and nodded.
Perhaps it was like a dog. Maybe the dragons needed to understand her scent, so they wouldn't feel threatened. Elide held a hand out and approached a sleek, orange dragon, with slow movement.
The time was wasted as the dragon whipped its tail and nailed Elide's stomach squarely. It sent her flying on her bum. Some witches snickered, others rolled their eyes and muttered about why Elide was here in the first place.
A conch sounded. And the witches stood straight. The ones that had chosen stood to the right of their dragons. And the ones that hadn't chosen stood up front. Elide joined them. Manon was still on one knee in front of the coven.
Lighting cracked, though there was no storm. The head witch prowled in, and indeed she brought a storm inside her. Anyone could tell she was the head with the regal look in her eyes, to the way she condescendingly looked at others. The witch snapped her fingers and Manon stood.
In a honeyed voice, she purred, "Where's that new girl? I wish to examine her."
Manon nodded and sharply glanced at Elide.
Slowly taking a deep breath, she stepped forward. But the head witch grabbed her throat and looked straight into her eyes. The head's eyes were a dead grey and her lips in a thin line. Elide tried her best not to gag.
She internally cussed. Maybe she shouldn't have eaten so much, before. That blow to the stomach was not good, and now this.
Before Elide could process what was happening, she found herself vomiting on the head witch.
She dropped her hold of Elide's throat. But Elide wished that the head would have suffocated her - it was better than dealing with this.
Everyone tensed in fear. The head slowly looked up from her dirtied gown. With blazing eyes that were filled with fury, she sternly commanded, "Have this girl receive the boulder. This woman is nothing less than the daughter of a peasant. Her weakness will not be tolerated. And if I see her one more time, I will have her tormented not by me - but my Maeve herself."
The head turned to leave and Manon spoke up, "Grandmother - she's still somewhat human. The boulder…"
The head turned sharply, "I do not care. See if she lives. It's better if she doesn't. If she does somehow end up surviving, than she can have the courtesy of cleaning our dishes."
The head snapped her fingers and Asterin was suddenly standing on a tree's branch, with a large boulder. In front was a slingshot. The witches were cleared to the left and right. Elide was magically stuck to a board. Not chains, for they would have offered her protection. But magical binding, enough to get the job done without any repercussions. Elide looked over frantically to Manon. But Manon had no emotion in her eyes. None of the 13 did.
Asterin - with no mercy, placed the boulder in the band, and fired.
The crack could be heard from anywhere in the school.
Preview of Chapter 6:
Dorian wiped the sweat from his brow. Avoiding Chaol and Nesryn was near impossible. But he managed. He snuck his way to the romance section - his guilty pleasure. He picked out a rather long novel, put his hood over his face, and sat in between the shelves. He ran a thumb over the cover. He could almost hear his heart racing. Chuckling, he flipped to the first page and began.
Midday turned into early evening. Dorian was about 100 pages in, when he heard someone approaching. Quickly, Dorian secured his hood, hid the book inside his jacket and stood. Wiping the dust off his slacks, he looked up. He squinted. He couldn't tell if what he was seeing was real, or if the long hours of reading had damaged his eyes.
A few yards in front of him, Manon Blackbeak - the head of the witch Coven was standing on a ladder - vandalizing the romance section with neon green spray paint.
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