Chapter 42 CHAPTER 42
“Sorry sir but that's inappropriate and –”
“Take off your shirt Alira, or you can tell me what you mean by ‘that’s normal’. Tell me why Florian thinks someone is hurting you. Tell me why Varak was unleashing his beast's temper on you!”
I stepped back and ignored my hair that was right in my line of vision, I was terrified of the beast staring at me.
He was furious, but his eyes were different.
Black. Menacing.
But instead of being terrified as common sense demands, I was intrigued, concerned.
So I began unzipping my top, I had on a sports bra inside anyways so what's the worst that can happen?
If any student walks in here however, I'll beg him to either send me back to earth or bury me in the depths of the mountain where the lava cooks.
“What are you doing?” He suddenly asked as I went to take off the leather pants that were paired with the top.
Pausing, I looked up at him in confusion.
“You asked me to take off my clothes sir.”
“I also asked you to tell me what's been happening with you. Why's your preferred choice of options?”
I sighed in frustration and began pulling my clothes back on, trying to make sure I don't let my anger spill over. His eyes changing from their sharp blue shade to the obsidian orbs that were staring intently at me right now didn't mean anything good, I was sure of that.
After zipping my clothes back on, I went back to the chair.
“What do you want to know sir?”
“Your hair. It's growing longer.”
This man was going to give me a migraine with all of the things he was doing.
“Thank..you?”
His eyes were gradually returning to their former icy shade and he folded his arms across his chest and I saw a hint of a tattoo and I was so close to reaching out to touch it when his voice snapped me back to reality.
“I'm asking if you need scissors to cut it.”
“I'm sure Erin will have it if I ever need one.”
“Sharp items like that are banned in the first year's dormitory. Have you seen her with a blade before?”
“Now that I think about it, not really,” I replied, sifting through my limited memories.
And to think that it's just Thursday and I already feel like I'd been here a whole year.
Blinking seemed useless but I still found myself doing it, and the hope in my chest was slowly flickering to darkness.
“How's your relationship with other students? Besides Erin of course, I know she's been taking care of you.”
His words slammed a fact into my mind about how caring this man is.
He'd known Erin's species and that she'd be obsessed with taking care of me and after just one night of meeting me, he was making decisions like that.
With my well-being in mind.
It felt like meeting Momma all over again, only this time, I wanted to rip his clothes off and..
“I'm getting along fine with them all. And thank you for sending Erin to me, she's been an angel.”
“Good. Has anyone shown interest in you?”
“I'm sorry I don't understand.”
“You're a fresh face, a big pandora box. You can't tell me no male has been trying to take you for themselves.”
Is that jealousy I smell or am I more delusional than I thought I was?
“I'm going to ignore the fact that you just compared me to an inanimate object –”
“Not you, your situation and –”
“– but no one has approached me in that way, just a bunch of –”
I shut up quickly, nearly ruining my own life in a spree of rage.
“You should learn to finish your sentences, they carry power.”
“I'll keep that in mind sir.”
He walked away from me and it felt like the air was getting polluted with normalcy the farther he went.
When he finally sat down, he pulled out a stone and pushed it towards me.
“My horse for whatever reason, has taken a liking to you. If you are ever in trouble and need help, just tap it four times.”
“Oh that's nice of you but what if you're riding atop her? Won't that interfere with your… job?”
“Don't worry about that. Just go and remember, I'm responsible for your well-being until the king sends his people to look at you. The Scribe's report on you has made him more interested and I'd like to actually present a living being whenever he decides to send someone over here, okay?”
“I'll try not to die on you sir,” I nodded and got up, picking the interesting stone.
Well, pebble is a more fitting description, only it's a bit bigger.
“Take your training seriously Alira,” he said as I got closer to the door.
“But I am, I'm literally getting beat down every single day. What else does seriously entail?”
“You can't complain about it when you don't want to talk about it. I asked you and you said everything is fine.”
“Everything is fine sir,” I bit out and placed my hand on the door.
“Alira.”
“Thank you for your kindness sir, I'll be off now for evening classes.”
And I ran out of there.
Instead of going to class as I'd planned, I had to go back to the hostel.
I needed to change out of my underwear.
The way those dark eyes struggled to stay on my face, the way his fingers clenched as I moved, they tainted me irreparably and I'd spent the rest of the meeting trying to control myself.
When I got in, everyone was in the room, making me realise I'd not stayed out as long as I thought I had.
My brain was stuck in a loop, replaying the way he became protective over and over again.
Although I'll have to warn Master Florian about reporting me to him, not as if I had any authority over the man's actions but I had to do something to stop Principal Draco from connecting the dots.
Until I leave here, I need to not aggravate my situation. Who knows if I'll ever be able to leave?
“What did he want?” Erin sat up as I headed to my side of the bed.
“The king will be sending a delegate soon to check on me due to the incident earlier and then he saw Master Varak screaming in my face. Add that to Master Florian thinking I'm getting bullied and then I reported it to him. I'm literally struggling to not open up and tell him everything but I held my ground. So he gave me this pebble and told me to call on Styx every time I'm in trouble.”
“You're lying,” Mira gasped, sitting up quickly on her bed.
“About which part?”
“He gave you his special stone?”
“Yes, is something wrong with that?” I asked Erin in confusion, wondering what Mira was going on about.
“He might have as well have given you his heart in a tray. His past is tied to the stone, his present is tied to that stone because Styx does whatever she wants, and whenever he's done with work, he'll just call her.”
“But…”
“Forgive me for not recognising your game,” Akua chuckled from behind me, “you're definitely one to watch out for, going after the top guns. Incredible!”
This is all bonkers