Chapter 17 The bodyguard that was not...
Eloise
Chaos seem to follow me everywhere these days. Ever since my birthday, it's been one problem after the other. And honestly, I was getting tired of it.
The High Lords message sat on the infirmary bedstand. Aeron, Lidia, and I had spent the night at the infirmary. A healer had entered right after I told them the content of the letter so we hadn't discussed it. But the looks on their faces was the confirmation I needed.
I was in big trouble.
I had only been at Drakmor for two days, I haven't done anything that would require the High Lords summon. I was going crazy trying to think of a reason. Maybe they wanted to revert their decisions and actually kill me.
I sighed heavily.
“You know you have to say what's on your mind at some point. That's the third time you've sighed since we left the infirmary.” Raihn grumbled beside me.
I was so lost in my thoughts that I had forgotten I wasn't alone. Tina had to attend a mandatory third year meeting so Raihn was escorting me back to my room. And he was the worst bodyguard anyone could ever ask for.
“Nothing is wrong.” I muttered, not caring if he heard me or not.
“Well, stop sighing.” he said sternly. “I'm not a Waterborn but I can feel your despair. You're making me seem boring. “
“You are boring.” I blurted.
His lips parted in shock. He clearly hadn't been expecting me to say that. I didn't trust him enough to tell him the real reason for my sour mood.
Especially not after the terrible joke he made this morning. Raihn had taken one look at me and concluded I was a phoenix for rising from beneath the cave's remains. I did not find the joke funny.
But that wasn't even the most upsetting part of it. If he wanted to insult me, he could have at least gotten his facts right. A phoenix rises from ashes, not stones.
Of course, I had corrected him but he had just waved me off, which annoyed me even more.
Raihn was silent for all of two minutes. “I know you hate me but can you please not look like I'm escorting you to your death? You're ruining my reputation.” He groaned.
He might be escorting me to my death, he just didn't know it yet. And unlike Aeron and Lidia, Raihn would never try to save me. He didn't owe me anything and had no reason to try to save me.
I pushed the thoughts away and tried to think of something that wasn't death. I had two more days before I have to face the High Lords. If that was all I had left to live, I'll make sure I enjoy it.
Right now, I was going to change out of this stinky, battle worn uniform, and go to my very first class in Drakmor, unfortunately, with Raihn.
“I'll be out in a few minutes.” I muttered and went into my room.
A pack sat on my tiny bed. I opened it to see bottles of ink and some books. Tina must have packed them for me before she left this morning.
I drew a long sigh and went to my armoire. I brought out my second pair of uniform, the signature black tights and long sleeved black top.
Unlike the others, I wasn't provided with any weapons, so I had no use of the sheaths lining the pants.
When I finished dressing and stepped out, Raihn was leaning against the wall, talking to a girl. The girl placed her hand on his chest and laughed at something he said. Raihn interlocked his fingers with the girl's and gently brushed back her hair. She smiled at him, a red blush staining her cheeks.
I stood for a whole minute without either of them noticing me. I contemplated going to class on my own and leaving them, but the memory of the royal guard immediately flashed across my mind.
I tried to ignore the fear and just walk but I found it impossible. I'd had way too many brushes with death to fight the panic inside me.
“Raihn.” I called.
He lifted his eyes to me, a look of confusion crossed his features before the realization dawned on him. He made a hand gesture to me that I didn't understand.
“We have to get to class. I'm ready.” I insisted.
He did the hand gesture again, a bit more violently behind the girl's back. He flashed her a tight smile as she glanced between us.
“I can't understand your hand movement. What are you trying to say?” I frowned, confused by his attitude.
“Yeah Raihn, I can't understand you either. What's going on here? Why is the werewolf talking to you?” the girl asked him.
I sighed. I was getting frustrated with everyone referring to me as ‘the werewolf’ or ‘the wolf girl’. I have a name for goddess's sake, but no one seems inclined to ask what it was.
“Nothing. We're just…chilling.” Raihn shrugged.
“Just chilling? Are you fucking her?” the girl asked, her face had gone red with fury. I realized from her hair that she was a Waterborn.
My brows furrowed. I didn't know what that word meant. But from the way Raihn's face went white, I knew it couldn't be something good.
“Mother below! No, I am not fucking her.” he balked. “Look Carla, it's just a misunderstanding. I can explain–”
“Carla? My name is Aubrey.” The girl barked. “Did you forget my name?”
Raihn opened his mouth and closed it back. He scratched the back of his head before flashing the girl a sweet smile, the kind of smile that melts hearts.
But the girl seems to be over it. “I knew I shouldn't have trusted you. You're nothing but a stupid player.” The girl scoffed.
She conjured a ball of water and dumped it on Raihn's head, soaking his uniform. She turned around and walked away. I stood there, my mouth wide open in shock.
“You forgot her name?” I asked. It didn't exactly come as a surprise. I had told him my name more than a million times and he still hadn't gotten it right.
“To be fair, Carla and Aubrey are kind of the same thing.” he mumbled.
“No, they are not.” Aside from the fact that the two names didn't sound similar in any way, they started with completely different letters.
“Why are you judging? This is your fault.” He scoffed as he began walking away. I caught up to him.
“How is it my fault?” I asked.
“I asked you to wait for me to finish but you kept interrupting. Do you know how hard it was to get that girl to talk to me? She's a hottie.” He whined.
“That's what the hand gesture meant?”
“Yes, Erin. That's what it meant.” He scoffed, wiping the trail of water from his hair and muttering about the price of his hair gel.
“My name is Eloise.” I said.
I wasn't sure if he was intentionally mentioning the wrong name or if he really had troubles remembering people's names. Given what I just witnessed, I was beginning to think it was the latter.
He didn't give me a response and we continued walking. I decided to ask him a few more questions. I needed to know more about The Burn and The Hollowborns. I needed to do something so I don't think about my impending meeting with the High Lords.
“I want to ask you a few questions.”
He drew a long sigh. “Well, we have a few more minutes till we get to the Briefing room so ask away.”
“What does ‘fucking’ means?”
Raihn skidded to a halt. He turned to me, his mouth wide open in disbelief.
“What?!”
“Earlier the girl asked if you were fucking me and you went pale. Is it some kind of dragon kind disease?” I asked in genuine curiousity.
Raihn cursed under his breath, his eyes darting around. We had left the sleeping areas. There were more people here, but they seem too busy to pay attention to you.
“When two people engage in sexual things that leads to…uhm…producing a child for example. It's kinda like…uh…putting a thread in a needle. You know with the…” he made a hand gesture, putting his middle finger into the round shape of his other hand. I immediately understood what he was saying.
“Fucking means sex? Why didn't you just say sex?” I scoffed, turning my face away to hide the blush that crept up my cheek.
“Because people don't just say stuff like that, Eva.” he asked.
“It's Eloise.” I countered.
“Same thing.” He glared at me. I fought the urge to avert my gaze and run. If I wanted to survive here, I had to learn how to stand my ground.
Fortunately, we didn't have to engage in the staring contest for long as Tina walked up to us soon after.
“What's up guys?”
“Nothing much. Just explaining to Ellen what ‘fucking’ means.”
“Raihn!” Tina called pointedly.
“What? She asked for it.” He shrugged.
Tina shook her head and took my hand in hers. She gave Raihn one long look.
“Do I want to know why you're this soaked?”
“No.” Raihn shook his head and walked ahead of us.
Tina sighed, muttering about how this would be a long day before dragging me towards the classroom.