Chapter 9
Nobody was sent to prison or expelled, as instructor Katrine only asked easy questions. Still, I’m glad when the bell rings and we leave for lunch. My stomach has been complaining for the last hour. Since I was told I could eat with the recruits, I follow Celine and Nelly.
We descend grand stairs and turn into a hallway. The refectory is an enormous room with hundreds of tables and two counters lined with containers from which we can serve ourselves.
Most of the tables are occupied, and the only line to the buffet comes from the other recruits who were in our Dragon Knowledge class. The smell of rice, shrimp, fruit, beans, and salad makes me salivate.
By Vigorlu, I can’t believe I’m so hungry.
“Everyone’s already here,” Celine mutters. “Some instructors let us leave class early. Katrine doesn’t.”
We stand in line as I watch the tables with recruits eating or chatting, sometimes doing both at the same time.
My stomach roars furiously, but the line moves quickly, and I grab a metal tray with partitions for the food.
I’m so famished that I pour a mountain of rice on it, then lots of beans.
The meat they have today is fried shrimp, which I haven’t had in a long time.
A servant puts it on our tray, just a small portion, and I’m glad I got the mountain of beans.
Finally, I get some salad, vegetables, and a half-peeled orange.
Celine leads us to a table where she greets two second-year girls who are finishing their lunch, and then I force myself not to devour my food and look like a wild, famished animal. Well, I had no breakfast. Barely any dinner. In fact, I’m so hungry that my hand holding my fork is trembling.
The other second-year recruits leave the table, and, after a while, when enough food has satiated my gigantic hunger, I pay more attention to my surroundings. Up in the front, on a higher level, Princess Ledeia sits with some recruits and a young man.
The man… I can’t believe it. The same golden hair, same green eyes, except that his skin is no longer brown. That’s the man who told me he loved me once. The same man who forgot me once he got here. Marcus.
I look away.
“I know. He’s handsome,” Celine mutters.
“Who?” It’s stupid, of course, but I want to pretend I didn’t see him.
“Ledeia’s friend.” Her emphasis on the last word is suggestive.
Nelly looks in that direction and her jaw drops. “Wow, he is.”
“Oh. I see,” I say. “I was… curious. I didn’t know the princess ate with us, commoners.”
Celine lets out a small chuckle. “They want to make it seem like she’s one of us, except she isn’t. There are guards, at a distance from her, but they’re there. She’s surrounded by security.”
I notice the way she’s looking at Marcus—and how he’s looking at her. Just like he looked at me. The feeling coming to me tastes bitter, and yet it’s not jealousy. Yearning, maybe, for something I lost? Anger, perhaps, that he’d leave me and forget me. And something intrigues me.
“And she’s involved with a…” I almost say fisherman, but catch myself in time. “Recruit?”
“Nah. They’re just friends.” Celine rolls her eyes. “As if it wasn’t obvious.”
Quite obvious. “Does the king allow that?”
Celine lifts a shoulder. “I suppose the king allows his daughter to have friends, nothing more, and that’s what they claim they are. I don’t know what could happen if they were to…”
“Maybe she’d lose the chance for the crown?” I suggest. “Maybe that’s even why the king brought in another contender.”
“Maybe he wants a man to succeed him.” Celine’s eyes move to another table.
I follow her sight, and see Alayel. Now he’s ridiculously good-looking and knots my insides.
He’s sitting with Flavio, the recruit who brought me to the cleaning crew.
As if sensing my gaze, Alayel glances up, his eyes finding mine across the room.
He smiles, and a jolt runs through my chest. I hate it.
“Does Alayel usually sit with only one friend?” I ask.
Celine looks down at her apple. “He used to sit with Silvia, and also with his roommate. He disappeared.”
“What do you mean disappeared?” I ask.
“Who knows?” Celine half shrugs. “Maybe he ran away? Drank too much and got taken by the ocean?”
I think back to the moment we got to the boat, when the smugglers asked Alayel if his friend was coming. Was this the person who would have helped him steal the eggs? If he had dealings with smugglers, he could have escaped.
“Do recruits run away?” I ask.
Celine tilts her head. “Yes. Once they see what can happen to them, they might want to leave, except that they can’t. It’s why some of them try to escape to another continent. Most of them are caught, though.” She lowers her voice. “The penalty is death.”
Her words twist my full stomach, and I decide to say something to lighten up. “They should try to get expelled.”
“Some do. It doesn’t always work.” Celine’s sad, despondent tone is back in full force, and I think I understand it now.
“Did you… did you lose someone dear?” I ask.
She shakes her head quickly. “Just acquaintances. But it’s enough to…” She pauses and swallows, a flicker of fear in her eyes. “It’s enough.”
I glance at Nelly to see if she’s also scared, but she’s staring at Alayel’s table. Now a pang of stupid jealousy hits my chest. So stupid. She’s just looking.
“What is it, Nelly?” I ask gently.
“Uh? I… what?” She laughs.
“Mayara caught you drooling for the bastard prince is what happened,” Celine says.
Nelly frowns. “No. I… I was lost in thought.”
Celine rolls her eyes. “Lost in thoughts of the prince undressing you?”
I stiffen, unsure if I’m upset at Celine for the lewd suggestion or at Nelly for staring at Alayel. Could she really want him?
“No!” Nelly deepens her grimace. “Obviously not. He’s not my type. I’m wondering if the king will name him crown heir. I’m thinking about his daughter. It’s unfair.”
That makes sense, and now I’m left with a wave of shame for my stupid jealousy. I shouldn’t even feel jealous, shouldn’t feel anything for him. And yet I do, and it’s twisting my insides.
Celine snorts, then whispers, “If you knew Ledeia, you wouldn’t say that. Then again, I’m not so sure about Alayel. We’ll need to hope Princess Cassiana turns out all right and gets the crown despite the odds.”
Nelly shrugs. “Frankly, I’m just hoping I survive this.”
“That, too.” There’s no joy in Celine’s tone. “So, where are you going after this?”
“The outer grounds,” Nelly says. “Physical training, I think. You?”
“Advanced Riders History.” Celine turns to me. “You?”
My timetable is empty, and I don’t want to say that, or say cleaning. “I’ll need to check.”
“Careful not to be late,” Celine warns.
I nod. “Let me guess. I can be expelled or sent to prison.”
She tilts her head. “Or sent to the cleaning crew. In your case, I’m not sure how it would work.”
“Me neither.”
I grab my orange and take a bite of it, as most people empty the refectory. When I’m taking the second bite, Nelly pokes my ribs, and I look beside our table.
Alayel is standing there, looking at me, then he crouches so that his elbows rest on the table. I feel as if all eyes in the refectory turn to my direction at once, and heat climbs to my face.
“How was your first day of class?” he asks me.
Why is my voice about to break? Why is my body trembling? I smile and aim for a neutral tone. “I really enjoyed it. Instructor Katrine is great.”
“Glad to hear it. See you around.” He gets up and gives me the most charming grin a human can muster, then turns and leaves.
I’m left with a fast-beating heart, and forcing myself not to swoon.
“Ooooh, look at that,” Celine coos. “You’ve been keeping secrets.”
My face feels like it’s burning. “No. I mean… He was in my Trial, and then was involved in the decision to let me in the academy like this, so…” No more words come to mind, as they get scrambled with the memory of his smile.
Can I be that gullible? I have to remember him telling me that he wants me naked, legs spread for him, and how vulgar he is, and yet now, the thought sounds tempting rather than repulsive, and I don’t know anything anymore.
I suppose I’m the one imagining the bastard prince undressing me, and I wish I could wipe the thought from my mind.
Nelly and Celine are looking at me, and I add, “So it’s nothing.”
“Do you think you sound convincing?” Celine chuckles.
“Maybe not.” I shrug. “I won’t deny he’s beautiful, but…”
“You have eyes,” Nelly says. “It’s normal. Celine here sees too much.”
The blond girl lifts a shoulder. “What can I do? I have eyes too, you know?”
We all laugh, washing away some of my discomfort for being so affected by Alayel’s presence. And Nelly’s right. There’s nothing wrong in noticing his looks—and doesn’t mean anything.
A hand snaps my table, making my tray bounce.
“Look at the new trash.” A tall, gorgeous woman, with black hair and blue eyes, stands by us. “Why are you even here? Isn’t there something you need to clean?”
I blink, confused. “It’s my lunch break.”
“You think he likes you? You’re just his new toy.” Anger is seeping through her pores, and at first I don’t understand what’s going on, why she’s acting like that, until I realize who she might be.
“Are you Silvia?” I ask.
“Oh, you know all about me, don’t you?” She’s even more furious.
I’m puzzled, but then I recall Alayel’s gross words about her. “I don’t. Did… did he hurt you?”
My tray flies in my direction, thankfully empty.
The next moments are a blur. A guard grabs Silvia, pulling her back. Another one seizes my arms just as roughly. Before I can protest, a hand clamps over my mouth, silencing me. It’s the Trial all over again, even if I didn’t do anything now. Or did I?
We’re hauled back to a corridor as dread spreads through my body. I swear I didn’t do anything. By Vigorlu, I didn’t even want to fight. All I wanted was to ask her if Alayel had been cruel to her. Now my dreams of becoming a sky sentinel might be over, and it’s not even remotely my fault.
Maybe I’m overreacting. And then maybe this is the end.