Chapter 10 #2
“Please practice your incantation at home and read chapter thirteen before Thursday. You are dismissed.” She waved her hand, and the doors at the back of the class were flung open, light pouring in from the windows in the corridor.
The classroom erupted in conversation as everyone gathered their things and began to walk to their next class.
Ember threw her bag over her shoulder and headed toward the door when she felt a hand wrap gently around her wrist.
“Off in a hurry there, Starshine?” Killian smiled beside her.
Ember rolled her eyes as she slowed down, and Fen came running up behind them. He furrowed his brow as he looked between the two, and Killian quickly dropped his hand from where it was still gripping Ember’s wrist.
“Why are you acting weird,” Fen prodded. “Where are you two going?”
“The only weird one here is you, Fenrir,” Ember hissed jokingly.
“I have a free period and thought I’d spend it outside.
You’re both more than welcome to join me.
” She turned on her heels and walked out the door, turning toward the steps that hugged the edge of the large tree and led out the double doors.
“Outside? You mean to relax?” Killian asked, as he quirked his brow. “Are you feeling alright? Coming down with something?” He held the back of his hand up to her forehead, and she quickly swatted it away.
“Of course I am,” Ember huffed. “I just want to spend some time outdoors before it starts getting cold again.”
“You mean you don’t intend to study yourself to death this year?” Fen asked jokingly.
Ember rolled her eyes as she shoved the doors open, taking in a deep breath as she walked into the sun. She walked through the grass and up to the creek that ran through the grounds, Odette already sitting under the large oak tree that was nestled on the bank.
“Mind if I sit?” she asked quietly.
Odette smiled as she nodded. “Of course not,” she replied. “I’m just studying.”
“Oh great,” Fen mumbled. “That’s exactly what she needs, a study buddy to make her even less fun.”
Ember ignored him and charmed the napkin in her bag into a blanket. After she sat down, settling herself onto the blanket, she quickly pulled a book out of her bag.
“Ah, yes, that makes more sense,” Killian chided. “Less relaxing, more reading.”
Ember glared at him but chose not to respond. These boys were not going to ruin her relaxing afternoon. She glanced over at Odette, who was reading very intently out of her Galdr textbook, when she noticed the raised bumps on the pages that her fingers were moving briskly over.
“Your book is in braille,” Ember noted, as she tilted her head. “I’ve never seen a braille textbook.”
Odette nodded. “It makes studying much easier,” she replied, as she flipped a page. “Otherwise, I would have to rely on recorded lectures and notes. I prefer to just read from the text.”
“How would you read notes?” Ember asked, flipping her book closed and leaning back against the tree.
“A conversion spell of sorts,” Odette replied. “My mum actually created it before she…” Her voice trailed off as she chewed on her bottom lip, and Ember felt her heart sink.
“Can you show me?” she asked, as she pulled out a notebook and pen and handed it to the girl.
Odette smiled as she nodded, taking the pen, and scribbling a few words onto the paper. She mumbled under her breath, a spell Ember didn’t catch, and then the words scribbled in ink suddenly turned to raised bumps littered across the pages. Ember trailed her finger over them and grinned.
“Wicked.” Fen grinned, and Odette’s cheeks turned a brilliant shade of crimson. Ember opened her book again and settled against the tree, content to study in silence with Odette for the rest of the afternoon.
They all sat for a few minutes, and Ember thought maybe this could work—maybe the boys would let her relax and read her book in peace.
Killian and Fen were skipping stones in the creek, having a quiet competition to see whose could reach the other side first, when Fen accidentally splashed Killian in the face, and before she knew it, both boys were shouting and wrestling and covered in muck and water.
“Oh, honestly,” Ember mumbled, as she closed her book and laid it beside her. “I should just leave you like that,” she shouted to them, “and let you explain to Professor Walsh why you’re walking into her classroom sopping wet and getting mud all over the corridors.”
Both boys paled at the mention of their teacher and quickly hopped out of the stream and over to the blanket, spraying water all over Ember and Odette as they shook the water out of their hair.
Ember rolled her eyes and cast a quick drying charm in their directions.
Both boys gave her a sheepish smile before sitting down.
It wasn’t a charm they had learned in class yet, but Ember had taken the time to learn it over the summer after the tenth time that Maeve had fallen into the pond while playing with Della. It seemed to come in handy.
“Thanks, Starshine,” Killian mumbled, as he laid on his back, both hands behind his head.
Fen leaned back on both elbows and tilted his head toward the cloudless sky, eyes closed as he smiled. “I’m not ready for the days to start getting shorter again,” he sighed. “Sunsets at five in the evening are my personal hell.”
Ember chuckled and shook her head as Killian shifted to prop himself up on one elbow.
“You think that’s bad?” he asked, as he quirked a brow. “In some countries during the winter, you don’t see the sun for the entire season. It goes down and doesn’t come back up until the spring.”
Fen gasped, and Ember almost choked on a laugh.
“That sounds bleeding awful,” Fen whispered, as he shook his head. “I don’t think I would make it.”
“A little dramatic, aren’t we?” Ember grinned as she put her book back in her bag, confident that she would not be getting any more reading done that afternoon.
“It’s actually quite nice,” Odette smiled whimsically. “You can even see the northern lights if the weather is just right in some places.”
“At this rate, I’ll never get to see anything like that,” Fen replied, as he rolled his eyes. “I’m lucky I even get to come to school to be honest. Mum and Dad are losing their minds over these kidnappings.”
Ember bit her lip as she thought back to Maeve and the close call the other night. She shivered as she thought about what could’ve happened if Maevie had been there.
Or if Ember had.
Ember quickly put on sweatpants and her favorite jumper.
She walked out her door and down the steps, making her way into the kitchen where Theo was coloring at the table.
Gaelen hummed at the stove where she was cooking supper, and Ember furrowed her brow when she couldn’t find who she was looking for.
“Is Mum not home?” she asked the Merrow, as she walked to the island in the middle of the room.
“She’s in her study,” Gaelen said. “I believe she had to send someone a quick Helio.” She looked Ember up and down, eyes landing on her sneakers and bag before she tilted her head. “Will you be joining us for supper?”
“Oh, no.” Ember smiled sheepishly. “I have a lot of homework to do. But I’d love to have some later.”
Gaelen smiled with a nod and continued chopping vegetables as Ember wandered to the table where her brother was sitting.
She tapped lightly on the wood to get his attention, and he gave her a shy smile when he looked up.
She quickly pulled a small notebook out of her back pocket, along with a pen, and scribbled, “Hello, Theo,” on it before sliding it across the table.
He scrunched his nose as his eyes traveled across the page, like he was struggling to make out the letters before he picked up the pen and began to write.
He slid the notebook back to Ember with a small smile and quickly looked down at his hands as he twiddled his thumbs.
“Hello, Ember.”
Ember smiled as she nodded and stuffed the notebook back in her pocket. She waved goodbye to Theo and Gaelen and quickly made her way back up the steps to her room.
She threw her bag on her bed, pulling out her books and ready to begin her late-night study session. It was only the beginning of the year, but she refused to get behind like she almost had last year.
As hard as she tried to concentrate, her mind kept drifting to the Kitts and how much she missed studying in the small library with Fen and Killian. She was trying to feel at home here, but something still felt like it was missing.
Maybe this was just how it would be now. Maybe she would never feel truly at home anywhere ever again.
After studying for an hour, she was just about to grab another book when a Helio zipped under her door, hovering right in front of her on her desk. She furrowed her brow as Asteria’s voice came out of it.
“Meet me at the Wolf and Waife tomorrow afternoon. It cannot wait.”