Chapter 1 #2
The green light stopped in front of a wooden door and I sighed with relief. Finally. I opened the door, eager to see where I would live for the next two years.
The room was nice and welcoming, two beds stood at either side of the room, one window between the beds that showed a big forested area behind the castle.
I would love to fly around the island and explore, but I knew now was the best time to find my footing.
No one was allowed to bring anything with them when they got summoned, and if we wore or carried something, it would be dropped to the ground and left behind.
A chest stood at the end of both beds, so I chose the one on the right and opened it.
It was filled with robes and to my utter joy, tight fitting pants and shirts, the colors either brown, black or emerald green.
Maybe The Magic knew what I preferred to wear and had everything ready for me?
Just to be sure, I checked the other chest but it wouldn’t open for me.
“Fascinating,” I whispered, in awe of how The Magic around the school worked.
I much preferred having my things locked away from others, my dragon side tended to hoard things and guard them whenever something new and pretty was added.
Not that my dragon often showed itself, it was mostly content as long as we weren’t around too many people.
The door clicked open and in walked a brown-haired guy, his eyes wide with surprise as his gaze locked on mine. I could see him swallow as he stepped further into the room.
“Hi, I’m Nym,” I greeted, holding out my hand for him. “I think we’re roommates.”
He shook my hand, his hold weak, his eyes still wide with either fear or shyness. I knew my height and build could be intimidating at first, but once he got to know me, he would see I wasn’t a danger to him.
“I’m Casey,” he whispered, then cleared his throat. “I was unaware we would be sharing rooms with other students.”
I shrugged. “There’s not much information about the school to begin with. I think that you even know about it means a lot. I saw several students when we arrived that clearly had no idea what had happened.”
He nodded. “Yeah, some even cried.”
“Oh, really?” That sounded horrible. But my fathers had assured me that all family members would get letters that told them what had happened to their children. That should’ve at least helped the ones that cried a little once they learned of that fact.
Casey just nodded again.
“What’s your shifted form?” I asked, eager to know more about my new roommate.
“Oh, I’m a raven.”
I’d never met a raven shifter before. “That’s cool, maybe we can fly together some time,” I offered.
“Are you a bird shifter too?” he asked, his blue eyes gleaming with excitement.
I shook my head. “Dragon.”
Casey gaped at me. “Dragon shifters aren’t real…. Are you messing with me?”
I shook my head with a small smile. I knew many still believed us to be extinct, I’d just never come across such a person myself until Casey.
“Very real, I assure you.”
“Can you show me?”
Grinning, I nodded. “Sure, we just need to be outside for it, not really enough room in here.”
I had to admit I was a little nervous shifting here at school. I didn’t want anyone to think I was showing off or anything, and I preferred to be Nym here, not the prince or the dragon shifter, just me.
“Do you have time for that now?” Casey asked, his previous fear all but forgotten. “I promised my boyfriend I would meet up with him as soon as I’d gotten my room, but he wouldn’t mind seeing a real dragon shifter either.”
I couldn’t help but notice the way he’d said boyfriend and not mate. If Casey wasn’t mated to this guy…
“You aren’t mated?” I blurted, unable to control myself it seemed.
Casey winced. “No.” Then he sighed. “We’ve been together since we were fourteen and hoped to be fated, but when we both turned eighteen and kissed nothing happened.”
A kiss would be enough to seal the mating bond if they already knew each other. It couldn’t have been easy for them to know they weren’t meant to be.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I said, my tone apologetic. It wasn’t my intention to get into something so deep in our first conversation.
Casey just shrugged. “You heard the headmaster. It seems I won’t be Harpy’s boyfriend for long. If our fated mates are here then it wouldn’t make sense for us to keep holding onto something that simply isn’t meant to be.”
“You sound like you already thought this through?”
Casey nodded with a pained smile. “I’ve been ready to let him go since we found out we weren’t fated, and that was two months ago. Harpy just needs a little more time before he’s ready, I think.”
This was the reason I’d waited with dating.
Why even bother seeing someone if they aren’t meant to be yours?
My fathers’ love for father Luka and his love for them is the only sort of love I want for myself.
Me being a prince meant lots of attention and rather obvious flirting from people around my age, but I never even considered any of them.
My mate would come and I would know. No one else would do it for me and my dragon.
I didn’t want to linger on the heavy stuff, so I smiled and gestured for the door. “Let’s not keep Harpy waiting, besides my dragon is itching to be let out.”