Chapter 9
Chapter
Nine
Iran as fast as possible in heels. I ran until I was outside of the castle and away from the horrified looks belonging to my classmates.
Going back to the dormitory was my best option, but I couldn't be confined to such tight quarters right now. I needed air. Needed to breathe.
My mind didn't know where to go, but my body did. It took off down the cobblestone path along the cliffside. Sand trapped itself between my shoe and the arch of my foot as I bombarded the beach. I unfastened the buckles of my heels and threw them to the side, then sank to my knees in the sand.
My palm slapped against my chest as the air thickened and my breathing became difficult.
I gasped and slid the straps of my dress off my shoulders, trying to remove anything that confined the walls of my chest from expanding properly.
In the process, my fingers caught on the pendant from my mother, and the added reminder of how she wasn't here sent me toppling over the edge.
I let out a wail of sheer, emotional anguish.
Tears dripped down my nose. The saltiness crept its way into my mouth, and I could taste it on my teeth as I wept in the sand.
Why couldn't Blythe have chosen someone who actually wanted to be gifted, like Delani? She would have loved the attention and power—and that wasn't a bad thing, that's just who she was.
Me? I wanted nothing less.
I fisted the sand and let it dribble out of my hands as I sobbed.
I felt pathetic.
I was pathetic.
If I planned on retaining any dignity, I needed to find a way to prevent ambushes like this from happening. Gods forbid any of the other students saw me like this—they'd sense my weakness immediately. I couldn't allow that. Not when I already had a target on my back.
I took some deep breaths and stared up into the night. The atmosphere was illuminated by a sliver of golden moon that peeked through a fading cloud. My hyperventilation let up with my counting of the stars, but I still choked on air as my tears continued to spill.
In time, the twinkling stars gave me my breath back, and I rose to my feet, wiping the final shroud of wetness from my eyes.
Sand fell from the satin of my dress as I secured the straps back into their proper position on my shoulders.
My gaze scanned the shore for my shoes, and found them a few yards from where I collapsed.
I decided to keep them off. Sand and stilettos didn't mix well.
The few sniffles I had left were hidden by the sound of the waves as I started my walk back to my dorm. Soon enough, the pathway that took me here came into view, along with a very angry Sebastian. His eyes narrowed on me as he stormed across the sand, meeting me where I stood.
“What did we literally talk about mere hours ago?” he snarled as he approached, his fists clenched.
He had every right to be angry, and I didn't have the energy to argue. “I'm sorry,” I stuttered, not knowing what else to say.
His eyebrows pulled together when he got close enough to make out the swollen features of my face. “Are you okay?” He came to a halt in front of me.
“I'm fine.” I brushed him off coldly, turning my head towards the ocean.
“You're crying.”
“No. I was crying. Now I’m fine.”
He sighed. “Listen, I'm sorry that I didn't prepare you for the speech tonight. I was going to tell you about it, but you just really pissed me off earlier and I—”
“Hold on.” My gaze darted back to him. “You knew? You knew that he was planning to put me on the spot like that and you didn't bother to give me a warning?”
Sebastian stammered, “I kind of figured it was a given after what he said yesterday. I mean, when's a better time to make an announcement than when you already have half the kingdom in front of you?”
My eyebrows arched in anger. The king had never specifically said when he was going to announce my gift, but I figured I would have received some sort of a warning.
“It wasn't a given. He was pretty fucking vague about it, actually. And you could have given me a heads up, but apparently you like to hold a grudge,” I snapped.
Sebastian rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on,” he drawled. “It's not that big of a deal. And it's not my fault you were gifted by the one damn goddess that has never made an appearance. Telling that information to the kingdom would have sucked for you no matter when or where it was told.”
I chewed the inside of my cheek. It was a big deal for me. “Did you not hear the things people were saying?”
Sebastian stepped towards me. “Who cares what they say? I mean, how did you expect people to react to news like that? They’ll all get over it in a few days I'm sure, but did you really think there wouldn't be some sort of backlash when they found out?”
“No. I just didn't expect to hear their comments about it tonight. I don't care what they think of me.” I didn’t—the attention just stirred something up inside of me. Something my brain wasn't born to handle.
Sebastian scoffed. “Yeah, sure seems like you don't care.” His eyebrows gestured to my puffy facial features.
My lips thinned. “Screw you,” I growled through gritted teeth.
I stepped towards him, raising myself to the tips of my toes so that I could put my face close to his.
“If you must be my babysitter, then fine. Be it. Do whatever you have to do. But do me a favor—do it so that I have to see you as little as possible.”
I lowered myself to my heels and shoved my shoulder into his chest as I strode past him. “Asshole,” I mumbled under my breath, though loud enough for him to hear.
He followed me—he had no choice. But I ignored his presence and slammed my door in his face when I made it to my room.
I spent the majority of the next few days in my dorm with Pia for company. She tried to assure me that the talk about my gift had subsided, but I didn't fully believe her. Regardless, classes were set to begin this morning, so I had no choice but to bow to the inevitable.
Sebastian was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs when I left my room, as he had been every day since I’d arrived here. My throat released a grumble of annoyance at his presence.
I walked right by him to meet Pia outside. She and I had talked briefly about my argument with her cousin, but she didn't have much to say aside from reminding me that he really was a good guy. I told her that I'd believe it when I see it.
Sebastian trailed behind us on our walk to Caelestis Academy, about half a mile east of our dormitory. The building was massive, built completely of rust-colored brick. There were ivory pillars stationed along the sides of the staircase that Pia and I climbed to reach the entrance.
I turned my head slightly from the top of the stairs when I heard Sebastian call out from behind me. “I’ll meet you right here when you're done.”
I flipped him my middle finger.
The whole purpose of Caelestis Academy was to prepare its students to become soldiers, so we would spend most of our class time in either Combat Training or Wielding Education. We also were required to attend Kingdom History and Battle Tactics, but not as frequently.
Pia showed me to the classroom where our wielding classes would be held.
We sat at desks next to each other, waiting for our professor to arrive.
Students filled in around us, and much to my surprise, a few that I met at the gala said hello to me.
Most others didn’t acknowledge me, but I received no backlash like I had that night, so maybe Pia was right after all.
A lanky, dark-skinned man entered the classroom shortly after we sat. I guessed that he was middle-aged from the way his head had only a shadow of hair left. He introduced himself as Professor Stoll, giving us the briefest of introductions before he jumped right into the magic of wielding.
“You are all here because a god or goddess has deemed you worthy enough to hold a portion of their magic. As you know, but I am required to reiterate, the gods give a small piece of their power to those they find capable. This is their way of having us mortals aid in the balance of nature. It makes less work for the gods, and a bit of fun for us.” He flashed us a grin before continuing.
“Your gift has been with you since the moment you were conceived, but only just recently did you discover it, and even more recently, were you able to access it.” He clasped his hands behind his back as he started to pace the room.
“Now let me ask, how many of you tried to use your magic after the meteor shower last week?”
More hands than I’d expected shot up.
Professor Stoll huffed a laugh. “And how many of you were successful?”
All of the hands dropped.
“There is a reason for your failures. The gemstones embedded in your flesh are why you have the ability to use magic, but actually wielding it comes from within your soul.”
My eyes glanced around the room to try and see if I was the only one confused. By the looks on the other students' faces, I wasn't.
“Before we begin learning the art of wielding, it is important you understand the physical purpose behind the gift of gemstones.” Stoll went on to explain how the jewels symbolized our world at its core and how they were a representation of the essential elements that made up our planet.
He went into much more detail, but I tuned him out—I already knew most of this information from the primary school I attended growing up.
When Professor Stoll finished his lecture, he moved the class outside to the grassy lawn behind the academy. He broke everyone into groups based on the god that gifted them, evidently leaving me in a group by myself.
I made eye contact with Pia, who stood with the rest of the students who had been gifted by Eloise. She shrugged her shoulders and offered me an awkward half-smirk, then focused her attention on Stoll as he addressed her group first.