Chapter 29
Extreme Chemistry
ANNA
Islammed the book shut, my fingers black with ink.
I closed my eyes, the sting burning from sleep deprivation.
I’d looked everywhere, spent hours searching every possible book, scroll and archive I found for a hint of someone called Ryden.
There was nothing.
That’s how I found myself standing in the middle of my Celestial Observations professor’s office.
Lady Cressida still hadn’t noticed me after a full minute and I was awkwardly standing there, waiting for her to look up.
She was rarely around during our late-night classes in the observatory but when she was, she barely spoke to us, favoring adjusting our telescopes and correcting our diagrams on our star charts.
She could be quite aloof. Along with teaching the astronomy classes in the tower, she practically ran Nightfall. She was from one of the families descended from an original recruit trained at Nightfall many centuries ago.
The door clicked, and Adept Corinya popped her head in. “Finished, Lady Cressida.”
“Thank you, Corinya!” she called without looking up.
Corinya glanced at me with a what the hell are you doing sort of look before she popped out and shut the door.
Adept Corinya was okay. She was something like a personal assistant to Lady Cressida.
Most of the time, I found her to be entertaining.
Except today.
I opened my mouth, closed it, inched forward, lifted my hand, then lowered it.
Should I interrupt her?
Did she really not have any idea I was there? And why couldn’t I find shit when I was looking for it? And why didn’t this place have a fucking computer?
Growling internally, I waited.
She was tall and willowy, with long pale blonde hair that fell in waves past her shoulders. She would often go on tangents that most of us couldn’t follow when we were stargazing and seemed oblivious to the rest of us. Still, I found her mesmerizing. The cadence of her voice soothed me.
Perhaps a part of why I felt comfortable speaking with her about the strange dream I’d had, which had felt like my mom’s life, was because I didn’t think she’d judge me too harshly but it was also because she seemed to have a connection that the rest of us didn’t understand.
I lingered by my desk waiting to see if she’d notice me. Then she spoke without warning.
“The flame you seek is not the flame of creation you desire,” she said, never looking at me.
“What?” I asked.
“The flame you seek is not the flame of creation you desire,” she repeated.
“I don’t understand,” I said. “I wanted to ask if you’d ever heard of Adepts having visions. The kind you write about in your book.”
Her eyes never met mine.
“The flame you seek is not the flame of creation you desire,” she said.
I swallowed, nodded, and fled the room.
I didn’t know what to make of Lady Cressida’s bizarre behavior. On one hand, she was always a little weird. But this was even weirder. None of it made sense and I didn’t want to talk to Roslyn or Isabella about it because I didn’t want to explain what I was doing there in the first place.
I flipped through an album of old student portraits when a loud noise startled me.
“How much longer can you have your face buried in some dusty old book in the library?” Isabella asked, her palms flat on her stack of texts she had smacked down on the table beside me.
I glared at her. “As long as it takes. I’m telling you, I think this might lead somewhere.”
“Or you had a vision of the future, and you’re looking for someone who isn’t born yet,” she mused.
I grunted and snapped the album shut.
“It was her,” I said. “It was my mom’s memory. I don’t know how, but I’m sure of it.”
Isabella sank into the chair adjacent to me and pursed her lips in empathy.
“Alright,” she said. “I’ll help you, but on one condition.”
I pouted as I waited to hear my sentence.
“After this, you go to the dorm with me, take a shower, we get gussied up and you go to the play auditions with me,” she said.
“What auditions?”
I stared at Isabella as she quickly put makeup on using the mirror of her vanity.
“Are you serious right now? They announced it weeks ago! It’s only going to be the most tragic and amazing love story ever!”
I winced. “Fine. If it’ll get you and Roslyn off my back then I’ll go, but I must get through this stack.”
She glanced at my towering pile of bound leather books and shook her head like I was an insufferable nerd.
I couldn’t believe I’d let her talk me into this.
The theater was in pure chaos when we arrived.
There were students everywhere and I was so concerned about getting ploughed into that I could hardly take in the incredible design of the theater itself.
The red velvet chairs lined the upper balconies in perfectly curving rows; many filled with students who sat sideways and chatted with each other.
Intricate wrought-iron railings lined the upper areas like a theater you might find in a large city.
The stage was already lit and looked ready for a performance with several students rushing about with papers in their hands.
Intricate moldings with golden leaves outlined the stage where Professor Elara was shouting at Adepts who were running around trying to follow her instructions.
High overhead, a chandelier of jewels hung, casting glittering lights on the ceiling, which was decorated with frescoes.
“Anyone here for auditions and not to ogle and take up space should report to me immediately!” Professor Elara shouted at the crowd.
Isabella yanked my arm and pulled me with her.
“Isabella,” I said, but she didn’t stop. “I wasn’t planning on auditioning.”
“Hush,” she said when we got to Professor Elara.
“What role are you looking for, dears?” she asked, her tone irritable.
“Any,” Isabella said.
I stood there, gaping when she looked at me. “Anna, dear, oh, how good to see you are auditioning! Lovely!”
Isabella watched the scene unfold like a dirty fae in disguise and I pinched her making her yelp quietly beside me as I smiled at Professor Elara. It didn’t matter though. It’s not like I was going to get a part. I had no idea how to act.
We made our way to an open block of seats toward the middle of the floor when Roslyn and Blake neared us. Seeing him, I straightened and tucked my hair behind my ear.
“Are you two here to audition?” Roslyn asked.
“Well, Anna is, I really want to be in charge of costumes,” she said.
My jaw slacked as I glared at her but she innocently avoided making eye contact.
“Funny how these things happen,” I said. “What play is this for anyway?”
“The Tragedy of Aryus Ryth’Enir,” Isabella said. “We read it earlier in the year in Forgotten Lore.”
Oh.
“That was a heavy plot,” I said. “I haven’t thought about that in a while.”
Blake had a skeptical glint in his eye. “It’s certainly a bold choice. Theater can be quite enjoyable, though. We came to watch the auditions. Everyone seems to get excited about the plays this time of year.”
I sat down with Blake as the lights dimmed. Professor Elara sat in the front row. The crowd hushed as she called the first set of students for their audition.
As we watched several roles be read out, I began to wonder what this play was about.
I recalled how this was translated from Valyrian early last semester. I leaned over and whispered to Blake, “This story is about mages, then?”
Blake nodded. “Yes, it is also based on real parts of Valyrian history. Supposedly, it is the story of a generation that lived a thousand years ago. It’s largely been turned into a tragic love story, and while some of it is true, it is not clear to what degree.”
When my name was called, Professor Elara glanced over, then to Blake. She perked up at the sight of him.
“Blake,” she said, her tone sweeter than honey. “Won’t you do us the honor of supporting Miss Kamoria as she auditions? It won’t take long.
He raised an eyebrow at her but acquiesced soon enough.
She handed each of us a script with a section highlighted.
“You’ll be reading the role of Adara,” she said. “Good luck!”
I took the booklet that was already opened with a section highlighted and slowly climbed the stairs to the stage. How had I got myself in this mess again?
Whatever. Maybe it’d be fun. As I looked around the theater, I saw nothing but shadows. It was silent, and I looked at Blake. He’d be reading the part of King Aryus, and I Queen Adara.
Blake’s smooth voice surprised me when he spoke, his words woven together like a delicate piece of silk. “Your presence is unexpected. What does this mean, my love? I’ve missed you. To taste your lips is as welcome as the first ray of light after the long darkness finally breaks.”
He neared me, his eyes on mine. “I’ve missed you, my love.
My days in this sunbathed city have been the darkest I’ve ever known.
I’ve tried, how I’ve tried, but there’s nothing within him but thick blood and hard bone.
Love—it’s not there, not anywhere, not within him, not without, in any shape or any form, for me or my son to find.
Our child, bless him, Daodyn’s and mine, has at least brought me joy of a different kind.
But alone I am here, my heart no longer mine.
It is you, dark prince, for whom I doth pine. ”
The ill-fated couple shares a kiss.
I froze. Everyone was watching us. Not a single breath was taken in the room. Even the air was still. Were we expected to kiss for an audition? Blake smirked and I exhaled with a nervous smile of acquiescence.
He touched my chin, directing my gaze up to his as he stepped closer to me.
My heart was beating rapidly. I didn’t move as his lips gently touched mine.
It was chaste and innocent, so gentle it left me leaning in longing for more but he stayed in control of his proximity as his lips moved against mine.
His kiss was poetic, an act of pure grace, not one I’d call familiar.
No, those I could taste. I mentally smacked myself, trying to shake the flowery dialogue from the script.
The noise of the theater faded into my mind like someone was turning the volume up.
They were cheering, some even making cat calls as Blake pulled away from me.
My cheeks burned and I bolted to my seat, not looking at him again.
I slouched low in my seat for the rest of the auditions.
I was saying goodbye to Blake in the crowded corridor outside the theater when I noticed Ezreal with Roslyn.
Roslyn did not look pleased; her expression was cross and did not meet his intense stare.
“I’ve never seen Ezreal around Ros in public like that,” I muttered to Blake.
He glanced at them, his mood darkening. “Neither have I.”
Ezreal tried to touch her arm, but Roslyn jerked away before moving down the corridor with him close behind and out of sight.
I moved to go after t but Blake stopped me.
“I will check on Roslyn,” he said. “I do not want you anywhere near Ezreal.”
His look clearly said not to argue, so I nodded. He gave me one last look as if expecting me to disobey before he went after them, leaving me there.
“Feeling left out?”
I whipped around, finding Melanie behind me in the center of the corridor with a smug look.
“You know the Evertines are a tight-knit clan,” she said. “They are quite the dynasty in The Realm.”
I moved past her.
“But it is the other side of Blake’s family that is most interesting.”
I stopped. The corridor was empty now, and irritation was prickling under my skin.
“What are you talking about?” I spat.
“Oh, did he not tell you?” she said. “There’s a reason Professor Elara was beside herself to have him audition for Aryus—he is his direct descendant, and the Crown Prince of Raven Falls.”