CHAPTER 14 #2
How fucking dare he! He thinks he could barge in here whenever he wanted?
! Oh fuck… he was the Prince. OH, shit! I just ordered the Prince to leave…
and he did. I stretched my body out and shook off any jitters from my already eventful morning, which had been less than five minutes long.
Once out of bed, I made my way to the wardrobe and inspected the new clothes that had been left for me.
Each piece of clothing was a different shade of grey and black; some were accented with gold threads or markings.
I opted for a pair of black leather pants and a light grey tunic, half-tucking it in at the front and sides.
Looking in the mirror, I didn’t recognize myself; the clothes didn’t have holes and weren’t part of a uniform.
I quickly tied my hair up into a high ponytail, making sure to double tie the knot, and took one last look in the mirror before making my way to the door.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t locked; I sneered at it and made my way out into the hallway.
Zendryk stood there with his back against the wall, arms crossed, and one leg perched up, the same position as the night he waited outside the servants' entrance for me.
“That took eleven minutes.” He raised an eyebrow at me with a sideways smirk on his face.
“Good,” I said over my shoulder as I walked right by him; his laugh chased down the hallway behind me.
“So, sassy.” Came from behind me.
The Professor’s office was smaller than my room and had dust-covered books lining every wall and surface.
Pieces of paper were strewn across his desk and poked out from between the many piles.
Cobwebs hung from the ceiling, and little spiders made light work of the thin strands, weaving them into a piece of art.
The Professor was sitting behind his large desk, his glasses resting on the tip of his nose, and he was engrossed in whatever he was reading.
He didn’t acknowledge us as we entered the room and sat in the two seats across from him.
Zendryk looked over to me and brought a finger up to his mouth, gesturing for us to be quiet.
Finally, after a couple of minutes, the Professor sat back, took off his glasses, and set them on a stack of papers on top of his desk.
“Did you know, Harpies are terrified of water?”
Harpies? What were Harpies?
“I can see you got distracted as per usual,” Zendryk said, tossing one leg over the arm of the chair.
“Oh, I completed my research last night; I moved on to the next thing on my list.” He shuffled some papers on his desk, looking for something that he had misplaced in the mess.
“And… what did you find out?” He brought his leg back to the floor and leaned forward, placing his elbows on the Professor's desk with his hands clasped together under his chin, resembling a young child waiting for a surprise.
“Well…” More papers shuffled. “Ah! There it is.” He placed a piece of paper in front of us.
The words were faded, and the edges of the paper were littered with rips and tears. I couldn’t read whatever language was written on it; each letter had whirls and twirls and didn’t resemble any of the ones that I had seen before.
“Not all of us can read that.” The Prince pointed out with two fingers, his hands staying under his chin as he did.
“Right, right.” The Professor put his glasses back on and turned the paper towards him.
“It is old…ancient, you could say… Drycarthian, from thousands of years ago. It is the only record I have that mentions anything about mortals and immortals. It states,” His glasses fell down the ridge of his nose as he tilted his head down to read, “that should mortal flesh and Drycarthian essence ever merge, the offspring will be forged of both. It will carry both bloodlines. The words start to fade and get lost after that, but from what I have gathered, it is rare to occur. I have not been able to find any proof of this, and nothing in our history has ever been recorded. So, this could be an ancient tale, or… it could be the truth. Miss. Ashwood seems to be the first documented of her kind.”
“So … I am half mortal and half…Immortal?” My mind was swirling with thoughts.
“Yes, girl.” The Professor said, pushing his glasses back up the ridge of his nose.
“That is all you could find? Nothing about what to do or how to move forward?” The Prince leaned back in his chair with a puzzled look on his face, and his eyebrows pinched together.
“Unfortunately, no. It appears the decision is in the king and queen’s hands as to what to do with her.” The Professor mimicked the Prince and sat back in his chair.
“I’ve already talked to them, and she has been assigned to me to do as I see fit.”
Fuck. Why did that send electricity shooting through every inch of my body? “Excuse me?! I am not a ‘thing’ to do whatever you want with.” I leaned forward and stared directly at him.
“Oh, calm down, Sweetheart, it was their words, not mine. Plus, would you rather let them decide your fate?” He turned back to the Professor, not allowing me to respond, but he was right: “What do you recommend?”
“Hmmm……” His hands stroked his long, grey beard before answering, “I say we study her, but also educate her. All immortal children go through training from a young age. She will have to have condensed lessons, but we need to see how far her powers truly go.”
“That settles it then, we will start training tomorrow. I will have to arrange all the appropriate classes for you; I will have a guard bring you a schedule once I think of one.” He looked to me, “For the rest of the day, I would suggest catching up on any rest. After today, you won’t have much time to yourself. ”
I remained silent; my mind engulfed in shock and confusion.
“No objections? Perfect.” He stood up. “Let’s get going.” He said as he made his way towards the door and turned back to me, “Let’s go usually means you move.”
My lips pressed together in a fine line, but I followed him, not saying anything, trying to wrap my head around everything the Professor had just told us.
The day went by quickly. I spent most of it curled up under the mountain of blankets and pillows, but it was impossible to sleep.
So many thoughts clouded my mind. Hybrid?
Mortal? Immortal? Training? What will the training entail?
Everyone here has had their entire life to train, and I was supposed to be able to do it faster, but with less time?
What abilities could I have? But more importantly, what abilities do they have?
Well, if the training included pouring drinks for rich, obnoxious kings and queens, I already had that mastered.
Amused at my own wit, I chuckled to myself.
A knock sounded at the door, and my heart beat a little faster, thinking that it could be Zendryk.
Oh, wait, he would have just barged in here if it were him.
I hopped out of bed and brushed the wrinkles out of my clothes before answering, “Come in.”
The door opened, and Ulric walked into my room. The afternoon sun streamed in through my windows, casting a warm glow over his flawlessly tanned skin. His expression was stern and judgmental, but I refused to be intimidated by him.
“Can I help you, or did you come here just to stare at me?” I snapped, and my bluntness caught him off guard.
He sniffed the air twice, as if he were trying to smell the room. How peculiar. But is it really that odd after everything that has happened? I let it go and decided not to ask him.
“The Prince sent me with this.” He handed me a piece of paper. “It is your schedule moving forward. If you need help reading it…”
“I can fucking read.” I huffed, cutting him off, and grabbed the paper. “Is there anything else, or would you like me to read it out loud to prove that to you?” Locking eyes with him, unflinching. His eyes narrowed, and a small, knowing grin formed.
“He warned me you were sassy.” He turned and left my room, but the door didn’t lock behind him.
Was I free to leave my room?
I waited a moment to allow him time to get far enough away before checking; I turned the handle, and to my surprise, it opened!
I peeked my head out and could see a guard at the end of the hall, but the one who had hovered by my door was gone.
Blowing out a breath of relief, I closed the door and went to my desk to read the note.
The paper lying in front of me contained immaculate handwriting and a daily schedule.
7:00 am – Breakfast
7:30 am – History with the Professor
10:30 am – Creature lessons with Ulric
12:00 pm – Lunch
1:00 pm – Opponent insight with Zendryk
3:00 pm – Training with Zendryk
6:00 pm – Dinner and Etiquette lessons
7:00 pm – Power discovery with Zendryk
My heart stuttered staring at Zendryk's name. I had to stop that; he was a Prince, and I was a serva…. No, I was a mortal… immortal… I was something that shouldn’t get involved with the Prince.
Anyways, he had Jane to mess around with.
But oh, what I would give to feel his body pressed up against mine again.
A warm, tingly sensation warmed my skin.
Dammit! No. I needed to focus and couldn't have any distractions; this schedule would keep me busy, so I wouldn’t have time to think about his muscular body and piercing eyes.
Stop it, Avyn! I shook my head as if I could shake the thoughts right out of it.
I left the paper on the desk and went to the bathroom to draw a bath and relax.
By the looks of the schedule, I wouldn’t have time in the morning to freshen up unless I woke before the sun rose.
Covering my entire body with the warm water, I leaned back, submerged my head, and fled from this strange and bewildering world.