CHAPTER 15
Morning arrived swiftly, especially after a fitful sleep.
Breakfast was delivered to my room this morning, which, thank the gods, I didn’t have to eat in the dining hall again.
Breakfast this morning consisted of two eggs, bacon, and ham, and it was delicious.
I ate quickly, so I still had time to dress before meeting with the Professor.
I opted for the black stretchy pants and a flowy tunic again.
Images of my old academy and servant uniforms flipped through my mind like pages from a forgotten book.
Madam would be so upset if she saw me in pants, but they were much more practical than dresses, and the materials didn’t itch.
I eventually found the Professor’s office but got lost on the way and had to ask a guard for directions.
There were so many hallways and doors, it was easy to get lost in here.
I knocked on the Professor's door before entering.
He was sitting behind his desk, his glasses falling down his nose, and did not seem bothered that I entered the room.
I stood in the doorway waiting for him to invite me in, but he was so engrossed in whatever he was reading.
A few moments passed before he looked up at me, “Sit, sit.” Waving his hand towards the chair.
I nodded and made my way to the same chair I sat in yesterday.
“Ah, Avyn, I spent most of the night gathering information that would be most relevant to you right now. I think we are going to start with,” He flipped through a stack of papers that was sitting beside him on his desk, “Ah, yes, we will start right from the beginning of our own history to help you understand the situation more.”
“Would you prefer to read on your own, or would you like me to read to you?” He looked at me over the rim of his glasses.
His way of asking if I could read was much more subtle than Ulric’s: “I can read, but am I able to ask questions?”
“Of course, dear! That is how we learn! Ask as many questions as possible!” Enthusiasm radiated off his body. “I will just be puttering around my office and doing some research of my own. Just let me know when you have a question.”
“Thank you, sir,” I said to him while reaching for the stack of papers he had placed in front of me.
Professor Quintz Academic Guide – Condensed Version
The history of Drycartha: The Drycarthians are an ancient bloodline of immortals that dates back thousands of years.
The Drycarthians, even though immortal and able to live for many years, are not invincible.
Any normal weapon, if it strikes the proper area, can cause death.
We will go into this further in later readings.
Of course, he wasn’t going to tell me how to kill them.
The first King of the Drycarthian, Hector the first, helped to establish and maintain our bloodlines.
He allowed only immortals to marry other immortals and reproduce, ensuring the bloodlines remained pure and free of mortal blood.
If an individual was found to have merged their bloodline with a mortal, the immediate sentence was death.
My heart sank, and the color drained from my face. Fuck. Did I just read my death sentence?
“Professor?” I timidly ask.
“Yes, dear?” He responded from behind a book.
“Am I to be sentenced to death?” My voice cracked on the last word, not hiding any of my intimidation from what I just read.
“Oh no, don’t fret, those are old laws, well, we still use them, but they could always do with an update. You, in fact, have not done anything wrong, and the Prince seems to have taken a liking to you, so I highly doubt he will let anything happen.” His smile was soft, and I returned the gesture.
“Thank you.” So, as long as I stayed in the Prince’s good books, I would be safe. I might have to play his little game. Continuing to read while tossing around the fact that the Prince had taken a liking to me in the back of my head, I made a mental note not to get on his bad side.
Because of these laws, only a handful of individuals dared to explore outside of their bloodlines. Most were executed immediately, while others escaped and were never heard of again; presumed to be dead, unable to sustain life outside of the kingdom.
The Drycarthian have different abilities based on which house they reside in. All immortals have basic powers, such as the ability to move objects. The houses and a few of the abilities they can have are as follows:
House of Darkness – Abilities: complete darkness, shadow manipulation, shadow stealth, dream manipulation
House of Light – Abilities: blinding light, healing, prism vision
House of Waves – Abilities: water manipulation, water control, breathing while underwater
House of Stone – Abilities: earth-shaking, petrification, mountain manipulation
House of Air – Abilities: wind manipulation, wind entrapment, wind destruction
House of Flame – Abilities: fire creation, fire manipulation, fire resistance
House of Storm – Abilities: storm manipulation, lightning control, cloud cover creation
It is important to note that other house bloodlines have died out (such as the houses of life, death, time, and frost). This is due to marriage and the production of offspring. When two houses join, their offspring will only inherit one parent’s ability and house lines.
Each house has a link to nature and, therefore, a bond with a companion can be possible, but only the strongest individuals of the house can bond. These companions can take a human form or their companion form. For example, the House of Darkness bonds with wolves.
Wolves!? Wait, does that mean… “Professor?”
“Yes, Avyn?” His quill stopped moving.
“The wolves I saw the night of the party, the night I tripped, was that a companion?”
“Ah, clever girl. Yes, yes. The dark one was the Prince’s companion. He is never too far away from him, always on guard and ready to protect him.”
“Wait, if that was his companion form, then what is his human form?”
“That is not my place to say, girl. When they are ready to share with you, they will. Any other questions?”
I shook my head in response and continued reading.
The rest of the notes he had given me covered the various houses and their histories, along with the current conflicts among them.
Most of the houses seemed to keep to themselves, but now and then, there was a power struggle or someone wanting another's land.
They also seemed to fight over who had the strongest house, which, currently, the House of Darkness owned that title.
Hector the first belonged to the House of Darkness, which was why their abilities were much stronger than the others, and they always prevailed in marriage and reproduction.
The next hour flew by, and it was finally time for my creature lessons with Ulric.
Yay. He probably liked me about as much as I liked him, which was not a lot.
The Professor informed me that he would be waiting by the stables for me, so I made my way outside and over to them.
They were much easier to find than the Professor’s office since the building was large and easy to spot.
Ulric was standing outside the stable doors, leaning against the wall.
“Ready for some fun?” His enthusiasm was as apparent as mine.
“Let’s just get this over with.” I sighed and walked towards him.
He turned before I reached him and entered the stables, walking towards one of the stalls. The horse nickered at him as he approached, shaking its head up and down. Ulric grabbed a carrot from a bucket sitting on a stool and fed it to the horse.
“This is Artemis; she is a strong-willed Pegasus with quite the attitude sometimes. Whenever you approach her, until she gets to know you, offer her a carrot. If her ears lie flat, then keep your distance. She will bite you if she doesn’t like you, or worse, if she’s not stuck in a stall.”
“Good to know. Is she... is she a companion? I just learned about them this morning.” I tentatively asked, while watching Artemis push against Ulric’s shoulder.
He half snorted, half laughed at the question, “Not the kind you’re thinking of, but on long travel days, she makes a wonderful companion to talk to, although she never responds.
” He pet her head gently, and she nuzzled into his shoulder.
“Today we’re going to groom her; care of our creatures is just as important.
To start, why don’t you offer her a carrot? ”
Shit. My eyes widened. He just warned me about her, and now I’m going to groom her. He really doesn’t like me.
“Scared?” There was a taunt in his tone, and his grin mocked me.
“Never,” I stubbornly said and walked over to the bucket, grabbing a carrot.
He shifted out of the way so I could approach Artemis, hoping she wasn’t as rude as he was.
I moved to stand in front of her, but kept a respectful distance.
Her ears perked up, and her eyes met mine, curiosity sparkling behind them.
Her head tilted slightly as she examined me, her feathered wings rustled behind her, and she stepped closer to the door.
I took a step forward, keeping a close eye on her ears, which were still standing straight up, responding to the sounds around us.
We both moved closer to one another, and she reached her head out and nudged my arm holding the carrot.
“Oh, you’d like this?” I held up the carrot in front of her, and she snorted in response.
“Haha, okay.” I stretched the carrot out towards her, and she took it gladly.
Before I could withdraw my hand, she pressed her nose into my palm.
“You’re not as bad as he makes you out to be.
” She blew another snort in Ulric's direction, and he shook his head in response. “Maybe it’s just you?” I turned to Ulric with a smart-ass smirk on my face.
“Honestly, this is very peculiar. Even the farrier has difficulty with her. She normally hates everyone but me.”
“And you thought she was the best one to start me off with? Serves you right that she likes me.” I turned back to Artemis, scratching under her chin, and she closed her eyes, delighted by the motion.
“All right then, if you think she loves you so much, then you can get her harnessed and walk her to the grooming stall.” He walked over to a hook by her stall, tossed a leather harness at me, and leaned on the wall.
Fuck. There goes my smart mouth getting me into another fun situation.
Why did everything have to be a challenge with him? “Fine, not a problem.”
Except it was, I had never in my life harnessed a horse, let alone a Pegasus.
Holding the harness in front of me, I moved it around, looking to see if there was any indication of how it went on.
There were two holes; one was bigger than the other.
I looked at Artemis and could tell from the horses I had seen attached to carriages and the shape of her head that the smaller hole went around her nose, and the bigger one around her neck and ears.
Her head was still sticking out from the stall door, so I slowly approached, making note that her ears were still perked up, and gently placed the larger opening over her nose, then ears, while pulling the small one up over her snout.
“Unbelievable,” Ulric muttered from where he was standing.
I didn’t respond to his disbelief, well, not verbally, I shot him a ‘told you so’ grin.
Damn straight I had this. We had this, I silently said to Artemis.
I reached for the latch on the door and kept watching her ears, which were still perked up, flicking this way and that to each noise outside.
The sound of the latch caused her left ear to twitch to the side, but it quickly flicked forward again.
Slowly opening the door for her, I stepped back and held onto the lead.
She didn’t move for a moment, and I didn’t pull on it, letting her decide what she was comfortable with.
She jerked her head up, causing the lead to slip a bit from my hands; the movement had given her more slack on the reins.
Her giant front legs left the stall’s doorway, and long black tufts of hair covered each of her hooves.
Her steps were gentle but heavy, making a click-clack on the floor.
She walked with me, well, led me to the grooming stall, and Ulric's jaw dropped, his face a picture of pure confusion as we passed by.
She slowly turned and backed up into the grooming stall until she was centered in it.
The stall was large enough for her to flare her wings out if needed.
I attached a rope and clipped it to her lead, but I doubted we would need it.
“Thank you,” I whispered to her before Ulric caught up, and she nickered in response.
I spent the rest of the time brushing her, bathing her, and then braiding her mane and tail.
Ulric was silent for the rest of the lesson and only said “I’ll see you tomorrow,” before disappearing out the stable doors.
Back in my room, I now understood why they gave me an hour-long lunch; after grooming Artemis, I needed to freshen up.
I didn’t notice until after I finished washing at the basin that a fresh pair of clothes had been laid out on my bed, with a note that said, 'Wear this for training, Sweetheart.
' I rolled my eyes at the word Sweetheart, but examined it for a minute, looking at Zendryk's handwriting, which was much better than mine. I set the note aside on the bed so I could change into the new outfit. The clothes were made of soft, black leather, a flexible material; the pants tapered down to my ankles and fit snugly at my hips. The top had wide straps that went over my shoulders and cinched at the waist like a corset, but it didn’t restrict my movement.
The top felt thicker over my breasts, ribs, and stomach, probably for added protection.
There were two leather cuffs with lace and rivets that I slid over each wrist. At the base of my bed was a new pair of boots, black leather again, and they laced up to my knees.
Once I had finished dressing, I walked over to the mirror and looked at myself.
My mother would cringe at what I was wearing; it accentuated every curve and line of my body.
I had never worn anything like this; it felt unusual but also good at the same time.
I braided my hair close to both sides of my head, and let them meet at the back, and then twisted both ends into one giant braid.
I had just enough time to grab the apple waiting for me on the table before heading out to the sparring ring.