Chapter 9 Thou Shalt Not Walk Alone #2
When Dean Bellows said everyone at the academy would take part in the ceremony, she meant everyone.
Staff members dressed in a mix of work uniforms—cooks, janitors, security guards—line up, waiting their turn to pass through the arch, followed by the faculty.
I guess it makes sense, as this would be the first time most of us are together.
As more people enter and exit the stage, the tension in the room fades as nothing of significance happens.
“Wow, is it always this boring?” Tabby asks.
“You’ve never been to a bonding ceremony?” Holly replies.
“My parents wouldn’t let me.” She huffs. “They said I needed to keep my focus on getting into the academy. They didn’t want a bond disrupting that.”
“This is typical for a bonding ceremony,” I tell her. “Everyone arrives so excited, expecting to witness mates being bonded, drama unfolding, tears from scorned lovers, and heated exchanges from new bonds…. but within the first 15 minutes, they find themselves bored out of their minds.”
“It’s estimated that only 30% of the citizens have a mate,” Cleo says. “And even then, you have to be lucky enough to be at the same bond ceremony. You still might witness a dramatic exchange since there are so many of us.”
An older woman with gray hair, no teeth, and a cook's uniform hobbles through the arch, relying on a cane. Some jerk whistles a catcall from the front rows as multiple people laugh. The intense ritualistic aura from earlier has died down.
The faculty steps through, and the robust professor who gave the sweaty, nervous sex speech is walking toward the arch. Tabby has her head turned away; eyes closed tight like she’s trying not to witness a dismemberment.
"No, please, no, no, no," she mutters.
"It would serve you right. You need an older, sensible gentleman to tame you down," Cleo says. Her evil genius of a roommate has been torturing her with the idea of a lackluster mate since the safe sex speech ended. She’s getting her payback for the sexual gossip she’s had to hear since she arrived.
Holly is cracking up on my left.
Brix adds fuel to the fire. "I bet he has a sex safety closet in his faculty room. It probably has an entire shelf stocked with dental dams."
Tabby breathes a heavy sigh of relief as he steps off the stage.
It’s easy to forget the ceremony happening in front of me and just bask in the joy and laughs of my newfound friends. I haven’t felt this good in a while.
Suddenly, a sharp tug in my gut catches me off guard, followed by a pleasant burning sensation that spreads from my chest and down my body.
It feels like a flame bursting outward, like when a log gets thrown onto a bonfire.
It covers me with warmth and light. The sensation gathers and meets in front of me, visible.
A small sphere of golden light.
For a moment, I wonder if my sin is manifesting.
My hopes are crushed as the light shoots forward, trailing a glimmering thread that connects to my chest.
I watch in awe as the light streaks across the room and attaches to a man on the stage. Time seems to slow; he moves through the arch as if wading through water, each step taking an eternity. I feel the light reach him, a twinkling rope connecting us and soaking into his body.
My heartbeat quickens as if the light is drawing a piece of him back to me, filling my soul with an energy that completes me. It feels like the empty holes that I never knew existed inside me are being filled.
The cord snaps, abrupt and sharp, it flicks back into me—not painfully, but with an unfamiliar sensation.
There's no doubt in my mind: this is a bond tether.
Like time unfreezing, everything flips back to normal.
He walks down the stairs, oblivious to the fact that he just shifted my universe. He’s far, but I can tell he is young for a faculty member.
"Oh my universe, it’s Professor Delicious," Holly squeals.
"Nice, Holls…" Sly says next to her, shaking his head.
"Oh, I definitely just bonded," Tabby drawls. I look at her in fear for a moment, wondering how that could be possible before I realize she’s kidding.
Thankfully, all the girls' comments about this professor have taken any attention away from the alarm on my face. Brix seems to pick up on it, though. "Hey, everything okay, Arwen?"
"Oh yeah! Sorry, I was just surprised that a mage that young is a professor at the academy. Everyone I’ve seen so far looks old enough to be my father." I laugh.
I feel terrible for lying to my new friends again, but I need to think this through, to process what it means. For a normal person, this would be the most blessed gift. A mate. A bond. This is no normal situation.
He's a professor—my professor.
That alone could get me kicked out of SinVail. I have little reliable information on student and staff bonds, and Dean Bellows didn't say we had to report it, but I'm sure the faculty is under strict orders to do so.
I don't even know what faction he's in, and I'm sinless, likely to be exiled within the year… He's about to have a very bad day.
My heart races as I contemplate the implications. My academy adventure could end before it even begins—not even a full day. I glance at the people sitting next to me. I was a fool to think I could build friendships here, a life here.
A sharp cry draws me out of my spiral. I realize that they’ve moved onto the seniors during my mental absence.
A freshman girl stumbles forward from the back of the auditorium. Hunched over, clutching her stomach, shaking, and crying, she moves towards the stage. The boy who just passed through the arch slows, confused and searching for the source of the commotion.
The reality of the situation silences the laughter and joyous tone of the room, reminding us of the potential detrimental circumstances of a bond ceremony.
A nurse on standby rushes forward and takes the girl to a chair on the side of the auditorium, away from the crowd. Another nurse grabs the arm of the boy.
"What the hell was that about?" Brix asks next to me. "Do you think she had a boyfriend?"
"No," Holly replies. "We’ve known someone who found their bond outside of their relationship. It’s different…" She pinches her face and glances at her boyfriend, Sly, who looks anxious.
He grasps Holly’s hand in his, but they don’t elaborate on the difference. "She must have felt the bond, but also knows she can’t stay at the academy if she is weaker."
"Different factions…," Brix murmurs, understanding.
"One of them will be sent away from their friends and family, kicked out of the academy and forced to deal with the bond separation while the other finishes school," Cleo says, sounding a bit choked up.
"It’s cruel…" Holly says under her breath so quietly that I doubt she meant for any of us to hear. Questioning faction politics is dangerous.
The quiet anxiety in the room makes sense. I don’t feel so alone because everyone in this room is questioning if they’ll still be here tomorrow, just like I am.
By the time the seniors finish the ceremony, everyone has publicly acknowledged only the forbidden, cross-faction bond.
"How much longer…" Tabby whines, "I thought we’d at least witness a passionate make out by now."
Cleo replies, "These seniors have been through this academy bond ceremony together three times already. If they bond, it will be with someone new entering the academy. The chance of that is very low. Just give it time."
***
The sophomores are churning one by one through the arch.
"Why do they even bother sending Lust through the arches? Lust never bonds; monogamy isn’t their way. What a waste of time," Tabby continues to complain as she sinks down in her chair.
"Don’t pay attention to Tabby. She’s just pissed she didn’t bond with the hot new professor," Holly says with a snark.
"Don’t be ridiculous, Holly; the faculty never get tethered to students. The universe isn’t that cruel," she responds.
Tabby clearly has spent little time on the universe’s bad side like I have.
"You’re awfully quiet, little sinless. Afraid a big bad magical bond is going to cramp your style?" Brix whispers next to me.
“Not too worried about my style, Brix. You saw this morning at breakfast that there’s not much style left to cramp.”
Despite my confident words, I’m dying on the inside.
What will happen if the Academy finds out I bonded with a professor? I’ll get kicked out before even having a chance to manifest my power.
“On the contrary, you are a Wrath at the top academy in Vail, with unmatched, unlimited power. Once you manifest, you’ll be the baddest bitch in this place,” he replies with full confidence.
It’s refreshing to have someone in my corner instead of rooting for me to fail, but I’m not sure what his end goal is here. We weren’t friends back in Furycliff.
As I wonder why Brixton James is being so nice to me, I start to have the feeling again.
This time, it happens quickly, now that I recognize the sensation and what it means.
There’s a tug in my chest, a warm, tingling feeling that builds up as a ball of radiant light soars towards the stage and straight into the body of… Atticus Willshire?
No, it can’t be.
My heart feels like it’s about to rip out of my body as my head pounds. I’m not fated for Councilor Willshire’s son. That arrogant jerk is not my bond. This magical relic is broken—I’m certain of it.
I look around to see if others have noticed the arch throwing a magical hissy fit.
“What’s wrong?” Holly asks. “Did something happen?”
“Huh? Oh, no, it’s nothing. I thought I saw… I thought another person was going to stand up.”
“Oh!” Holly says and looks the way I was glancing.
Everything is speeding up around me. I hear murmurs from my friends, but I’m not digesting what they are saying.
My chest continues to hurt, and my breathing picks up. What is going on? Even if I somehow had two bonds, Atticus is a Pride. This is not good.