42. Zeina
ZEINA
Zeina walked out of Alchemy with Lennox trailing behind her.
It was a cooler day, not unusual for this time of year in Jarrah.
A thunderstorm could be heard bellowing throughout their lecture, the clouds crashing into each other recklessly.
Zeina planned to sneak into uniform storage and find a sweater while the rest of the students were at lunch.
Now that rainy season had settled in, she needed something warmer.
Sweater, and then she would press herself in between blankets and study her Alchemy textbook.
The truth serum wasn’t quite right yet, and she wanted to go through similar potions to try and find the right adjustment.
She still had a couple ingredients she needed to source, but it wasn’t just that.
As many times as she had gone over it, there was something missing—something she knew she couldn’t find in a book.
“Are you ready for second assessments?” Lennox asked, pulling her from her thoughts.
“I guess,” she said, annoyed at the interruption. She wished Lennox would stop following her.
“Good, because…” Darkness clouded her vision as he threw a cloth bag over her head. “It starts now.”
With only slivers of light poking through the material, he led her through the castle. Once the fabric was removed from her head, Zeina’s gaze darted around, trying to figure out how she could escape. He had led her to the Great Hall with the rest of the first-year students.
Lennox studied her. “Something wrong, Ahmina?”
“No,” she said quickly, trying to hide the wobble in her voice.
Ahmina was somewhere in this room. Zeina hunched to make herself smaller.
“Was it really necessary to throw a bag over my head?” she criticized.
“It’s all part of the excitement.”
At the front of the crowd stood Headmaster Adeyemi, protected from the rain under a canvas canopy.
“Welcome year ones!” Adeyemi bellowed over the crowd.
“Once again, we are testing your skill, strength, and courage.” The other students shifted nervously on their feet as whispers spread throughout the crowd, and thunder crashed over their heads.
“I admit, we typically have better weather for today’s activities.
” They squinted up toward the sky. “The rain will make things more challenging, but your second assessment must go on.”
Zeina rubbed her arms, shivering as she scanned the crowd for Ahmina. She spotted her near the front with her usual group of friends.
“Here,” Lennox said as he pulled his long sleeve knit out of his bag. “Wear this.”
Zeina didn’t argue. It was too big for her but it was warm, and she pulled the neck up close to her chin to try and squeeze out the chill.
The storms in Jarrah were relatively warm, but Zeina’s shivering came more from nerves than cold.
For the first time, she was in the same room as Ahmina.
If anyone noticed there were two of them, she would be kicked out of school, imprisoned, or worse—executed.
The thought of it made her teeth chatter.
“Second-year Slayers will accompany you on your mission. You are to kill a creature and bring it back to the school. So, pick your lead well.”
Zeina’s heart sank. Logically, she knew creatures were cruel, vicious things. But ever since she had developed a connection with Aria, she couldn’t imagine killing one.
Zeina shifted nervously on her feet. A woman beside her mumbled something she didn’t hear, to which Lennox replied, “it’s how we weed out the weaklings.”
Adeyemi reviewed the requirements of the assessment while Zeina thought about the best time to slip away.
She found her opportunity while the students were busy securing extra weapons provided by second years, speaking in quick, hushed bursts.
She made it all of five steps before Lennox grabbed her arm.
“You’re not going anywhere; you’re with me. ”
“You have three hours; your time starts now.” Adeyemi bellowed.
The crowd surged, and Zeina was carried along with it down to the outpost hatch. She tried to stick to the back, to keep as far away from Ahmina as possible.
Lennox stayed close, her only barrier to escape, and she cursed him for it.
When they came out on the other side, the students clustered into groups with a second or third-year Slayer to lead.
Some were large, with up to ten students in a single group.
A few went off in pairs—one student, one Slayer.
And once everyone disappeared, the only people left behind were Zeina and Lennox.
She could no longer delay the inevitable.
The forest floor beyond the wall was covered in damp, squishy, emerald moss. Zeina’s eyes travelled along each vine, leaf, and petal, taking note of every plant species she saw.
She and Lennox travelled north, but after walking in silence for what felt like forever, they still hadn’t encountered a single creature.
Zeina thought it was odd. The forest was supposed to be crawling with creatures ready to end her life—or at least that’s what everyone said.
However unusual, she was grateful; Zeina didn’t know what to do if she did encounter a creature.
Eventually, they decided to stop for a rest. Looking at her open palm, she counted at least sixteen different species of plants she had collected along their route. The rain poured down, drenching them. She needed to preserve the plants if she was going to study them properly back at the Academy.
“Can you put these in your satchel?”
Lennox took them delicately from her hand and tucked them inside the outer pocket. “So, when are you going to tell me what your real name is?”
Zeina froze. “What?”
Lennox’s golden-brown hair had darkened from the downpour, and raindrops slid down his forehead as he narrowed his eyes at her. “You’re not Ahmina, so who are you?”
“What makes you think I’m not Ahmina?” She searched her mind for what Ahmina would say, but her heart pounded too loud in her chest.
“I haven’t known Ahmina very long, but I know her. Which means I notice everything about how you’re not her.”
Zeina could lie to him, could make up some story, but something in her longed to tell someone the truth. “Zeina.”
“Zeina,” he repeated.
She kept her face still as he studied her. Something like intrigue spread across his face.
“Why do you look exactly like Ahmina?”
“I don’t know.” It wasn’t a lie.
They stood in silence for a moment, and all Zeina could hear was the sound of rain hitting treetops: pat, pat, pat. The thunder had stopped, but the rain carried on relentlessly.
“When did you know?” Curiosity got the best of her.
“Since the first day. Ahmina never goes to lectures without her textbooks.” His lopsided smile appeared as he said her name. “She’s such a stress case like that. But I couldn’t ask you until we were alone.”
Zeina looked around; there were no other students or creatures in sight.
“Plus,” he continued, stepping toward her. “Ahmina is failing Alchemy, and you’re the best in our class.”
He was almost close enough to grab her. To capture her.
So, Zeina did the only thing she knew how to.
She launched her dagger as hard as she could into the soft flesh of Lennox’s thigh, and she ran.
She ran until her lungs burned and her legs cramped. Even as she heard his groan carry through the trees, she didn’t look back.
She ran and ran and ran.