52. Zeina
ZEINA
An empty castle was almost as good as having the Moon Festival all to herself.
Zeina watched as the students and faculty went beyond the wall for one reason or another. The first years were off to complete shadows, and the remaining second and third years went to train, both accompanied by graduate Defenders and a professor or two.
She should use this opportunity to enjoy the empty castle. Only the cooks remained, and they were unlikely to care about the occasional student floating by. Instead, she climbed up to the Hydra perch. It wasn’t often she got to sit up here in broad daylight.
Junie spotted her first and honked noisily at her. The other two Hydra lay comfortably beside Junie, basking in the late morning sun.
“Sorry, I don’t have any treats today.” Zeina shrugged.
Junie sat, her head slightly turned to the side.
At this angle, Zeina could clearly see her golden eyes.
They weren’t that dissimilar to hers, she thought.
It made sense; Zeina often felt more like a creature than a human.
With a soft, relaxed face, Junie peered up at her, waiting.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Zeina said. “You’re not even supposed to be eating that stuff.”
Junie huffed a breath and shuffled her feet.
Next to Zeina, Junie would be massive, but beside the older Hydra, she looked cute, petite even.
Zeina wondered what it would be like to climb down into the cage and run her fingers along the thick scales on Junie’s spine.
To settle with Junie beside Dahlia and Khan and let the warmth of the sun lull her to sleep.
Everyone at the Academy was afraid of the Hydra, but Zeina thought it quite unfair.
Surely, if anyone had spent even a little time with them, they would know the creatures were incredibly intelligent and docile.
Morning after morning, Zeina had watched them wake lazily, softly grooming each other and squawking in delight.
In fact, Zeina thought people should be more impressed with how calm the Hydra were, considering they were caged like uncontrollable beasts.
Somewhere along the way, the family of Hydra had become her family.
Every morning, she looked forward to visiting them.
Zeina even came on rainy days when they were much more joyful, prancing and stretching out their wings to clean off the dry, Jarrian dust. Even the thought of going a day without them made her chest tight.
Junie squawked, snapping Zeina from her thoughts. Come down for a visit? June said into her mind.
“You know I can’t get down there. It’s too steep,” Zeina reasoned.
Junie blinked, her eyes pleading.
Sighing, Zeina mentally committed to practicing her climbing skills. Maybe if she worked on it, she could scale the wall. Carefully, she peered straight down the wall’s edge, sending a jolt of adrenaline to her stomach.
Maybe.
The drop was long. If she fell…
She wiped the image from her mind. Practice was all she needed.
It wasn’t until later, when Zeina was tucked away in hiding, that she overheard Professor Hashiluna and Professor Harlan discussing the Hydras’ impending execution; their work with them would be complete at the end of the school year.
They spoke so casually about ending their lives.
The cruelty sank deep into Zeina’s bones, drowning her spirit.
It was something she hadn’t felt in a very long time…
Heartbreak.