66. Zeina
ZEINA
Zeina awoke to fifteen pairs of eyes staring down at her while she lay on a hard, dusty wooden floor. She couldn’t remember how she’d gotten there; everything felt fuzzy.
“I found her out in the bushes, and when she saw me, she ran.”
“And did what, exactly?” Adeyemi’s voice was tense. “Charmed her into oblivion?”
“I panicked,” the student said, pacing.
Zeina’s eyes focused as she took in each of the confused students and the headmaster. As soon as she noticed that Ahmina was one of them, she froze. Her cover had been exposed.
Ahmina’s face was a mirror of Zeina’s own worry.
Her only hope was that the dirt covering her face and tangled hair would conceal her identity. The urge to run clawed at her, but she felt too dizzy, so instead she hugged her knees tight to her chest, her fingers gripping her pant legs.
“Unacceptable. The first rule of Charming is not to use it on people! I swear on the great Goddess…” Shaking their head, Adeyemi crouched down next to Zeina and placed their palm on Zeina’s forehead. “How do you feel?”
“She needs a healer. We will take her,” Ren said, interjecting. “Ori, Alva, you’re with me.”
Zeina didn’t want to go with him, but staying seemed worse, so she stood up, following orders, almost toppling over as she did.
The room spun as Ahmina and Ren grabbed her elbows to steady her.
“Come, let’s go, quick,” Ahmina said in her ear, peering over at their classmates. “So they don’t notice.”
Once outside, Ren took a sharp turn and led her toward the wall, Loveleena and Ahmina in tow.
“What are you doing?” Loveleena whisper-yelled, her eyes darting from Zeina to Ahmina, confused.
Ren ignored her, and Loveleena protested, cursing under her breath. But Zeina tried to tune them out because her head felt like it was going to implode.
They swiftly travelled across the school grounds, and Ren snuck them through a secret gap in the wall, hidden within the trees—much easier than going through the underground tunnels, she thought.
She bookmarked the location in her mind to use later.
They walked for a long time before coming to a small, abandoned house with a fire crackling outside.
In front of it stood two people talking quietly.
As they got closer, she realized it was Lennox and Serena.
“Which one is which?” Ren said, annoyed.
“That one’s Zeina,” Lennox confirmed, looking between Zeina and Ahmina. “What happened to her?” Zeina could feel Lennox’s eyes on her as she rubbed her head to knead out the headache pounding at her temple.
“She’s been charmed,” Ren stated.
Lennox laughed. “Oh. How did you manage that?”
Zeina scowled. “I was busy looking for translucent fire mushrooms when some idiot attacked me.”
“Um, hello?” A confused Loveleena cut in. “Is anyone going to explain!?”
Zeina snuck a quick glance at Ahmina, who grimaced.
“This is Zeina, we’re sisters.” It still felt weird to hear it, but she appreciated Ahmina speaking for them. “Twins, actually.”
Loveleena stared at Zeina like she was some foreign creature. “I always thought Ahmina had two personalities. Now it makes sense.”
“You’re triplets, actually.” Lennox scratched the back of his head, awkwardly.
“Triplets!?” Ahmina and Zeina said at the same time.
“Lenny.” Ren’s voice was a warning.
“What! It’s about time they all know.”
Serena cut in, “Woah, let’s slow it down a bit. Why don’t you all take a seat.” She guided them over to a bench against the outer wall of the house, whispering to Lennox as she passed him.
“Let us tell you about the Velorias. That will help clarify things,” Serena reasoned, trying to ease the tension. “Please,” she urged, “sit.”
Reluctantly, the three of them followed her request. Admittedly, it felt good to sit after all that walking. But it didn’t help Zeina’s pounding head.
Serena sighed, plopping down on a stump across from them. “Before the wall was built, when Jarrah was a new city, Jarrians lived in harmony with the creatures. They maintained strong relations with other cities. Life was good.”
Zeina knew of the legend of the lost cities.
Over the years, she would daydream that she was a noble there, living a completely different life than that of a homeless orphan.
She would make up the architecture, fashion, and food—creating her own little world.
It always felt like an impossible dream.
“Then, things started to change. There was a growing fear of creatures at the time, based on a few unfortunate instances. Rumors spread. Apprehension grew. Things started to take a turn. The Veloria family was known for having a particularly close relationship with the creatures. Especially the Aura Stallions, who have a high ranking within the animal kingdom.”
“Because of the rising tension, one of the Veloria brothers, Ash, convinced the Aura Stallions to give him and his twin brother, Ember, the magical power of exceptional intelligence.” Backtracking, she explained, “the disconnect between humans and creatures was spreading and they thought that it would be useful to have someone who would empathize with humans and understand creatures at the same time. If Ash and Ember could use magic to help strategize and work through the problems, both creatures and humans would benefit, and things would go back to the way they were.”
“Before that, magic in humans was impossible. But Ash heard the Stallions speak of the concept, and once the thought was planted, he couldn’t let it go,” Ren added.
“So, the Stallions agreed to give him magic. But once the magic was transferred to Ash and Ember, things started to change, and Ash went rogue. His intelligence and creature understanding meant he also knew how to exploit them. His greed for more magic intensified and he began manipulating creatures, gaining their trust under the guise of keeping the peace. He became powerful, too powerful, and started controlling the creatures, harming their natural way of life. In return, they retaliated. Ember, and the other families tried reasoning with Ash, but it didn’t work, and things only escalated.
Ash was cruel to the creatures, draining their magic for himself, torturing them for his own gain.
For power. And he started recruiting followers under the promise that they too would be given magic.
With no other option, the creatures tore through the city, hellbent on destroying anything that threatened their kingdom.
Any human that could tap into Ash’s magic and use it against them, they slaughtered. Or at least tried.”
“Ultimately, the city banded together and built the wall. It acted as a symbol of peace. Humans on one side. Creatures on another. If it stayed that way, peace would be maintained.”
Serena had gone quiet, her eyes distant. Zeina watched as Ren paced, his arms crossed.
“What happened after that is… generations of stories,” Lennox continued where Serena left off.
“But fast forward: twenty-four years ago, you three were born, descendants of Ember Veloria. Meanwhile, your great, great, great uncle Ash has lived for generations, through means that are only known to the creatures. It’s some sort of immortality that we still haven’t been able to figure out.
But when he found out three Veloria triplets were born—”
“Wait.” Loveleena stood up. “Are you sure about that? There haven’t been triplets born in Jarrah for hundreds of years.”
Twins were rare in Jarrah, but triplets may as well have been imaginary. Zeina didn’t think it was possible. “Who is the other triplet?” Zeina asked. If there was a third triplet that looked like them, where were they?
Serena, Lennox, and Ren all shifted their gaze to Loveleena.
“Me?” Loveleena said defensively, her head already shaking. “There’s no way. I’m an Alva.”
“She doesn’t look like us,” Ahmina argued. “She couldn’t be.”
“No. But triplets don’t always look like each other,” Ren said.
“Zeina and Ahmina are identical twins, part of a triplet set. Loveleena, you’re their fraternal sister—you developed from a separate egg, so you don’t share their exact features.
I know this might come as a shock, since you grew up as an Alva, but what your family never told you was that you were placed in their care.
Your birth name is Veloria,” Serena explained.
Loveleena was lost inside her mind, staring off into the distance. “My family… I—I always looked a little different, but…”
“It will take some time to process,” Ren said flatly, like he was trying to be empathetic but failing horribly. “And in case it’s not abundantly clear, all three of you have magic.”
“We’re aware.” Loveleena shot him a dirty look. “At least, Ahmina and I are. I’m not sure about Zeina because this is the first time we’ve…” She turned to face Zeina. “Wait, how many times have we met?”
“I made the truth potion,” Zeina offered. She wasn’t about to go into detail on every interaction they’d had. But that potion was complex and she was proud of it. “And it was me who went with you to Talamalu.”
“So that was your Alchemy work, then?” Ren commented, impressed. “It was very effective. Unfortunately it ended up in everyone else’s cup except the intended party.”
Serena rolled her eyes at Ren, and Lennox burst out laughing. “Priceless,” he said, mostly to himself.
“I will sedate both of you if you keep getting on my nerves,” Serena muttered, and Ren cracked a charming smile.
“You can’t tell anyone. Not yet,” Serena said, ignoring the men and turning her attention back to the women. “Not about your magic and not about your relation to each other.”
“Why?” Loveleena asked. Zeina could feel the resistance radiating off her. Even without magic, it was clear Loveleena hated being told what to do.
“Professor Barrow is working for Ash and targeting Ahmina. If he finds out the other two Veloria triplets are here, he will do everything in his power to drain you of your magic,” Lennox explained.
“Barrow has no idea you’re the other two. And we would like to keep it that way,” Serena interjected.
When Zeina’s parents—at least who she thought were her parents—died and she was left with nothing, she was forced to live on the streets at only eight years old.
She vaguely remembered using their last name, but after reading Zeina Veloria on her birth certificate, she went by Veloria and didn’t look back.
She brought it to Anastasia to try and gain entry and while the rejection stung, she never thought much about it otherwise.
Now, as she pieced it all together, it started to make sense.
“That’s why I was rejected from Anastasia.” The realization tumbled out of her. “They knew who Ahmina was and they didn’t want both of us in the same place.”
Ahmina’s eyes were glassy as she studied Zeina’s face. “Oh, Zeina. I’m so sorry.”
“I know it wasn’t an easy life, Zeina, but you were safer as a…” Lennox’s voice trailed off, hesitating.
“You can say it,” Zeina pushed, betrayal slicing her heart. “As a nobody.”
Lennox furrowed his brows. “It’s the fact that you are somebody… an important somebody, a Veloria, that you even needed to be hidden Zeina. So no, I’m not going to say it because it’s not true.”
“You’ve known about all of this? About us?” Ahmina said to Lennox, failing to hide her accusatory tone.
“I knew who you were when I met you at the library. But I didn’t know about Zeina and Loveleena until they showed up here.”
“We weren’t expecting all three of you—just Ahmina,” Serena reasoned. “But triplets are known to have a rather mysterious connection.”
“Why would Barrow target Ahmina though?” Loveleena asked. “She’s known as an Ori, not a Veloria.”
“Barrow discovered Ahmina’s alias and expected her to attend the Academy this year,” Lennox explained.
“In Jarrah, there’s a lot in place to protect her.
We have allies. But when she started at Academy Prep, Barrow wormed his way in as a professor here in preparation.
He knew she would be attending this year, and we knew he would target her.
Triplet magic is… quite desirable. But we couldn’t interfere.
If we did, it would have jeopardized Ahmina’s magic awakening. ”
“How?” Ahmina frowned.
“For most, magic is awakened at birth. But if the magic is supressed, it forces itself out around the age of twenty-five. The awakening period is a sensitive time. One in which magic and the body are working against each other. If they don’t come into alignment during the awakening, the magic can…
overtake its host. Interference increases the chances of that happening.
” Lennox stepped closer to Ahmina. “I’m so sorry I had to let things play out with that dirtbag, but I knew you were strong enough to get through it.
To protect yourself. To fight for yourself. ”
“Except you did interfere,” Ren said annoyed.
“Only a little. And I couldn’t help it.” His eyes darkened. “I’ve been dying to rip that man’s head off.”
“You put her magic at risk,” Ren argued.
“I knew the line.” Lennox’s voice was tight as he held Ren’s gaze.
A thundering sound bellowed in the distance, and their heads whipped toward the noise.
To Zeina, it sounded like a thousand hooves, and she wondered if creatures were near.
Ren, Lennox, and Serena all looked at each other, an unspoken conversation happening between them before Ren ordered them to leave.
And with that, all three of them were on their feet.
They moved swiftly through the forest, Zeina trailing at the back. “About Barrow,” Zeina whispered to Lennox, stealing a quick glance at Ahmina. “I don’t think he will be a problem for a while.”
“Oh yeah?” Lennox lifted an eyebrow. “And why is that?”
“I topped up the healing salve from the Alchemists with a blistering potion.”
Ahmina and Lennox smiled from ear to ear, and Zeina couldn’t help but grin back.