Arriving at the courtyard, Morgianna saw several faces she wished she didn't. She wanted to curse her luck as it seemed like every single capture target was in her class, the only good thing was that Olive was also here. She did not see her brother which she saw as a blessing and a curse. If he was here she would have at least one more ally but if things went wrong it could put him in danger. She kept her head held high as she walked past everyone, making her way to her friend's side without talking to anyone. She knew eyes were on her as whispers once again found their way to her ears.
"I heard she is being bullied? Poor girl, I feel bad for thinking badly of her before I met her." "I can see why the Princes would want to protect someone like her, even though she has all that power she didn't lash out."
As Morgianna reached Olive's side she risked a glance around her to see everyone still taking glances at her. The princes were the exception as they stared at her without trying to hide it, only causing more whispers of their infatuation to circulate.
"Kill me now." Morgianna groaned and bent her head to her friend's shoulder.
Olive patted her back with a grin. "Oh woe is me, my name is Morgianna the girl who has multiple cute boys chasing me around and scaring off the big bad boogie men. Or I guess it would be woman?" Olive laughed making several students stare unabashedly as they tried to listen in to what was being said.
With a glad Morgianna pushed her friend before giving a small smile herself. "Changed my mind, don't kill me I'm sure they will get the job done just fine on their own." At Olive's 'Are you serious?' Look she shrugged laughing softly.
Suddenly the courtyard was filled with tension as everyone stopped talking to watch as two men approached. One was tall and lean with an almost graceful gait. He had a gentle smile that made some of the females in the class whisper in excitement. The other man looked like a boulder that had seen better days. His arms looked like they could snap a person in half with little to no effort and his face seemed to be etched into a permanent scowl. Where the first manmade girls swoon the second made people nervous.
As they arrived at their destination and stood in front of the students the larger of the two men began unbuckling the stash of weapons that he had strapped to his body, letting each one fall in front of the other. "I'm not a pack mule, carry your own stuff next time." He turned back to all of the students, his eyes taking in each face. Morgianna caught his eye and it seemed he looked at her a moment longer than the rest. "My name is Bartholomew Cain and I will be teaching you magic. This man standing next to me with the girly hair is named Silvus Jaeger and he will be teaching you about weapons."
There was an immediate spike in loud whispers. "Weapons? That has never been on the curriculum before." "Shouldn't it be the other way around, that guy is massive and looks like he should be teaching a class on weapons." "Shhh I'm sure they can hear you."
A laugh broke the tense atmosphere as everyone turned to look at its source. Silvus was practically bent over, hands on his knees as he gasped for breath from laughing so hard. "Well Bart you do look the part. I told you that you should smile more." Bartholomew did not look pleased as he sent dagger-like glares at the students who had clearly been talking about him.
Morgianna watched but didn't comment when she once again caught his eyes. She knew she hadn't said a word about him so she did not know why he would look at her. "Enough. The curriculum has changed and our dean has decided that weapon training should be included in your magic class. He knows that you are all going to be more than capable of using your magic to defend yourself should you need it, but recently there have been people that have gone missing and they had magic too. We want our students to have all the tools they need in life even if we hope they never have to use them." Bartholomew snapped his fingers causing everyone to stand a little taller.
Beside him Silvus never let his smile drop as he bent to pick a dagger from the ground at his feet. Without so much of a notice he flung the dagger into the crowd of waiting students. There were screams as it's blade blew past several bodies at close range before finding it's final resting place at the feet of Morgianna who had not so much as twitched.
Keeping her eyes locked on Silvus she crouched and retrieved the dagger and then put it in her boot. Knowing that he was watching her every move she smirked at him eliciting a chuckle from the man.
All the students were on edge too busy watching his hands to see if he was going to throw any more blades at them. All but the princes who watched Morgianna as she calmly stood as if nothing had happened.
...
The class seemed to stretch for hours as the girls who had once been enamored with Silvus found themselves worried that he would throw more sharp objects at them. Meanwhile Bartholomew was like a drill Sergeant in his teachings having students line up according to their attributes and those with more would have to rotate between lines. By the time they were finished with their lessons several students lay on the grass their hair and uniforms a mess.
Olive was one of the said students her cheeks tinted as she laid almost face-first on the ground. Morgianna wanted to leave as soon s the lesson was over to limit her time in the sun and escape the capture targets, but she could not force herself to leave Olive alone.
Sighing Morgianna also laid back in the grass, propped her hands behind her head, and closed her eyes. Unlike her classmates she had hardly broken a sweat having already been used to using her magic and handling weapons. Of course she played down her abilities as gaining attention was the last thing she wanted.
A shadow or should she say 3 blocked the sunlight that had been beating down on her and when she opened her eyes she was not even surprised by who she saw. Thadeous, Caspian, and Alistar were standing around her casting glances at each other but not saying anything. The atmosphere was becoming increasingly awkward as each person waited for another to speak.
Just as the tension was becoming unbearable and Morgianna was ready to make her great escape a new arrival shut her plans down before they even began. "Good evening Your Highness Prince Thadeous, Prince Caspian, and Prince Alistar, I am looking forward to seeing how far you have improved over the summer." Each of the boys in question looked worried because they knew that while they did improve it would never be enough in this mountain of a man's eyes. As if he could already guess where their thoughts were he gave them a smile that made a cold chill run down their backs. "If you are not quite ready to show me the full extent of your progress, maybe you would like to leave and go to practice?"
As if a fire had been lit under their feet they all quickly nodded and ran off in different directions, each one casting her a look before they disappeared into the mass of students. Morgianna closed her eyes hoping that if she pretended the large man was not there then he would simply leave. Of course her luck was not so good that just because she wished it, it would happen. "Excuse me, you are Morgianna Bloodmoon correct?"
Barely opening one eye Morgianna glanced at the man then with a small sigh she moved until she stood in front of him and then curtsied. "I am Morgianna Bloodmoon, it is a pleasure to be able to learn under you, Sir Bartholomew." She looked up and held his eyes causing the man to smile, however this time it was softer and made her more uncomfortable than the previous one.
"Would you come to speak with Silvus and me in private? We have something we wish to discuss with you." Morgianna wanted to scream stranger danger and run away, but these men were to be her teachers for an unforeseen amount of time.
Nodding her head she motioned for him to lead the way. She turned to Olive who had just woke up and given her a smile. "I am going to speak with the teachers for a moment, you should head back to the room and we can meet later for dinner." Olive nodded but glanced at Bartholomew's retreating figure with a frown.
Morgianna quickly caught up to the large man as they neared the edge of the courtyard where Silvus was already waiting. "A pleasure to meet you in person, I have heard so much about you! Silas speaks of you fondly of you." At the mention of Silas Morgianna's eyes widened.
She glanced behind her to see that all the students had already left the courtyard so there would be no help if she were attacked. She kept her face blank even though inside she was freaking out. If she understood correctly then not only do these men know that she is Little Red, but that they know Silas personally and he had spoken about her. "Calm down, we are not here to hurt you. Silas told us to look out for you while you are here at the school, though from what he told us you will not need much help." Bartholomew smirked at her bewildered face.
Morgianna knew it was pointless to deny anything when they clearly knew exactly who she was. "I never told him my real name though..."
Silvus barked out another laugh as if she was the funniest thing he had ever seen. "Morgianna, if you do not mind me calling you that. He did not become the leader of the group for no reason. He has known who you are since the day after you joined. Your friends were a little more tricky as they pretty much only appeared after they began working for you. Regardless, while I am impressed with the stories I have heard of you, I know you are not showing us even a small portion of your ability during class."
"It causes unwanted attention. I know what I am capable of and none of these kids would be my opponent if I became serious." Morgianna shrugged, completely over her initial shock. She knew they had introduced themselves but Morgianna wanted to know more about these men that seemed to already know her. Looking to Silvus first since he laughed at her she was surprised by his information.
Name: Silvus Jaeger
Race: Fey/human
Age: 247
Titles: Formerly Known as Prince Silvus, The Runaway Son
Attributes/Powers: Light, Earth, Wind
Morgianna was curious about him being a runaway especially since he was already almost 250 years old but looked like he was barely 20. She turned her attention to Bartholomew hoping to glean some information about the man who made the princes run.
Name: Bartholomew Indigo Cain
Race: Werewolf
Age: 47
Titles: The Beast, Magic Monster
Attributes/Powers: Copy
For 47 she admitted he too still liked young, even with all the scars. What Morgianna was most interested in was the power called copy. She couldn't believe that there were powers that she hadn't yet seen. She couldn't ask him about it either or he would know that she knew.
"Would you mind if I retire for the day and we met some other time. I am quite tired." Morgianna batted her eyes at the two men hoping to be sent back to her room to gather her thoughts.
After looking to each other they did exactly what she had wanted. The walk back to her dorm room was quiet, all the students elsewhere on campus, probably preparing for dinner. She knew she had good olive she would meet her later but she would not be good company for anybody at this moment.
Sneaking into her room unnoticed Morgianna laid in her bed and stared to think of what had occurred that day. If every day was the same then she would have to leave sooner rather than later or she would go crazy.