AFTER I LEFT Master Longwei's office, it was time for lunch. I swiftly entered the cafeteria and found Becky's table. Lucian was not there yet.
"Are you okay?" Becky asked as I sat down.
"Just don't make me think about anything. Please," I pleaded.
"Elena?"
"Hey, sweetheart, you ready for sparring classes?" Lucian plunged onto the pillow right next to me, and I couldn't help but smile at him.
"I probably don't have a choice." I sulked and he chuckled.
"It's not that bad."
"Excuse me, you are a slave-driving demon when it comes to fighting," Becky snapped at him playfully.
"It got you your dragon," he countered.
"Not the one I was hoping for."
"Sorry." I stood up. "I need to get something in my system before Professor Mia's class. Collin's probably going to kill me today."
"He's a push-over," Becky said, in a singsong tone.
"Give it a month, and he is going to be the one sulking," Lucian promised and was right next to me. He gave me a side hug.
* * *
COLLIN, ENOUGH!" I yelled as he hit me with another blow that landed me flat on my butt. He laughed. Now I was sure that Lucian would deliver, because I was determined to kick Collin's ass.
"Elena, go to Constance. She can heal the cuts and bruises," Professor Mia said in a concerned tone. Blood soaked through my sleeves and my elbows felt raw and painful. "You don't need to walk around in agony." A small smile appeared at the corner of her mouth, and I nodded before running to the exit.
Maybe it was all I needed, to see Constance's friendly face again. She somehow made me feel as if I wasn't an outcast. I knocked on the door, and she smiled, nodding for me to enter. "Look who's here," she sang, but her smile disappeared as she saw the agony on my face. "Come here." Her arms were open and she hugged me tightly. Her arms felt so motherly, and she even gave me a soft kiss on my head.
"It's so hard," I said, and my mouth felt parched.
She poured me a glass of water and handed it to me.
"Just look at me." I showed her my elbows.
She took my arms softly and examined me.
She's really beautiful.
"It's going to be okay, Elena. Before you know it, everything is going to make sense and I'm sure with the help of Lucian, you'll not have these anymore." She gestured at my bruises.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I whispered.
She squinted and looked as if she was thinking really hard about what I was asking.
"That you're a dragon."
She giggled as her hands started to glow. I couldn't take my eyes off them.
"At the time you had a lot to cope with." She laid her hands on both my raw elbows and a warm tingling sensation emerged from her palms. It went deep into my skin and felt as if it reached inside of my bones.
"Why didn't you heal me the first time this way?"
She smiled. "Because it would have freaked you out, and Master Longwei suggested that a natural healing process might be the best at that time, considering we were trying to keep you sane." She stroked my elbows as if she tried to wipe away something. "There, I'm sure that feels much better."
I looked at my scrapes and they were gone. Even the blue around them had vanished.
"Wow." I laughed nervously. "Thank you so much." I hugged her without thinking, and she tapped me softly on the back.
"Go, you'll see. It's all going to be fine." She winked and I left feeling mildly better.
* * *
Monday couldn't have come faster. I was so not looking forward to spending time with Arianna. But if she was the best at charms and spells then I had no choice. I needed her.
"Elena, you need to concentrate and for crying out loud, learn to speak Latin," she snapped at me, sounding extremely irritated.
"It's not my fault everything is in Latin!" I yelled back, already frustrated.
"Who do you think you are yelling at, missy? I'm royalty and it's 'princess�� to you. We used to hang commoners for back-biting. Again, Elena. What do you do when an enemy tries to attack, and you have nothing to defend yourself with?"
"You try to shield yourself," I whispered.
"Show me," she ordered.
"Arianna," I said, and she gave me the eye. "Sorry, Princess Arianna, I don't know the spell that well." I felt how my throat thickened and angry tears started welling up.
"Aw, are we going to cry?"
"I..." Nothing came out. I hated enchantments and knew I would never be able to learn any of it. Maybe I was stupid.
She chanted some things in a different language while gripping the bridge of her nose. It was the words to the spell and could hear the vibration of the invisible shield taking form around her.
"It's a lot to take in. I don't even know what that means!"
"Maybe if you pay more attention in class and stop daydreaming about guys that are way out of your league, you might learn something. I told Master Longwei teaching a dragon offspring was going to be a waste of my time." She spat out the words as if they scorched her tongue.
"You're not really making it any easier for me. You don't even want to be here."
"You got that right."
"I really need your help, Arianna. Why are you so mean?"
"Isn't it obvious? You don't belong here; maybe that's why you don't get it."
"I didn't ask to be here." I was pissed off with her attitude. "You know what? Go to hell!" I was done with her and turned to walk away when she spoke another incantation. My air supply was cut off. My heart felt as if I was busy running the hundred meters. I fell on my knees as I tried to breathe, but there was no air. It was as if my lungs had collapsed and were no longer working.
Water poured out of my mouth as if I had swallowed a gallon. I started to panic as my breath disappeared and began hitting my chest as everything faded.
Far away, I could hear Lucian's voice rambling a couple of foreign words. I felt his hands on my chest as air filled my lungs and I started coughing violently. "Are you insane? Arianna, you could've killed her."
"Oh, please. I only tried to teach her a lesson," she said, flipping her strawberry curls over her shoulder.
"What's wrong with you?" He sounded pissed off and helped me up. My lungs burned as if they were on fire.
"Come on, Lucian. It's not like you haven't done it before."
"That was different. It was an exam!" he roared. He shook his head and led me away from her. "I'm so sorry, are you okay?" His tone was full of concern, and he held me tightly. It felt good in his arms and I started to cry.
"This is my fault," he whispered. "I promise I'll handle this, Elena. She won't do that ever again."
I was glad there wasn't an audience to witness my tears. It wasn't the first time I played on death's porch, but it didn't mean that I was used to it either. It was weird how in the movies your whole life plays out in slow motion. It was nothing like that.
It felt horrible.
I stumbled up the stairs as if my limbs were made from paper. I felt Lucian's one arm behind my legs, and he lifted me up. Becky's smile vanished the moment we entered the room. Her face turned pale.
"What the f—" she shouted and she helped Lucian get me onto the couch. Not that he needed it. "What happened?"
"Arianna used a moon spell on her."
"She what!" Her eyes turned a shade darker that seemed almost pitch black.
I was glad Sammy wasn't here otherwise the whole fourth floor would have heard that Arianna had almost killed me.
"She'll be fine, I hope. I think I got there in time." Lucian's voice broke a little, like on the night Becky had ascended. He hugged me again.
"We have to tell Master Longwei. Princess or no princess, she's going down," Becky threatened.
"Don't, please," I managed to say. "She's the best at Enchantments, and I need the best to pass my exams."
"Elena, she almost killed you." Lucian's tone was full of disbelief.
"She wasn't going to. I disrespected her. She had the right to do that."
"What, by not calling her princess?" he snapped back.
"Well, she is one."
"I can't believe you fell for that, it's an old trick of hers."
"Oh, come on, Lucian. You know it's not the reason why she used a moon spell on Elena," Becky quipped.
I understood what she was saying. It was because I hadn't backed off from pursuing him.
Becky turned her gaze on me. "You must be really desperate to graduate or really stupid."
"Becky!" Lucian chided.
"Don't, Lucian, please," I whispered. "Becky, I begged Master Longwei to give me a chance. I'm not going to fail. She can use whatever spell she freaking wants and believe me, she's not getting off easily. She hates every minute as much as I do, but I will learn every single one there is, and if Arianna is the best one to teach me, then so be it."
"Elena?" Lucian sounded concerned. I could tell that he didn't like my tone one bit.
"Lucian, I'll be fine. I have a week to learn a spell to protect myself," I said. "You guys think you can help me?"
"Whatever, Elena, you're nuts," Becky snapped, and Lucian just sighed.
"Fine, there's a basic protection spell that might do the trick," he said.
"Thanks."
"However, I'm with Becky. You are nuts." He raised his eyes playfully. The corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
"Oh, do you now," I said, and gave him a hug. "I'll be fine"
The door opened and Sammy entered. She was returning from drama rehearsal and still had paint all over her face. I had no idea what the hell she was supposed to be.
"Oh crap, what happened?" She dropped the costume that she was carrying, and her concern was ten times worse than Becky's.
"Nothing, just that Elena has lost her marbles. Oh, and that Arianna almost killed her with a moon spell." Becky said.
"She did what?"
"That's nothing. Elena wants to face her again next week."
"That biatch. Elena, are you insane?" Sammy said.
"It's not that bad. Becky is a big drama queen," I said, giving Becky a look.
"Sweetheart, you almost died." Lucian was serious again, and Sammy just gawked at me.
"Elena, a moon spell is not to be taken lightly. She can get expelled for that." Sammy's tone was exactly the same as Lucian's.
"Well, that is nice to know." I smiled softly.
Both the girls just looked at me with wide eyes, and Lucian squinted at me. "I'm not the blackmail type, but if I have to use it, I will. I'm sure daddy would just love it if his little princess got expelled."
Lucian finally chuckled. "You are spending way too much time with Becky and Sammy."
"Hey," Becky said, and Sammy threw a pillow at him. He caught it. His reflexes were wicked. Guess the girls weren't the only two who rubbed off on me.
"Well, I've got to go. I'm sure tomorrow will go much better. Cheng is hardly someone that will feel the need to use a moon spell." He kissed me quickly and walked to the door.
"Good bye, Lucian," the girls sang in unison, which made him blush with a super cute smile. I walked with him to the door.
"Thanks for being there," I said, trying to sound as sincere as possible.
"I will always be there, Elena. I want you to know that."
I nodded, letting him know I knew.
"Just be careful next time, please," he begged, and I was in his arms again. He deserved a long, passionate kiss for being my knight in shining armor.
We said goodbye and I went back into the room.
"She really used a moon spell on you?" Sammy asked, and I nodded. "How does it feel?"
"Sucks big time. I thought I was a goner for sure." I shivered as I remembered the suffocating feeling again. "Wait, neither of you has ever gotten hit with a moon spell?"
"They don't work on dragons," Sammy said.
"Moon spells only get covered in the third year," Becky interrupted. "I guess she must be very good if she can cast a moon spell already."
"See, that's why I need her."
"Elena, you have to be careful," she warned.
"She told Lucian that he used to do it too. Do we have to defend ourselves in the exams?"
Sammy nodded. "Lucian cast something similar in his second year. It was in all the magazines. It's called a Riptide, but not as powerful." She still looked worried, or maybe she was wondering how it was possible that I was still alive.
"Can he be more perfect," I said, and fell backward on my bed just imagining him in his exam last year. I felt sorry for his opponent. Both the girls laughed. "So, what is it we have to do for this exam?" I asked after some time.
"You need to know all eleven protection spells and need to cast at least three." Becky sat on the edge of my bed and took one of my pillows.
I sighed. They were right, I was only kidding myself. I needed a miracle to graduate with this year's class.
The conversation changed to Becky and her new classes with George. It all sounded extremely interesting, especially the one that taught her everything about her ability.
George was still the same, though. They were supposed to train together and learn new kinds of magic that was meant for both of them.
During dinner, I tried to ignore Arianna as her group laughed and nodded toward me. Becky and Sammy almost said something.
"Don't. It will only satisfy her more knowing that it bothers us." I put my hand softly on Becky's. She bit hard on her lip, trying not to chirp something over her shoulder, and took a deep breath.
"She's so not worth it." She repeated that a few times softly until she calmed down.
Lucian wasn't there, and I hated that I wasn't going to be able to tell him goodnight.
I went to bed not knowing what to expect with Cheng. He was going to help me make some sense out of Paegeia's history. It was such a boring subject. Why can't people just leave things in the past?
That night wasn't any different. As I drifted off to sleep, the lady appeared again, and I was relieved when Becky's alarm went off the next morning.