Maaike shot up from her seat and walked away, trying to process why he would make such a big decision on his own. "How long have you been planning this?" she stopped glaring at him, her former anticipation for his return had vanished.
"I carefully considered the disadvantages of not sending you off."
"And what were they? Pray tell?" her voice strained as she held tears of frustration. Leaving the pack was to make her own decisions for herself, yet here she was again, expected to bend her back for someone's decision.
"Why couldn't you talk to me about this first, how did you even get me accepted?" she threw her hands in the air, ignoring Illyan's struggle to respond.
He watched her lips pursed, wondering how he could explain his train of thought, because it didn't make much sense to him either. "The principal is an exiled hunter, one of my old students."
Her head swerved toward him so fast that he winced at the possible strain on her neck. "You and Lothar talked about something…" Hearing her cold voice, he froze up, dreading what she would say next.
"I read about it you know? You made me read nearly every book here…" her hands spread apart gesturing to the archive they were in. The room felt unusually stuffy, Illyan's tension was evident in his tightened jaw and the multicolour glimmer of his eyes.
Among the many books Maaike read, this one had struck her as the most peculiar one, 'The bond of a warlock'. The book held no insights on the abilities of warlocks, it only focused on their origin and long history of slavery to witches and to their demon parents.
Noticing his tension, Maaike began to fear that the book was right. "A warlock is bound to serve a witch, regardless of how powerful he is." The words rang out like a judgement toll. Illyan shuddered at the words, it wasn't clear if it was out of fear or anger, however the reaction was strong enough for Maaike.
'It's true…' Mya's mind rang with alarm, she had merely said it. She had been secretly hoping it wasn't true, however Illyan's reaction said it all.
He lowered his head, at the thought of his shameful past, "You don't understand." He mumbled, his words only for himself. For the usually prideful Illyan to lower his head, it was definitely something shameful for him.
"Then how were you planning to deal with a witch that you serve? Were you just going to keep me until she was ready to take me back?" Illyan shook his head quickly, he tried to explain, but she had already run out.
Hurt and disappointed, Mya's fists clenched as she headed out of the building, she wasn't willing to find out if he was keeping her for Madeleine. Frustrated, she ran toward the city park once again. It had become the place for her safe space, where she could breathe and think.
Panting, she stopped in front of the park, feeling something wet in her cheek, she touched it. She was crying, it felt humiliating. She had not cried when Madeleine put her up for sale, but now she was crying because Illyan wanted to send her to college?
It didn't make sense to her why he would keep secret the fact that he was Madeleine's slave, he had promised to protect her from the witch. She knew that in their world, secrets were common, but she couldn't get over it. Why someone who had trained her for so long keep such a life threatening secret from her?
She stomped into the park, her powers waving about with her raging emotions, sending leaves and branches flying about in a swirl of reds and orange. Controlling each stick, she sent them flying toward the trees, accurately stabbing all of them at roughly the same height.
A chuckle came from behind her, she jumped with a start, her powers blew away all the leaves that were swirling around her. Seeing Lothar, she relaxed slightly, "Oh it's you."
Not sure if it was a good thing or not to be alone with someone so dangerous, she guided her powers just below the surface of her skin, ready to use it to propel herself away.
"Relax…" he said offhandedly, as though the word would automatically take away her tension. He walked past her to lean against a tree. She bit her cheek, standing her ground, it was ridiculous to her to lower her guard now that she knew how easy it was for him to harm her.
"I just want to make a proposal." He continued, ignoring her tension. Holding up a small cube, he turned it between his fingers.
"What proposal? And why." She took another small step toward the park's exit.
He quietly twisted the cube between his fingers until it started to grow, once it stopped, he flicked off the top and pulled out the potion he had gotten from Illyan. "I'm sure you know what this is."
"And…" she distanced herself once more, "Do you want me to do a taste test?"
He threw his head back and laughed humorously, as if she had made a funny joke. "No…This is for me, as you probably know, it is harmful to werewolves." She lifted a brow in question, wondering where he was going with stating the obvious.
"I'm a Lycan if you didn't notice, so it would have a few side effects. I want to travel somewhere though." Maaike frowned, how had she not noticed before that he was even more frivolous than Illyan, she had always thought he was a serious man that didn't talk much.
Returning the vial to the box, it shrunk back, and he placed it back in his pocket. He pulled out a twig that was stuck in a tree and waved it at her. "You're truly the redhead's best student."
"He's not a redhead…haa. Whatever, why me?" she brushed off his comment about being the best student, feeling a sense of Deja-vu when she responded.
He flicked the twig toward her, sending it flying at an incredible speed. Reacting quickly, a spark of lightning appeared in front of her, burning the wood to ashes before it got to her. "See? You're powers are very useful, you have impressive control of them."
She snorted, and he smiled. "Why should I follow you? I gain nothing do I?"
"I heard you're having trouble with someone…Did a little digging, you know, the Star of Arcanis is quite common where I'm headed." He approached her slowly, as she stood there distracted at the thought of getting rid of her father's debt.
Her heart skipped a beat as she lifted her head to see Lothar standing so close. The air felt electrified as sparks ran between their nearly touching bodies, sending the electricity under her skin buzzing with energy. He leaned down, with his mouth close to her ear, "I've recently noticed that the amount of demons and rogues in Florence has been growing, and quite rapidly at that."
He stepped away, and turned to leave, "Bring enough, it will be a long journey. Meet me here tomorrow morning... I'll be waiting." Then he vanished.
Letting out a sigh of relief, she turned away, 'It seems Madeleine has sent more hunters after me, what is so important about the Star of Arcanis anyway.'
Thinking back to her encounter with Lothar, she frowned. He really seemed confident that she would accept his proposal, he didn't even tell her where he was going.
Pushing away her doubts, she shook her head resigning herself to the situation, after all it didn't matter if he did. Despite her wariness, he had never intentionally harmed her, she owed him her life. And she couldn't help but trust that he wouldn't hurt her, she didn't know why, but she was sure.
If Madeleine wanted to take her back, she would get rid of her and her father's debt, no matter what it took. There was no way she would live bound to the sins of someone who abandoned her. She walked out of the park, her back straight with determination.