Samara Shaw
I couldn't do it.
The academy was a city huge, couldn't be compared to any mansion I had seen before and the fences were far away from the building itself. If I had not been dropped off close to the entrance the day before, I wouldn't have made it inside with the harsh sun beating my skin. It took hours on my first day to walk to the East wing and at the end, I fainted out of exhaustion. That was just halfway through the building itself. It was just impossible to pick every single rose covering the walls of the school. Neither I, nor any normal person could walk around the compound, plucking out every single rose flower.
"It's impossible"
"I wish I could say the same Samara but you have to do it, else you would face even worse consequences"
"What could possibly be worse than picking out the roses?"
"You don't want to know but trust me, you would wish you did this instead"
"What if they're snakes in the bushes? Does the school not care about the students health?"
"I guess you just have to be careful"
"And if I do get bitten?"
"It has never happened before but here's a good thing, you have a whole week to complete the task. You might be lucky enough to have someone else join you before the end of the week."
"That doesn't make it any better"
"You still have thirty minutes for lunch before you start, that's another good thing"
"You're right, I should probably get something in my stomach so I wouldn't pass out again"
Ceris kept the letter in her pink bag pack and flung it over her shoulder in one swing. She was right beside me as we walked to Vince's table but the problem was, I couldn't find his table. I couldn't spot any white haired boy anywhere. My eyes had gone all around the whole hall and didn't see him or anyone that looked like him. While looking around, my gaze landed on Accius, the pale boy who delivered my letter earlier. He was on the seat I saw him during breakfast and had a can of fizzy drink in front of him. Right beside it was a letter exactly like mine, the same color with the logo on top and folded in two.
As soon as I walked into a passageway, he was out of my sight. We had walked through the males entrance into a sharp turn leading to a door. It was like every other wooden door in the school except this one had no engravings on it, just a few designs carved out of the edges. Ceris extended her arm to open the door but just when she was close to the handle, pulled away. She then turned to face me with an evident look of worry on her face.
"What's wrong?"
"Only the powerful ones are allowed to eat here, not people like me"
"Well, I'm not powerful either so what makes us different?"
"You're pretty, I'm not which makes it easy for you to walk in and have Lord Vince by your side. They might make fun of me, you know?"
"Don't say hurtful things about yourself, that will only make you feel bad. You're kind and sweet and that's all that matters. If it makes you feel any better, you can sit right next to me throughout and if anyone does say anything bad about you or makes you feel bad, we'll both leave"
"You have a big heart Samara, that made me feel better"
"Now, let's go in. We have just a few minutes before the final bell goes off."
I was the one to open the door because Ceris didn't have the confidence to go in by herself. The room was magnificent, not like any I'd seen in the school. Almost everything was designed with gold and sparkling red gems. The wall didn't have the same wallpaper as the dining hall, it was covered in deep red paint and on the corners were beautiful golden designs. There was a long table right in the middle with multiple chairs surrounding it. This table wasn't like the plane wooden one I used during breakfast. It was covered with thick red cloth with the cups and utensils in front of each seat
The first chair at the top was taller than the rest and so was the one at the bottom. Vince elegantly sat on the first one with different types of food arranged in front of him. His eyes met mine almost instantly and his lips went up in a smile. There were six people around him, three were girls and the other three were boys. Each of them represented every group in the school. One of the girls was the one I saw during English class, the one with pale green skin and curly brown hair. The next one had golden brown skin with pitch black hair and she didn't look so happy to see me. Her face was in a frown, eyes piercing holes around my body as she stared.
"Welcome Samara, I'm glad you didn't turn down my invitation" Vince's gaze then went to Ceris whose eyes was on the ground. He didn't look less impressed, neither did anyone in the room. "Take a seat"
I sat down at the other end of the table, the chair similar to Vince's while Ceris sat on the closest seat by my left. Right in front of us were our meals, mine too much and Ceris's too small. I had a huge piece of beef on my plate, coleslaw next to it, bowl of fruit salad, a bottle of red wine and water. The exact same was given to her but the look on her face was enough to prove it wouldn't be enough. I could not help but think I was the cause of it. If I hadn't brought here in there, she would've had more food to eat. The decision was bad for both of us. Mine wasn't as bad as her's but I was not comfortable either. Something in there just made me feel uneasy.
"What is your name?" The question was directed to Ceris from Vince. Her eyes finally left the ground and looked up to him. Everyone in the room had their attention on her while she looked around, as if deliberating for an answer.
"Ceris"
"Aren't you the Ingen?" One of the boys spoke up. He was the first on Vince's right hand side. His straight long hair was up in a ponytail and fell down to the ground but that was not the only odd thing about him, he also had ears like an elf and thin sharp eyes. I had seen a boy like him during my second class and a few of them during breakfast but none were females. Some would have their hair falling down to their ankles and some trailing behind them.
"Yes" I was in confusion. It seemed they all knew the meaning of the word Ingen and referred to her as one. It didn't sound like an English word, not any I had learned of.
"Is that a country?"
"What do you mean?"
"You said Ingen, is that a country?"
"Are you joking?" That was from the girl with the pale green skin and curly hair. She chuckled right after, as if waiting for me to give a reply. I was still confused on what they meant by the word Ingen and why Ceris was one while they slowly relaised my question wasn't a joke.
"You really don't know what the word Ingen means?"
"If you tell me, I will"
One of the girls let out a loud laugh. It was the one that didn't look happy with my presence. She had short sleek black hair and bright peach colored eyes. Although, her facial features made her look more of a fantasy creature than a normal human being, I didn't like her type. I had seen a few of them while I walked to the bathroom that morning and they didn't look like the nicest. "That's not what I expected_"
"It's a school project, nothing to worry about" She was cut off by Vince who stared straight at me from his seat with the same smile on his face. None of them said anything about the word after. I was no detective but I saw through the obvious lie. Ingen meant more than just a school project and they couldn't speak more about it because Vince, who looked like he held more power than the rest, ended the discussion.
"Great" I did not go against what he had said, not because I wasn't sure but because I knew there was a reason he decided to keep it a secret from me and also because I would figure it out on my own. If I would have to risk getting a fractured bone from Lucy, then my curiosity was ready to pay the price.
"You're done with the whole bowl? No wonder you look like this" Ceris looked up at the pale green skinned girl who had her eyes on the bowl while she laughed. I didn't know why, but it felt like what she said was directed to me instead of Ceris. I oddly felt more pain than I imagined her to have. I could have assumed it to be the guilt of seeing her face morphed into fear but what I felt could not be compared to mere guilt. It was pure rage.
"You shouldn't say that to people" My mouth flew open before I could comprehend what I had done and sitting there with my legs crossed and arms resting on my knees, I felt like my mother. Harsh and cold.
"Sorry?"
"That's very rude and unladylike too if I might add"
"What did you just say to me?"
That was all it took and in a swift second, she pushed herself off the chair and took three large steps towards me. She was boiling in anger as she stood a foot away from me. I could feel the rate radiating off her body and even when it felt like the woman standing before me would snap at any second and twist my neck, I sat there in pride. I wasn't frightened by her, neither did I flinch when she got even closer.
"Listen here_"
"Et ego unum verbum et non ex me canes pascat te!"
Then everything went silent.