Vinnandra had a confession to make.
From the moment she woke from her twenty four hour sleep, she had been intentionally avoiding Selene Attamas like the plague. For reasons she could not name, she felt like the furious look the other woman had after the council meeting was reserved solely for her, and not the man he was engaged to.
Provided that avoiding her would have been hard and nearly impossible seeing as Vinn herself resided in Xander's wing, but for some reasons, Xander had not shown his face at Lenklock castle ever since she signed the contract… which meant Selene had no reason to find him. Or her for the matter.
In the days Vinn had lived with Xander as an official slave, Selene's persistent and insistent visits to Xander annoyed her to no end.
What annoyed her further was that the woman didn't know how to take a hint. How could she not know that Xander was intentionally avoiding her, or that he didn't even love her. Vinn knew all of that, how could Selene not know? Or perhaps she was living in intentional, blissful ignorance.
But Vinn knew that Xander's love didn't matter. What mattered was that he was willing to be together with Selene, and even willing to marry her. That was the reality of arranged marriages… it always mostly entailed loveless unions which Vinn wasn't sure she could stomach.
It was bad enough that her life in the past eight years had been a series of hatefulness…now, all she wanted was love or a semblance of it, she would rather live alone forever if otherwise.
"It's not a dragon now?" Selene says, following up her earlier question. When Vinn doesn't say anything she scoffs in disbelief, taking her silence as her acquiescence.
"You want to ride Astrid." Selene laughs in a way that was demeaning on all counts. The only thing Vinn didn't find funny with the whole situation was how she said Astrid's name like she had some right to.
"I heard the last time you rode a transport dragon, you got off it, puking your guts out, and now you want to ride an accomplished dragon? People really don't know how to stay put in their place." Selene's voice dripped with cold condescension. Any passerby who glanced at them would think that Selene was sternly chiding a child.
Vinn's cheeks heated up as embarrassment flooded her in waves. All of a sudden, she was back at the Albridge castle, at the dining table with her ex family. Except this time, Cleo's chiding demeaning voice was replaced with that of Selene Attamas.
How her private, embarrassing affair had spread didn't surprise her as much anymore. She supposed with her new found popularity, if you would call it that, anyone who was interested in her could have every information about her bleak life in their palms.
Vinn quickly overcame her embarrassment because this was a battle she had to win. Squaring her shoulders, she stared Selene in the eyes and said, "and where do you suppose is my place?"
Selene smiled, her confidence not wavering for even a moment. "Somewhere in the gutters, that's where you belong to is it not?" She stares at her red hair with so much disdain that Vinn is momentarily stunned.
At that moment, Vinn knew that if somehow, the whole world managed to get over her identity, Selene Attamas would never be a party to such.
This time, Selene takes a step towards Vinn, effectively erasing the remaining space between them.
"Now hear me. Xander Lenklock is the man I love." She started with such conviction that Vinn knew it was true. "The man I love happens to be attached to a stain like you, I understand that it could not be helped. Xander, after all, has a history of not knowing how to keep himself away from weaklings."
Weakling? Was this woman being serious?!
"But that's why he has me as his fiancée, to help him eradicate his stains." Selene continues, ignoring the fury clouding Vinn's face. What pained Vinn the most was the fact that while Selene's words might have been offending and insulting, her tone was anything but. Calm, controlled, levelled… she didn't sound vicious or even angry.
She was as calm as a bucket of cold water. Delivering her words with a precision known by few and mastered by even fewer.
What could Vinn do with her anger? How could her anger help her? Mere looking at Selene without knowledge of her background, she smelt of raw power and privilege. Beautiful, in a way that most nobles weren't, she exuded a classiness reserved solely for people in, well, her class. And while Vinn was once a princess too… a noble woman, she knew well enough to know that the Attamas' were a nobility of their own.
It just wasn't the same thing.
"In that case this weakling is going to have to excuse herself." Vinn was ashamed that those were the only words she could say in the face of everything Selene Attamas articulated. As she attempts to leave, Selene grips her elbow with her veiny thin fingers.
"Don't think I can't do anything to you simply because you're unfortunately attached to him. This is my sincere warning to you." Selene finishes with an air of importance and takes her leave first.
Unfortunate? The woman sure knew how to deliver an insult. Scoffing at the ridiculousness of the whole situation, Vinn made her way to her room. After reading through the hundred rules and regulations for the admission tests, when evening came she was drained from a severe feeling of tiredness. While her day couldn't be classified as long, it was something close to it.
From what she read and understood, every applicant had to pass three tests before they could be accepted at the Academy.
The first test was an essay— it was mainly a test of deep articulateness and could come in any form. Apparently, being a dragon rider with an empty brain didn't work. At least, not at the academy.
The second was an aptitude test. Vinn was confident in her knowledge of all things Dragonia, but she couldn't be careful enough. She would make sure to consult the library more.
The third was a test of physical strength, now that worried her because as far as physical activities went, she was terrible. Vinn neither knew how to box or fight. She didn't know how to run or jog. She didn't know how to skip or jump. The gods, what made her think she would make it to the Academy?
No much setback though. This only meant she had to ask for Xander's help one more time.