She opened it quickly and started rummaging through. She needed to get her bearings quickly and didn't even know what her name was meant to be. Her finger brushed a plastic wallet, and she pulled it out. On the front, in large cursive letters, was the name Merrida Monroe. She breathed a sigh of relief and opened the wallet, pulling out a letter addressed to her.
'Dear Lady Merrida Monroe,
We are writing to congratulate you on securing your place at Infinity Academy. As per the instructions of your benefactor, you will be treated with the utmost care and respect and will reside in your own room on the floor with the royal families. You will not need to pay for anything and will spend the next three years learning the craft and honing your incredible powers. We wish you luck in your education and will see you at the first banquet.
Regards,
The School Council and Crown Prince.'
'Holy shit!' Her heartbeat sped up, and her breath locked in her throat.
She glanced around, noticing the brothers sitting on the chairs ahead on either side of her, watching her with curious looks. She took in a deep, long breath and stuffed the letter back into the wallet to check through everything else, thankful that her character was incredibly organised, labelling and highlighting everything.
She spent the entire ride studying her notes and analysing her new life. She became a shut-in Duke's Daughter after she was adopted from an orphanage in the seventh kingdom, developing an affinity for magic from a young age. She was too scared she would hurt someone to go near anyone, so she spent most of her time studying, reading and honing most of her powers, but it could still get out of control when she was scared or excited.
'Shit! That feels like it might be a problem.' She groaned, stuffed the wallet into the satchel, and pulled out a shiny black journal.
When Carmell opened the book to the first page, her eyes widened, and her knees lifted so she could twist. Her head was rested against the window, and the book was hidden on her lap.
The others eyed her curiously but left her to it. She seemed like the antisocial type who had never really developed around kids her age and maybe even adults now. They could see that she was clearly hiding a Grimoire on her lap and was engrossed in the pages, studying it carefully.
Ten minutes later, the air shifted, and Carmell sat up. She dropped the book into her bag, snapped it closed, and pulled it onto her shoulders.
"Are we here?" She asked no one in particular.
"How did you know?" A low, tired voice grumbled from behind her.
She screamed and leapt out of her seat as a silver skater boy with a mop of hair and one gold and one blue eye peered out of a curtain directly behind where she had been sitting.
'What the actual fuck?!' She seethed as her face burned molten red.
"I felt it!" She snapped, lifting herself gracefully and adjusting her satchel.
She leaned forward to grab her suitcases and turned to head off the coach in a huff. She stopped right next to the only other girl, but the tall, slender man hopped off the bus and shimmied his sister out of the way to snake his arm around Carmell's tense shoulders.
"I'm Zyn!" he finally said with a wide, toothy smile.
Carmell melted a little, but her resolve stayed firm, and she rolled her eyes.
"I'm Merrida!" She replied as Zyn dragged her to face his sister.
"That is Cassy, the oldest of the triplets." He bent down his crazy tall body to whisper in her ear as he turned her around to face the cute one who helped her. "I'm the firstborn, technically, hence why I am the hottest!" he concluded, flicking his tongue out to graze the outside of her ear.
But he stopped a millimetre from her as a shiver of disgust retched through him, forcing his tongue very quickly back into his mouth. The air around the little group began to sizzle and crackle with painful heat, and Zyn backed her up slightly until they hit some stone steps.
"So that little firecracker is Zayn, and the more stoic one is Zion." He shouted loud enough to feel the heat die down in front of them.
Zyn pulled her up the thousands of stone steps, gliding on the wind at a speed at which she had no time to look around at other students or at the scenery around her, which so far looked like beautiful blurs of brownstone, green ivy, and white lilies. They came to a swift stop at the open doors; tapping the ground lightly, he carried on, pulling her through the giant hall. She had more time to look around at the massive gothic castle that stood tall and proud, with impressive stone gargoyles moving at the top of the ceiling. Her mouth dropped open, and she quickly averted her gaze to follow the direction he was taking her.
At the end of the hall were several medieval long tables with purple blazers and a rainbow of hair colours. Standing beside them with his eyes directly on hers was a familiar sight to Carmell. She froze, but Zyn pulled her along until he was before the tall, foreboding Crown Prince.
'Oh God, No!' She cried internally, her body melting into a pool under Zyn's arm as Darrius' lemon and lime scent took over her entire being.
Zyn froze with his head cocked to the side, his mouth dropping open slightly, and his eyes moving from Darrius. He stared down at the girl under his arm. Something had changed, but he couldn't quite place it. She had calmed down and felt almost relaxed under him. Carmell shook her head and stepped forward, her silver hair falling around her like moonlight.