THREE!” I yelled at him. “So he’s got more! Lucian, what if you’re just wasting your time? I mean, you know of only three abilities. What if he uses another one that might claim your life?” I could feel my voice rising.
“Elena, I have no choice. I promised him!” Lucian threw his hands up in aggravation.
“You were only kids!” I shook my head, trying to understand.
“I can’t break my promise and let him become evil. Urgh! Forget it. You’re just a girl who knows nothing. You’ll never understand.”
My hands fisted into balls of fury. I was glad we were close to the main building, because otherwise I would never have found my way back. Shaking, I forced myself not to yell at him for being so stubborn. He was just going to get himself killed.
He left for the weekend without even saying goodbye or hello when he came back on Sunday afternoon.
I didn’t go for my morning run with him on Monday so I was surprised to find him close that afternoon as I went to Arianna’s Enchantment lesson. She didn’t like it one bit that he was hanging around, keeping an eye on her.
Tuesday was Cheng’s turn. We spoke about the Rubicon, not just Blake but the previous one as well. There were four they knew of, but the museum in Elm only carried two. The Rubicon before Blake had been killed by King William. The people celebrated for a whole month. The picture that popped into my head was comical. People drank, passed out, woke, drank some more, and for some reason they danced around a roaring bonfire. He led me toward the coliseum today during our walk, and we stopped in front of the two huge stone dragons at the entrance.
“They aren’t the same as Grimdoe are they?”
“No,” Cheng said. The detail on them had started to fade, and when I softly glided my index finger over the carving, a bit of sand fell to the ground.
“But they will wake up when they are really needed,” Cheng said cryptically.
“What?” I yanked my hand back as if I had been burned.
Cheng just chuckled.
“Are you playing with me?” I asked through a huge grin.
“No, they will wake up, but they haven’t for a very long time.”
The idea of the dragons breaking through stone imprinted on my mind as we talked about them. There were four altogether, and they had something to do with the elements of nature. They weren’t anything like Grimdoe.
Just before we said goodbye, Cheng asked me if I wanted to come with him this Saturday to Elm. He really wanted to show me the Museum of Etan; well actually, it was the Museum of Paegeia, but when the creepers consumed Etan, they had changed the name.
Feeling excited about the upcoming trip, I entered the dorm whistling. Sammy and Becky looked at me, puzzled.
“What?” I protested. “I really like spending time with Cheng.”
Becky lifted her head from her pedicure. “Elena, he’s a geek.”
I shrugged. “So, he’s the geek that’s going to help me pass History.”
Rolling her eyes, she went back to painting her toes. “Just don’t fall for Cheng. Lucian is already worried about other guys tutoring you.”
I huffed. “I don’t care what Lucian thinks.”
“Are you two still fighting?” Sammy, who was sitting on the couch, asked.
I ignored her question. He was the one who didn’t want to speak to me.
I skipped running again with him on Wednesday, and I saw him chatting with Dean at one of the tables at breakfast. He didn’t even look my way, but I knew he saw me.
I sighed, realizing today was my Art of War lesson with him, and I knew he wasn’t going to show up this afternoon.
I found Becky and Sammy sitting alone at a table outside.
“Elena,” Becky said, “You need to speak to him sometime.”
“Why must I—”
“Becky, Master Longwei wants to see us in his office.” George came out of nowhere.
She jumped up, did a quick happy dance, and ran off with him in the direction of the headmaster’s office.
“I think her saddle just arrived,” Sammy whispered, and I tried to look happy.
“You really should try to make amends, Elena.”
The bell rang before I could tell her to butt out of my business, and I slumped to class.
The day went really fast as I pondered what both of them had said.
Maybe I should try to say I’m sorry. Heaven knows I need his help to master war skills if I want to pass. Not to mention how much I miss him, but then again, why should I be the first to apologize?
When I found Lucian at lunch a part of me wanted to go over and say I was sorry, even though it wasn’t my fault, but I couldn’t.
I plunged onto the pillow next to Sammy.
I could feel her eyes on me, Becky’s too. “Elena, is it so hard to say you are sorry?” Sammy asked.
“Why should I apologize? I wasn’t at fault here.” I was angry.
“Well, my mom always says that men are way too stubborn for ‘I’m sorry,’ so even if it wasn’t your fault, just suck it up.”
“You think I should apologize too.”
“No,” Becky said but gave me that look. The one I learned quickly there would be a ‘but’ following soon. “But he is the Prince of Tith, and I doubt that they teach royalty how to master at apologizing.”
I shook my head. This was so wrong, but decided to suck it up and say I was sorry for something I really didn’t even do.
I pushed myself from the pillow and walked to his table. He was talking to another guy, which only aggravated me more as I knew he saw me out of the corner of his eye.
“Lucian. I’m sorry about what I said,” I spoke fast, hoping it would be enough for the Prince of Tith. It wasn’t easy to say those words, especially after I felt as if I’d done nothing wrong. “If King Albert claimed a Night Villain, then you could claim the Rubicon,” I said, knowing it was what he wanted to hear.
It was a lie.
I didn’t believe that he could, but I didn’t want him to think I doubted him.
He smiled. “Sorry too, sweetheart,” he said, and pulled me down to sit on the pillow beside him. “I shouldn’t have lost my temper like that. I wanted to apologize so many times, but every time I saw you, you looked so upset. It’s not very knightly to fight with a damsel in distress.”
I giggled. A part of me was still livid with him but when he cupped my face, kissing the tip of my nose, it all disappeared.
“Well hopefully, I won’t be one anymore in a month’s time,” I said.
He smiled. “I still wanted to ask you how your first Latin lesson went.”
I curled my lip. “You mean what kind of a teacher your buddy is,” I whispered. “He’s a maniac when it comes to Latin. He gets a hernia every single time I pronounce one word wrong.”
He grinned. “Latin is like sex to Blake. It has to be perfect.”
“Way too much information.” I blushed and tried to hide my face.
Lucian roared with laughter. “Don’t do that. I think I just found my new favorite feature of yours,” he teased, and kissed my red cheeks.
“Don’t. It’s stupid.” I giggled as he kept on kissing me playfully.
“So what, you blush every time someone says sex.”
I blushed again, which made him laugh even more.
“Stop that,” I mumbled.
He rested his chin on my shoulder and looked at me through his thick eyelashes, burning his blue eyes into my soul.
“Blake will warm up to you, Elena. He’s not the bad guy here.”
“If you tell me he’s just confused, I’ll kick you,” I threatened.
He just chuckled.
“I’m sure I can fail one subject,” I said hopefully.
“Latin’s not one of those subjects,” he said. “You need to speak at least fifty percent by the end of the year.”
I wanted to scream but bit my tongue. “I don’t want to speak stupid Latin.”
“Sweetheart, everything’s connected to Latin. I’m afraid you have no choice.” He played with a strand of my hair and placed it back behind my ear.
“Whatever.” I sulked.
He smiled and shook his head. He looked past me, narrowing his eyes at someone, and I turned to see who had captured his attention.
I giggled as I saw Brian waving at me. He had no sense of self-preservation and didn’t even care that he was flirting with me in front of Lucian.
“You’re not the only one driving me nuts,” he said through gritted teeth.
I gasped. “You have a thing for Brian too?”
“Ha ha, funny,” he said, and a smile appeared.
“Why do you worry about Brian?”
“Why do you think, Elena? The guy has a lot to offer, and it’s wrong on so many levels for me to think that, not to mention saying it out loud.”
I laughed. “You’re so cute when you’re jealous.” I snickered, and he laughed too. Grabbing his jaw, I turned his head to look at me. “I only have eyes for you, Lucian McKenzie.” I kissed him softly as the bell rang, but I was a million miles away.
