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I could do this. I could get through this. Just a couple months, right? A couple of months and I would be in The Golden City, ready for whatever Lord planned next. I would not let him down, even if bruises covered every inch of my skin.
The hot water eventually fell cold enough to force me out of the tub and back into my bed.
Wolf was gone when I re-entered the bedroom. But I’d grown too exhausted to care, too tired to wonder where he could possibly be. My eyes were heavy as I crawled under the covers and let my body relax into the soft mattress.
Tomorrow would be better. Tomorrowhadto be better.
“Huntyr!” Ashlani called out as I entered the classroom. “We saved you a seat!”
Everyone else was too occupied with themselves to notice Ashlani and Lanson calling me over to their corner of the study room. I took a quick sweep of the other students, only partially looking for Wolf, but I didn’t see his tall, winged figure anywhere.
Wolf wasn’t in our room when I woke up this morning either, but a shiny red apple lay next to my head on my pillow.
In my right mind, I would have checked to see if he had poisoned it first. But I was exhausted and frankly desperate, so I accepted the gesture without fighting it.
“Hey,” Lanson said as I took the seat next to him. “It’s good to see you’re up and walking. After yesterday, I was worried.”
Ashlani leaned forward, surveying my bruised face with pursed lips. “Oh, honey,” she started, voice laced with pity. “Yesterday was rough. It’ll get easier from here on out, okay?”
I kept my mouth tightly shut and nodded. Ashlani was able to escape yesterday’s training with nothing but a minor bruise on her cheekbone. She wasn’t paired with one of the largest fighters on her very first day.
No, Ashlani fought her roommate once, and Lanson hadn’t even been forced to spar.
Headmistress walked into the room, pulling Ashlani’s attention away from me. Lanson’s gaze lingered, though. His bright eyes scanned my face, pausing on the cheek that I know was bruised and split.
His hand reached up, almost as if he were going to touch my face.
I froze. I almost wanted him to.
I wasn’t used to this blatant affection Lanson was showing me. Okay, to anyone else, it might not have qualified as affection.
But to me?
It was overwhelming.
The study room door slammed shut, making us both flinch. I turned in time to see Wolf sauntering forward, eyes glued on me. He stopped for a second, gaze sliding to Lanson and darkening, before he eyed the open seat on the other side of me.
All hells.
I turned my attention to the front of the classroom while Wolf pulled the seat out and made himself comfortable next to me.
Lanson stiffened on my other side, also deterring his gaze.
“Looks like you’re feeling better,” Wolf whispered, loud enough for only me to hear.
I turned and gave him a death glare, only to find him smirking back at me. “Leave me alone,” I mouthed.
He responded by stretching upward, pushing his legs out in front of him while he let his arm fall over the back of my chair.
Was he kidding? Even if Lanson was pretending not to notice, Wolf’s motions were undeniable. He commanded everyone’s attention in the room.
Everyone’s.
I gritted my teeth and focused on Headmistress Katherine, who settled in at the front of the room. She wore a floor-length black dress fit to her body with sleeves that expanded around her hands, and she faced us in a way that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. She tended to have that effect on me, even before a single word left her mouth.
“Good morning,” she began. “Today, we’ll be going over the basics of the magic used in The Golden City. Some of you may know about what goes on there, and some of you have only heard rumors and stories. Today, we’ll learn the truth.”
Magic? I shifted in my seat. I had wanted to learn more about magic since Lord mentioned it in Midgrave. Headmistress Katherine had my full attention.
