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We met up with a bunch of other girls, forming a semi-circle around the courtyard. More women joined us until the whole courtyard was encircled in white-robed students.
There was a kind of hush over the group, as if we were in a church. The only sound was the breeze rustling our cotton robes, releasing the scent of crisp clean air and just the lightest hint of soap.
At last, Headmistress Hart joined us. She stood outside the circle, watching over the assembled students.
More women, who I assumed were teachers, lined up against the back wall of the castle to oversee the event. They watched silently as a few more students joined the circle.
When the last of the stragglers had taken their place, the headmistress began to speak.
“We gather together here in the sacred circle,” she said, her clear voice ringing out against the stones. “We perform a sacred duty.”
“We perform a sacred duty,” the students chanted back.
“The library shares her sacred knowledge with us,” the headmistress went on. “We protect her.”
“We protect her,” we all echoed.
I was getting the hang of this.
“The library shares sacred knowledge, the witches give their gifts to protect the library,” she went on. “The guardians protect the castle.”
“The guardians protect the castle,” we repeated.
“The guardians give their strength to protect the castle,” she went on. “We entrust our fates to the guardians.”
“We entrust our fates to the guardians,” I repeated with the others, even though this part sounded a little more mysterious.
Without warning, a shiver shot through me, as if I had touched a live wire.
I was standing completely still, but my heart began to race like I was doing jumping jacks.
Something is coming.
The headmistress and the others were still calmly reciting their words. They didn’t seem to notice that anything was amiss.
But deep inside me, in some primal part that was usually kept locked away, an awareness was rising.
My pulse pounded like I was running for my life.
The monster is almost here.
He was coming for me. I was sure of it. He was coming to rip my heart out of my body and gorge himself on it. My chest already ached like it had been hollowed out.
There was a rustle of motion in the boxwood maze, followed by the sound of footsteps, causing Headmistress Hart’s voice to break off mid-chant. As one, we held our collective breath. Even the breeze seemed to stop in anticipation.
The guardian stepped out of the labyrinth, eyes blazing.
He was taller than any man I had ever seen. His long, dark hair brushed his bare chest and skimmed along the enormous muscles of his upper arms.
His bearing was that of a predator, confident and cagey. But it was the expression in those pale blue eyes that held me captive.
I could barely breathe, and my heart drummed in quiet desperation.
“Go on,” he growled.
His deep voice seemed to reverberate in my bones, warming and softening me.
Headmistress Hart hurriedly began the chant again, but her calls and the students’ responses sounded like they were coming from far away.
