Magic Academy (A Fantasy New Adult Romance) (26 page)

“Sir, huh?” He smiled
unevenly. “Working on inflating my ego already, are you?”
He slipped his hand from her shoulder and gestured to the exit. “Go
rest up. You looked like you had barely slept a wink when I came to
get you. Sleep well, Firia.”

As she turned to go, she saw sitting
there Luka, the spectral familiar, staring at her, its fluffy tail
waving against the leaves with its barely suppressed excitement at
seeing her again.

Relief filled her. Certainly Varuj
wouldn’t send her pet home if…

She paused, just for a moment, before
forcing herself to continue on, recalling the familiar into her.

Varuj had told her that he’d
needed Luka to get him out of the Academy unseen. Was he back
already?

She nearly ran back to her room, dread
and excitement filling her mind with endless possibilities from the
morose to the miraculous.

Her room was empty.

It had been the better part of a week
since Firia had last seen Varuj. Her familiar had returned in light
spirits, and some days later she had received a simple note from her
father. All it said was, “I’m safe, but must hide. Thank
you.”

It had arrived in an unmarked envelope
in the usual mail delivery. In fact, the only reason she knew it was
her father was the handwriting she recognized.

Yet still, no Varuj.

He’d abandoned her. He couldn’t
get back into the Academy, not without Luka. He needed it to shield
him, and now he didn’t need her fox anymore.

He wasn’t coming back.

She hated that it bothered her so much.
He was a demon that she didn’t have under her control any
longer, and that should have been almost a relief to have him gone.
Instead she missed him terribly, and though she was grateful that
he’d done what he’d promised and freed her father, she
still couldn’t help but lament his absence.

Still, she pushed the thought away as
she went back into the library, once more trying to find Mae’lin
to apologize. To explain.

Over the past few days she had checked
for him repeatedly, but he’d never been there. This day proved
no different, for their usual spot was vacant. Firia resigned herself
to a lonely time studying, when abruptly she felt a hand on her
shoulder.

Turning about she saw the familiar face
of Mae’lin. He looked more himself, though still bore a bit of
a pout. “Firia… I wanted to apologize,” he said
softly. Sounding genuinely contrite.

She smiled so brightly. Her anger and
annoyance and shame all dwindled away at just being able to see him
again. To hear him speak with her.

Firia shook her head. “Mae’lin,
you’re so dumb sometimes. Why did you keep running off? I could
have explained.”

He reached a hand up and stroked his
palm back over his hair. “You don’t need to explain to me
though, is the thing. And… well I felt so foolish after. I
wanted to apologize, but then… the thing with Bran. It was so…
dumb. And embarrassing.” He swallowed and peered down at her,
the lanky elf so much taller than her. “I feel like a fool.”

“Why’d you even fight him?”
Firia shook her head, “Look, he only likes me because I’m
human. Because he thinks that’s all that matters.” She
wanted to be mad at him, to tell him he had no right to treat her
like that, but she’d softened so much since her younger days.
She didn’t want to be alone anymore.

Especially not with Varuj having
abandoned her.

“I know!” exclaimed
Mae’lin. “Look… it wasn’t like you think.
Not exactly.” The pale elf looked flustered. “I didn’t
start anything with him. He came to me and started shooting off his
mouth about how you and he were the same kind, and I was sick for
even hanging about you, and… on and on. It just got so
disgusting, and when he said you were his ‘territory’ I
just kinda… lost it.” He screwed up the corner of his
mouth. “It wasn’t right for him to talk about you like
that.”

Her nose crinkled and she had to drop
her gaze. Her entire body felt so hot beneath her robes and her hands
kept balling into fists as he spoke. It was far worse than even she’d
thought. There was no joy or pleasure in this.

“What a jackass,” she
finally managed. “Why didn’t you just come to me?”

“Well, I did! Just now…”
he rubbed the back of his neck bashfully. “I know I should’ve
come sooner, but I felt like such a fool. You’re a powerful
sorceress in your own right, you don’t need me to stick up for
you, and you certainly didn’t ask for it. And I wouldn’t
have butt in, but… he was just such a jerk. I… lost
control.”

It was hard to imagine Mae’lin
losing control. For as long as Firia had known him, he’d been
so quiet and peaceful. Though as she looked him over, she saw his
fists clenched at memory of Bran’s behaviour.

“You didn’t come to me
before the fight either,” she reminded him.

“Well,” he began, wetting
his lips, “I thought you and he were… y’know…
going out.” He looked so mortified to be speaking to her so,
and he moved aside and sat down in their usual spot, head hung in
shame. “I figured I was giving you your space to do that, but…
no, really I was hurt and… and…” He cleared his
throat and looked up to her, eyes a bit glossy. “But once I
heard how he spoke of you, I knew you couldn’t have fallen for
a guy like that, Firia.”

“Of course not!” She
plunked down beside him. “Hell, when he was studying with me I
was so excited to come back and show you what I learned. Hopefully
you didn’t need it for the exam,” she teased lightly as
she tucked some of her black hair behind her ear.

Mae’lin gave a sheepish smile to
the side at her. He didn’t have the looks or charm of an elf
like Gway’lin, but she knew him to be a pure-hearted sort, and
so his smile had a penetrating effect.

“I did well enough to stay at
least,” he said with a sigh. “I understand you did so
well they threw out the test for you,” he remarked with good
humour.

“Well, I was busy rescuing you so
I couldn’t get those last few hours of study in,” she
said dismissively. It was so nice just to be back with him, and she
was surprised how much she’d really missed him. Her heart
thudded harder in her chest and she had to look away. “Just…
talk to me next time, okay? I’ll be honest with you.”

A weight seemed to lift from Mae’lin’s
shoulders and he reclined back into their nook with her. “I
just didn’t want to be clingy and possessive. It’s not
like… we’re dating or anything,” he remarked with
a noticeable red tinge to his cheeks.

Her lashes fluttered and she looked
down, nodding. “Still. At the very least we could have studied
together. Like always.”

“Yeah,” he responded, and
his hand came to rest beside hers. “I wouldn’t want to
lose that, Firia,” he said softly, a gentle smile on his
bashful face for her.

“Me neither,” she agreed
breathlessly. Her pinkie finger extended, touching along his so
gently, so bashfully, and yet still she had to look away. She’d
been so confident back in school, but that was because she simply
didn’t care to know anyone. Now she couldn’t do this by
herself, and Mae’lin had been such a rock for her to lean on.

Other than when he thought she was
seeing Bran…

She knew it must have been hard, and
embarrassing for him. To think she was with someone else.

She couldn’t help but forgive
him.

Very gradually she felt his larger hand
reach over and encompass hers with such a gentle touch. “So our
study dates are back on?” he asked with a hopeful smile that
lit up his face, making him look so much more striking to her eyes.

She nodded, her motions so slow and
careful. She’d never been in a situation quite like this
before, and it made her stomach clench and feel so tight and fluttery
all at once. “Well… yea. We’ll have an exam coming
up before we know it.”

A smirk formed on his face, such an
uncharacteristic expression for the pure-of-heart Mae’lin.
“There’s always an exam around the corner,” he
mused in return, leaning in closer towards her, dipping his head as
he spoke lowly to her. “Thank you for forgiving my foolishness,
Firia.”

“I don’t want to lose you
over something so silly.” It was honest, and she bit her lip as
if to silence herself before blurting out more truthfulness.

Mae’lin’s spindly fingers
squeezed her hand tighter and the tall elf moved slowly in, closing
the gap between them in that quiet moment. Their lips met in such a
cursory manner that it barely felt like a kiss at all compared to
what Varuj had done in times past. Yet the simple touch was so
perfectly Mae’lin, gentle and careful, yet driven by an inner
passion that few could appreciate. Other than her.

She swallowed, and for a moment it was
almost as if her lips were filled with sensation and devoid of it.
She could taste him, lingering there, and she pushed back against
him, harder and with all of that anger and tension she felt coiling
through her body.

Her enthusiasm surprised him at first,
but then he squeezed her hand back and pressed into the embrace
tighter, lifting his free hand to touch at her back as they kissed.

It wasn’t the fiery passion with
which Firia and Varuj had embraced, but it was its own uniqueness,
its own special flavour. She could savour that as they pressed their
bodies together in their private nook, feeling the tension melt away
over what was and wasn’t between them. Their lips locked
together, there seemed so much less to worry about.

Her skin tingled and burned with
prickly heat, but she wouldn’t pull away. Varuj had left her,
and now there was no question, no guilt. She hadn’t realized
just how strongly she’d felt for Varuj until he left.

Yet by the same token, she hadn’t
admitted just how much she liked Mae’lin as well. With the
demon out of the picture, it was almost as if he’d freed her in
a manner, and her tongue gently pressed along the seam of Mae’lin’s
lips.

They parted for her, and the curious
elf met her tongue back with his own, so moist and warm, yet
tentative. He didn’t have the experience of Varuj, and in fact
it was his first kiss, his inexperience showing.

Though he stroked along her back and
gave a soft little moan of pleasure as they made out. He enjoyed her
touch, her press so intensely, and that innocent pleasure eked out of
him so plainly.

She felt so in touch with him. With
Varuj and Bran she’d always been surprised, confused about
their motives. With Mae’lin, she understood them. He was so
much easier to read, and her fingers went into his hair, massaging
his scalp with her nails.

It was so pleasant, so relaxing, and
she shifted closer into him. The heat was growing so intense beneath
her robes, but it didn’t matter. She just wanted to feel more
of him.

Time was lost, and she had no idea of
how long they were locked in their embrace. Mae’lin’s
furtive touches, his cautious excitement were such a contrast to what
she was used to, though he never seemed to grow tired of it. Of her.

The moment was only spoiled when the
sound of books slipping off the shelf onto the floor and feet
retreating jarred them from the illusion of privacy, and they jerked
away to look around.

Firia’s cheeks were flushed
bright red, and she squirmed away from Mae’lin more out of
concern for embarrassing him than anything. He tasted so…
nice, and she licked over her lips unconsciously.

Though for every bit of embarrassment
she showed, Mae’lin seemed to show double. “Sorry for
getting carried away,” he murmured to her. “I don’t
know what came over me.”

Such innocent words from him, when
compared to how she’d seen other men behave.

“It’s fine,” she
managed to breath out, fanning herself with her hand as she pushed
herself up. Her lips were numbed from the kiss and she kept licking
them, hungry for more. “I mean, it was good.”
Not
fine, Firia. Nothing about that was as benign as fine
, she chided
herself.

“You… you think?” he
asked, his pale cheeks tinted rosy, his lips looking puffy and full
from their making out. “I mean, I’m not… I’m
new… I just haven’t… before I mean.” He
struggled then broke into a soft laughter. “Sorry, I feel so
silly. Giddy!”

He was so adorable sometimes. She
couldn’t help but smile, her gaze dropping to the floor. Her
heart was still racing and she nodded again, feeling quite the same.
“Yea. Yea, it was good,” she reiterated.

The days at Gaul’di-mere Academy
were long, yet short. So packed full of activities, so exhausting,
but never enough time to do all Firia needed. Certainly not enough to
do all of what she wanted.

Though free time was given, those who
didn’t use it to hone their abilities and enhance their
knowledge sank in the sea of competing sorcerers and sorceresses. So
many of them eager to crawl over the backs of the slothful to claim
the fruits of success, including appointments to senior instructors
and advanced degrees.

So despite their initial interlude, the
days went by with little more than time spent studying with Mae’lin.
Though she cherished those moments.

“Snap out of it,” said
Ala’nase, snapping her fingers quite literally in front of her
face. “You’re in a complete trance,” she remarked
as they walked along towards the dining hall for dinner.

“Sorry, Ala,” she
apologized to her friend for what was surely the dozenth time. She
kept drifting off, smiling at those hidden glances and forbidden
touches that she and Mae’lin now shared. It was so simple, and
so enjoyable, all at once. It didn’t feel complicated or
frightening. And despite them being different races, it felt quite
right.

“You’re a real aether-case
these days,” mused the dark-skinned elven woman as she clutched
her own books and walked along. The sun was out in full force and she
was enjoying it, “Classes keep getting tougher. There’s
no easing up here, is there?” She mused aloud.