Magic Academy (A Fantasy New Adult Romance) (8 page)

Her teeth drew in her lower lip as she
looked at him, her breath held as she chewed it. He was hers. He was
supposed to be hers.

Yet everything had turned out so wrong,
so differently than she anticipated. “What will you do if I say
them, then?” she finally asked.

“I will keep my word and help you
win this,” he said smoothly. “The rest? Well…”
he deferred to her softly, lowering his eyes. “I would be free
to do as I wish, no?” his curiously accented voice so lovely on
her ears. “Trust must be involved between us.”

“And you won’t even tell me
what you plan to do with this… freedom?” She was relying
on him, needing his help. She’d almost give up the world for it
but his eagerness to be free of her meagre rule made her suspicious.

He knew how desperate she was. He could
surely feel it just as she had felt his joy for her.

The moment dragged on, he made her so
unsure of herself! So she couldn’t trust her own judgement.

Perhaps he felt the conflict. The tough
corner he had backed her into with his desperation. He brought his
other hand over and clasped her between the two of his. “I will
help you,” he said, a flick of his head causing his hair to
spill backwards over his shoulder. “And trust that when you are
selected, you will overcome your doubts of me.”

He hesitated for just a moment, “Give
me your ring.”

Her head tilted as she reached for the
scorched metal, pulling it off her red and inflamed finger. It stung
and she was worried about being able to use it tomorrow, but she was
still reluctant to hand it to him. She did it, though. Slowly.

It was a gift – the gift –
from her father, after all.

The demon Varuj took her most priceless
possession in hand, and held it up to the moonlight for study. He
took his time, his beautifully masculine physique outlined in silver
as he studied in silence.

She could never decide what to make of
him. He was so strange, so alien to her. Could she trust her eyes
with him? No. Her heart? She had no idea.

Without doing anything to the ring, he
took her hand again, and slipped it on her finger. “Say after
me,” he stated, stating the words in his own tongue so very
slowly. “
Ta’ruk, baum, veesh, kor’ano’tier.
Alu’for, mala’kech.
”

She mimicked him, uncertainty etched in
her brow.

Nodding to her in approval, he said,
“
Wa’roosh
,” in finality, and she had no
choice but to repeat it after him.

Varuj bent down, he kissed her hand
again in that gentlemanly fashion, she saw the cloud of blue fill the
clear gem, as if matching her eyes in colour. He gave a soft blow of
warm air across her ring and she witnessed as tendrils of red snaked
through the shimmering azure until all motion ceased and the colours
locked, the ring changed. Forever, she felt.

She swallowed nervously, once more
astonished by how much she trusted him. That’s why she didn’t
want to release him.

She was afraid he’d know. That
he’d learn just how much she’d grown to actually trust a
demon. It wasn’t right.

It was her deepest secret.

“What did we do?”

“When you need it,” he said
slowly, affectionately, “help will come.” He smiled
softly and leaned in, kissing her forehead so tenderly. Lingering
there until she could only shut her eyes and shudder.

When they opened again, he was nowhere
to be seen.

Firia went to sleep once she arrived
home, it was before her father finished work so she didn’t see
him. Nor did she when she awoke the next morning, as he still rested
from his night of work.

She didn’t need to guess what he
thought. If she had good news, she would’ve told him. He had to
know that.

As she ate her breakfast though, she
couldn’t help but be grateful for the restful sleep she had.
She’d dreamt, yes, but it was soothing. That warm sense of
companionship accompanying her through beautiful, pastel dreamscapes.
She knew
he
had a hand in it. Though it was hard to be upset
with him when she’d asked him for help, and getting rest for
this day was something she worried about immensely.

Firia set off as quickly as she could
after eating; she didn’t want to bother her father. Not until
she had good news for him, if she could help it. And she wished to
get to the competition ahead of time so that she might get an idea of
what was to come.

When she arrived, however, the first
thing she noticed were the constables waiting.

For her it seemed.

“Firia Tunst?” said the
elven constable, undoubtedly in charge of the other two humans in
lesser uniform dress.

Her hands went behind her back
submissively as she tried to stand up straighter. To look confident.
“Yes,” she answered rigidly but her heart was in her
throat and she nearly felt like she’d choke on it.

One of the human constables stepped in
front of his boss and interjected. “We heard tales of a
competition out of control the other day,” the elf muttered
“assault” behind him, though it didn’t interfere
with the man’s speech. “When we investigated we came to
believe there was not enough evidence to charge anyone with assault,
however…” he took a deep breath and looked hesitant to
continue.

“There were tales of a human
woman with a crystal ring. Most… peculiar,” the elf
said, his words rich with implication.

“Yes,” added the human,
giving a bit of a harsh look to the elf before peering back to her.
“Was that you? And do you have the ring?”

She blinked and her head cocked to the
side, surprised that this was what they’d stopped her for. It
hadn’t even occurred to her that her ring…

She’d never asked her father how
he’d gotten it. She just assumed he’d scrimped and saved…

“It… was a gift. For the
competition.”

The elf looked about to scoff, but the
human constable nodded and looked understanding. “Of course,
miss. Can I see it?” he asked cordially.

The elf added in, “There was a
crystal ring reported stolen but three days ago.”

“From where?” she asked
even as she looked to the human, her dark brows knit in a plea of
compassion and fear. They were going to take it from her. They’d
never let her keep it, and that was the only thing that she had left.

It was her only way to succeed today.

“Can I see it please, ma’am?”
the human reiterated, and she realized she wasn’t the one able
to ask questions here. Though within her she could feel the warm glow
of Varuj, comfortingly tingle, so much like his warm embrace.

She slowly withdrew her hand from her
cloak, her flesh still raw beneath the band. Her hand trembled and
her eyes were filling with tears even as she tried to speak. “He
would never steal. Never. Not even for me.”

As the human constable gently took her
hand and inspected the ring, the elf questioned abruptly, “Who?
Who wouldn’t? A relative?” his questions so insistent.

The kindly man gave her a gentle smile.
“Was it your father, a brother perhaps?”

She was almost grateful that the
human’s palm calmed the trembling of her fingers, but she
looked up at the elf with a pitiful stare.

Her lip trembled but still she couldn’t
bear the thought of turning her father in. He’d never do that.
Never steal for her.

A darker thought occurred to her, then,
and her gaze moved to the elf. What if this was all a ploy to take
her out of the running? The ring wasn’t stolen at all. She felt
confident in that, and her shoulders squared as her free hand brushed
away her tears.

“This wasn’t stolen.”

The elf’s face hardened and he
looked about to tear into her with his mean spirited words, though
remarkably, the human held up a hand and silenced him before
addressing her again. “Please miss, we need to investigate, and
refusing to answer us will only increase suspicion. On yourself and
whoever you’re trying to protect.” He looked genuinely
bothered by the notion. “Just tell us who gave it to you. We
won’t jump to any conclusions.”

“You already have by stopping
me,” she whimpered. “Almost every other elf around here
has a ring, but I’m the one being questioned because I’m
a human. But I was given the ring by someone who would never steal.
Please … Please, this is my only chance.”

She was trying so hard to be strong but
her slender body was battling sobs of frustration.

The elf butted in: “Confiscate
the ring, hold her under suspicion as we –”

The human cut him off again. “It’s
too late for that,” he said, the elf looking startled and
surprised.

“What?”

He held up her hand, showing the azure
ring. “It’s been bound to her soul,” he said
simply.

To which the elf stammered, “That’s
not possible… she’s not even an acolyte.”

The human shrugged his shoulders and
smiled, though she could tell he tried to resist it. “She’s
more skilled than she looks. It matches her eyes, see?” he held
her hand up higher, that shimmering azure that Varuj had set in her
ring being some sign of the powerful jewel being bound to her soul.

“We couldn’t take this from
her even if we wanted to,” he remarked, and she could almost
hear Varuj inside her, assuring her he’d taken care of it all
for her.

She tried not to look surprised, and
forced her gaze to the ground.

Had the demon known this? How could he
have?

She took a deep breath in, trying to
steady herself, but it was pointless. She felt like a trembling leaf
about to fall.

“I would have won the competition
yesterday. Even you said there wasn’t enough to warrant an
assault charge. I’m…” she paused. “I have an
aptitude for magic.”

“That much is clear,” said
the kindly officer. “Very well, miss. I won’t keep you
from your contest, but know this isn’t the end of this. Not
entirely.” He gave her a cordial bow: “Good day. And good
luck,” he added with a smile. He gestured to the other two, and
she noticed that that despite the fact the elf wore a more fanciful
uniform, it was the human who was the higher ranked one. The subtle
pips on his collar displaying it even though the ostentatious garb of
the elf had drawn her attention at first.

She felt like she was going to faint,
and she leaned against a tree to steady her nerves.

How did you know?

I didn’t
, came his
soothing voice.
I
t was merely a part of the greater plan. I
told you, I would be there when you needed me, and so I was, and
shall be.

Her thumb ran over the ring, as if
caressing it thoughtfully before she pushed herself up on her own two
feet. She wore the same robe she had the day before, but she’d
left her black hair down, leaving it to curl lightly at her
shoulders.

Wish me luck.

You shall not need luck if you
embrace me
, he responded in that smooth voice, which translated
even in her mind so seductively.

When she went to the same arena as the
day before, she found a much smaller setup, though the elves from the
academy the previous night were there still. Ready and waiting. There
was, however, no sight of the elder human wizard. Which meant it
truly would be her last chance.

The elvish master spoke, and his
booming voice carried. “Show us something new today, young
miss. And this time, we have one of our own students to display some
true mastery. In case you get carried away again.”

The beautiful elf that strode out in
the field beside her wore an uneven smirk that marred his handsome
features. Though he looked ready to humiliate her the first chance he
got.

She tried to match his look, but she
was certain it came out more as a fearful grimace. That forced
confidence was wrestling with her insecurities and she forced herself
up straighter. “I won’t get carried away.”

The only response she received was a
flourish and a twirl, as the elf created a display of lights that
shimmered and sparkled about the tent. It drew more of the attention
from the great crowds, the pop of the explosions, the beautiful
imagery of human-sized dragonflies cavorting with fawns and floating
tufts of white seeds on the air.

She didn’t know how to create
illusions like that. It was an advanced skill that required great
tutelage, and couldn’t be picked up on your own, not like she
had to do.

However, she did have something nearly
as good. With a bit of added style, she made the hand gestures she
practiced so hard, and from out of her came the shimmering form of
her familiar, the iridescent fox bounding from her chest and onto the
grass to prance and cavort excitedly.

As she made it perform tricks and alter
its form – from a fox to a snake, from a snake to a great
shelled tortoise – her mind worked on other things. She didn’t
know how seriously they expected her to compete against a far more
learned magician than her, but she didn’t want to stop at this.

The brazier was lit nearby as the day
before, and an idea sprung to mind. They didn’t wish to see her
tricks with fire again, but perhaps they wouldn’t mind using
that to achieve something else.

She redirected the fire from the
brazier to beneath the basin of water, and as her opponents
impressive light show continued, and her familiar went from fox to
antelope, she made the water boil. It was that steam she wanted, and
with great concentration she was able to redirect it through the heat
that coursed through those miniature water droplets.

Her knack for such things didn’t
just end at controlling flames, she could remove heat from objects.
So she drained it from the steam, and with the aid of her ring she
created a crystalline lightshow of her own. The sparkling snow and
ice flakes glimmering and reflecting the light from not only her
proud antelope familiar, but the neighbouring competitor’s show
as well.