Hidden Magic

Chapter Thirty

I woke up tangled in soft sheets, a conflict to what I last remembered, being in the pool with Seth. I opened my eyes, and like one of those cheesy romance movies, there he was lying right beside me, except he wasn't sleeping, but watching me already. He gave me a soft smile and I sleepily return it, not quite remembering how we went from the pool to a bed. "We both fell asleep on one of the pool beds, I woke up first and figured I should bring you up to my room before everyone else got up and saw us." I blush, remembering the hot kisses, the touches, all of it so vivid in my mind, he certainly needed no help at all, he knew all the right things to do.

I hum, stretching, I sit up and look around his room in confusion, it looked a lot like my room, but smaller, everything was a little more crowded together, and he didn't have nearly as many daybeds and other places to relax or do other things on. I glance over at him and notice his blush, he obviously realized my staring and confusion. "It's pretty good for a non-legacy room, the differences aren't quite so obvious in Sira branch compared to the others, but they are there, my room is smaller, my closet smaller, though the bathroom retains the same amenities throughout all the rooms, really Sira branch has the least difference between legacy rooms and non-legacy rooms. I've heard about other non-legacy students in some of the other branches that have to share their rooms, up to six people for some, and they only have a tiny bathroom for them all, so in truth this isn't that bad." I give him a soft look reaching up to cup his cheek gently with my hand, not quite understanding how he was so embarrassed about something he could not control.

"The size of your room, or my room doesn't matter, Seth. We could be in a broom closet for all it matters to me, the part that makes a room good is whether you're in it with me, so your room is already a step up for me, no matter the size difference." He gives me a soft smile, nuzzling into my touch to kiss the palm of my hand affectionately, before he lifts his head up and looks at me with mischievous eyes.

"You know when I was at your choosing ceremony and you were chosen for Sira branch, I was angry, annoyed that I would have to deal with another prissy legacy, I only gave up my seat for you so I wouldn't have to sit next to you, it was only after I heard how nice you were from Ariel that I began to hope you might be different, you were so beautiful, even before your choosing ceremony, I didn't want you to be another shell that's beauty hid ugly insides, and then you kissed me the next day, blushing like a virgin, and you were breath taking, the magic you gave me was a nice bonus, but seeing you like that, looking up at me with those eyes sparkling with lust, even if you didn't know it, I was hooked, of course I never thought you would go for me, even with you being nicer than most legacy students. But here we are, with you being mine." I pinch his cheek lightly and he frowns at me, not seeming to get why I did that.

"Hey! You were mine first, then I let you choose me." He chuckles shaking his head light in amusement.

"Yes, sure, we'll say it went that way, though I did wonder if you had an arranged marriage like most of the legacy students do." I stare at him in confusion, completely not understanding what he meant, arranged marriage? Surely those didn't happen anymore, he must be joking.

"Arranged marriage? Do those really still happen?" He raises his eyebrow at me, looking skeptical that I don't know about this.

"In the human world not so much, in the world of elementals, absolutely. It is all about increasing the magic in the bloodline, the Thorne family has a tentative deal to marry off Abigail Glentree to Ezekiel, but with you in the picture, even if they don't know about you yet, I imagine they won't put up much of a fuss about your relationship, the Valdis bloodline is about ten times more powerful than the Glentree's." I didn't really know what to do with this, Ezekiel was engaged to that bitch Abigail, yet he was seeing me? I was not someone who would date a taken man, no matter how much he appealed to me, it was a line I refused to cross, and now that I might have done it unintentionally, I felt sick to my stomach.