Amethyst

Chapter 5 - training

I wake up, see myself in a different bed. last night floods my brain. the nightmare, mum and Rohit, Ben letting me sleep with him for comfort. I raise myself up on my shoulders and see him looking out the window. towards a certain area on the left part of the Court. I know what he's looking at. I throw the covers off and join him at the window. and though I hoped I would be wrong, Ben is indeed looking at those two camps. the camp filled with the dead, especially. he doesn't look over at me when he says,

"Did you sleep all right?"

"For the most part, I guess. thank you for being there for me last night. I really needed it."

"Yeah; no worries." he continues to stare at the two camps. I want to say something else to him. I'm just not sure. so instead all I say is,

"I'm going to get dressed for training. see you in a couple minutes?"

"Yea I'll...I'll join you in a bit."

"Alright." I put a comforting hand on his shoulder before leaving the room.

I enter my room and find on the table a beautiful soft shirt. it has dark swirls of velvet and the main colour is dark purple. I also find a pair of soft black leggings, along with soft black combat boots that are made of a shining leather texture. I put the outfit on and see on the table some hair ties so I decide to put my hair into a high ponytail with two strands of dark purple curls hanging down. I leave my room and wait in the hall for Ben.

He eventually emerges from his room wearing a simple purple shirt with black joggers. he's also wearing a pair of black combat boots. we begin walking down the hall, hopefully going in the direction of the training room. we traverse the different hallways and corridors, then eventually come upon a room with the doors open, and inside we see soft floor mats, and many types of weapons on the walls.

"Well, looks like we found it." Ben says. we enter the room, but I don't think either of us realized how big it would be. the walls are curved, and I can see more in depth what kinds of weapons are in the room. there are so many types. swords, daggers, short-swords, morning stars, axes, hatchets, spears. Then I notice a beautiful amethyst-coloured bow, it's body miraculously made of crystal. with a midnight black bowstring and some beautifully crafted arrows. I go up to it and gingerly touch it. the arrow tips are razor sharp. they're beautiful, and I can tell a lot of care was taken when making them. something in my body tells me to pick it up. and I'm about to do just that when I hear a voice behind me say,

"I knew you would go right for those." I turn and see Ben looking at me, Smiling. his arms are folded across his chest. I smile back, turn back to the bow and arrows, and say, "Yeah. they're gorgeous. I've never seen such beautiful craftsmanship." Ben walks up beside me and says,

"Yeah, they're something all right. they're beautiful." I look back to say something, but I stop. Ben is looking at me, his deep purple eyes sharp, intense, focused on me. then, out of nowhere, he lifts his hand and tucks one of my curls behind my ear. My face warms with a longing for him to continue the intimate gesture. However, I know all too well the meaning behind his gaze. And he shouldn't show it to me; I only manage to take a little step away before my body stops moving against my will. I try to force myself to move but I can't. My body seems to literally force me to stop moving back from him as Ben gently places his hand on my cheek, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. "Shelby-" Ben begins.

Yet in that moment between us, a loud and energetic voice erupts through the room,

"Hello, hello, my friends! I cannot wait to start training you!" Ben pulls his hand away quickly; 'Thank God' I say silently. we both turn to look at the person that just entered the room.