Allegiance

Chapter 6

"There you are!!"

Tessia and Arthur looked toward the voice, seeing Curtis walking into the training room. He had a wide smile, with his gaze locked on none other than Tessia. Tessia's gaze narrowed on Curtis with annoyance since he just interrupted her at the worst possible moment.

Curtis approached both of them and gestured to Tessia, "I came by your room to see if you'd like to get breakfast together." He lowered his hand and clasped his hands to the small of his back. "But one of your maids said she saw you leave early in the morning. Luckily, I found you!"

Tessia rolled her eyes, not hiding the fact she didn't want to be around Curtis. "Yeah, lucky me," She said sarcastically.

Ignoring her sarcasm, Curtis looked around the training room before looking back to Tessia, "So, whatcha doing here? Training?"

Tessia raised a brow at his stupid question, "Obviously."

"Hmmm," Curtis nodded, with his eyes slowly looking Tessia up and down, admiring how she looked in her training attire. Tessia's expression turned to disgust, seeing the lewd thoughts behind Curtis' eyes. Curtis' gaze flicked to Tessia's, and he gave an uncomfortable smile. "Maybe we could train together. I'm sure we'd have a lot of fun."

Tessia scoffed, "I'd have more fun watching grass grow."

Curtis looked at her dumbfounded, "Really? That doesn't sound fun at all."

Sylvie jumped on Arthur's shoulder and shook her head, seeing how much of an idiot Curtis was. 'This guy just doesn't get the hint, huh? Tessia could hit him with a brick, and he would think she is flirting with him.'

Arthur chuckled at Sylvie's comment, and Curtis' gaze snapped to him with annoyance. Curtis's brows raised, recognizing Arthur immediately before narrowing his eyes on Arthur.

"And what's this?" Curtis gestured to Arthur. "I didn't expect my father's new favorite pet to be here."

Arthur's smile faded, his chest burning with exasperation, narrowing his gaze on Curtis. Tessia's brows furrowed in confusion and irritation at Curtis' remark before her eyes slightly widened when realization set in. Memories of last night's dinner with her family played in her mind, and she remembered they said Blaine claimed to have found a new quadra elemental white core. Thoughts about how Arthur has been hiding his core status and how she matched him in battle all started to come together like she was solving a puzzle.

It didn't take long for Tessia to come to the conclusion that Arthur was indeed this new Lance her family was talking about. However, confusion quickly washed over her as she remembered her family said this new Lance was loyal to Blaine. However, Arthur countered this by saying he would never work for Blaine. There was so much that Tessia needed to consider: her assumptions about Arthur and whether he was loyal to Blaine. She knew she needed to learn more about Arthur, but first, she needed to get rid of Curtis.

Sylvie growled at Curtis, baring her teeth, preparing to pounce. Without taking his intense gaze off Curtis, Arthur patted Sylvie in an attempt to quell her rage.

"I'm nobody's pet," Arthur spat angrily. "I agreed to work with the council, not just your father." Arthur narrowed his eyes on Curtis, "You would both be wise to remember the difference."

Curtis' eyes widened in rage at Arthur's words, taking it as a blatant disrespect to his and his father's authority. "You better watch your tone," Curtis said through gritted teeth.

Feeling relieved by Arthur's declaration and seeing the situation between Arthur and Curtis would soon get out of hand, Tessia decided to step in. She gestured to Curtis, "What exactly are you doing here?"