The Queen Of Death and Ruins

Let there be darkness

I made my way out of the restaurant and headed back to the academy. It was time to meet Mr. Blackthorn again and to say I was dreading this lesson would be an understatement. It was hard enough to be a Mystic struggling to control my magic, but now I had something else to worry about.

According to Kaius, Soren and Zephyr, Sin was the kind of guy who always got what he wanted. He was charming and confident the couple of times we hung out, paying great attention to me and treating me very well, but I wasn't ready to be in a relationship. I had so much to deal with already, what with my missing memories, my dormant magic and my overall lack of knowledge of everything mystical. I didn't need to add romance to the mix. Not to mention the fact that he apparently issued a ‘hands off’ policy across campus. I didn't appreciate being treated as property, and prince or not, he had no right to treat me as a hot commodity only his highness could enjoy.

I was going to have to clear this up with him, and I did not look forward to that.

I pushed the classroom door open, not bothering to knock, and made my way in. I glanced around, raising a quizzical eyebrow as I noticed Mr. Blackthorn wasn’t on top of his desk meditating as he usually was every time I came to see him. In fact, he was nowhere to be seen, and I started to wonder if he canceled the lesson and forgot to tell me. I took a deep breath, unsure what to do now that my mentor was a no show, and doubled back to the door. Maybe I’ll head back home and get a head start on my lessons for tomorrow.

“There you are. I was looking for you everywhere.” Mr. Blackthorn’s voice rang through the empty classroom as he peaked his head through the open door, startling me in the process.

“Mr. Blackthorn!” I gasped, putting my hand on my heart. “Where else would I be? We have our lessons here every day.”

“Not today, we’re having today’s lesson in the garden. I thought I told you about this yesterday.” Mr. Blackthorn gave me a confused look as he smoothed his black coat.

“No sir, you didn’t.” I rolled my eyes ever so slightly.

“Well I’m telling you now. Let’s go, we’re wasting daylight.” He grabbed my wrist and rushed me through the hall and into the garden, smiling like a kid on Christmas morning.

“Why are we here?”

“To practice, of course.” He twirled his hands around and the garden was suddenly engulfed in silence. The birds stopped chirping, the crickets ceased their singing, and the leaves on the trees stopped dancing. It was like we were suspended in time. “Your powers are blocked, and we weren’t making much progress inside in that classroom, so I thought I’d let you out. Maybe if you were to practice out here, where you can be in tune with the natural elements, your magic would find its way through.”

His theory made sense, or at least I thought it did. To be honest I wasn’t completely focused on the lesson. With everything that happened today, I felt drained and I wanted nothing more than to just get this over with and go home. I was both physically and emotionally tired. Classes were starting tomorrow and I knew that I was in no way ready to face the Mystics. I was mad at myself for agreeing to come here, mad at my parents for keeping this a secret for as long as they did, mad at Mr. Blackthorn for insisting I was some sort of powerful magical being when I knew I was nothing of the sort. But most of all, beyond all the anger and confusion and anxiety, there was something else at the back of my mind.

A thought that wouldn’t disappear no matter how much I tried not to think about it.

A name.             
                                            
A face.

Caelum.

Ever since this morning, I found it harder and harder to get him out of my mind. Scratch that, ever since we talked at the ball, even before I knew what he looked like or who he was, I wasn’t able to stop thinking about him.