Our Soul Nexus

Chapter Twenty-Three

Ayben had been managing to dodge the wrath of Chesca for far longer than he had expected. It wasn't until the eighth day he spent tucked away at the back of the library that she sought him out.

"Since when were you a bookworm?" Her husky voice asked, sarcasm hiding her enthusiasm.

Ayben shot his gaze up from the book to her face, feeling his stomach drop.

Chesca stood with her arms folded across her chest, wearing a little less armour than usual with red and black robes. Her thin, arched eyebrow was raised and her golden stare made Ayben feel more on edge than ever.

"Hey..." He said, unable to figure out how to deal with the situation.

Chesca's eyes squinted at him. "Drop it. Where in seven hells have you been? Granted, I knew you were safe, but I figured you'd come out of hiding eventually."

Ayben took a deep breath and was about to formulate an answer, but her eyes flickered over to Ayben's constant companion.

"Rizel, have you got some part in this?" She asked.

The prince blinked a couple times before smiling gently. "I'm afraid I don't follow. Part in what?"

Chesca didn't allow herself to faulter. "Regardless, you've been skipping training and classes. What's going on?"

Ayben didn't realise how it would look, him stowed away behind stacks of books in the library. It was honestly the biggest oversight he'd ever made.

"Oh...have I?" He chuckled, hoping to brush it off as a joke.

Chesca's eyes were no joking matter. Her stare hardened and she cocked her head to the side. "Get it together. I don't understand what's got you so wrapped up back here, but you need to focus. I'm trying to prepare you for the fight to come and you need to be in class learning everything you can."

Ayben felt a little hopeless. Her argument was valid, and he didn't disagree with her.

"But this is important too." He shot back, his expression desperate.

Chesca shook her head in confusion. "What is?"

Ayben flicked his eyes to Rizel before looking back at Chesca. "It's a bit complicated to explain. I'm not just wasting time here, though. I understand I need to focus on other areas, but I've just been really caught up in research."

Chesca closed her eyes and frowned, shaking her head again in disbelief. She rubbed her temple with her hand. "What research? What are you going on about?"

"I promise once I find something, I'll let you know. It's too hard to explain right now." Ayben explained.

Chesca let it go, waving her hand at him dismissively. "Look, I don't really need to know about what you're doing. But I'm serious. You need to get back to training and go to class or I'll have a lot more to say. You do realise your exams are starting next week?"

Ayben felt his chest tighten with panic.

"It's that soon?" Ayben asked, eyes wide with shock.

Chesca gave him a pointed look and nodded.

He sighed and squeezed his eyes shut then open. He was tired, if not from the lack of sleep but from the constant reading. He and Rizel had combed through over seventy different books from both religious texts and Summoner spell books alone. Fables had led them to look through over fifty.

Rizel spoke up. "Ayben, it's alright. You need to focus on your studies and combat. I'll continue looking through our notes to see if I think of anything."