surreptitious
/ˌsʌrɪpˈtɪʃəs/
adjective
kept secret, especially because it would not be approved of.
Everyone in Navarre is aware of the Tyrrish rebellion and those involved with it. Most notorious of them all being Fen Riorson. Except not all of th...
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"Could you please tell me how to get to the sparring gym?" Isolde questioned one of the second years passing by the dorms, making sure that everyone was in the correct beds.
"Down the stairs, follow the corridor and it will be the fifth door on the right. It's the only one with a glass pane in the window." She muttered whilst checking over her list in order to sort out an argument over the beds. "Thanks." Isolde stored the information in her head for later.
The first floor of the dormitory building situated a hundred and fifty-six cadets, their beds positioned in four neat rows in the open space. Isolde claimed the one closest to the door as it provided her a quick escape and also protection as the head of her bed was pushed up against the wall. This way she did not feel so much like a chick ready to be plucked from the nest by a hungry fox and chomped down between its fangs.
She was unable to sleep without her runes, because if they were all woken up in an emergency, she would end up with far greater things to worry about if she were found to be with bright purple eyes. Her plan was to volunteer for a sort of clean up duty. She had heard that most of the extra first year duties were already delegated as they collected in the final numbers after the Parapet crossing, but there was also an option to volunteer so she had done.
Before she escaped to Basgiath War College, Isolde did her best to sneak out when her parents were away to collect things that would not only help her with the crossing of the Parapet, such as tighter clothing and short spears that fit well within her grip but she also aids that would help cover her appearance. She had found a dark market seller for runes that would help to cover up key things about her attributes.
For example, the ties in her hair, when worn, were enchanted to stain and cover the stubborn white streaks that she was unable to cover no matter how many times she added a darkening serum. The necklace she wore, masked the violet hue in her eyes with a simple oak colour that many of the students at Basgiath also bore. The last, was a metal tin filled with an enchanted spiced paste that was meant to conceal the scars that littered her body when applied. Unfortunately, it seemed that whilst the man she bought those items off of was talented with runes, the paste simply wore off after around four hours leaving the scars to appear once more.
She debated returning to him and demanding her money back but considering the risk of the dark market trade he was gone after the first meeting, and she never saw him since. Surprisingly, scars were more of a concern in the Riders quadrant than she first thought. It seems that after Threshing, students of the college with scars were not considered an unusual sight due to the nature of the work but a fresh faced cadet covered with scars caused some concern about their previous history, so she made the decision from the second night onwards to wear jumpers that covered the ghastly scar that dragged itself from the tip of her clavicle to up just behind her ear.
