Maiden of Moonlight | Tedros Pendragon

Chapter 2.9

" It is more shameful to distrust our friends than to be deceived by them. "

Confucius

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Marya was filled with suspicion. Why? Agatha had been acting quite peculiar ever since Sophie came down with a bad cold that had left her incapacitated in her dorm room. The ravenette seemed to be on edge, her eyes wide in alarm every time a chair squeaked or someone spoke too loudly in a quiet space; she scuttled around the castle skittishly, trying to appear unbothered, but the Montague spent too much time with Agatha not to know when she was up to something.

Marya's point was further proven as the reader flushed herself against the wall beneath the grand staircase, trying to hide herself from a passing Pollux and Professor Dovey. She would have missed the action if it were not for the black clump that accidentally poked out from the shadows.

" What are you up to?" The brunette thought from behind a pillar as she observed Agatha peer over her shoulder before heading up the Charity stairs.

Marya followed a few steps behind, making certain that the girl wouldn't see her as she spied. Why was the ravenette being so secretive?

Agatha peered down the spiral stair gap, and if the Montague hadn't leaned against the wall as quickly as she did two landings down, she would have surely been noticed.

Marya climbed the remaining steps and furrowed her brows in confusion as the reader jangled the silver door handle to the Dean's study on the sixth floor, but it did not budge. Out of desperation, Agatha attempted a few spells yet none worked and frustration was clear on her tired features.

The brunette was on the verge of confronting her once-close friend of her snooping, but both girls found solace in the shadows as a click sounded. The lock caught. From the inside.

The door flung open and Marya was not surprised to see Yara poke her long-nose out of the room, her eyes darting to the left and to the right prior to sliding down the banister to the floor below, the door beginning to shut softly behind her.

Marya simmered in jealousy at the thought of not being the Dean's favourite. She was the class captain. Not her. What could Yara possibly have that she didn't?

There was no more time to contemplate such matters when the sound of the door closing halted, causing the Montague to whip back to the study and see Agatha with a foot jammed in between the wooden slab and the frame.

The ravenette snuck in, but Marya did not follow. All she felt was betrayal. Her former roommate was going about meddling in affairs she shouldn't, trying to ruin everything for girls all across the Enchanted Woods. Agatha had always been selfish, and Evelyn warned her that she would never be prioritised over the reader's happiness with Sophie in Gavaldon.

Everything had been a lie.

The Dean was right.

Agatha had shown her true colours last year, trying to force an unnatural bond between Evil and Good; trying to take away Marya's opportunity for true love to benefit herself and her pea-brained witch.

The Montague glowered from the shadows as the fairies alerted the end of class.

She had lost everything because of her-her supposed friend.

Marya wasn't going to allow her second chance at happiness to go up in flames.

One more glance at the door with an inlaid butterfly of blue, the brunette retreated back to the Good Hall, fire burning within her; a determined flame that would not extinguish, not until the root of the problem was gone.

Sophie had to go.

♕

" Strengthen your core!" Sader demanded sternly from the sidelines as she watched the Montague girl practice sword-footwork in the former gym for princes in the Groom Room.

Sweat beaded along the brunette's hairline, her eyes heavy and arms flimsy from exhaustion as she continued to slash, parry and riposte with the ghostly knights the Dean had conjured for training. They'd been at it since noon and it was currently far past sunset as stars claimed their rightful place in the vast expanse that was the darkened sky. All Marya desired to do was collapse to the floor and lie there on the cool tile as she allowed herself to drift off, but she dared not as Sader's intense gaze remained on her form, shouting corrections every few moves performed.

" That I'll be all for today." Evelyn informed the girl as the phantom faded once slashed by the princess, who preened when complimented for the first time that session, " Well done, child. The boys will never see you coming during the Trial."

Marya never thought she would see the day where she wielded a sword, a weapon meant for princes. It felt surreal. She felt empowered, and the brunette wondered if that was how Mulan and Princess Merida felt every time they used the gleaming blade they were never meant to have their hands on in the first place.

" Thank you," Marya bowed in recognition, but her words trailed off, a question ready to escape beyond plump lips.

" What is it, dear girl?" Evelyn queried, patting the space next to her on the bench as an open invitation to chat. " You have that look on your face when you want to know something."

The Montague remained quiet, unsure how to phrase what she wanted to say. She trusted the older woman immensely after being given the class ring, their rocky start in the past as Evelyn doted on her like she was her very own.

Meeting warm emerald eyes, Marya cleared her throat to speak. She knew Sader would be on her side.

" Do you truly trust Sophie and Agatha?"

The Dean's face flickered, her gaze cold as the brunette peered down at her hands, awaiting an answer. Marya would have missed it if she hadn't glanced up when she did.

" You don't?" Evelyn replied and a wave of unease rippled through the brunette's veins.

" I do not." She mustered weakly, the room falling silent.

Sader sighed and broke the silence as she stood, gesturing to Marya to follow her out of the space, " I'm glad you have realized, child. Trust no one, especially those two. They are dangerous."

The Montague's eyes widened, worry painting her expression as never before, "How so?"

Evelyn's expression hardened, " Foolish question, my dear. The fate of the Woods falls into their hands due to their fairytale being written by the Storian. There's only one way to stop them." She stopped walking and peered down at her student, her manicured hands gripping her shoulders tightly. " You must kill them."

The Dean said nothing more as she disappeared around the corner of one of the many castle corridors, leaving behind a conflicted Marya Montague in her wake.

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Author's Note

Any thoughts on what's happening with Marya 👀

I'm curious to hear what you guys think.

XOXO