Lohikäärme: The Dragon's Descent (Revised)

Chapter XII - Tears

Chapter XII - Tears

I thanked the boy who brought the barrels of water to the Descension Hall.

I dipped the rags in the water and looked around. Where else should I clean? I had finished cleaning the wooden boards that served as seats for the audience. They looked hardly sat on, covered in dust of unuse.

"Let'sss get out of here," this snake beneath my dress whined. "We should be planning our essscape."

Not yet. I needed to see Dante again. I needed to master my talent. I needed to make sure that leaving this place was the right decision. I had left home thinking the world would welcome me with open arms, and I wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

"Safia," Magister Xamira called, "you're doing well."

"Th-Thank you, Your Magistry."

Remekiah sneered.

"How do you feel now?"

"How do I...?" I put the dripping rags down. "What do you mean, Magister Xamira?"

She smiled. Her smile wasn't a smile that beamed with joy. It was one that showed concern, and somehow, love. "Tana said you had been too distracted in her class to notice the others making fun of you. But don't worry. She didn't let the girls get away with it."

"Oh, I'm so sorry." I hadn't been myself in class, mostly because I didn't have enough sleep and because the windows reminded me of Dante. "I apologize, Magister Xamira. I promise it won't happen again."

"No, no, no," she said. "It's alright. I was just worried, Safia. Was anything bothering you?"

"Magister Xamir—" I was cut off by her soft and gentle voice.

"Just call me Xamira."

"X-Xamira...?"

She nodded, smiling, then her head turned from side to side. "Koshka's not assisting you?"

"No, Ma—Xamira." Calling her without her title sounded disrespectful, but disobeying was also rude. What was I to do? "She was called for the High Council meeting." Wasn't Magister Xamira supposed to be there too?

"Yes, how could I forget."

"And I shouldn't bother Kosh so much. I'll try to finish my work on my own."

Her eyes drifted to the door behind me. "Have you cleaned the tools and instruments there?"

My hands snatched the rags from the barrel's lid. "I-I'll start cleaning them now."

She curtseyed and walked to the double doors. "We're a family, Safia."

"When isss she ever going to leave?"

I pinched Remekiah's body. "Yes, we're kin. We dine as a family, live as a family."

"And die as a family."

I didn't understand where she was going.

"I just wish you could understand that whatever the other magisters do, they're doing it for Aethelgard, for our family. For them, anything they do for the castle is justifiable." The young magister took my hand and tucked loose strands of hair behind my ear. "Listen to me, Safia," she said. "We have lived for so many decades protecting Aethelgard. We have encountered lots of monsters and lots of people who posed a threat to Aethelgard, but this time, things are different. As a member of our kinship, you have to help us, Safia." My body stiffened when Remekiah wrapped himself around me, getting tighter and tighter. What was he doing? It..It hurt. "Is something wrong, Safia?"