The Ether Walker

Chapter 10

I ricocheted off of him, tripping over my own feet, and landed hard on my butt. The impact against the stone floor stung, but it was overshadowed by the mortification I felt at running into Prince Ayden. My whole face turned bright red from my embarrassment, a trait I'd always hated.

And just noticing now his outstretched hand that I had been dumbly staring at made my face blush even more. I reluctantly accepted his offer of help and when my hand slid into his, the feeling of cold fire rushed through my arm. I jerked back, stumbling a bit and looked sharply up at the Prince. He was staring back at me with an unreadable expression. I saw a hint of curiosity before the awkward moment was interrupted by Finley.

"Prince Ayden! I am so sorry, we didn't see you there. Are you alright?" She asked, turning to me and saving me from an awkward explanation. He didn't remove his gaze from me though. I nodded slightly, pushing away the slight pain from the fall.

"I heard from Captain Wyder that you need a tutor," his voice was rich and sophisticated, but not mocking like Caith's.

"Uh-yes, Your Highness," I was taken aback, not thinking that the Prince would bother to help me.

"Meet me in the library after dinner." He nodded towards Finley and Ivan before continuing on past us. Finley grabbed my arm and started leading me towards the dinning hall. I turned my head to look back at Prince Ayden but he had disappeared.

"Wow! You sure are lucky! You will definitely catch up if he teaches you. I can't believe you will be tutored by the Prince!" Finley exclaimed, more excited about it than I was. I didn't know what to make of the Prince and the strange sensation that happened. I was a bit apprehensive to be around him.

Mira, he can help you become proficient enough to make the top five, Khagan spoke. It gave me a shock, forgetting Khagan was inside my head.

You can see what's happening? I asked

Yes, I can see and hear through you.

That's pretty cool, I replied. Do you know what happened back there with the Prince? If anyone was to know, it would be Khagan.

Unfortunately not entirely, was the only response I received. I wanted to ask what he meant by 'not entirely' but his tone suggested he wasn't going to elaborate. I was brought back out of my head when Finely's hand waved in front of my face.

"Mira? You okay? You just zoned out for a good five minutes," Finley looked at me, concerned. She was right, we had already arrived at the double doors that lead to the dinning hall. I could hear the muffled conversations coming from inside.

"Sorry, I was talking with Khagan. I didn't mean to ignore you." Finley looked confused.

"You can talk with you demon?! But demons can't talk?" She looked questioning at Ivan who nodded in confirmation.

"Really? Khagan has always talked to me in my head."

"Does the Headmaster know?" Ivan asked. I had to think back to when I spoke with him.

"I don't think so. I don't remember mentioning it, I just assumed everyone could talk with their demon," I shrugged apologetically.

"You have to tell him, or at least let one of the teachers know. This is amazing! What do you talk about?" Finley asked. Ivan opened the doors and started leading Finley towards the food line while I responded.

"Well a bunch of things. I told him about our world and my life. Khagan is a bit secretive though." I grabbed a plate and filled it with the food available. Finley and Ivan began to walk towards an empty table together with their food. I almost invited them to sit with me at Zach's table but stopped when I realized that they enjoyed being alone together.