Shadow Rider (Vampire Academy Fanfic)

Chapter 47 - Thanatia

I was dreaming vividly. One incomprehensible dream morphed into another, world's melting apart and coming together all over again, and so it went, on and on, until I couldn't tell if I was really dreaming anymore.

Memories surfaced, images of me and Casimir together, at different stages in our lives.

The most powerful memory was of how we met.

Orphaned and lonely, I had been a quiet child. And Casimir, with his heart made of gold, had neglected his friendship circles to sit beside me in school, striking up conversation about curious things. He had always had a brilliant mind, considering the big questions in life... His curiosity had always been his greatest drive.

Our friendship had grown slowly, due to my heavy suspicion and caution. But when he asked me to accompany him on our school trip, the insecurity that had plagued me as a child had begun to evaporate. He'd been animated and excited on the bus ride, and those feelings had projected onto me, sweeping me up in their tide.

But Casimir's curiosity was great enough to risk both our lives.

We were at the southernmost part of Sweden, visiting different historical locations, and we were staying at a boarding school there, sharing dorms, as well as history classes and group projects with the local students. Casimir had been paired with a male royal student, and I, being out of choice options, had been put into an empty door room, where I'd be staying alone.

Casimir was, naturally, not happy about this arrangement.

'They're being so ridiculous,' Casimir was saying, as we both sat down at the unfamiliar cafeteria, gazing around curiously, checking out the local students. Casimir hadn't been told what room I was staying in, despite his adamant requests, and I'd been forced to walk into the cafeteria alone. He'd found me waiting by the entrance, nervously pulling the zipper of my jacket up and down.

Casimir continued to talk while I ate with my usual appetite. 'I just don't get why they'd force me to room with a royal jerk when there was a perfectly available empty room for us to share.'

I finished chewing and swallowed my bite of apple. 'You know they don't want dhampirs and Moroi to share rooms. More importantly, they don't want boys and girls to share rooms.'

'Why?' Casimir insisted, pushing his meagre plate of food away. 'Because we might accidentally procreate?'

I blushed. Even back then, Casimir had been very eloquent with words, but what he was suggesting was still such an unfamiliar topic to me. Still, even though he'd said the words jokingly, I was embarrassed to admit they'd been a little...flattering.

I shrugged in reply, but Casimir didn't look like he expected me to answer anyway. Neither did he notice my blush. Instead, he focused his gaze on the chattering students, seated at several joined tables at the centre of the cafeteria. The centre of attention. Some of the students sat on the backs of chairs, others even sat on the tables. Even at the tender age of thirteen, students were eager to impress, to flirt, to play the adults.

Casimir wasn't into all that, and I sure as hell wasn't. But something about the intensity in his look told me that he not only disliked the students' behaviour - he disapproved. Always, Casimir had been like that. He was always focused in school, passionate about learning, about changing things. When he saw something he didn't like, when there was a glitch in the system, so to speak, he couldn't just ignore it, or accept it. He had to make things right.

I knew he wanted to get up and make a comment, to cause a stir in those poor children's lives. I also knew that, just this once, maybe it was better if Casimir reigned it in.