The Rise Of A Queen

Chapter 16

Kalmin woke up the next morning with Adira pressed into his chest, deep in the corners of Dreamland. Her curly hair was in his face and she slept silently. Her tear streaked face looked exhausted and bore the hard lines of last night's trials. She was still a majestic beauty.

His arm was woven around her resting at her waist. The morning's sunlight streamed in through the cracks of the logs and only then did he get a good glimpse of what they resided in.

It was even smaller and ghastlier than he expected. Cobwebs lined the small desk with one chair that was pushed to the side. A small mildew and moth eaten cot. The couch could barely fit two people and was in the same condition as the cot.

This was where the brothers would stay when they took their tests at sixteen. That explains it's out of use look. The tests were brutal and rugged, it pushed every fiber of endurance you had both mentally and physically. It could make a full grown male go mad but every lord of the North must do it as a hard stepping stone to their rule.

Each Northern brother underwent the test and that is why they upheld so much respect from their people and other Lords.

Kalmin tried to get out of the vice grip Adira held him in, but every time he moved an inch, she would snuggle closer. She unconsciously did this however, if she were aware of close he was, she would want nothing to do with him.

She turned around to face him, still asleep she burrowed her face into the fabric of his shirt, digging a hole for herself to stay warm in. Her right hand brushed his stomach, ribs and then back where it went limp again. His abdominal muscles contracted as she made the tentative movements with her hand. His eyebrows furrowed together and for some reason he actually liked the feel of her soft hands.

She let out a sigh after she inhaled his musky scent. A naturally expensive smell of the finest oils and fragrances.

Finally he found a way to break free from her grasp and simply lay his coat over her. That was just to avoid the awkwardness of when she woke up, which she did minutes after.

She yawned loudly and cracked the bones in her neck. She lifted his coat and gave it back to him which he shrugged back on. Standing up she realized the state of the room and frowned, not happy with it either.

"Good morning." She chimed.

He grunted in response.

"What happened while I was out cold?"

"It's best you don't remember." He said grimly.

His response irked her somehow. She wasn't satisfied with anything that she heard so far. Walking towards him, she tried her best not to make sounds against the creaking floor boards.

"Kalmin, please tell me." She whispered behind him, he stiffened feeling her hot breath at the base of his neck. He knew she was tiptoeing to reach.

"The incidents of last night are not important to the plan ahead. Now we must go to Canada and reach the Academy where you will be safe."

"What Academy Kalmin?" She said, her voice cutting into his chest like razors.

He breathed out before turning around and facing her directly. "The academy where you will learn your destiny."

Everyone keeps saying this. 

"I was not aware of this before Kalmin, when was the Academy part of the plan?"

 He turns around, blue storms of darkness tear into pools of gold as he says strongly, "It always was Adira, you just didn't know."