“Mistress? Are you sure it was wise to tell them about the trial?” Lore asks, and I pause as I enter my room. Keaira shoots between my legs, and I close the door after her.
“It’s better to bring it up now and slowly increase my insistence than to just spring it on them. And besides, maybe if they get more half-truths, it will help in gaining their trust?”
But another thought crosses my mind; one I don’t even want to admit might be true, even to myself.
I’m not trying to help them catch on to my plan, am I? To protect them? To stop me?
No. Impossible.
Chapter 10
His dark eyes drill into mine, and he slowly replaces the papers he had been sorting onto his desk to face me fully.
“Why do you want to know about the Trials, Dark?” Professor Worgren spits the word as if it’s a curse. I try to hide my smile, I really do, but the sneaky little thing pulls on my lips.
“Because I find the prospect of being victorious over you Light kids pretty fun.” My grin widens as his nostrils flare.
“I am a professor, you little—”
“I’d be careful how you finish that sentence, if I were you.”
Worgren whips around, searching for the source of the disembodied voice, but upon finding nothing, his eyes flick back to me. His mouth pulls into a snarl, and he jabs a finger in my direction. “I don’t trust you, Dark. I never have, and I never will. I know you’re up to something, and believe me, I will find out what.”
I hum. “And just you wait until I tell the Headmaster how you purposefully hindered the Alliance’s plans to seek unification between the Dark and the Light. After all, that’s why I’m here, isn’t it?” I bat my eyelashes.
“Don’t you dare try to tell me I’m acting against the Alliance. My ancestors founded that institution!”
“And how has that worked out for you?” I say with a smirk. “They were out there fighting for freedom and peace, spilling blood on battlefields, and achieving glory. While you’re stuck in these grounds teaching precious kids how to share punches. The only blood you’ll ever spill is that of the mosquito between your hands.”
This seems to push him over the edge, and he lunges with clawed fingers.
Something brushes against my leg, darting into Worgren’s path. He trips over the large, black cat and face-plants the floor. I dart back a few steps so I’m closer to the door as he struggles to stand. But the moment he looks up, Keaira is in his face, hair on end, hissing. He shrinks back. Who knew a Worgren would be afraid of cats?
“Not so vocal now, are we? What, cat got your tongue?” Keaira tilts her head at him, and I snort. “As much as I enjoy watching you struggle like an infant, Serena needs answers. So, are we doing this the easy way or the hard way?” She lifts her paw to within an inch of his eye, and her claws extend from between the pink pads of her feet, the tiny daggers looking quite sharp, even in the dim light of his shed-like office.
Worgren glares at Keaira and then to me, then back to her sharp claws. His jaw clenches, then releases. “Even if I told you everything there is to know about the trails, I’d never consent to your participation.”
“The hard way it is, then...” Keaira sighs, but her feline smile shows her sharp teeth, and we both know she’s not sorry at all.
My lips twitch. “You are so bad,” I whisper.
“I am aware.”
I focus on Worgren’s dark look, pointed directly at me. “Keaira, maybe back off a little. We can ask how to sign up nicely, you know?”
She chuckles. “Oh, I know. And I know that in order for you to participate in the Trials, the professor here has to approve it. And you’re going to approve it, aren’t you?”
Keaira trails her claws down the professor’s cheek, and I’m surprised to see him shiver. Sweat has broken out across his forehead, and a vein bulges on his temple. His eyes are wide, shining in the small square of light coming through the window.
“I only need you to sign my form. Then I’ll be out of your hair… well, what there is left of it, anyway.” I crouch, eying the bald spot at the crown of his scalp, and hold the sheet of paper out to him.
After a moment’s hesitation, he slowly reaches a shaking hand past Keaira and takes it. I smile and reach into my pocket. “And you’ll need this,” I say, chucking over a pen which taps him on the forehead.
He grinds his teeth, and his muscles bulge beneath his training shirt, but Keaira lets out a soft hiss, enough to force his attention to my sign-up form.
“You haven’t completed it,” he grumbles without looking at me.
“Oh, I know,” I say, “I’m still in the process of choosing my teammates. I’m being extra picky.”
Worgren grunts, then glides the pen over the paper, scrawling his signature at the bottom. He chucks the pen back at me, which I catch swiftly in my hand at the same time as reaching over to retrieve the paper.
“Pleasure doing business with you.” I fold the paper and place it into my pocket, then wipe my hands on my skirt to rid them of grit gathered from the floor. “Oh, I do have one question, though.”
“What?” Worgren barks.
“What will the prize be?”
Worgren grinds his teeth but doesn’t respond. Keaira, sensing his reluctance, raises a clawed paw once again. He eyes her, the finally says, “The Trident of Truth.”
I hum. “Cool. Thank you.”
As Keaira retracts her claws to back away, Worgren heaves himself back to his feet, using his desk for support. He glowers at me where I stand at the door with my hand
