Scholarship. Exam. Those two words echo in my head as I scan the paper that appears on my phone screen. I tally up the questions that I do know right now, but they're few and far in between. The majority of the paper is hard for me, and tension increases in my frame with every question I don't kno
Everything hurts. I let out a groan that could raise the dead as I turn to my side, dull pain coursing through my frame. Breathing in and out, I tentatively push myself into a sitting position. At least nothing seems to be broken. Likely because the well is almost filled, and the earth underneath
Every time I came home after a fist fight in middle school, Dad used to tell me any fight can be solved with calm, composed conversation. I register my lungs straining for breath as I remember those words. Be calm. Be composed. Slowly, carefully, I turn my head around to stare at the person curren
3 hours ago... The smell of blood disgusts me. It paints the forest a gory wet, limbs and innards scattered in the fifty meter radius. I flick the broad sword in my hand, attempting to clean it of the blood that clings to it. If another were to hear me voice that thought, they would curl their li
Either this place is haunted, or too technologically advance. I turn another corridor that looks exactly like the last three, and the lamps light up upon my arrival. Does this mansion have motion sensors or sound sensors everywhere except for the front hallway? And how am I supposed to know if I’m
Recalling the map in my mind, I walk along the edge of the forest, breath clouding in front of my mouth. I'm glad I took the cloak. If nothing else, this cold will kill me. I've been walking for at least twenty minutes when the sound of footsteps reaches me. I still in my tracks, one hand going to
“Do we have to do this here?” “Yes. Now stay behind that line.” Its been a good twenty minutes since I convinced Sigmond to make a vow with me. I’m now wearing his coat, and even though my wet clothes are getting increasingly annoying, my insides are no longer shivering in cold. Ten steps from wh
“I’m not sick,” I wave a dismissive hand, trying to ingore our proximity “Just soggy and tired.” “And running on stubbornness,” He sighs aloofly “You might want to hold on, My Lady. Unless you enjoy falling on your face.” i narrow my eyes at him “You— He starts moving before I can say anything. I
I barely manage to find a waste bucket before everything I had for breakfast retches out. My throat burns. My vision is blurry. I dry heave every single thing in my stomach, warmth seeps out of the corners of my eyes. I can’t breathe. The smell of blood is everywhere. I sit there, holding the edges
The smell of rotting flesh is disgusting. Its muscle memory to pull the gloves over my hands, pick a scalpel off the medical tray. The body on the metal table in front of me has no head. ‘You have to take a sample of flesh, a sample of blood and take a look at the internal organs.’ Aunt Cynthia’s
How adorable. Apparently, I’m the only one who thinks so, since when I turn back around, everyone from the fourth prince and the first order to passing strangers and our coachman is looking on in disbelief. Is it so difficult to imagine Zen would get along with children? “Don’t leave your mouth ha
“My Lady, am I mistaken or is the fourth prince avoiding me?” I look up from knotting the satchel to my belt to face Zen. There’s a slight furrow in his brows, and he looks at Lukas, standing far, far from us and talking with the first order soldiers. The fourth prince has indeed, been avoiding Ze
I need to move. But even as I think that, I cant bring myself to move. He’s holding me too firmly, I think, entirely reasonable. I won’t be able to slip away like this. Even the most critical part of me can’t find that to be entirely an excuse. After last night, I doubt there’s anyone who would lik
I wake up to the sound of a door knock. My sleep hazed brain registers the sound, recognizes it, and promptly ignores it in favor of cuddling into the warmth of my bed once more. I don’t want to wake up just yet, since last night I fell asleep so late— Last night? My eyes open, blurry with sleep,
But he’s looking at me now, as if the answer might crush him, as if he’s bracing himself for it. I reach out to drape my arms over his shoulders gently, they hang down in front of his chest lightly. “Why? Because you did your job?” I ask quietly, hold his gaze “Or because you didn’t hesitate to do
“Lift your arm, please.” I say, and my voice comes out soft If we weren’t sitting so close to each other, I would’ve missed it. His shoulders tense up, the even breathing stilled into nothing. “You don’t have to do that, Dinah.” Zen finally says My brows furrow. Zen might be a warrior among warri
On the second floor hallway of the hotel, my eyes drift to the room where Zen is supposed to be. My room is just at its side. I wonder if I knock on his door right now, would he be annoyed? He did ask not to be disturbed. The image of his bloodied arm flashes in my mind. Just a moment. I just want