ARWENNA'S ANCHOR
804 Words
It was still drizzling when we got home.
It didn’t rage the way it had on campus. The persistent drizzle had slicked the driveway and darkened the hedges like a tropical forest.
Kaelith dismissed the driver with a nod and walked ahead of me into the mansion.
He didn’t offer his arm. He didn’t look back. But his pace was slower, as if to match mine, so I didn’t have to struggle to catch up to
him.
He hadn’t said anything the whole car ride home, and that alone unsettled me more than the storm.
Inside, the doors closed with a soft thud that broke the silence surrounding us.
The lights came on one by one as he passed through the hall, his movements efficient. Like a man executing a plan already decided.
I followed him into the sitting room.
“Why were you there?” I asked.
He paused suddenly, and I bumped into him. I had been trailing closely after him.
He turned around to assess me, then continued to walk forward again. “I had a schedule change,” he replied.
I hated how reasonable it sounded.
“That’s not what I meant.” My fingers tightened around the strap of my bag. “You suddenly showed up at Professor Llyen’s office. You literally arrived seconds after I... had the panic attack.”
“I was informed.”
He was always being informed about me.
“By who?”
Kaelith stopped again.
He turned to face me, his expression calm in a way that felt tailored. No irritation on his face. Just control.
“The academy has protocols,” he said carefully. “The halls and offices are monitored to catch… irregular magical responses. And your reaction may trigger the alarms due to your energy fluctuations.”
My chest tightened.
Irregular.
I understood the implied meaning.
I knew things I shouldn’t have, which could call undue attention to the council.
“So, I’m being watched,” I said.
“Yes.”
The honesty threw me off balance. I expected him to warp the truth.
I don’t want him to lie to me, but I wasn’t expecting the directness either.
“By the council?” I pressed.
“No.” His gaze sharpened. “By people who would prefer not to involve the council.”
It probably meant his people.
That didn’t sound any more reassuring.
I swallowed. “You knew I was going react to the storm?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
A pause.
“You’ve reacted before,” he said.
The words came out like he was talking about the most ordinary thing. As if he were talking about the weather.
I searched his face for something. Anything. Cracks, maybe. But I found none. Only something shuttered behind his eyes.
“You didn’t tell me,” I accused.
“You didn’t ask.”
That was fair. And infuriating.
Who goes around asking if they react to the storm?
“If this happens again,” I said carefully, “if I react as I did again… and they find out, what will they think?”
“That you’re overwhelmed,” he replied immediately. “That your condition is psychological and not dangerous,” he added.
Condition.
My throat tightened. “And if they don’t believe that?”
Kaelith stepped closer.
We were almost bumping chests. I could feel his breath heavy on my face.
“Then I will make sure they do,” he said.
There was no threat in his tone. No boasting.
Just certainty.
That was what scared me.
“You’re overreacting,” I whispered.
“No,” he said. “I’m managing risk.”
“Also, tell me if you notice any change in yourself.”
“Change? What kind of change?” I was confused.
“Change of any kind.”
“Why?”
“To keep you safer,” he asserted.
He turned away, signalling the end of the conversation.
I stood there, heart pounding.
Something about his answers sat too neatly. Too prepared.
But another part of me whispered something quieter. More treacherous.
He wouldn’t hurt me.
I trusted that without knowing why.
I didn’t exactly trust his words.
I trusted him.
And that scared me more than any storm.
I followed his steps a few moments later to our bedroom.
In all honesty, I was happy he was there the moment I saw him.
More like relieved.
His presence quelled whatever storm was rising in me. I didn’t like the feelings I had when I was having a breakdown. Scared. Scarred. Powerless.
He was like an anchor.
And that was why I trusted him subconsciously.
But there were too many variables between us. That was why this blind trust scared me.
It makes it harder to see things for what they are.
- Writer
