The Claddagh Academy

Princess Aella 2

Blaise

                        Karoo and I stopped behind Totem’s back and looked over his wide shoulder to the map displayed over the table. Gwilym’s golden head was pushed close to his brother’s and both brutes appeared too focused on that map for it to be pretty much anything except school related material. I nudged Karoo with my elbow and shrugged, she shrugged back as ignorant as I was.

            “What are you guys looking at?” asked them Karoo and Totem cursed, jumping in his seat and making a quick work of rolling the map and hiding it from us. Too late. I’ve already caught some sight of the map and I knew it graphed the lonely stair at the end of the third floor. There was only one place in the third floor these guys could be interested in and the absurdity of their logic made me smirk.

            “Are you guys planning on sneaking inside the girl’s dormitories?” I asked them while putting my tray on the table and seating at Totem’s side. His purple eyes gleamed revealing his nefarious plans before his eyebrows pointed down as if he was insulted by my words.

            “Of course not,” he said with a hand over his muscular chest and a tick in his jaw that couldn’t hide how hard he was fighting a smile.

            A large, cordoned hand appeared before my eyes making me gasp in shock just for it to connect slowly to Kodiak’s arm before he stole an apple from my tray and then disappeared again. The sneaky bastard shifted to the chair across from mine and took a seat while he ate my apple and winked at me. I rolled my eyes and give him the finger but the damage was done, I had startled like a little girl and for that I will always hate him. A couple of days had passed since our little tête-à-tête and our truce had been welcomed by all of his siblings which by default were also my circle of friends. Kodiak’s golden eyes focused on the map that Totem was trying to hide inside his jacket and he also smirked.

            “Are you still trying to get in the girl’s dorms?” he asked and Totem rolled his eyes.

            “Just say it a little bit louder, would you?”

            “What is the point either way?” asked Karoo through her mouth full of food, “If you get in our dorms and that is a big if, you will have to go through Mss. Lambert and that I do not recommend my dear brother.”

            “She can’t be that bad,” opined Gwilym. Karoo and I shared a look and we both shivered just by thinking about Mss. Lambert’s waxy face and dark eyes. The eyes to her soul. No doubt about that.

            “She is that bad, trust me,” I said with a nod and Totem rolled his eyes.

            “Nonsense, she can’t be that bad and I say sneaking on you girls and surprising you while you are in your little pajamas is the best prank this school has ever seen. And we are the men up for the task,” said Totem, puffing up his chest and making me laugh a bit. The fact he thought himself as a man was cute. Then he turned his attention back to Kodiak and lifted an eyebrow at him, “If only someone decided to share some intel about what to expect getting inside the dormitory I think we will succeed even sooner.”

            “Gone there, done that and got the t-shirt to prove it,” said Kodiak shrugging and then pointing a thumb at me, “this one will get my head in a spike if I ever get you inside her dormitory and I appreciate my head as much as any other king.”

            “Yeah, you should revise those words my friend. I’m sure kings have a certain tendency of losing their heads,” I jabbed at him and Kodiak pinched his chin as in thought a second before giving me a lopsided grin.

            “You mean losing their heads over a half siren/half Fae who likes to run her mouth? Yeah, I’m certain I’m the only king with that kind of fetish,” he winked at me and I felt myself blush while the others laughed at my expense. It served me right. I knew better than that. I was shaking my head at him ready to give him a sassy comeback when something caught my attention by the corner of my eye. More accurately someone. I stilled when I saw Aella running in the direction to the bathroom at the end of the dining hall. There was a bullet point list of things that were wrong with that picture. For one, princess Aella didn’t run, she flaunted and acted pompously, but hurriedly? Never. And she looked as if she was crying. Two, her usual companions weren’t around and Aella was never alone. She was one of those b***h alphas that needed her betas close by.

            I jumped out of my seat and threatened to kick everyone’s arse if they touched my food. Then I run to the bathroom, rushing in my desperation to get to the bottom of whatever was that was afflicting Aella. Girls like her were conditioned since very early on to not be affected by much and keep appearances. I wasn’t exactly a connoisseur in the subject but my best friend was also a princess and after sharing the same room for a good part of the year it was safe to say there was a certain pattern between them. Not that I will ever be caught comparing Aella and Karoo to each other’s face, like Kodiak, I also valued my head.

            Softly I opened the bathroom’s door and halted right away. The sound of someone crying and sniffling had me opening my eyes like saucers. Ignatia hadn’t been wrong. Aella was crying. I instantly felt bad for belittling her as I’ve always did and biting my lips in concern I walked around the toilet partitions. With every step I took my concern only grew. What was going on? What had happened to Aella? I stopped by the last compartment and looked down, to the perched figure that was rocking back and forward against the wall. Her beautiful strawberry blonde hair was a tangled mess, her uniform was wrinkled and dirtied with dark spots that made me frown. Was that blood? In that moment Aella looked back at me, staring with unfocused eyes that look gigantic in her paled face.

            “Aella? What’s wrong?” I asked her, palms up, moving closer with slow steps.

            “What is happening to me?” She asked me through sobs. Her lips looked swollen and her nose red, as if she had been crying for a while now. And then she turned around on her knees and moved her arms up until she was showing me her palms. I stopped in my tracks and felt my own heart sink to the bottom of my stomach like a heavy stone. There, marked in her skin with large, thin, bloodied cuts were two wounds in the shape of closed eyes. The eyes seemed to be crying blood tears and the drops kept running down Aella’s fair arms until they stained her jacket. Her sobs intensified and stupefied I did the only thing that came to my mind.

            I knelt at her side and hugged her.

            “It’s alright. You will get better and I will make them pay. Whoever did this to you will pay,” I promised her while she cried in my shoulder. I had no idea what I’d just promised but I was sure like hell seeing to the end of it.