The phoenix and the dragon prince

Chapter 4

Ilse

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We made it to class just in time.

It was a man in charge of the training. He was tall and very muscular. I'm guessing he's about 40, as his short, black hair is sprayed with some gray. He introduced himself as Master Cholo, and then gave us some brief instructions. We were asked to pair two and two, so I paired up with Damon.

In battle, we draw on the magic and powers of our shifting-animals, so when we started sparring, I could see Damon's wolf in his eyes. I'm sure he can see Antille in my eyes as well, as my eyes tend to turn red-ish when I draw on her powers. I was superior to Damon, of course, but he fought bravely, I had to give him that.

We stopped our training for a moment, to drink some water. Damon was breathing heavily. "You are completely glowing". He said to me. I smiled crookedly at him in response. It was not the first time I had been told this. Another perk of being the one and only phoenix!

Suddenly, we were interrupted by Master Cholo, as he asked for everyone's attention. As I looked towards him, a handsome young man was standing by his side. Master Cholo then said: "This is Prince Reinar from the Kingdom of Lumanis, and from now on, he will participate in the training on an equal footing with the rest of you". People around us began to whisper, and as I lifted my gaze, my eyes met Reinar's deep, blue eyes. A chill went through me ..

“Are you ok?” Damon asked. I shrugged, "Yeah, I'm just freezing a little bit," I said, shooting myself. That was a lie ..

I looked up at the prince again. He's pretty gorgeous to look at.. His golden hair was neatly pulled back, so that it formed a perfect frame around his well-proportioned face. His marked cheekbones made him look even more royal..

All of a sudden, he was standing in front of me!

"Do you want to spare with me?" He asked with a crooked smile on his lips. A little surprised and confused by his question, I finally managed to nod: “Yes .. yes, I would like that, if it's ok with my partner?” I looked questioningly over at Damon, who just nodded and sulked a bit as he took a small step backwards.

“Perfect!” The prince smiled. And then we started circling around each other..

After two hours of intense training, Master Cholo finished the lesson. I was dripping with sweat, and had a hard time breathing. This prince! He’s gonna be the death of me.. He was really skilled and REALLY well trained!

"I've heard a lot about you." He said suddenly. I looked at him in surprise, and raised one eyebrow at him. “Have you?" I asked.

"Of course! My uncle could not control his enthusiasm at all, when he discovered that he had a phoenix available in his army. ”

I looked wide-eyed at the prince, "so you are the king's nephew?" He nodded. "But please just call me Reinar".

"Of course." I said with a small smile. I had forgotten all about formalities and polite greetings, and now it was still a little too late to start ..

"Do you want to be followed back to school?" Reinar asked me suddenly. He continued: "I know a more exciting route." I looked around for Damon, but he was nowhere to be seen. He had probably already gone back to the school, I thought.

I then nodded to the prince, packing my things together, ready to leave. He led me out of the stadium we had been training, and stopped right between some trees. Here, I saw a narrow gravel path, that I had not noticed before. "After you." he said, and reached out his hand, as he signaled to me that I could go first.

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It really was a beautiful route, I noticed, as we made our way back towards the castle. We chatted about all and nothing, and the prince seemed to be genuinely interested in me and my story. I learned that he was next in line for the throne, but if he hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t have guessed. He was sooo down-to-earth! When we reached the great hall, we said our goodbyes, and went our separate ways. I went straight to my room, to take a shower, as I had some free time before dinner. When my shower was done, Lena was also back from her classes, so we went to meet up with Grace for dinner.

At dinner, I told them all about what had happened at todays battle-mage training, about Damon, and finally about prince Reinar. Their days hadn’t been as eventful as mine, as Grace had been practicing spells in charms class and Lena had been at potions class. Nevertheless, I was intrigued to hear about their days, as I couldn’t remember the last time I sat with friends and had this kind of conversation..

When we had all finished eating, we dragged our tired bodies to our room, and went straight to bed. It had been a long and quite eventful day for all of us, and as I was getting comfy in my own bed, I could hear Lena’s snoring from the other end of the room. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I drifted off to sleep..

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Ilse

The first week of school went by fast, and I continued to spare with both Damon and Reinar at battle-mage training. Master Cholo was impressed with my skills as well as my power, so he had assigned me with an extra practice on Monday mornings, before breakfast. Normally, I wouldn’t be so thrilled about getting up at 6 on a Monday morning, but since Reinar had been assigned with the extra practice as well, it sounded a bit more appealing to me..

Today is Saturday, and us students are allowed to do pretty much what we want on the weekends, as long as we’re back before curfew at 11:30 am. Lena, Grace and myself was meeting up with Damon at a board-game Cafe located at a town nearby, and I was really looking forward to that. Mostly because of the possibility, that Reinar would be joining us as well..

Grace and Lena had been teasing me about Reinar the night before, as they had noticed that I couldn’t even mention his name without blushing like a little girl.. So embarrassing, but who can blame me? That guy is really hot!

Well.. The girls snatched my phone, and sent him a text, inviting him to join us at the board-game cafe today.. At first, I felt like crawling under my bed and hiding there for the rest of the school year, as I was sooo embarrassed by it. What if he didn’t want to come? What if he didn’t even like me?

Eventually, I came to my senses about the whole situation, and was actually thrilled about the fact that they had invited him. I wouldn’t know unless I tried, I told myself.

He still hadn’t responded to the text today, which of course, I am a bit gutted about. But I am not about to show up unprepared and underdressed IF he decides to show up! In this situation, I would much rather be safe than sorry!

As I am standing in front of my mirror, trying to decide what to wear, Lena and Grace walks into our room.

“Hey girl, got an answer yet?” Grace asks, as she’s making her way through the door.

“No.. Not yet..” I sigh. “BUT, just in case..” I say with a mischievous smile on my face, as I pull out a long, blue, slim fit dress from my wardrobe. This dress had never failed me, and I sure hoped that it wouldn’t today either.

“Ohh, now we’re talking” Grace nods approvingly at the dress.

“Now we just need to find Lena something s**y to wear”. She says, turning herself towards Lena, whilst looking her up and down.

I lift one eyebrow in confusion, but soon I remember the looks that Lena had been sending Damon throughout the whole week. It all makes sense. I giggle, as I pull out another dress.

“Here, try this one.” I say, as I throw the dress to Lena. “It will look soooo good with your brown eyes and beautiful dark hair!” Lena put on the dress, and I LOVE it on her! The dress is a cute, white wrap-around dress. She looks both cute and s**y in it, as it really does make her hair and skin glow.

Grace whistles, and I nod.

“Keep that one, Lena. It’s made for you”. I smile and say to her.