The Cost of Betrayal

Chapter Seventeen

Maura started the new year sadly but, she did her best to push through it. She knew that her gamma wouldn't want her to be this way. She walked into her history class and received a sympathetic look from the teacher. Everyone knew and had loved her gamma. So she was expecting some of these looks today. Maura took her seat and waited for the bell to ring.

Birsha walked in, over the break he had changed drastically. He had become much more confident, almost to the point of being cocky. Maura drank in the sight of him, he seemed to be more handsome to her. Birsha winked at Maura as he walked past her desk, then stopped at Chastity's seat. He placed a hand on her shoulder and leaned in, whispering something in her ear. Chastity nodded enthusiastically and winked at him. His actions infuriated Maura but she remained silent. She scolded herself for being jealous of the two when she had nothing more than some kind of infatuation with him.

"Alright class, take your seats," the teacher called. Once they were settled, the teacher began, "I hope that you all had a pleasant break. We will begin by reviewing some things from before the break. Your semi-finals will be coming up and I want you all to succeed."

They touched on all the topics, Morgana and her relationship with Merlin. The fighting that had caused so many of the covens to fail. They were beginning to dig into Atlantis when Birsha's necklace began to hum against his skin. He reached down and peered at it curiously. It had only ever done that a few times, and only when those stories began. The gentle glow of the amulet drew the attention of the teacher.

"Mr.Birsha now is not the time-" the teacher's words halted in mid-admonishment. He had never seen a necklace do that before. He stepped towards Birsha, "May I?"

Birsha didn't want the teacher to touch his necklace but grudgingly allowed him to examine the gold piece.

"Mr. Birsha, where did you get this?" He asked curiously.

"My parents gave it to me on my birthday, this past fall," Birsha informed him. He was doing his best to keep his tone neutral, he wasn't going to have the teacher causing him trouble.

The teacher handed it back, "Interesting," was all the teacher said and returned his attention to the class. He was about to continue with the review when the bell rang. He smiled at them, "Well, we can continue this tomorrow. Have a great rest of your day."

He was scribbling something down a sheet of paper, "Miss Maura, a word if you please."

Maura paused at his request, he waited until the rest of the class was gone. "I know your grandmother gave you a few books over the break." He wouldn't say the words before she passed, and for that, Maura was thankful. She nodded, but remained silent, she didn't trust her voice at the mention of her grandmother.

"I think you can help us with this," he handed her the paper.

"Us?" Maura asked as she took the slip of paper from the teacher.

The teacher nodded, "Yes, there are some of us who know who you are. And we are here to protect you. Now, get to your next class. "

Maura was dumbfounded, what was she exactly? She slipped the paper into her book and hurried to her class. Things were getting weird for her.

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Birsha couldn't wait until the end of the day, he had some great ideas, thanks to that sorcerer. The sorcerer had also tasked him with experimenting on the contract he had made with those underlings on the Isle. He wanted to see if he could make it tighter. So there was no way out of it. Birsha rubbed his hands together, plotting the best way to do it.

He knew he was going to use Chastity, she was too easy. And his other two friends, well, whatever happens, happens. He didn't need any of them. They met at their usual spot and Birsha smiled.

The boys were standing there shivering, clapping their hands together in the cold air. "What took you so long?"

Birsha scowled at them, "I was getting things ready." They were starting to annoy him with their attitude. "Where is Chastity?"

She came up behind Birsha quickly, "I had to stay after class," she huffed out of breath from rushing to their meeting place.

Birsha sneered, if his plan worked the way he thinks it will, he won't have to worry about classes for long. He pulled out three sheets of paper and a pen with a flourish. The action shocked the other three, "You've been practicing!" Chastity exclaimed.

Birsha scoffed, "You could say that." He handed each of them their piece of paper.

The trio looked at it, then at him. "What is this?"

"Just a little insurance for me," he said. He looked at each of them, "All it says is that you'll remain silent on our practicing and that you'll do anything I ask."

Chastity crossed her arms, "What do we get in return?"

Birsha gave them a half-smile, "My protection, besides, this is a simple contract. Nothing more."

The three took his word for it. That it was harmless and scribbled their names across the bottom of the paper. At the first gasp of pain, Birsha hid his smirk. He knew his pen worked. He took the papers from them and examined his handiwork. The deep red signatures made him happy. Phase one, complete. Now, to get Maura's attention. And in a few days go back to the Isle and show the sorcerer his results.

**************

Maura settled into her room to do her homework. She opened her history book the slip of paper the teacher had written her fell onto her lap.

She studied the slip, "This isn't our language," she whispered to herself. The language looked familiar, though. As she was trying to place where she knew that writing, her puppy bounced in. Her tag wagged furiously behind her, knocking over the stack of books Cicily had given Maura for Yule. "Oh, Peanut, look what you did," she scolded the puppy gently as she patted her on the head. She leaned over and picked up the books, Peanut picked one up in her mouth and pushed it at Maura. "Thank you, Peanut." Maura took the book and was about to place it on the others when she noticed the title. She looked at Peanut, then at the book, a feeling of surprise filled her. "You are so smart."

She opened the book and placed the slip of paper beside it, her schoolwork quickly forgotten as she went to work on the task her teacher had given her.

It was well past midnight by the time she finished the scribblings the teacher had given her. Some of them didn't seem to fit, so she had to pick the closest symbol. She sighed and closed her books, turning off the lights and going to bed. Before she finally drifted off to sleep, she whispered, "I hope I can do this, Gamma."