Rogue Royalty

by Rebecca Ethington

  Her voice had lifted an octave, the use of Cail's family title a bit too familiar. I turned my head to see Gemma and two of her friends sit a short distance away. Sia always put on a show when there was an audience. This was a gold mine for her.

  "I'm sure," I spoke low, giving her a look. She smiled, batting her eyelashes and shifting herself closer. This must be what being wrapped up in cellophane felt like. I shimmied away, leaning closer to the window in a desperate want of air.

  "Good afternoon class," began Professor Diarius, or 'Etty' as she had been trying to get us to call her, as if that made her cooler. "As you know, this week we have been focused on shields to help us prepare for this course. Beginning next week, we will begin to work in pairs so that we can master these and other skills. Today, I will be assigning you your sparring partner for the rest of the year. You and your partner will work together so as to perfect your skills and prepare you for the defensive magic and healing portions of your exam at the end of the year. I invite you to get to know your partner. Understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses so that when we begin on Monday you will be able to more accurately defeat them."

  The class instantly broke into a buzz of sound, the rumble breaking over the whisper of wind that was tickling over my nose. I let my eyes drift closed.

  "Rowy! We could be partners!" I jumped, nearly smacking my head on the window frame as she yelled in my ear. "Do you think if I ask she will team us up?"

  Sia was prattling on like the rest of them, the noise pulling into angry roars in my exhausted mind. I didn't even have the energy to tell her that there was no way in hell we would be partners. She would find out soon enough.

  Professor Diarius began calling out names, handing out packets to each pair as everyone shuffled to their partners. Some were shocked, some pleased. Most looked beyond disgusted. It didn't take long for everyone to figure out what she was doing.

  "She's matching Goldens with Drains," Sia snarled under her breath, the word on her tongue twisting in my stomach.

  "She's matching people," I corrected her, forgetting to keep my voice down as I leaned back again. God, I really should have skipped this class. I wasn't going to make it.

  "Sia Demarco and Madeline."

  "Sorry, baby," Sia whispered in my ear, like I cared. I didn't even open my eyes, I gave her a wave and sunk into the wall more. What I wouldn't give for a pillow.

  "Pater Smyth and Alfonz."

  The breeze felt so nice, I wonder if anyone would notice if I took off out the window and soared back to my dorm.

  "Rowan Krul and Gemma."

  So much for being half asleep. I was officially full awake. This time I did hit my head on the window frame as I jerked straight upright, eyes wide as I turned to Gemma who was full on laughing as she jumped up and strutted down to collect our packet from the professor, waving and blowing a kiss to Sia.

  Shit. Sia was already fuming, there was going to be some backlash for this.

  “Please begin working on your packet together,” Professor Diarius continued as Gemma made her way back up the steps to me. “Once you have finished your packet, please turn it in and I will give you some small practice attacks you can begin with today.”

  She stepped out of the center of the sunken stage, moving to the first pair and sending the room back into its buzz of energy. Sia’s glower was already burning a hole in the side of my head.

  “Someone really has it out for you, don’t they, Princey?” Gemma waved the papers in front of me, she didn’t so much as flinch when I snapped them out of her hand.

  “Don’t call me that.” That came out much harsher than I had intended, not that she cared. She was chuckling to herself, sinking onto the stone step as she pulled a pencil out from behind her ear.

  “Then what would you like me to call you? Snookems? Honey ass?”

  “Honey ass?” The words choked on a laugh on their way out.

  “You know… Sweet cheeks.” She gave me a wink. “I know that’s what your girlfriend calls you.”

  “Not my girlfriend.” My eyes flicked to the girl in question, the tiny glance a huge mistake. She was looking at us so intently that I was sure she was trying to use her magic to make Gemma explode.

  “Trying to gain back that sixty percent?”

  “No!” I jerked, Sia’s scowl deepening.

  “Well aren’t you just the King of Defiance today,” Gemma laughed, thankfully pulling my focus from Sia and her laser eyes.

  “Not the king.” I couldn’t help the smile that time, my magic boiling under my skin as I leaned closer to her.

  “Oh, excuse me, the Prince of Defiance, then.” She adopted a baby voice and tried to pinch my cheek. I dodged before she made contact.

  As much as I wanted to feel her touch, feel her magic, I wasn’t ready to put my shields to that big of a test.

  Thankfully she didn’t try again and instead adopted her own window seat, fingers interlaced behind her head.

  “My name is Rowan.” I sat back again, the wind choosing that moment to drift through the window and tug the longer strands of my hair over my face. She snickered, I was sure I looked like something you would see in one of those movies, ‘My Evening with the Prince’ or some nonsense. Although thankfully most of the characters that saved the poor peasant girl were based on Talon, it was still an association I wasn’t interested in making.

  “I would move those out of the way,” she nodded to the hair, “but not only are you a big strong man and can lift your hand all on your own, but I don’t want Bitchy McBitch back there to punch my face in.”

  My hair and clothes were blowing around in a rage. A growing torrent of wind, no longer a breeze. Odd, seeing as Gemma was sitting untouched. I gave Sia a look and the wind died down.

  “Sorry, not Bitchy McBitch. Your girlfriend.”

  “Again. Not my girlfriend.” I shoved the hair out of my face with as much grace as an elephant.

  “Well, you could have fooled me. Is it something you Eternals do then? Let spoiled Chosen’s kiss you and rub your legs and call you weird pet names. I mean, I banged one of my guards once because I needed him to stay focused on the job. That was too far for me. I couldn’t get the guy off me. The ones who want something out of you are always the clingiest.”

  I couldn’t even form words. I sat there, staring at her, trying to follow what she had said.

  “Your guards?” I choked on the words when they finally emerged.

  “Yeah, you know, the guy that watches my back while I blow up your shit. Banks. Grocery stores. Clothing stores. Don’t you have one of those?”

  “Someone who blows up shit?”

  “No, Princey,” she smirked, “a guard.”

  I shook my head. “We can generally take care of ourselves. That and we don’t usually blow up buildings.”

  “Well, you are missing out on all the fun.” She rolled her eyes and went back to glaring at Sia.

  “Don’t you have any remorse?”

  “I could ask the same of you. But no, I have no remorse because I have nothing to be remorseful for. I fed, clothed, and kept my people safe. I did my job.”

  “Your people?” I asked. Her face spread into a wide grin.

  “You aren’t the only royal brat in this club.” She gave me a wink and leaned against the wall, kicking her feet up to lay across the wide stair beside mine.

  My heart skipped a beat, the warmth that was pooling in my stomach and pumping through my veins turning into an inferno. I was fine with this; I think part of me had been waiting forever for this. Sia however was not, her eyes were shining red as she turned. Gemma was already blowing her a kiss and wagging her fingers at her in a way that only spelled trouble.

  “Do you think if I shrunk her head to the size of a turnip anyone would notice?” She was peering through her thumb and forefinger at Sia, pinching her fingertips together as she smashed her head.

  I had to cover my mouth to stop from laughing.

  “I’m
sure everyone would notice, Gemma,” I was beginning to think that every time I said her name was going to lead to some form of heart palpitations. I really needed a change in subject. “So, how does your childhood affect your day to day choices?”

  “Excuse me?” she asked, whipping around to face me. I waved the packet of papers in her face.

  “The assignment. It’s all questions for us to get to know each other.” I flipped through the pages, scanning the questions and realizing that my quick deterrent had turned into a minefield.

  “Well, I’m not answering that until you do. How has your childhood affected your life, Rowan?”

  I think my heart stopped beating when she said my name.

  “Pass. What is your least favorite attribute?” I said, determined to ignore her and reading the first question my eyes fell on. That was worse. “Who is your favorite relative and why? Who the hell wrote this?”

  “You’re really good at this, Princey. My turn.” She snatched the papers out of my hands, giving me a papercut that I quickly healed. “When was the last time you cried?”

  “I’m not answering that.” Especially considering it was last night, when I had felt her magic alongside mine. Before that was last month, when I had woken from an especially traumatizing dream featuring the girl right in front of me and the moment she had lost her father.

  “Fine then. Why are your eyes green when everyone else in your family has blue eyes?”

  My stomach flipped. Not because it was something that bugged me, but because she had noticed.

  “That question isn’t on there,” I said through clenched teeth.

  She shrugged.

  “How about this one: why are you here if you clearly already know how to use your magic?”

  “I could ask the same of you.”

  “That’s easy.” She flipped her hand to the side. “Your mother seems to think she can teach me remorse. Or maybe she thinks that’s your job.”

  All I could do was stare at her, trying to figure out how to respond when thankfully Professor Diarius swept her way over to us, looking us in the eye from where she stood, one step down.

  “How is it going over here?”

  “Fine,” Gemma said the same time that I said, “I think there has been some kind of mistake”

  Both Gemma and Etty’s eyes flashed to me, the teachers smile fading.

  “A mistake?”

  “Yes, me and my siblings. I’m not supposed to be assigned a sparring partner.” I kept my voice low, trying my best to use the tone that so many in my family used to get their way.

  I regretted the tone and the request immediately. It wasn’t as though I had no reason, but seeing the shock on her face still hurt. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to be partners with her, it was that sparring in public with her was going to open up quite a few problems that I would rather keep locked away.

  “Oh, I see,” Professor Diarius began, her usual smile still trying to find its way back onto her face. “I know you already have an extensive magical training, Prince Rowan.” Damn it. She said Prince. I may have gone too far with the diplomatic urgency. “But so does Gemma, although hers is informal, she possesses a skill that would be dangerous to pair with any other student. It’s lucky you are here really.” She laughed then, Gemma forcing a weird tinkling sound alongside, the false sound only adding to the glare she was giving me.

  “See, no mistake, Princey.” Gemma said, eyes glinting.

  “I would be prepared, however,” the Professor continued, giving the two of us a look. “With your skills being so advanced it is likely that you will be sparring partners for the duration of your education.”

  “Shit on a rat ball. You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” So much for prodding me, Gemma was obviously none too happy about this set up either. Several heads turned at her outburst, some of the Undermortals chuckling, including that guy that she went everywhere with.

  Edward, I think.

  Maybe that was the guard she was talking about. I wonder if she liked him.

  Oh god, these thoughts should not be in my head.

  “Well, work on that packet so you can begin your training. I am sure there is much you can learn from each other.” Professor Diarius smiled and hustled away, giving Gemma a look that made it clear that even she was scared of the girl. I would be too with the look she was now giving me.

  Great. I now had two girls glaring daggers at me. Never thought I’d say this, but I would actually like to go back to the swoony blondes.

  “Don’t you dare ask me any of those shit questions. Make up some sob story and call it good. I’m not answering those. I can tell you aren’t either.” She popped her gum and leaned back against the wall.

  I stared at her, my heart aching at the question before me. Knowing I could answer each and every one, for the both of us. Too many years of dreams, of piercing realities that I was only barely beginning to understand.

  I might know her better than I thought.

  6

  Gemma

  The door shut for the second time, the snap a hollow echo as twenty more Undermortals snuck into the couch filled portion of my dorm, eyes wary as they looked through the dim lights at everyone else. It was clear that most of them didn't know each other. Hell, I didn't know most of them. Ed, Kara, and Geo had done a good job.

  This was more than the first years who had pulled their way through the Gauntlet ahead of the Goldens. This was also the smattering of our people who had been brave enough to run in the three years prior. You could see years of ridicule and defeat swallowing the color from their eyes, a tiny bit of hope trying to pull its way through.

  Let's see if we could put some of that back.

  "Is this everyone?" I asked a yawning Eddy who approached with two paper cups full of the coffee stuff that he had discovered on one of our raids and quickly become obsessed with, the guy had danced, literally danced, when he found it in my cabinets yesterday. He was trying to push his obsession on me, but the stuff was bitter and biting.

  This morning it might be just what I needed, though.

  Last night Sia and her friends had been laughing, at full voice mind you, about some string of attacks. About emptying the drains of the “Vile Scourge”, or whatever it was she had nicknamed us today. I wanted it to be wrong, for her to be padding her own ego, but that dark light in her eyes, the way she looked at me...

  I wasn’t about to take any chances.

  If the Chosen were increasing their attacks against us, fighting back for taking their precious spots in the academy, then we needed to get ourselves doing the same.

  Hopefully without any freaky prying eyes getting wind of it.

  In hopes of escaping the queen, I had decided that three in the morning was the appropriate time for our meeting and had pulled everyone out of bed before the sun had even thought about peeking over the mountains.

  Now, it was just a sliver of light in a sapphire sky.

  “Pretty sure this is it for today,” Ed said after draining coffee cup number two. “I'm sure it will grow. One week isn't enough to grow an entire underground rebellion inside of the king’s school." He gave me a grin and grabbed another coffee, sighing in delight.

  "Well, you guys did great either way," I nodded to Geo and Kara, the two chatting to some very angry Undermortals who both had the tattoo of the ghost on their neck.

  A burning ghost.

  The mark was from a community dangerously close to the burned-out slave camps near the Med, The Wastelands. I had only ever heard rumors about the Ghostlanders, about the feuds and bloodlust that ruled the place. I had thought it was all a story. But if it wasn’t, no wonder they looked so pissed. There wasn’t much in that part of the world but death, there was a reason most Undermortal communities sprouted up beneath the major cities.

  "Good morning everyone!" I said as loud as I dared, Eddy taking two steps to the side, grateful to blend into the crowd and melt into his coffee. "Thanks for getting up at this awful h
our to sneak away. We have some food in the back, Ed made some coffee stuff, and feel free to lounge anywhere as long as you keep your eyes open."

  There was a smattering of laughter, the nervous chuckles coming from the back a bit different than what I was used to. It was like at the beginning, when I had first gained enough control of my powers to blow stuff up that would do us good and not lead to collapsed tunnels. It had taken time to convince Last Pyre that rebellion and attack were worth it, too.

  "I’m Gemma. If you don't know anything about me, know this: I was bitten by a Vilỳ when scavenging for food ten years ago. I was eight and almost died. My community, Last Pyre, hid me from the Tarns and the CCC for years." I pulled my shirt back, revealing the burning wand tattoo above my breast that signified Last Pyre. Eddy, Kara, and Geo did the same, turning to everyone as they stood with me.

  "I grew up in Last Pyre," I continued, letting my shirt fall back into place. "It's my home. But we all know that our underground safe havens aren't always that way. That's why, starting last year I began leading the people of Last Pyre, my people, in the reclamation of our world. We have destroyed over a hundred of the Chosen's buildings. Reclaimed what should have been ours in the falling brick and burning roofs of banks, grocery stores, clothing stores. We have fed more than five communities, clothed as many people as we could, and even stole a few books in the hopes of teaching the kids to read. We are still working on that one though."

  More laughter. The joy mixed with awe as everyone looked between them. The ones from the communities that had been impacted by Last Pyre turning to those who may have never heard of us in whispered affirmations.

  "We have done it all under our goal of reclaiming a life for ourselves, of ending the class system the Eternals have put in place, and dethroning the family that created this hell.” I hesitated, the expressions on those same damn royals after I had burned their Gauntlet to hell flashing through me.