by Megan Linski
But I miscalculated. I went to deliver a blow at the wrong time, and the snake plunged. It missed sinking its fangs into me, but it still knocked me over. I struggled to roll onto my belly and watched the snake slither away.
No! It was going after Emma! I pushed myself onto my paws, but the world was dizzy and I had trouble finding my feet.
Emma had her sword in hand and held it in front of the snake— when it came too close, Emma managed to cut her sword along the snake’s jaw. It was barely a scrape, but the snake skimmed backward in surprise, not expecting a reaction from such an easy target.
Good girl! I internally cheered. I just had to reach her in time…
But Emma was doing perfectly well on her own. She had a precise angle to dive her sword into the snake’s head, right in the area where the neck and skull connected. It’d be a killing blow, if Emma managed to deliver it.
When Emma raised her sword to shove it into the meluza’s skull, the monster noticed. In a flash, it changed— where there once was a monstrous, giant snake was now a naked young woman, shaking and frightened, her long black hair tangled and falling down to her knees. The woman curled up into a ball at Emma’s feet and looked up at her pitifully. Emma held back her strike.
No, Emma, don’t fall for it! I raged inside. I was still so far away. My paws pounded against the dirt to get to my mate.
“Please don’t hurt me,” the woman begged. “I mean no harm. I just wish to be left alone.”
Emma stared at the meluza, her hands shaking so hard that the sword quivered in her grasp. Emma did the worst thing an Arcanea can do in that situation. She hesitated.
Those few seconds of mercy were all the monster needed to take advantage. The woman’s innocent smile changed into a vile sneer that was soon replaced with fangs. In seconds, so fast you’d miss it if you blinked, the woman was gone and the snake was back in her place. The snake crouched and lunged forward, fangs exposed as she sailed toward my mate.
It was like the entire world flashed before my eyes. I moved without thinking, without knowing what my body was doing. All that mattered was that I put my body between the meluza and Emma. As the meluza lunged for Emma, I leapt forward with a wild snarl, and sank my jaws into its throat.
The snake hissed violently. I tore my jaws away so that blood streamed out of its open wound. In one clean movement, I changed back into a man and grabbed Emma’s sword, performing an up strike so that the meluza’s head was cut clean off.
I heard the sound of the snake’s head hitting the grass, and its body was still. A few people were clapping and cheering behind me, though I barely heard it. They’d been impressed by the fight. The bloody sword fell out of my hand, landing next to the severed head.
Lucien strode toward me. “Well done, Ethan. As you all can see, technique is very important when fighting a monster of this size. Some of you should hope to be half as proficient as Ethan is by the time this course is over.”
I was heaving for breath. When I turned back around to face Emma, she seemed confused. Her eyes looked to me— then glanced downward.
I felt gutted. She saw me for what I really was, in my wolven form. She’d seen I had no leg.
My temper exploded. “Why the hell would you do that?” I demanded, rounding on her. I took her by the shoulders and shook her. “Why wouldn’t you kill it when you had the chance?”
Emma gaped up at me. “I—”
I let her go. I stomped away, pacing in circles. I was covered in blood and murderous, looking savage. She seemed terrified of me.
“You don’t ask questions! You don’t hesitate! You cut their head off and live to see another day, before they kill you first!” I made a slashing motion across my neck, and Emma cringed. “Anything less will get you killed out there!”
“Ethan! That is more than enough,” Lord Lucien snapped. “You are right that Emma made a mistake, but she is a freshman, and new here. Your reaction is uncalled for. Now leave my class.”
His eyes were narrow and stern. I made a sharp noise, rolled my eyes, and walked off. “Whatever.” I didn’t want to do this. I couldn’t be near this right now, this, this… insanity. I heard whispers as I left. Good gossip about how Prince Ethan had killed a meluza and lost his shit in class would travel fast around the school.
“Ethan!” Emma yelled after me. “I’m sorry!”
I didn’t acknowledge that I heard her. Instead, I changed into a wolven and ran into the woods, away from the school. I was looking for a monster to kill, something to take my rage out on. I found nothing but my own vacant terror.
I didn’t mean to yell at her, or lose my temper. She just didn’t realize that she’d scared me— she didn’t realize what I’d been through. If I had met her and lost her, all in the same day… if that meluza had managed to get its fangs in her… it’d be like losing my father all over again. I felt weak and desolate at the thought.
I replayed the moment her eyes looked at my leg over and over. Then the cold reality hit me. Emma wouldn’t want someone like me— a cripple without a leg, with a scarred past and a bad reputation that preceded him. She didn’t understand this world. She’d been thrust into a new reality with no sense of direction, and it showed today in the way she’d failed to kill the snake. An Arcanea wouldn’t have hesitated.
She couldn’t be queen. It wouldn’t work. She wouldn’t be able to handle the responsibility of it. She couldn’t take a fight with one monster. How could she stand up against an army of them, again and again and again? Being queen was an unforgiving job. It’d nearly killed my own mother several times.
Emma hardly understood what an Arcanea was. I wanted to protect her. I didn’t want to put her at risk. But she wasn’t a warrior. She was just a girl. And what kind of match would we be for the kingdom, with not just one of us disabled, but two of us? How could we manage to win the support of the people? Were we even fit for the job?
For the first time in my life, I hesitated when I thought about becoming king. I considered backing out of the King’s Contest and turning down the throne… all because of this one girl who I barely knew.
But I couldn’t do that, could I? My people depended on me. They needed a strong king, someone to lead them when times got too miserable to endure, and my father’s legacy was on the line. Either I could have the crown, or I could live a life with Emma. I couldn’t have both.
It seemed like I had a choice to make. The monarchy… or my mate.
Chapter Eight
Emma
I’d seen the look in Ethan’s eyes as he ran away from me. It cut me so deeply that it felt like a blade was still sawing out a cavern in my soul.
I thought his wolven form was beautiful. He looked so strong and proud. I wanted to run my fingers through his thick white fur and bury my face into his shoulder. The animal he became was muscular and gorgeous. It took my breath away.
Then he’d noticed me staring at his lost leg. The pain in his expression was obvious and agonizing. I hardly cared if he was missing a limb— but to Ethan, he acted like he’d lost the world. He didn’t want me to see, and I had. Stupid eyes.
He’d yelled at me for hesitating to kill a monster. I knew I’d made a mistake, but he expected me to murder a begging woman without batting an eye. I wasn’t at that point yet. I wasn’t sure if I ever would be.
I couldn’t handle this place. It was too brutal, too savage. I’d thought I was tough, but the tough I knew was nothing compared to the Arcanea.
I went to get a quick lunch in the cafeteria. Every meal here was like a four-course feast served at a fine dining restaurant. Though I’d only wanted something small, I ended up ordering a watercress salad and a pasta with scallops. I was gonna be six hundred pounds by the time I graduated.
On my way to my next class, I passed Odette. She was talking to Delmare— they were sitting on a stone bench in the courtyard near a giant sculpture of an alicorn, chatting away. Both of them were wearing their uniforms.
Odette noticed
my frown as I approached. “What is it?” Odette asked. “You seem upset.”
“Yeah, who pissed in your cereal?” Delmare added. Odette smacked her playfully.
I waited before I dared to ask the question. “I had class with Ethan Nowak. He took his wolven form, and one leg was missing… but in his human form, he still has all four limbs?”
“Oh, it’s a prosthetic,” Odette said. “Ethan lost his right leg while fighting a leshane a few months ago on the hunt. It killed his father and everything. A lot of people still blame Ethan for the king’s death.”
“You mean his father was slain right in front of him, and he lost his leg in the process?” How absolutely horrible. I couldn’t even imagine. I wasn’t an emotional person, but tears sparked at the corner of my eyes thinking about how awful it must’ve been. No wonder he’d freaked out on me.
“Yep. Very tragic. But his wolven form doesn’t have a prosthetic, so...” Odette shrugged.
“Are injuries like that common among the Arcanea?” I asked.
Odette made a noise. “Emm… not really. If you lose a limb or an eye, you’re considered one of the lucky ones. Typically, people don’t walk away if a monster gets their claws in them. But no good Arcanea dies of old age.”
“A horrid death,” Delmare added, and she shivered.
“You’d mean… you’d rather be killed by a monster than die warm and old in your bed?” I asked.
“Of course!” Odette exclaimed. “How else do you expect to get into the Great Hunting Grounds that lie beyond? The best warriors with the best deaths get to join the Eternal Hunt. It’s a great honor.”
“If you live to be ancient and don’t have any scars, people think that you’re lazy and not doing your job,” Delmare informed me.
The Eternal Hunt sounded a lot like Valhalla to me, but I didn’t tell Odette that. I didn’t know the rules here, and didn’t want to offend anyone. “I keep hearing about the Seven Gods,” I said. “What are they?”
“Are you serious?” Delmare let out a deep laugh. “You must be joking.”
“I just found out about the Arcanea a week or so ago. My mom hid this world from me,” I explained.
“Whoa,” Delmare said. “So you have mommy issues. Me too.”
“Well…” I wouldn’t say that, but Delmare pointed out the obvious. My mom and I obviously weren’t as close as I thought we were if she kept things from me, especially something on this scale.
“Pop a seat!” Odette patted the spot next to her, and I squeezed in between her and Delmare. Odette crossed her ankles and said, “Okay, so the first thing you have to understand is that the Arcanea don’t come from Earth. We actually are descended from fae that come from another dimension called Edinmyre.”
“Faeries, right?” I asked.
“Yep.” Odette nodded twice. “Our ancestors were fae who mated with humans, and they produced the Arcanea.”
“Can you still get to Edinmyre?” I asked.
“Nah.” Delmare shook her head. “The portal to Edinmyre was closed off long ago, and no one has been able to find a way back since. No one knows who shut it, either.”
“Why did we leave?” This was all so confusing to me.
“It was a very long time ago. But as the lore goes, we had to leave, or we wouldn’t survive the war between the Seven Gods,” Delmare added.
“The Seven Gods…”
“Right,” Odette said. “There are Seven Gods total who were the ultimate authority in Edinmyre. First is Tomir, King of the Seven Gods, also known as the Father Stag of the Hunt. He’s the god of virtue. He’s the leader of the Eternal Hunt in the Great Hunting Grounds. Only the greatest and bravest Arcanea are allowed into the Eternal Hunt, though most Arcanea make it into the Great Hunting Grounds. It’s our version of the afterlife.”
“So… what happens if you don’t get into the Great Hunting Grounds?” I asked.
“Then you go down,” Delmare said, and she chuckled.
“Getting to that,” Odette says. “Next is Droga, the Black Stag of Wrath. He’s the god of agony and suffering, the god of poor death. He’s basically the grim reaper among the Seven Gods. Those who serve him value power, and try to please him through sacrifice. He’s the only god that doesn’t live in the Great Hunting Grounds. He exists in the underworld instead. Arcanea that serve dark magic go there— like the Black Claw.”
A chill crept over my skin. “What about the others?”
“Well, let’s see.” Odette tapped her chin. “There’s Vesna, the Blue Doe of Knowledge. She’s the goddess of wisdom, and is usually worshipped by sorceresses. Then there’s Radek, the Red Stag of War— the god of bravery. Warrior Arcanea follow him. Then there’s Neva, the Specter Doe of Shadow… she’s the goddess of time. Last is Luka— the Ghost Stag of Chaos. He’s a thief god, the god of vigilantes and peasants.”
“You’re forgetting one,” Delmare said. “Milonna, the White Doe of Peace.”
I felt a shiver when she said Milonna’s name. I don’t know what it was— when she uttered the moniker, my stomach did flip-flops and a great warmth spread over my body, stronger than anything I’d ever felt. I longed to feel it again.
“Oh, yeah!” Odette popped up in her seat. “Milonna, too. She’s the goddess of love, fertility, and romance. She’s Tomir’s wife. She leads an all-female brigade of the Eternal Hunt called the Brygada.”
“So we fled Edinmyre because the gods were fighting,” I clarified.
“Tomir and Droga, to be exact,” Delmare stated. “One fought for light magic, the other for dark. Droga ended up losing. It was this whole ordeal. The legends are truly epic.”
“But since we left Edinmyre, we can’t go back,” Odette said sadly. “Not that we haven’t tried, anyway.”
I nodded. “So do the Arcanea worship all the gods, or…”
“Not really. In December, there’s a yearly event called the Choosing,” Delmare said. “It’s a big pagan celebration, with a ball at the end of the ceremonies. There, you pledge yourself to your mate if you’ve found them, and pick a god or goddess to worship. All Arcanea devote their lives and service to one of the Seven.”
Panic rode through me. Not only did I have to devote myself to a mate, I had to pick a god to align myself with as well? This was too much. I didn’t think I could handle it. Which one of the Seven was I possibly going to pick?
“You have time to figure it out,” Delmare said, catching my expression. “You won’t be called to participate in the Choosing until you find your mate, and either accept or deny their bond.”
I was already feeling overwhelmed. But I didn’t want to show it and look like the girl who was always behind. I checked my watch. “I’ve gotta go,” I told them. “I’ve got Illusion 101 in fifteen minutes.”
“Have fun!” Odette said cheerfully.
I waved goodbye and tried to shove the thought of being forced to choose a mate out of my head. I proceeded toward the center of the courtyard, where a round stone pillar was set. According to my campus map, Illusion 101 was at the top of that tower. I entered and began climbing steps, taking them slow. I was in pretty good shape, but I felt weaker than normal.
It was obvious my disease was advancing. I was looking forward to starting treatments this week. Shoving needles in my stomach didn’t sound fun, until you literally needed them to keep existing.
When I reached the top of the tower, I paused for a few moments to catch my breath before I went inside. Mahogany desks formed a half-circle around a professor’s desk. The floor was emerald carpet, while the walls were white stone. Skeletons of dragons and griffins hung from the ceiling, and on the shelves lining the walls were a variety of interesting objects in jars— preserved butterflies, shimmering crystals, and live fish swimming in liquids that were purple instead of blue. One jar even had a swirling formation inside of it that looked like an actual storm. Lanterns holding burning candles levitated over the desks by themselves, and a green fire blazed in the hearth, giving the ro
om an eerie glow.
Most students were already here, all female. I’d gotten the impression that many of the classes at the university were separated by gender, as Marked and Companions learned different things.
I caught Gabby sitting up front with Melissa and Morgan. Ew. I didn’t want to sit anywhere near them.
The only seat left was next to a girl in the back. I headed toward it and dumped my stuff onto the desk. It went scattering everywhere. I went to clean it up.
“Sorry,” I told my partner. “I’m kind of messy.”
The girl had a mane of black hair over her face so I couldn’t see it, and didn’t comment. She kept her head bowed and remained still.
She was anti-social. Great. So was I. We’d get along great.
The door slammed shut, and I jumped. I heard the thumping of heels on the carpet. “Enough foolish gabbing, ladies,” a cool voice behind me said. “Let’s see if we can get those pretty little heads to do something else besides exchange gossip.”
My eyes gravitated toward my teacher. She was a tall woman, thin, with a pinched face and eyes that said she’d have no problem throwing you out of her classroom if you crossed her. She wore a long, dark dress, and had her hair up in a tight bun that looked like it pulled her entire face back. Her lipsticked mouth gave an unwavering sneer.
She seemed… pleasant.
“I am Lady Korva, and this is Illusion 101,” she began. “I expect anyone who is a student of mine to keep up. You will not be coddled in this classroom. Illusion is the bread and butter of a sorceress's magic. If you cannot do this, you cannot be a Marked. It is as simple as that.”
No one dared to speak. Lady Korva clasped her hands together. “Sorceresses are the bond that hold the Arcanea together. Without us, our Companions would certainly be lost, and our race would die out. I cannot stress enough how important your duty is as a mate and future wife to whosoever you bond with. You need to be prepared to defend your Companion at all costs, for as the saying goes here in Malovia, the queen protects her king.”
