Rakarthen Academy

by Clara Hartley

  “Why are the three of you here with me?” I asked. “The king has duties to attend to, and you’re the triad. Shouldn’t you have important matters to see to as well?”

  Nemreth nodded. “We need to settle you in first. And then we have to attend classes.”

  “Classes?” I said. “You? You’re students?”

  “Surprised?”

  “Yes. Shouldn’t being a student be beneath you?” They were important enough to engage in talks with other countries, after all.

  “There’s always more to learn,” Nemreth said. “But mostly, the school needs us to train and lead the newcomers. The academy has been short on staff ever since the Wall of Thorns appeared. We need as many warriors as we can get, and new students from all over Thesnan are coming in waves.”

  “So, you’re teachers, then?” I cocked my head.

  “Somewhat. We get tested like the rest of the trainees, but those tests don’t challenge us at all. And we stand in for the teachers when they can’t handle the workload. The number one priority of Rakarthen now is to create enough fighters to subdue the impending teramarth threat.”

  “You ask too many questions,” Cendri said, stomping forward. “We’ll show you to your room, and we’ll be on our way.”

  “You can’t wait to get rid of me, huh?” I asked. “Have you not heard of patience being a virtue?”

  “You’re one to preach,” Kaji muttered. “You have none of it.”

  I flashed him a narrow-eyed look, then followed the fae guys toward where I was supposed to stay. Thesnan was unreal. But as we moved, I got stares from its inhabitants. They came from students, mostly, since we were inside the academy. They wore uniforms with knee-high boots and scarves over their shoulders. The scarves were fastened by a pin bearing a symbol, a dragon over a flower. Some students wielded staffs, while most of them had swords strapped to their waists.

  I reached for my dagger—the one Micah had given to me when I was a child. My hand circled nothing. The fae had confiscated my iron soon after we reached Thesnan. I felt bare without my sword and dagger. Nemreth had assured me they’d offer me replacements soon enough. Still, the empty feeling made me uneasy.

  “We’re not welcome here,” Kaji said, edging closer toward me. His spear had been confiscated, too. I didn’t even know where they took our weapons. A squire had wrapped them in cloth, treating them as if they might be poison, and run off. “Why invite us under the guise of fostering bonds if they’re going to look at us like that?”

  I gnawed at my lower lip. “They’re entirely different beings. They probably think we’re weird.”

  Kaji huffed through his nose.

  We walked through the school’s compound, circling a huge lake with an enormous square building in the center. A dragon statue, made from what looked like clay, was perched atop its roof. I pointed at it. “What’s that building for?”

  “More questions.” Cendri groaned.

  Nemreth, thankfully, had more tolerance for my curiosity. “It’s the mess hall. Where we eat.”

  “It’s pretty extravagant for a place to have dinner.”

  “Keeps the students’ morale up,” Nemreth said. “We’re going be fighting for our lives once more teramarth come. We need all the morale we can get.”

  “I don’t see why you can’t send for the dragon-kind. My parents would be willing to help if it meant defending our people.”

  “It’s too big a change for the fae. Look at Cendri. He’s been to Constanria and he’s still not the least bit open to the idea.”

  I was getting sick of Cendri’s unpleasantness. The sooner I parted from him, the better.

  We strolled past another building, one with the word “barracks” painted on its front. We missed its entrance. I glanced at Kaji, wondering if he shared my confusion. Why weren’t we entering the barracks? Wasn’t that where all the students slept? Instead, we rounded the structure, heading toward the back. As we continued moving, a pungent scent, like that of piss, grew stronger. My suspicions rose. Already, the initial excitement I’d experienced from coming to Thesnan had faded, replaced by dread. Even the smile on Nemreth’s angular face did little abate the unsettling, tingling sensation crawling down my throat.

  We stopped in front of a rickety building, enough to fit two people at most, the vines that formed its walls already rotting away. Its door was chipped. And the smell of piss that surrounded it was absolutely disgusting.

  “What’s this?” I asked, knowing the answer but refusing to accept it.

  “Take a guess,” Cendri replied, folding his arms over his chest.

  “It’s where you get rid of your rubbish,” I said.

  “Close enough, lovely.” He devilishly smiled. “It’s your new accommodations. Like it?”

  “Please tell me he’s kidding.” I looked at Nemreth.

  Nemreth grinned. “He’s not.” With that, I couldn’t trust his friendly exterior anymore. “You’ll adjust. We’re doing this to appease the fae. They don’t want an outsider living too comfortably, you see.”

  “I don’t see,” I said, my temper simmering beneath my skin. “I don’t see any reason in this at all. You should have told me of my living conditions before selling this place to me. You said I’d like it.” They were tormenting me for no good reason. Bullies. The entire species of fae were picking on a visitor just to feel better about themselves.

  “I mentioned Thesnan being new. And that you’d be awed by the sights. Wasn’t that what happened?”

  “Yeah… but—”

  “Half-truths, lovely,” Nemreth said. “I warned you of them.”

  My throat dried. Nemreth wasn’t on my side. He was entrancing and had made me comfortable with his sweet tongue, but perhaps he was like Cendri. Maybe he hated me too. Maybe he was just better at hiding his distaste.

  “Try not to make this difficult,” he continued, disregarding the hatred I exuded. “We’ll keep you fed, clothed, and alive, but until you prove to the fae that you’re not like the dragon-kind in the stories, we can’t treat you better. I’m sorry. The king’s trying to open Thesnan up to the idea of your species entering our realm, but considering what happened, it’s going to be a slow process.”

  I didn’t understand anything.

  What had happened? And why did I have to suffer for it?

  The sheets of the bed had absorbed the smell of urine. The pungent smell made me nauseated. My nose was sensitive. Living here was going to be unbearable. As I lingered next to the bed, Kaji moved toward a cupboard and nudged his boot on it. A pile of dust puffed into the air. Kaji curled his lip up in disgust.

  “A sword,” I said, watching the men as they left my horseshit excuse of a place to live. “You promised you’d give us new weapons.”

  “Mhm,” Cendri replied. “You’ll have them tomorrow once training and lessons start.”

  “I want them now.”

  “You’re not in Constanria anymore, princess. Things won’t get served to you just because you ask for it. It’s time to live like one of the common folk.”

  I gestured to my rickety building. “You call this living normally? Are you out of your mind? This… This is the pits.”

  Cendri tutted. “Might as well try to have fun in it, then.” He sauntered away, his steps light.

  Fury burned through me as I watched him leave. I’d always been violent, preferring to use brute force to shove my way through situations. I blamed it on the dragon inside me. It was terrible at holding its temper. “Come back here, you—”

  I hadn’t even noticed myself. I’d been attacking Cendri, preparing to throw a fist at his jaw. A force caught me by the throat and lifted me into the air. A growl shook from my chest. “Let. Me. Go.” I bared my teeth at Aland, who’d trapped me with his magic. With the white force pouring from his fingers, he forced me backward, until I was leaning against the dust-covered wall of the outhouse.

  “You were going to attack Cendri,” Aland said coolly. “I can’t have that.”<
br />
  “You’re next.” My fingernails sharpened, claws growing.

  Aland maintained a blank expression. “Calm down, Lyra. Anger is an ugly look on you.”

  “Let me go!” I shrieked, wondering why it was so damn hard to get myself to calm down. Some people were weasels, able to smile through every situation—people like Nemreth. I, however, wore my heart on my sleeve, letting my emotions get the better of me. “I’m going to tear your throat out.”

  Kaji adopted a battle stance, but without his spear, he only had his fists. He spread his legs apart and summoned hot red flames, ready to throw them should he need to. “Put my mistress down. We don’t want a fight.”

  Cendri sniffed. “She’s the one who’s looking for a fight. We weren’t swinging fists around.”

  “You two can leave first,” Aland said. “I’ll handle this.”

  “Alone, Aland?” Nemreth asked. “You’re always talking about handling situations alone.”

  “I work better by myself.”

  Being held up like that, forced into such a weak position, caused me to grow livid.

  “Suit yourself,” Cendri said. He was the first out the door. He kicked the entrance of the outhouse open, obviously not caring about the structural integrity. I doubted he’d care if the entire building collapsed on me. He’d probably throw a mini celebration just to mock me.

  “You sure about this?” Nemreth asked. His green eyes, instead of seeming warm, now reminded me of cut gemstones. Beautiful, but also sharp and deceiving.

  “I’ll talk her down,” Aland replied.

  “Okay.” Nemreth sighed, rubbing his shoulder. He exited, shooting a smile toward me before he left. Aland, Kaji and I remained, facing each other, Aland’s power clamping around me and keeping me in place.

  “Hm,” Aland said. “It’s just me against two, now. Surely, you’re less threatened? You don’t have to keep flashing yellow eyes at me.”

  “I’m only asking to be treated better.”

  Aland pursed his lips. “Do you know why there is so much anger toward dragon-kind?”

  “No. Are you going to explain?”

  “Let me tell you the story.”

  “A story,” I said. Why was he telling me a story when I was craving for a fight?

  “I think it’s unfair for you to suffer this much persecution without understanding why.”

  “All right. Enlighten me, then,” I said bitterly.

  “This tale happened thousands of years ago, before our current mage meister was chosen, and before the last. The fae never forget. And so, the grudges remain.” Aland released a weary breath, as if the sheer act of speaking was tiring for him. “The fae enjoy their solitude and anonymity, but we allowed trade with dragon-kind. The exchanges between both species brought us prosperity, knowledge. We learned much about soul magic during that time.”

  I frowned. “Thousands of years?” I asked. “The Everborne family didn’t even rule then. Most likely, you interacted with the first ruler of drae lands, the Dragon Mother.”

  “She was dragon-kind, was she not?”

  Scowling, I said, “She was the worst of us. A dragon witch who abused dark magic to enslave most of the land. The people under her rule lived miserably, in fear every day. She harvested her subjects for her dangerous use of magic.” Already, upon hearing her name, I had a sense that she’d treated the fae badly, too. Surely, they couldn’t base their impressions of my people on the Dragon Mother? The stories I’d heard of her were atrocious. I swallowed thickly. “What did she do to the fae?”

  “Betrayed us,” Aland said. I noticed he’d lowered me. Our conversation had stifled my aggression. My feet grazed the floorboards. His magic continued to constrict me. Aland couldn’t fully trust me not to lash out at him, and rightfully so. I had no faith in my own temper. “The whole ordeal happened when we had an outbreak of chaos. Many of the trolls began slaying their own kind. Some of them grew into goliaths. Fueled by some unknown power, they became unmanageable, and we lost many warriors to the outbreak. We sought dragon-kind for help. They were far stronger, with greater numbers. We were promised more troops. Your ruler gave us false hope.”

  “She was not my ruler,” I said. “And all dragon-kind would agree. Nobody wants themselves associated with the Dragon Mother.”

  “Your own people might have forgotten, but we haven’t.”

  “She’s the kind of ruler to let down her subjects. Let me guess. She didn’t send the troops?”

  Aland dipped his head solemnly. “She let us die. Thousands of us. We made plans for reinforcements, or at least that’s how the story goes, and they never came. We might have prepared better had we known the truth, but dragon-kind’s betrayal weakened us. Many families, innocent fae, had been wiped out. Men, women, children, all the same. It was one of the greatest calamities the fae had experienced. All because dragon-kind went back on their promise. After that, the fae decided to close themselves to the outside. We were better managing our own problems. We don’t trust outsiders anymore.”

  “Dragon-kind today… We’re not the same people that had betrayed you.”

  “I wasn’t alive then. None of the fae were. We only remember the stories.”

  “Why try to rely on us now, then? The first time should have let you down enough. It puzzles me why you might expose yourselves to the same risk after that letdown hurt your race so much.”

  “Lysunth bears too much a threat.”

  “Who, now?”

  “The god who is behind the undead. She is a force so terrible and vast that even Neremin, our king, is afraid of her. Only he has tasted her power. We need a backup plan. The dragon-kind. We’ve heard of the drae lands changing, of having new rulers. Some fae, like Nemreth and I, are beginning to be more open to the idea, but we are still cautious. And so we will not treat you well until you prove to us that you can be trusted.”

  “Nemreth didn’t say that coming here would be a test.”

  “He hides the truth of many things. It’s a common habit of our kind. You’re beginning to see it, aren’t you?”

  “Quite clearly.”

  I must have calmed enough, since Aland released his magic from me. The tension was released from my limbs, and my claws retracted. That didn’t stop me from finding this all ridiculous.

  Kaji shared my sentiments. He snorted, smoke puffing from his nose. “You seek our help and yet you want to test us? Can you not hear yourself?”

  “It is the ways of the fae. Tests and trickery sing in our veins.” Aland tucked a long strand of his autumn hair behind his ear. “Most of this was Neremin’s idea, mind you. Perhaps this stage might not have been necessary if he didn’t lose his powers, but to save his wife, he gave up his magic. If he held more authority, the fae might have just listened to him and invited your kind in, but we lack faith in him now.”

  “Lost… his powers?” I asked.

  “It was folly on his part. Neremin Eilreine, previously the strongest fae in the realms, gave up his abilities to save the woman he loves. A mere Bellquaine lady. Someone of little importance. Maybe I would have done the same if I loved anybody that much. It’s a pity. I wonder what that feeling is like.”

  “What feeling?”

  “Love.” His icy stare lingered over me. “But I’ve heard it makes you weak, and the Cardells don’t like that. Weakness is punishable by death.”

  What was I supposed to say to that? I hadn’t had a romantic relation in my life. “I wouldn’t know either.”

  “Try not to offend the fae too much while you’re here. It’ll be terrible for the current teramarth predicament. I’m sorry about the lodgings. I’m certain it’s a far cry from what you’re used to, but it’s an interesting experience, for sure. You came here to explore the new, am I correct? That was what Nemreth told me.”

  “This wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.” I flicked my attention to the bed, then back to Aland. I wasn’t sure which sight made me more uncomfortable.

  “Ar
en’t surprises wonderful?” he asked, not sounding the least bit pleased. “I’ll be off now—”

  “Wait. You spoke of a test.” I liked challenges. I inched closer to Aland. “What is it?”

  “Oh, it won’t just be one.”

  I tilted my head, curious.

  “You will attend Rakarthen, just as any fae would, to fight alongside us. Students will constantly measure your wits and composure. How you act will determine how much the fae like you. I suggest you display a suitable image for your race.”

  “That’s not specific at all.”

  “This whole situation is frustratingly ambiguous.” Aland shook his head. He looked at me, eyes raking down my body. I tried reading his face, but the whitish irises threw me off too much. “I’ll ask the servants to send you some blankets. It gets chilly at night.”

  “Is there anything you can do about the smell?” I asked, pointing to my left, where I thought it might have been coming from.

  I thought Aland might just walk off. Instead, he nodded and clicked his fingers. The pungent scent disappeared as the bracelet on Aland’s wrist flashed. The bracelet was made from beads, similar to the soul beads I always saw Micah and Gaius use. They needed them to cast their spells. “That will remove the smell for one week, at most.”

  “A week?” I asked. “I have that long to win the fae over, then.”

  Aland smirked. I hadn’t thought him the type to smile. “If you do manage that,” he said, “then you will have accomplished a daunting feat. The fae are stubborn creatures.”

  “I’m stubborn, too. I guess we’re a good match, then.”

  His smile faded. It had only graced his lips for an instant. Aland departed after answering my questions. I watched his svelte form disappear as the wooden door closed. “Don’t be late for classes tomorrow,” he said. “They begin on the first chime of the bell.”

  Where was I even supposed to show up?

  The door clicked behind Aland.