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L ilith moved with her classmates as they attended classes, but her thoughts were consumed by what she learned that morning.

She had been reading some borrowed texts from Andishmand about runes.

From what she had learned, runes were an ancient language of the old gods.

The language holds history and had been taught from master to student for many ages until its unfortunate demise during a war that ravaged this kingdom several thousand years ago.

Most texts regarding rune knowledge were burned and lost.

By the time Elemental Incantations class came, Lilith was tense. She’d been hoping to avoid Prince Demetrius since the incident in the stables. He watched her as she entered the class and sat between her friends.

“Now that you’ve all gone through your emergence, we can return to our normal routine.

First years, you will get a chance to partner up with a fifth year.

You can choose the same one you had as a mentor for the tournament, or choose someone new.

” Sir Tornbury smirked. This was a game.

She could choose someone new, but the intense gaze the prince gave her told her that she was sure to pay for choosing someone else.

She followed Taran to stand by Demetrius.

Surprisingly, Lilith’s class had all chosen the same mentors as before.

She avoided looking directly at the prince.

“Great. You will work with each other for the remainder of the year. You will be training out in the courtyard. I will be there to supervise; however, you should rely on your fifth year to mentor you. At the end of each month, we will hold short sparring sessions between groups.” Sir Tornbury got up and walked out of the class.

Everyone filtered out. The prince held onto Lilith’s wrist.

“Taran, we will meet you outside. Get us a good spot,” hollered his cousin. Taran looked between the two and rolled his eyes.

“Yep,” was all he said as he walked off and closed the door behind him.

Lilith and the prince were alone. “Don’t ignore me,” he said as he pulled her in close. Lilith held in her rage.

“Did you know that your father fired mine?”

The prince frowned. “I heard a rumour from a friend that things are not right. I’m sorry, Lilith, that my father has acted so foolishly. I wish I could change things, but I’m here and not there.”

He was right. She knew she shouldn’t hold Demetrius responsible for the actions of his father. Without emotion, she said, “We should get moving, before people start to notice our absence.”

They met Taran in the courtyard. He once again rolled his eyes at them as they approached.

“They’ll stick like that if you keep doing that,” his cousin teased.

“It’s nothing,” Lilith whispered to Taran as he passed her .

“Right,” he murmured, unconvinced. He shot at her a spear of ice, which she gracefully caught.

They began duelling. Taran dealt blows that were stronger than usual.

He formed rats made of water that flew through the air and clawed at Lilith's face.

Their sharp little nails were trying to pry her mouth open.

She grabbed them and turned them to ice, shattering them as they came close.

Taran was clearly upset with her as they went back and forth, Lilith was intentionally holding herself back, and allowed Taran to work out his frustrations.

By the end of class, they were both bent over their knees, breathing heavily.

The prince had made some casual remarks about their techniques and left them once class was dismissed.

Taran grabbed her arm. “You’re sleeping with him,” he said, as a statement, not a question. “I don’t want to hear your excuse, but I warn you to be careful. He’s not allowed to get attached. Not unless it’s approved by his parents."

Lilith glared at him, straightening herself. “You are jumping to conclusions and it’s none of your business.” She pulled herself out of his grasp and stomped away.

Nothing escaped Felicia’s notice. She hounded Lilith as they walked to the dorm.

“What was that about?” she asked Lilith.

“Taran is placing his concern when there isn’t a need for it,” she replied in a whisper. There were curious ears all around them.

Felicia looked around and nodded. “Tell me later?” She glanced at her friend. “You have an admirer.” She pointed with her nose towards the prince who was talking with Narticia at the entrance to the women's dorm .

“Maybe he's here to chat with her?” Lilith replied, as she nodded to the pair.

“Wait, Lilith, the prince would like a moment.” Narticia pushed Felicia into the dorm; the latter was smirking.

“If you would like to follow me.” He nodded to a few second year ladies as he walked off and they burst into giggles.

This time it was Lilith that rolled her eyes.

She had no desire to go with him. His forward behaviour was tiresome, but he was her superior and not following him would bring more issues for her.

He walked her down the corridor, past the main hall and stopped at a painting of a man on the horse.

‘ There are many passages in this castle,' the prince had once told her.

The hallway only had a few stragglers meandering by.

Demetrius waited until the area was vacant to open a small latch on the side of the frame.

It clicked and swung open on discreet hinges.

He motioned for her to climb the narrow stone spiral staircase.

He locked the frame behind them and ascended the stairs.

They reached the top towards another hinged painting.

The prince pressed his way past her, taking his time, and unlocked the door.

They entered a room with a large four poster bed, desk and wardrobe.

“This is your room? You get your own private quarters.” Lilith looked around.

A stack of books was on the floor with a candle that was on its last legs, long waxy drips hardened down the spines of the books.

His desk was full of clutter, with scrolls and crushed pieces of parchment taking up the surface.

The room was toasty as it had its own fireplace- a stark contrast to the dorm she shared with the other ladies.

There were no cracked windows or thin blankets .

“The perks of being a prince.” He leaned on the wall beside the door.

“Mm,” Lilith replied, trying to not show her jealousy. “If you want a bed mate, I suggest you find someone else.” She was now staring at his large comfy four poster bed with green draped curtains. It looked so inviting.

Demetrius laughed. “There was a reason why I wanted to talk with you. I have another assignment for you. I’ve hesitated getting you involved since the last time…”

“Why? I can take care of myself,” Lilith interrupted, to voice her defence.

“This task will be different from the last. I need you to come with me to Vanguard,” he said to her.

“What do you mean ‘different from the last?'”

“There is serious discussion among the faculty of closing the school. It will happen soon and when it does, you’ll be given the choice to return home, or you could come with me to the capital.”

“What? They’re closing the school? Are things that serious?” Lilith looked genuinely surprised by this news. She thought Lord Helmer would try and keep this school open for as long as possible.

“All academies will be closing, including Ardaven. Not just us.”

“Why would you need me to come with you? I doubt your father would take kindly to my presence. You know, daughter of the man he had removed from his service.” Lilith tried to hide the seething anger that welled within her.

“I don’t think my father was behind that. In truth, he had heard of your abilities from me and recommended bringing you to Vanguard before things escalated.” The prince moved to stand next to his bed.

“What purpose do I serve there?” Her eyes bounced between him and the bed.

“I need ears. Though discretion is not your strong point, I do need your abilities. You have proven yourself to be a worthy asset.” He scanned down her body, which sent shivers up her spine.

“Are you not concerned that I might turn on you, given that my family has no ties to the royals?” She backed away towards one of the other doors.

He smirked, “No. But I can offer you a deal. I know you’ve been studying runes.

Vanguard has the largest inventory of texts at our library.

I will grant you access. Not to mention that you may not have ties to the royals, but you are tied to the lords.

If a rebellion takes over, Lord Elwin and his son…

” He looked intensely at her. “Their lives will be at risk.”

Lilith turned bright red. She told him the story behind the runes, not of her prophecy with Amiriel.

He knew her secret. She had been careful not to bring up Lord Elwin’s son when someone had asked about the binding spell, yet he knew.

Most likely from Lord Elwin himself, or maybe Lord Helmer knew too.

“I don’t care about Lord Elwin or his son. As I have said before, I am only interested in breaking this curse and keeping my family safe. If I go with you, I want you to promise you’ll help keep my brothers and father safe.” The prince gave her a sultry grin.

“I promise I will keep them safe.” He walked over to her and stood within arms reach.

Lilith held up her hand. “However, I have a condition.” The prince cocked his head and waited.

“We’ll have to go to my place first. I want to check in on my family, get my father’s counsel, and then we move to Vanguard. ”

“Your family may try to stop you.”

She was tired of people controlling her. “They may. However, if you come with me, they will be less inclined to stop me.”

Demetrius tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. “Thanks to your description of those who attended the meeting, we’ve been able to apprehend some of the people involved in the rebellion plan. Sir Prichard squealed like a pig. He gave us the names and locations of their allies.”

“If you suspected Sir Prichard from the beginning, why wait until that meeting to make a move on them? Why not bring him in from the start?”

“There are politics when dealing with lower ranked nobles. We would further incite hatred towards us, lords and royals, if we started treating them all like criminals.”

“Well, if that’s all you wanted to discuss, I will leave.” Lilith stepped away from him and made for the frame. She felt emotionally drained. “Oh, and I have a condition if we’re to continue to work together.”

The prince crossed his arms and said, “That I will stop being so forward with you.” Lilith nodded. He moved to his desk and looked at some parchment, “I will try, but I can't promise anything.”