Page 37 of Is It Wrong to Escape My Fate? (Dealing With Fate #1)

I wanted to say the rest of the week had been normal, but I would also be deluding myself.

I didn’t have to attend classes the following Wednesday — not that I could — and woke up to my knights sleeping with me on an enormous bed.

Like, sleep sleep. I asked for a comforting hug to help me rest and they complied; Reuben spooned me while I hugged Robin.

When I woke up, I had hugged Reuben, and Robin spooned me. It was very amusing.

After a huge breakfast courtesy of the Prince, I left the mansion as quickly as I could. Mia patiently waited for me at the dorm. She cried when she saw me. The tightness in my chest at the sight had me fearing it would be harder to escape in the future.

Again, future Bea’s problem.

Spending the day cooped up in my room, reading through Teleportation books Mia checked out for me from the library, helped me calm down a lot. Like I didn’t have big problems waiting for me.

Then I dreaded Thursday. While the men assured me that the incident was kept under wraps as they investigated, I couldn’t help but think if the event somehow leaked. Not to mention the perpetrator, who was almost certainly among the thousands of students and staff, would watch and observe me.

I refused to appear scared. Whoever they were, they’d see me go through my day as if nothing happened. As if the kidnapping didn’t affect me at all.

And I did go through my classes. The excuse for my absence had been a minor accident during one of my extracurricular with Vincent Lovell.

Apparently, accidents with his experiments were common enough that the administration didn’t even question it.

Dahlia didn’t question it too when she asked what happened to me, but something told me she didn’t wholly believe it. Or maybe it was my paranoia again.

The classes went as expected, and Professor Uriel Strom put off our one-on-one class in favor of letting me get more rest. Friday would be the first year’s assessment, and the extra time of rest would only be beneficial for me.

I didn’t hear about the investigation at all. Claude was my classmate, but he never talked about it. I knew he knew something about it since it was the Prince and Lord Grimwald investigating the case, both Champions like him. Did they even plan to tell me?

I asked Claude about it once. All he said was, “They’re still looking into it. Be patient, baby girl.”

Hard to be patient when a literal guy hated me so much, he had me kidnapped.

The rest of the men were either busy enough that I didn’t see them, or they were purposely avoiding me. Which was true? I’d never know.

Friday came. After External Magic class and lunch, it was time for Physical and Combat Training again.

Last week, we did basic exercises while our three professors observed us, taking notes here and there about our physical capabilities.

Aside from the bullshit incident, it was fairly simple. Like gym class.

Dressed in our training clothes, I headed to the field with Dahlia, followed by Elias and Claude who had taken over being my bodyguards since my actual bodyguards could only sit at the wayside.

When we arrived, it was like a repeat of last time; aside from our three professors, the Prince was observing too.

Vincent in the garden, tending to some plants, while Amos had his class next to ours, and knowing Theodore, he was here … somewhere.

“Today will be your magic affinity assessment,” Samuel — Professor Grimwald announced, looking over at us, glossing over me.

“The test will determine the Element you are most attuned to. Your magic will tend to favor a specific Element, and if not, you might have the gift of Recovery magic instead.”

Would the weird block on my magic affect my result?

My heart stammered in my chest as my gaze found Professor Strom, who was whispering something to Professor Grimwald at the same time.

The professor continued. “You do not need to cast any spells. Everyone will be assessed at once, externally. I ask only that you comply when you feel your mana being drawn. It’s part of the process.”

Great. Mana drain. I’d read a book where the author lamented the effects of having their mana pulled involuntarily. Headaches and body aches, among other things.

“Professor Altha’s here if you feel any negative effects after the test,” Professor Grimwald gestured to Professor Derrick Altha, who squirmed a little where he stood, face pink. I couldn’t help but smirk; he probably felt shy from all the attention, and that was decidedly cute.

I really shouldn’t be thinking of my professors as cute.

“Wonder what you’re smirking about,” Claude chuckled from my right.

“Nothing worth discussing,” I grumbled. I got caught ogling. Distracting myself from that embarrassment, I turned to Dahlia to my left, but she frowned as she concentrated on the dos and don’ts announced to us. This must be a big deal to her, so I decided not to bother her.

“I’ll probably get Fire affinity,” Elias mumbled from behind me, more to himself than us. “Or maybe Earth. I could cast some of both.” That made sense to me because of his dragon-ness.

“Air for me,” Claude replied. “I make a mean swing with my sword.”

“That doesn’t affect your magic,” Elias laughed. I was glad these two could get along despite the circumstances.

What circumstances? Like the fact both had confessed their affection for me, and while Claude wasn’t aware of Eli’s, Eli was very much aware of Claude’s.

It still didn’t affect their potential friendship.

But of course I didn’t know Claude that well yet, so who knows how he’d react if it was the other way around?

Maybe react terribly, if only because he tried to claim me for himself last week. I hoped I was wrong.

“Nervous?” he whispered as the professors prepared for whatever needed to be done for the assessment.

“A little?” I couldn’t predict how the test would affect my situation. This might very well be the end of me.

It began to sink in.

If the test somehow told the truth about me …

Claude reached for my hand, linking our fingers together. “It’s gonna be fine, baby girl. I’m here. Eli’s here too, I guess.”

“I’ve always been around,” Elias groused, annoyed but with a playful tone. I giggled at their nonsense.

At that moment, more staff members arrived, surrounding our group of students. For a moment, it felt like we’d been enclosed in some ritual circle, ready for a sacrifice.

Just kidding. Mostly.

“Begin,” Professor Strom exclaimed, raising his arms in unison with the other senior mages and chanting incomprehensible words.

A bright light surrounded us.

The pull of magic was immense. My breath caught in my throat, the pressure on my chest so strong as if I was breathing underwater.

I tried to fight off the pull even though I knew I shouldn’t.

In my effort, I removed my hand from Claude’s grasp to grab my head with both hands, resisting the spell so, so hard despite a deeper part of me screaming to fucking stop.

Was this really the end for me? Why was this magic overwhelming me so much? What was wrong with me?

Nothing.

Then why was it trying to get into my head?

Get out!

Get out!

GET. OUT.

And then it stopped.

“Bea?” Dahlia called. I snapped my eyes open; her face was etched with deep concern. “You okay?”

I gulped to wet my suddenly dry throat. “I’m good. What happened?”

Dahlia glanced around before turning back to me. “Well, they cast a mass diagnostics spell, I think.”

Diagnostic? That was an information-type spell? Then what the hell did I feel?

“The color of your glow represents your affinity,” Samuel’s voice reached my ears as I stared at my hands. “Red for Fire, blue for Water, yellow for Air, green for Earth. And the rare orange for Recovery, or purple for Divine.”

I stared at my hands some more.

“What does it mean when it’s white?” Claude asked, glowing a bright white. Now that I really looked around, everyone glowed, even Dahlia, who I didn’t notice glowed neon green.

“You have multiple affinities, I guess?” Elias answered him, who, as expected, had a warm, red glow. “You are the Hero of the Kingdom, after all.”

Right. Main character energy. So what did it mean when I glowed nothing ?

The spell didn’t work on me.

Prince Winston was on us in an instant, surprising my classmates as they parted to make way for him. He focused on Claude, first. “Affinity to all Elements. Expected.”

Claude beamed widely. “Awesome!”

Winston turned to me next. “You, on the other hand, need a retest. Professors, please.” He walked back to the front of the group, and I stood there aghast; did he expect me to follow?

I glanced back at Dahlia, Claude, and Elias, and the three of them looked as confused as I was. With hesitancy, I walked after the Prince, and I realized every student had a glow around them in reds, blues, greens, and yellows, with the rare oranges, and no purples. I was the only one without.

When I reached the front where our three professors were, I was very sure everyone’s eyes were on me. I didn’t want to look back to confirm.

“It’s alright, Bea,” Derrick murmured as Uriel placed a hand on the top of my head. “This happens occasionally.”

Samuel clicked his teeth. “I told you not to resist.”

“I’m going to recast the spell,” Uriel finally exclaimed, more for my benefit than the others’. “This shouldn’t be painful or intrusive, but let us know if you feel there’s something wrong.”

Great. If it wasn’t supposed to be intrusive, then what happened to me?

Uriel whispered the incantation again, his brown eyes boring through mine. As his hand glowed, the light spreading to me, the prodding was there again, attempting to dig into my head. I fought off the urge to grab my head by clenching my hands into fists and squinting my eyes shut.

I couldn’t let them know.

Not yet.

Not ever.

I should eventually.

Never, ever, ever!