Page 6

Six

G rimot could not believe what he agreed to, could not believe that he offered more of his precious time away. Not to just anyone, but to a student that was clearly hopeless, who didn’t seem to have an ounce of magic running through her veins. The only positive was that Kamine seemed determined to do anything. And what choice did he have? If even one of his students failed, then his curse would come to fruition.

“You look angry, Grim,” a voice he recognized all too well said. Kestra spit out a cherry pit into a bowl as she stared at him, pity in her eyes. “Tough first week?”

Kestra was Headmaster Dritoria’s right hand. She worked through all the logistics of class schedules, boarding rooms, and everything in between. Most importantly, she was gifted with the sight of the Weather Gods. She was the agent that followed whatever dreams the Gods bestowed on her. She would be the one to place the Heart where the Gods wished it. That meant she knew everything. Even information Headmaster Dritoria was not privy to.

But Kestra was the reason he was in this predicament.

Grimot wanted to turn back around and avoid her, but that would be running away, and he refused to be spineless. He stepped into the room.

“You look bored. Haven’t found a new student to harass yet?”

She smiled, her white teeth gleaming even in the dim, cavernous room. “I always appreciate how you’re never afraid to be a bitch to people. Even when you were a student, you never backed down.”

“That’s how you win.”

“Well, I wouldn’t go that far,” Kestra said, a little too proudly. “I helped you win, remember?”

Of course she had to remind him. She loved bringing it up at every opportunity. Unfortunately for him, she was right. Her insider information had allowed him to find the Heart in record time, even beating Kamine’s mother’s timing. As a result, the Gods had christened him a cheater.

“Your guidance only got me so far,” he clarified. “That information would be pointless in the hands of someone powerless.” A weak excuse, but he needed to gain higher ground with her.

She sighed deeply and got up from her seat to place her hands on both his shoulders. She squeezed gently. Her nails were painted bright pink, a color she never strayed from. Those exact fingers, with that exact color, once wrapped around his length, stroking him. He shuddered at the memory.

“No need to get defensive. It’s all in the past now.”

He wished it was, but he could read it on her face that she expected more from him. She had kept their secret because it would equally hurt her reputation. He anticipated that one day, she would fuck all, and let everyone know that he was a fraud—that he had used his body to seduce, and tempt the words of where the Heart would be located from her mouth. How his tongue had trailed from her clit, upwards, to her neck, as if dragging the truth out of her with each and every one of her breathy moans. It had worked, and at the time, he’d had no regrets. Even months after winning, the glory and fame had seemed worth it.

That all changed when the reality of his Undertaking hit him like one of those boulders, and his mind and body could no longer function with his deceit coursing through him. Then, Kestra revealed what she had seen in a dream, how all five Weather Gods had appeared to her and damned him. They would punish him if he didn’t show his dedication to the court by teaching this cohort until they succeeded, with no cheating involved. Failure would lead him to turn to stone, while his mind remained completely conscious of his surroundings.

A curse.

After he won, he had become directionless and unmotivated. His one purpose in life was now gone, wiped away as soon as his hands touched the amethyst gem that was this court's Heart. Now, his only goal was to continue living and living better, even if he already had suffered signs of his body changing. Every day he woke up more stiff than the last, his joints less flexible, as if they were being crusted over with dried clay.

“Right,” he said, removing her arms from around him. “Let’s keep it in the past, then.”

She pouted, her pursed lips so close to his. “But I miss this.” She placed her hands on his pants, right over his cock, but he refused to be affected by it. She rubbed him, and he closed his eyes, breathing through it. “You certainly have gotten pickier. This used to wind you up so fast.”

“I was younger, and far more stupid then.”

“Oh please,” she turned around, swaying her hips as she picked another cherry and popped it into her mouth. Having been a student before, Grimot knew that the school spoiled the professors when it came to food. Grimot remembered having to stomach the most awful mush. He would have to drink water with each spoonful just to get it down. Many had rumored that the food contained a powder sourced from the Weather Gods that would energize the students. Some said that it was amethyst—the same gemstone as the Heart—ground into dust. Grimot never really cared. “That was only five years ago. You’re still young. Much younger than me at least.”

She had been minister for many years already when Grimot arrived as a participant. Now, she was somewhere in her mid-forties, in comparison to Grimot’s twenty-seven. Still, an Undertaking changed a person. It was one thing to just live through the yearly Undertaking as a bystander, and another to be the one that determined the fate of a village’s survival.

“I have somewhere to be.”

“Running away so quickly?” she chuckled, the sound chasing him as he sought the privacy of his room.

“I can’t believe what I agreed to,” Kamine whined to her friends, as she laid on her bunk. She stared up at the bottom of the top bunk that she could touch with her hands. She had already hit her head on it this morning when she woke up. “I’m an idiot, a masochist.”

Her friends weren’t saying anything, just letting her vent. Zoya and Janina tossed a rock back and forth to each other with their powers. With each throw, they made the rock do flips and tricks in the air. At one point, Zoya bounced the rock off Kamine’s knee.

“Tell me how to get out of this,” Kamine begged. She had to find a solution. Perhaps she could go to Headmaster Dritoria and claim that Professor Grimot forced her into the agreement. But that would be a lie, and she didn’t want to outcast herself further.

“Maybe just don’t show up,” Janina offered from her spot on top of the dresser. She sat with her legs crossed, the wood groaning under her weight. Even the furniture here was barely functional.

“That sounds like a dumb plan,” Kamine said, exasperated. She just wanted to close her eyes and sleep, but how could she when tomorrow, she would be spending private time with a man who clearly had it out for her. When they had arrived at the Purple Hall, there was a note waiting there for Kamine, letting her know the time to meet Professor Grimot in the magic classroom.

“I think this will be a good thing. Practicing without an audience of judging eyes might allow you to relax.”

Of course Zoya would see the positive here. Kamine wished she could see it the same way. Instead, she expected to leave the session with tears streaking her face as she limped through the halls.

Janina jumped down from her spot, threw the rock outside the door, and waited. Within seconds, the rock came back like a boomerang. “It’s better than what we’ve tried.”

“Also, just think. The others are going to be so jealous that you get extra time with him. That alone should feel satisfying. I know Roz would beg on her knees for it.”

Kamine turned to her side, looking up at the both of them. “I guess you’re right.”

Janina stretched her back. “Speaking of Roz, I should head back to my room. She’ll get pissed if I disturb her beauty sleep, and I don’t want to wake up tomorrow buried in rocks.”

Zoya raised her brows. “Did she threaten to do that?”

“No, but her eyes tell all.”

“I fucking hate this place,” Kamine admitted.

“Well, we’re stuck, so let’s make the best of it.”

Janina nodded at Zoya’s words. “Who knows, after all the training with Professor Grimot, you might even be the one to find the Heart.”

Kamine gasped dramatically. “Janina, thinking of the possibility of someone else getting the Heart? You must have hit your head.”

“It might be possible,” Janina started, “only if I were dead before I could get there first.”