Page 22 of A Witch and Her Dragon
“Of course I remember.” Maeve rolls her eyes, which are vivid purple, like the storm clouds she can summon at will. “But I didn’t realize he was giving youthismuch space. He usually lurks whenever we study here.” She pushes off the table and sinks into the chair next to mine, crossing her legs.
“I convinced him,” I say, giving up on taking notes. We all have a break period on Fridays, and this is where we gather when the weather isn’t nice enough to sit outside. Right now, another fall storm is brewing, tossing bright yellow and red leaves around the campus and striking the windows with vengeance.
“Not like it was hard,” Lyra says.
My gaze snaps to her. “What do you mean?”
Even Poppy looks up from her book, and my three roommates exchange glances.
“What?” I cap my inkwell and arch a brow, then lean back in my chair and cross my arms over my chest. “Tell me.”
“You could probably convince that man to breathe fire for you,” Lyra mumbles, her voice a bit muffled as she opens her robe to pet Juniper, who’s once again perched in the inside pocket.
“That’s ridiculous,” I say. “Raelan barely listens to me. I think the only reason he agreed is because it’s easier for him too.”
Poppy goes back to the rune translation, but Maeve cants her head at me. “Do you not see the way he looks at you?” she asks.
“Of course I do.” With a huff, I put my inkwell and potions textbook away in my shoulder bag. “Like I’m a job. An irritant. A child to be monitored. I don’t think he even wanted this job. But Grandfather forced him.”
Lyra scoffs, and Maeve’s plum lips quirk up on one side. Poppy is too invested in the runes she’s translating to react at all.
“Alina, are you serious?” Lyra asks after tucking Juniper back into her robe pocket. “Or are you being blissfully ignorant?”
I narrow my eyes at her sharply. “Ignorant?”
Of all the girls, Lyra dropped the whole “princess” act the quickest, almost immediately regarding me as she would anyone else. And though she has a brashness I’m not quite accustomed to yet, I kind of enjoy it—I feel like I can depend on her to always tell me the truth, my lineage be damned.
Lyra holds up her hands. “I don’t mean it in a bad way. I just mean... Well, it’s soobvious. Isn’t it obvious?” She looks at Maeve for affirmation, and she nods.
I’m losing interest in talking about this. For some reason, whenever the girls’ conversations turn to Raelan, my skin starts to crawl. Ever since Lyra asked me if she could have him, I’ve felt odd, like maybe they’ll all pay less attention to him ifIpay less attention to him, pretend like he’s not there.
Thus far, it’s not been successful.
“I’m just saying, he watches you like he wants to eat you,” Lyra says. She twists a curl around her finger. “I’m pretty jealous, to be honest.”
Maeve lets out a short burst of laughter, which warrants a sharp look from the librarian nearby. Poppy’s cheeks go red, and she puts a hand over her mouth to hide her smile.
“Now you’re just being silly,” I say dismissively, avoiding Lyra’s eyes as I gather up the last of my belongings and stand from the table. “I’m a job to him. That’s it.”
Lyra gives me a sideways smile and tips her head at me. “If you say so.”
“I do.” I heft my bag onto my shoulder with a grunt, then push my hair back over my shoulder. “See you girls for dinner?”
They all nod and wave as I step back from the table and start across the library. My last class on Fridays is archery—by far my favorite class of the week. First-years only get to pick one elective, and when I came across archery in the Coven Crest class pamphlet, it was an easy choice.
But our range is outside, and with the way the wind is blowing, I have a feeling we might get rained on. I’ll need to return to my dormitory and switch into my boots just in case.
The librarian smiles as I pass her by, and then I push through one of the big double doors and ease into the hallway. It’s a bit drafty today, and the candles are struggling to battle the darkness from the thick cloud cover.
Raelan stands across the hall, dressed in black and draped in a thick cloak. His gaze is trained out the window,and he hasn’t yet turned to look at me, so I’m given a rare moment to observe him without his awareness.
He’s clean-shaven, like all the guards in the King’s Royal Army, but there’s a bit of a shadow along his cheeks and jaw, dark like his short hair and thick brows. His eyes are narrowed, focused. I wonder what he’s looking for in the clouds. In these long moments of quiet, when all he does is stand around and wait for me, I wonder what he thinks about.
I still barely know him despite how much time we’re now forced to spend together. But maybe that’s a good thing—professional boundaries and all.
The library door opens behind me, another student passing through, and a draft sends my hair and robe fluttering. Raelan draws a breath, and his dark eyes snap toward me. As soon as he sees me, he straightens up, his typical cold demeanor and mask falling into place.
Looking at him now, I have no idea what Lyra and Maeve were going on about. He looks at me like I’m a slight annoyance, something to be withstood rather than enjoyed.
