It was late in the afternoon when the history test took place. The second test for this semester and if Mel passed it, she would be well on her way to complete her basic magic training. She just had one more test to finish after this before she would be let inside the dragon forge and all her dreams would come true.

She stepped into the classroom with Gabs at her side, smiling wide and feeling hopeful about the day. Mel sat down next to Austin, who was already there. The classroom felt empty today. Most students wouldn’t arrive for a while.

Mel felt a soft blush spreading on her cheeks and she tried not to look too closely at Austin. They exchanged painfully awkward greetings and then continued to stare down at their respective desks. Mel’s heart was pounding in her chest and she felt silly for letting him affect her like this.

She swallowed and licked her lips. “So, how’s your brother?”

“My brother?”

“Yeah,” Mel said. “I met him, you know, at the wall during the attack. He saved the day. He’s an elemental warrior, right?”

Austin nodded. “He’s a water singer. One of the best I’m told. High ranking among the elemental warriors.”

“Yup,” Mel said. “And how is he?”

Austin scratched the back of his neck, looking a bit flustered. “I guess he’s fine. We don’t really talk a lot. Derek’s busy and often out on missions in the wasteland for days or even weeks at a time.”

“You must really look up to him,” Mel said. “He’s your role model, right?”

“Yeah, he is,” Austin said.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Where is your mom?” Mel asked.

“Around,” Austin said.

“Does she live in the mansion with you?”

“Look, it’s nice that you seem to want to get to know me,” Austin said. “But we really don’t have to do this. We’re already friends, Melissa. And I really should focus on the test.”

“Oh, okay, sure,” she said.

Austin stared down at his desk again, and Mel saw Gabs walking up to them. She sat down on the chair in front of their desks.

“Where is everyone?” Gabs asked.

“I guess we’re just early,” Mel said.

“It’s too late for a test. I just want to go home and do something else, anything else. Are you going to see Marcus tonight?”

Austin’s head jerked up from his desk, and he stared at Mel.

“I’m just going to stay in. Marcus and I don’t see each other every single night.”

Gabs rolled her eyes and then turned to Austin. “How about you? What are your plans after the test?”

“Nothing,” Austin said.

“So do you want to hang out, celebrate completing the brunt of the semester?” Gabs asked.

“No, I have plans,” Austin said.

Mel and Gabs shared a quizzical look, and Austin seemed to notice this.

“Thanks for inviting me,” Austin added. “But I have plans tonight. Maybe some other time.”

“Thanks for the nice rejection,” Gabs said, and gave Austin a mocking smile.

It grew quiet between the three and Mel held her breath, waiting for someone to break the silence. Eventually, people did.

Voices sounded down the corridor and soon the classroom was filled with students who were ready to take the test. Gabs moved away from the seat in front of Mel and took her place next to Dean.

Professor Monroe joined the class and handed out a single piece of paper to every student. She told them to write the answers on the paper and their names. She walked around the classroom and made sure they all moved their desks away from each other. No peeking was allowed.

“I will write the questions on the blackboard and you just write the number and your answer,” Professor Monroe said. “I will grade your papers after class and you will receive your results in the morning. I expect most of you will pass this test. It’s not meant to be hard. Just to test that you have listened to and attended all the history classes.”

#

Mel handed in her answers to Professor Monroe when class had ended, and that was that. She felt good about this test, unlike the last one, and she hadn’t even tried to glance at Austin’s paper during. She had finished it all on her own, and Mel felt herself grow a little taller. Respecting herself a little more.

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

Austin handed in his test after Mel and then grabbed his navy blue cloak. He wrapped it around his body and then headed for the door. Mel felt her heart drum inside her chest. She remembered what Marcus had said about him visiting someone down by the wall. She wanted to grab his arm and demand he told her who he was seeing and why.

Most of all, she wanted to tell him about her dagger, about her great grandfather, and her destiny. She knew he had read A mage smith’s memoir, and she desperately wanted to ask him about it. Ask him why her great grandfather was mentioned in the end. She suspected Austin Taveck knew more about magic than most people in Aldrion would ever learn.

Mel took a few quick steps up to Dean and Gabriella, who sat talking with each other about the test and their answers. She cleared her throat, and they both looked up at her with lines on their foreheads.

“Gabs, could I ask you for a favor?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“Can I borrow your cloak?” Mel asked.

Gabs pulled up her cloak from the back of her chair and handed it to Mel. It was dark purple with black embroidered lace on the edges. A high-quality cloak if Mel ever saw one and Mel wrapped it around her body, running toward the door and after Austin.

She didn’t know what she was doing exactly. Why she had had the impulse to do something so reckless as follow a fellow classmate around town. She felt embarrassed by her own decision, but couldn’t stop herself now. A part of her just needed to know where he was going.

Mel wanted to know if Austin was a spy for the governor or someone else? She wasn’t even sure why he would be a spy or what would be so interesting about her to spy on. But her thoughts had made up all these ridiculous fantasies of where he could possibly go at night and she just needed to put them to sleep once and for all. She couldn’t take another night of staring up at the ceiling in her room and wondering where Austin was and with who.

She ran out from the gate to Falden and tucked in her dark hair inside the hood of the cloak, dragging it down almost to her eyes. She spotted him on the road down toward the town square, and for a second Mel thought he would just turn up the road to the mansion and that would be that.

But Austin walked past the crossroads and continued toward town square, making Mel feel slightly more entitled in following him. The sun was setting on the horizon and it was barely light enough to keep him in her field of vision. Luckily for Mel, there was only one road leading down from Falden and there weren't many places he could go off to.

As they approached town square, the sun finally settled and darkness took over. There were market stalls everywhere and people swarming the road. Lanterns hung for sale at shops and there were torches lighting most places. Austin continued down toward town square until he came to a market stall selling flowers.

Mel had to jump into an alleyway, terrified he would spot her, when he turned toward the merchant. She glanced out from the corner of a stall selling hats and bags. The merchant, an older man, took one look at her purple cloak and a wide smile spread across his lips. He took a step toward her and then spoke rapidly as he explained to her the different materials of bags.

Mel said nothing and kept an eye on Austin, who was looking at a couple of mountain daisies grown here in Aldrion. They had black petals and a pink center, just the kind of flower one would buy for a lover. He stuck his nose among the petals and breathed in, closing his eyes and smiling.

The merchant, trying to sell Mel bags, noticed that she wasn’t paying attention to him and looked across from them at Austin. He returned his gaze to her, giving her a strange sideways glance.

“A nice hat would certainly impress that boy,” the merchant said.

Mel gave him a thin-lipped smile. “I’m not here to impress anyone.”

The merchant grabbed a hat, hanging from a mounting on his stall. It was green and made with some kind of treated wicker. On the top, pink feathers were mounted with blue flowers surrounding them. It was sort of everything Mel hated combined into one awful piece of headwear.

The merchant stretched his arms toward Mel’s head and planted the hat on top. Austin finally bought a bouquet of mountain daisies and headed away from the stall and toward an alley. Mel threw off the hat, winced at the merchant, who barely caught it before it fell to the ground and ran after Austin.

She hadn’t made it this far just to lose him here in the market. She followed him down the alley, keeping just a short distance between them. Hoping he wouldn’t recognize her in Gabs’ cloak if he glanced over his shoulder and saw her. She wasn't good at sneaking around and, honestly, anyone could have spotted her terrible attempt at stalking someone.

Mel was just glad that Austin seemed entirely preoccupied with himself to even notice anyone around. He exited the alley, and they made it out to a street with small houses, looking to be made for families. They were located by the wall, just like Marcus had told Mel, and her heart sped up again.

This whole evening had been nothing more than her heart going through an intense workout. Every single second, it felt like it might jump out of her chest. She would definitely need to lie down for a while after this.

Austin stopped outside a wooden house, and Mel’s heart slowed. This was it.

He walked inside, not even knocking, but like he lived there. Mel waited around a corner, looking at the house for a while before she felt sure he wouldn’t emerge again. She snuck up to the house and saw nothing.

It was dark on this street, but from the house, a light shone in the window. Mel walked over some kind of lawn that was way too dry to be healthy. She climbed over a couple of bushes and then finally made it up to the window. She peered into what looked like a kitchen and saw Austin seated at a table.

The mountain daisies stood in a vase in front of him and a woman with long black hair was cooking something on the stove. Mel’s heart stopped and her mouth gaped open. She leaned in closer, almost pressing her nose against the glass, and stared at this woman.

She was exactly like she had imagined one of Austin’s girlfriends, tall and slender. She had grace in her movements and when she stirred the pot, her pinkie shot up from the spoon. Mel had always thought Austin was perhaps into blondes, but seeing her, she felt just right. Like the kind of person Austin would love, all regal and superior. Just like himself.

Then Mel’s eyes turned even wider when she saw another woman walking into the room. She was different from the one by the stove. Her hair was blonde and her shape more curvy and full. Maybe she was more like Austin’s type.

But wait? Did he have two women?

Mel leaned in even closer, feeling like she just needed to look a little longer at them to figure this one out. Two women were cooking for Austin and he bought them flowers. What was this?

Suddenly, she felt an icy chill traveling down her spine and a feeling of needles prickling her skin. Mel’s gaze shot toward the table where Austin was seated and for a second their eyes caught. Mel's heart drummed to life in her chest again and her body willed her to move away. She jumped over the bushes, getting caught in branches and feeling them rip at the edges of her pants.

She crossed the withered grass and made it out on the street again, when she heard a person behind her panting.

“Gabriella?” Austin asked.

Mel quickened her steps, running down the street, but didn’t make it far until she felt a hand on her arm and Austin pulling her toward him. He brushed her hood away, and Mel stared into his dark eyes, feeling her blood rushing through her veins.