Chapter 5

FREYA His eyes are on me, daring, challenging and furious.  Uh, this is bad… So, he has the power of fire at his disposal and probably even controls it better than I do my ice. Wrong person to confront. Good job, Freya…   Hm, since when did I start calling myself Freya too? “You will regret this!” he grits through his teeth and I know that he means it. But then his face changes, he smirks and raises his chin, looking me up and down, “Unless you apologize to me, of course.”   Hmm, not a bad price. And I am neither arrogant nor proud, so…   “On your knees!” he adds.   Ugh, I have enough of this nonsense!   “In your dreams!” I snap, “If one of us has to apologize, that would be you! And I am not petty enough to make you fall to your knees. Just a simple sorry would be fine…”   He looks at me, startled. And then he burst out laughing. But it’s not a good laugh…   “You sure think too highly of yourself, Freya Winter, to think that I would ever be apologizing to a lowborn like you!” he almost spits those words.   “That’s fine,” I shrug my shoulders, “After your little show right now I did not expect you to have at least an ounce of nobility in you! After all, a title is just a title! What’s inside of a person matters more. And in that sense, you are not impressive at all!”   His lip trembles just for a second but he takes himself under control quickly, putting his hands behind his back and spreading his chest, “You would beg me to take you in! You would beg for my protection. On your knees. Mark my words.”   I want to say something else, but fire covers his whole body and he disappears. What the… Can people here do that?! Can I do that?! The thoughts of that worry me more than everything that happened tonight taken together and I fall asleep later than usual, although we are supposed to have an early morning the next day.       In the morning I bring breakfast upstairs to Rickie and myself and we chat a little bit. He is very excited and prays for me to get that scholarship and get into the Academy. And I know that I will do anything to not disappoint this kid. He is willing to let me go even though then he would stay completely alone in that place! Well, he’ll have Annika, of course. But I am sure this is not the same for him…   I take my little bag, I don’t have much with me. Correction there. I don’t have much at all. The clothes I am wearing were given to me yesterday and only because we are all supposed to ride in the carriage with Troy. The Beauforts want to at least pretend like they are taking care of me. They don’t know yet that my invitation is probably already canceled by that arrogant prick! But I don’t tell them because this is a new set of clothes that were supposed to be Eliza’s spare. But now it’s mine. And I need to make a good impression on the headmaster!   Downstairs, Eliza is the first to climb into  Troy’s luxurious carriage, Kai helps her and gets in next. I don’t move, standing there with my little shabby bag when I hear an annoyed voice, “How long are you going to make us wait?”   Troy is looking at me as if I owe him something.   “Haven’t you changed your mind?” I raise my brow, “About me going…”   “Not at all, get inside!” he says firmly with a smirk on his face.   Damn it! I really hoped that I wouldn’t have to see him! Not that lady Beaufort is a better company but after yesterday… that fire mage just creeps me out. It might be a trap for all I know. If he wants to take revenge on me then Eliza and Kai are not going to stop him. And they would probably even help him if they could!   I sigh and with a heavy heart walk up to him, looking upstairs at Rickie’s window and waving him for the last time before getting inside. Troy helps him and his hand feels hot, way too hot. He probably wanted to burn me a bit or something… But it’s going to be hard, considering my abilities… Good luck, asshole!   The road is long and surprisingly uneventful. The three of them talk of Academy once again, discuss other people and laugh at them. I, however, do not participate. And not that I could, considering I don’t even know anything. So, I get a book out of my bag and start reading. It’s on local history and etiquette. Unlike everyone else here, I have a huge gap in my education. And I need to fill it fast if I wish to continue with my plan.    I find a chapter on the tournaments and to my disappointment find out that there are different kinds of those with different rules. And I have no idea which one is the one we are heading to is…   “You are some bookworm!” Troy snorts after their conversation dies down, “Clung to that book as if your life depends on it!”   It does.   “There are loads of interesting cognitive information in books,” I sigh, “You should try one sometimes!”   “Are you crazy, Freya?!” Kai grits through his teeth, “That’s no way to speak to the Crown Prince!”   Oh, s**t… s**t, s**t, s**t! I don’t even swear much but I can’t stop repeating the same word in my mind as a look at Troy’s smug face with my jaw dropped to the floor! Why hasn’t anyone mentioned that before?! Why?!   “What?” he is clearly gloating, “You had no idea?”   “None,” I admit dryly, “No one addresses you as a prince…”   “There are no titles in the Academy and I allow my friends not to use them in our leisure time as well,” he says.   “I see. Good to know.”   “Changed your mind about what we’ve been talking about yesterday now?” he smirks and for a second it seems that fire appears in his eyes again. But it dies down quickly.   “No,” I answer honestly and his smirks fades, his hands are crossed on his chest and fingers are tapping one of his biceps.    “What are you two talking about?” Eliza interrupts us and for the first time ever I am happy to hear her voice.   “Nothing!” Troy cuts her off and looks outside the window. For the rest of the road, we all sit in silence. Eliza and Kai try to start conversations a few times but his Highness is not in a good mood anymore.    And I… I am terrified. I can’t afford to have enemies in this unfamiliar world. And to have a Crown Prince as the enemy is just the worst thing that could happen!    We arrive almost before the sunset, stopping at the top of a small hill and I can’t believe the view when I see it. Miles and miles of green grass right in the middle of the woods. Beautifully decorated tents are spread everywhere with a few arenas nearby. Servants are running here and there, while lords and ladies are taking slow walks. I notice horses and some absolutely unknown creatures right next to them, reminding me of huge lizards… or maybe small dragons… And I also notice a few knights in their full armour.    I never thought that I would see something like that in my life!   “Icicle,” Troy stops next to me and whispers to my ear, “I am willing to give you one last time. Come to my tent tonight and I’ll warm you up. And everything will be forgiven.”    Ugh, I wish I could slap him again! I open my mouth to give him some kind of snarky remark but he is already gone…