Chapter 6

6

 

Evening dawned on the kingdom. It had been a long, tiring day with meaningless training done. We all hoped that the next morning would bring good results and decent work, but from a while ago, I had begun to lose a little faith in the academy. This whole week, the coach had promised that we would exceed the normal routines and prepare ourselves properly for the uprising below. But promises are easily broken. I looked at the coach, but thought of the chief, as we all filed up inside the academy doors.

"This is unbelievable,” I spoke my mind by mistake. The coach turned around, along with four or five of the students.

"What? Speak up!" He bellowed, looking me straight in the eye.
I remained quiet. He asked again, impatiently this time. I took a deep breath. "This is unbelievable because this whole week, you have promised something you couldn’t keep and it’s just stupid!"
Murmurs instantly spread like the plague around the line of students.

"What are you talking about!? We do everything we can for you! How dare you!" The coach yelled, his voice overpowering the constant whispers, "don't you ever think of insulting me or the kingdom again! We try our best to provide you with high standard training, so we do NOT need amateur trainees like you complaining about the routines and broken promises!"

Silence fell instantly. Nobody dared to speak or even move. My fists started to shake.
"Aeryn, are you okay?" Someone whispered and tapped me on my shoulder. It was my partner from before.

I ignored him and stared at the coach. Everyone thought I was going to make an apology or something...

"I am not an amateur trainee. But do you know what?" I snapped.
Gasps slipped from every student's mouth. The coach boiled with fury and anger. How dare I talk back. At last, everything I had wanted to say was not going to hold back.

I continued. "I am just a student who is completely done with the constant lies that you and the chief feed the kingdom. Enough of this! Stop telling us we're safe and prepared because you know what? The humans are advancing quicker than we're breathing! We are not ready to defend anybody! Our training won’t protect us from these kind of enemies! This isn’t like the battles we’ve had before! Now do us all a huge goddamn favour and train us properly! I’ve heard noises before that we can’t ignore! If you choose to stain us with your ignorance and push aside what matters, let the kingdom fall apart in your honour!"

The coach was gobsmacked. His lips quivered in shock. His eyes were wide with horror. "How...dare...you! You speak nothing but angered lies! Get out of my sight boy!”

I stood my ground. As I did, the coach's finger flew to the direction of the dorms and he pointed in disgust. "GO! NOW!"

At first I didn't move, but as the rest of the students shot me looks of disappointment, I made no delays in running to the dorms. My stupid mouth and offensive thoughts had won me another merit of dishonour. Some angel I turned out to be. But everything I said was true, there was no denying it. I just hoped everyone else would come to their senses soon.

As I opened the door to the dorms, my bed came into view. It reminded me that I had been a wreck since the morning. I sighed and sat down.

"Why can't you just keep quiet like everyone else?" I thought, guilt running through my veins. "You've disappointed a nation of angels, just because you can't keep your mouth shut. They won’t listen anyway! Only you can train the way you want to." My inner thoughts were my own personalised bullies. But they were also what kept me working harder than ever to get what I deserved. It was the best of both worlds.

"I'll show everyone just what I meant tomorrow," I promised myself, leaving what I had done today behind. The sun had set fully in the sky anyway, so there was no point in fighting for my actions today. Darkness fell over the kingdom quickly and coated the sky in a deep dark blue. I watched through the window as stars began to form. It brought thoughts of the peaceful world our kingdom had once been. It was sad, knowing we were in danger and I was a helpless wreck. But I looked at the stars and hoped they would bring victory and understanding. They were magical things; sparkling at night but invisible by day, guiding people to places and coating them in a protective layer of glittering suns. How I wished we could all be free, calm and collected like the stars seemed to be, instead of fighting aimlessly and being ignored by those closest. But for now, it was only tormenting that followed.

"One day, I will see a kingdom where we can be free to express ourselves and to stop being pressured by another," I told myself. "One day."

Suddenly, there was a faint murmuring and sounds of talking from the dining hall. I had missed dinner. How else were they going to punish me? The chatter got closer as the knob of the door twisted clockwise. Then as soon as it opened, a flood of sweaty students poured into the dorm. The smell of food and old clothes infused the air.  I wondered if this scented gift was one from the coach.

"Take a shower!" I yelled, pushing one of the students away from me. They tumbled into another three like dominos, which ended with a pile of four dirty angels sprawled on the floor.

“Who do you think you are?” They all looked up at me with an angry expression, then together teamed up and hurled me out of the window. I was lucky it was open.

"Serves you right, amateur!" One said as I landed face-first onto the ground. They all laughed at me with sadistic pleasure, Artemis in particular. I got to my feet, angry and upset but displaying no emotion.

"Fine. Have it your way. You'll be sorry soon." I said, giving them the finger. The view of the darkened sky was much nicer than Artemis' ugly face anyway, so I guess being kicked out of the dorm wasn't half bad. The only real problem was that it was cold. Icy winds blew overnight, but nobody felt it in the heated dormitories. There wasn't exactly a blanket around either. Or a pillow. Or a mattress.

"Stop it! Be grateful you're away from those students!" I said to myself. But it wasn't very convincing. It was freezing and I didn't deserve to be stuck outside. Then anger took over and my fist pummelled on the window.
"Oi! Let me in!"

Nobody opened the window. I tried again but with no success. Had everyone gone to sleep? Or were they just ignoring me? I looked over at the large clock on the side of the academy. Quarter to ten. Maybe they had fallen asleep. That meant I stood no chance of getting inside until the morning. Everywhere was locked up.

"I don't need a dormitory to sleep in anyway," I convinced myself, the cold winds still nipping at my heels. "I'll prove them wrong and sleep right here."

Below me lay a small area of grass and stones. Very comfortable. Still it was better than nothing, and I didn't feel like flying to some other island in the dark. I lay my head down on the grass and closed my eyes. My skin coated itself in a layer of goosebumps, despite all of my armour and uniform. It was too uncomfortable and cold to sleep like this. My eyes opened again.

"Well if I can't get to sleep, then I could always catch up on the training I missed," I thought, the idea sparked by the sight of equipment in the shed behind. Putting myself to good use, I stood up and began to train myself. Properly.

Author's Note

Tell me what you think!