Power: Chapter 2

After dinner, I was down at the pond at the edge of the stables in the rear courtyard. I had a metal bucket that I had persuaded a servant to let me use, and I was attempting to catch polliwogs with it. I held my bucket up, and poised at the ready. I then quickly ducked the bucket in the water and came up with only a couple. Grumbling, I emptied the bucket and got ready to strike again.
    “What are you doing?” I jumped, dropping the bucket in the water, creating a large splash that sprayed me with water. I gasped at the cold water, and turned to glare at the person who had startled me. It was Alan.
    He laughed, his blond hair shining in the fading sunlight. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.”
    “I wasn’t scared!” I snapped. “My fingers were slippery, so I dropped the bucket.”   
    Alan shrugged, still grinning. “Of course. Whatever you say.”
    Furious, I turned back to the bucket, picking it up. Alan knelt down next to me. “Revenge for dinner?”
    “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I snapped.
    “Wipe your face,” Alan teased gently. “I think there’s still some potato on it.”
    I grabbed a bucketful of water and threw it on Alan. He gasped as the cold water landed on him. “Hey!” he protested, grabbing for the bucket.
    I held the bucket away from him. “Good. We’re even.”
    He held up his hands in defeat, still laughing. “Fine. Now that we’re both soaked, how about we catch some polliwogs to put in Gary’s bed?”
    I blinked. “What? Wait, how did you know about that?”
    He put a finger to his chin. “Well, considering the fact that Gary humiliated you at dinner, and that you are out here alone, trying to catch some polliwogs with a bucket...” He shrugged, grinning.
I grimaced. “And why do you want to help?”
    He shrugged, his jade-green eyes warm. “I was bored.”
    I rolled my eyes. “Fine. But we’d better hurry.”
    Working together, we were able to get a good number of polliwogs. We quickly walked back through the castle, carrying the bucket between us. Pausing beside the open library doors, Alan glanced in. “He’s in there,” he whispered. “Go!”
   We hurried to Gary’s room, and I picked the lock on the door, and we crept in. Using a ladle, we scooped the polliwogs onto Gary’s bed and carried the bucket out, and left it for a servant to clean up. We raced to my room, which was closest, throwing open the door and collapsing inside, laughing hysterically.
    When I could breathe again, I sat up and looked at Alan. He was smiling, his eyes warm, his face open and unguarded. I stared at him, studying his face. I had never seen Alan like this. All my life Alan had always been guarded, closed off.
    Alan looked at me. “What’s the matter?”
    I blinked and looked down. “Sorry. I just have never seen you having fun.” I grinned. “I like this Alan better than the Alan you choose to show everyone.”
    He blushed and looked down. It was an awkward silence for a few minutes. “Did you start the essay yet?” I asked Alan.
    He shook his head. “No, not yet. What about you?”
    I also shook my head. “Do it together?”
    He smiled, and we set to work. While we were working, I noticed that Alan was pointing out facts that Nanji never mentioned in the lecture.
“You seem to know a lot about Duke Alexander,” I noted.
    Alan stiffened. “Well, I did extra studying about him,” he said stiffly and carefully.
    I shrugged. “It’s fine. I was just curious.” I looked down and fixed my gaze on the piece of parchment in front of me. “Tell me,” I said, not looking at him. “Can he do magic?”
    Alan glanced up, surprise in his eyes. “Yes,” he said. “It started out as green, but when he was corrupted, it turned black.”
    “What do you mean, corrupted?” I asked.
    “What I mean,” Alan said, “was before he started learning from Savaric, a necromancer who happened to be passing through at the time. He was sixteen summers old.” Alan looked away. “Why did you want to know?” he asked, his voice a little rough.
    I fiddled with my quill and didn’t notice. “Oh, just curious,” I said nonchalantly, but in reality I was thinking. It fit, the missing puzzle piece. It explained alot about the social hierarchy in Carathan. I know that some Hunters (Gary *cough cough*) only did their training and nothing beyond that, but I took this seriously. Knowing little facts like this could help me in the future. I suppose that Will is right and James has rubbed off onto me, but in this case its a good thing.
    There was a yell from the direction of Gary’s room. We looked up, startled, then started laughing hysterically, the mood broken.
    My door was thrown open, and Gary burst in, his informal clothing askew, eyes wild. “LYLA! I SWEAR TO GOOD LYTELIER-” He stopped, seeing Alan. “You too?! Lyla, you teamed up with him against me?! I swear I will get both of you back!!”
Alan was jokingly offended. “Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” I was laughing so hard I couldn’t speak. Gary started yelling and swearing at us.
    James walked in, and grabbed Gary’s shoulder, and Gary stopped midsentence. Alan and I looked up. “I expected better from a Level 6 trainee than how you’re acting now,” James said sternly. He glanced at me, and I saw humor in his eyes. “What did Lyla do for her revenge?” When James saw Alan, his expression slipped a little. He seemed surprised, maybe a little horrified that Alan was there.
    Gary stood at attention, as well as Alan and I. James looked at Gary. “Curfew is being established now. Report to your quarters.” Gary bowed and left. James looked at us. “That goes for you as well, Alan,” he said. Alan also bowed and left. I was alone with James.
    James sighed and ran a hand through his hair, sitting down on my couch. “At ease,” he said absentmindedly. I relaxed and pulled up my chair from my desk.

“Something’s on your mind,” I commented. I knew James, had known him since I was three and he was thirteen.

    He looked at me. “How much do you know about Alan?”
    I blinked. “What?”
    James leaned back. “How often do you hang out with him? How much do you know about him?”
    “Uh, he really just helped me get revenge on Gary and we did an essay together,” I said, not understanding what was so wrong about Alan.
“How much do you know about him?” James’s olive-green eyes held mine.
    I shrugged. “Well, nothing much, I mean-”
    “Nothing at all,” James interrupted. “Which is why I’m telling you now to stay away from him.”
    “What?” I said, smiling slightly. “I’m sorry, there must be some water in my ears, because I thought you just told me to stay away from Alan.”
    “I did, Lyla,” James said quietly.
    I stared at him. “Why?”
    “He’s dangerous, Lyla,” James said.
    I started to grow angry. “So are you! So am I! That doesn’t matter! I like Alan! He’s actually really funny and sweet. Why are you so against him?!”
    James shook his head. “I have my reasons. And if you get close to Alan, you will get hurt.”
    I also shook my head. “No. You can’t tell me what to do. And him just being dangerous isn’t good enough. I want to know your reasons.”
    James stood up and stood in front of me, his eyes sparkling with anger. “Lyla, why do you have to be so difficult?! I’m trying to save your life!!”
    I stood up in front of him, though my head barely cleared his shoulder. “I don’t believe that. Not for one minute. Alan is not a killer.” I glared at him, my ice-blue eyes flashing. “I think it’d be best if you left.”
    James started to argue, then thought better of it. Tight-lipped, he marched out the door, slamming it behind him. I sighed and sat down on the couch, clasping my hands together. James was like an older brother to me, the closest thing to family I had. I would have to apologize to him later, but I stood firm by my beliefs that Alan is not a killer. I sighed and got ready for bed.

Author's Note

Lytelier is their deity; he is the God of Light. Each country supports a different deity that will get explained more later in the book.