Sammy gawked at him, forgetting to eat her breakfast while Becky tried to ignore his unexpected behavior.
My first class was Latin. I didn't understand any of it and every foreign word made me feel like I was going to explode. Leaving one punishing class for another, after Latin I was rewarded with Arithmetic. I didn't have anyone tutoring me in Arithmetic, so I was basically doomed. I was determined not to ask for help either; they might end up having Tabitha tutor me, and believe me, dealing with Arianna was more than enough.
* * *
Moving through another less than excellent day, I was relieved that it was lunch until I realized that Becky had another riddle she wanted me to answer. Lucian begged me to give her the answer too, and Sammy simply rolled her eyes, stirring her vegetables.
“Okay,let’s hear it,” I said, finally caving under the pressure.
“There was a green house, inside the green house there was a white house, inside the white house there was a red house, inside the red house there were lots of babies. What is it?”
They all looked at me with anticipation, and my mind wandered back to Dad again. He’d asked me this riddle before.
“It's a watermelon,” I said, trying to mask the sadness inside my voice at the memory.
She hopped up from the table and ran off at a breakneck speed, excited to tell the chef her answer.
Lucian stared at me, concerned about my sudden shift in mood. “You okay?”
“My dad asked me that one not so long ago,” I said, shrugging my shoulders in defeat, while letting the emotions roll over me.
“Sorry Sweetheart.” He gave me a soft kiss on my temple and stroked my back. The bell rang, and he insisted on walking me to my class. I guess he was scared Brian was going to try to steal me away or something.
We didn't talk much as we made our way through the halls and parted with a quick kiss.
* * *
The day ended with Art of War, which meant I was going to have a double period if I included Lucian's session too. I barely had the strength to walk to my dorm to take a shower just so I could sweat again. It didn't make much sense.
When I got out of the shower, it was time to meet Lucian. I forced myself out the room with a soaking body vest lumped in my arms. The vestunfortunately wouldn’t retract into a disk when it was wet.
“Enjoy,” Becky said, without taking her nose out of her book.
I found him inside the dome waiting for me. He was practicing moves that made me stare at him like an idiot. He wore black pants with the body vest I’d only seen once in Wetherley’s and Co. He wasn't wearing a shirt underneath, and his muscular arms could make any girl's knees tremble. I closed my eyes, thinking how lucky I was to call him mine.
For the love of blueberries, he was so effing hot.
When he turned around I pretended I’d just walked in and hadn’t been gawking. “You’re late,” he said in a harsh tone. He looked away. When he turned to face me again, a smile lurked in the corners of his mouth. “This is going to be hard, isn't it?”
I giggled at his internal struggle. “Can we please just rest for a while, I just finished with a fighting class.”
He squinted and contemplated my request. “It’s not my fault.” A huge teasing grin appeared on his face, and my stomach made another flip. My body vest was still icky and sweaty from my previous class, and I almost gagged when I pulled it over my head.
I picked up the heavy sword from the cupboard and dragged it all the way to where Lucian waited patiently. The screeching sound of the sword on the floor should've made me cringe, but I was too tired.
“Elena, how heavy is that thing?” He reached out his hand for it. I gave it to him without answering. My body language said enough.
He laughed softly. “I think I just found your first problem.”
“What?”
“This one is way too heavy for you.” Lucian walked back to the cupboard and replaced it with another one. “Here, this is much lighter.”
I took the sword from him and felt the difference immediately. “You want to say my problem this entire time was that I was using the wrong sword?”
“Yes, that's why you have to be early for class so you can choose the right weapon.” He smiled again.
“You sure this weapon can protect me? It looks so thin.” I looked at the blade skeptically and barely saw his sword coming straight for me. My reflexes kicked in, and I blocked it, just the way Professor Mia had shown me in class my first day. He came for me again,and I blocked that one too. He was so fast I barely saw him move, but he was right about the sword. It was as if I’d found my Excalibur and had become King Arthur.
When he finally stopped, I gasped for air and held the side of my burning waist. He laughed as I struggled to take a breath, and he playfully slapped my hand away that I had raised in surrender. Becky was right. He was a slave-driving demon.