Killian
After the announcement, the introduction to the school, I find myself extremely excited to start. My excitement grew exponentially as I was lead to my room, and found my belongings there already. I was almost too excited to pack, but with a few hours to kill before going to dinner, I decided to take my time and compose myself. When I eventually got out of my room and arrived at the dining hall, however, every shred of excitement died.
It didn’t quite occur to me just how alone I am here. I don’t know a single soul within this school. Oh, but I’m not the only one in this position.
My eyes scan the crowds, and then I spot her. Getting food. Grinning, I do the same, losing sight of her momentarily before spotting her again sitting down at a table with someone. Another girl. I stroll over casually and confidently, ignoring the beating of my heart. What if she tells me to go away? She seemed a little reluctant to converse earlier. And when she saw her other friends … Or maybe she’s just nervous to be around strangers? Oh jeez, I hope I don’t cause a scene.
When I get to the table, Alarin notices me and lifts an eyebrow. Ah well, no turning back now. I plaster on a wide smile. “Excuse me,” I say a little too loudly. The other girl turns to look at me. “I appear to have lost sight of most of my fellow Middlelanders, and it appears that the only one who I know is your wonderful self, Alarin.”
The white haired Northerner rolls her eyes and flicks a hand in my direction, “Esedra, this is Killian. I met him earlier.”
My eyes almost pop out of their head at the sight of her tattoos. She has tattoos? Well, best not to act too shocked. Alarin seems to notice my stare and looks away. I quickly take a seat and grin at Esedra, offering my hand. She takes it and I shake her hand briefly before sitting back. Esedra watches me closely for a moment before offering a slight smile.
“What are you here for, Killian?” She asks me.
“Ah,” I let a genuine grin spread across my lips. Alarin looks at me intently. “I’m studying enchanting. I picked it up in my home town. Thought I’d give it a go here.”
“Just like that?” Alarin frowns. “No one suggested to come here for further training?”
I nod, looking down at my food. “Oh yeah, gotta motivate yourself as well. No point doing something when everyone else says you have to,” I chuckle and start eating.
Alarin and Esedra talk quietly to each other, and I take the time to look around the dining hall. Huge. This space is absolutely huge. And if this is just the dining hall, I bet the rest of the school is even bigger.
Spotting a familiar mop of black hair, I excuse myself politely and weave through the crowd until I’m standing beside the angry Southerner I’d run into before our first day at school began. I quickly shove up beside him as he looks around for a table. His eyes drop down to me and he frowns something akin to irritation.
“Oh, it’s you,” he snaps.
“Yes, it is me,” I offer him my hand. He doesn’t shake it. Alright. “It appears you’re looking for some place to sit.”
“Actually,” he grates out, almost dejectedly. “I have some ah … planned seating arrangements.”
I watch him with amusement. “Oh, well, shall I escort you to your … planned seating arrangements?” I ask.
He grits his teeth. “No, so get lost,” he snaps at me, his eyes alight with fire.
I just watch as he storms away, and sits down at a bench with two other girls, one of them dressed in simple clothes, a letter on the shirt, the other dressed in a black dress with plated armour. He has a dark expression as he sits down, and waves away anything said to him. I can’t help the smile as I turn and walk back to the table to find Alarin and Esedra still talking to each other. When I retake my seat, they stop and look at me.
“Where did you go?” Esedra asks.
“Well, I was going to invite someone I met over to sit with us, but it seems he had other seating arrangements,” I glance over my shoulder, but the table the Southerner is seated at isn’t in view. I turn back to the two girls and grin. “I don’t think we really got to talk about this. What are the two of you studying here.”
“I’m here to study engineering,” Esedra says, her lips quirking in a smile. She shifts her head, red hair falling onto her shoulder. “But I also want to better my skills at sand magic.”
“Nice, nice,” I turn to Alarin.
“I’m here to learn combat in weaponry and non-weaponry,” she says, almost coolly. “But you already know this. We’ve discussed it already.”
I blanch, and then laugh loudly. “Ah, I forgot that. Well, I think you both will do splendid in your studies. I can just tell,” I grin wide at them.
Esedra seems a little put off by my enthusiasm, which is fair enough. Alarin just stares at me with a raised eyebrow. I can’t help but look at the tattoos on her hands again, wondering how far they go up her arm. She’s so young, but has tattoos. I wonder, truly, if it’s a Northerner custom.
“Well,” I rise to my feet again. “Sorry to cut the chat short, ladies, but I’m going to head off. I’d like to settle in to my room for the night.”
“It was nice to meet you, Killian,” Esedra offers a bland smile. Alarin just nods, watching me closely.
“It was my pleasure,” I bow to them both, and they exchange a glance. “I hope to see you around.”
“Sure,” Alarin grins. “Maybe not in class though.”
“Oh,” I look to Esedra, Alarin’s grin kind of disturbing. “Have a lovely night.”
“You too, Killian,” she almost bites out.
This would be my time to leave. I smile once more and walk away. Well, that went a little better than I thought. Maybe I shouldn’t have left the table. Ah, well, no point passing up opportunities to make friends. Even if that Southerner has proven he doesn’t want to be my friend. But you never know unless you try.
And that got me into this school. As well as my desire to save my little brothers.
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