10. The Inspector

SAGE “I have friends!” Ash said, looking appalled. “In fact, I have a lot of friends!” Samarah snorted and pushed me to keep walking, scaring the life out of me. She never touched anyone in her Keeper Spirit’s life and I was sure that she didn’t have a physical body to do it. I decided not to argue and just obeyed her as we went down the stairs away from this strange teen. But he appeared right in front of us, making me yelp from the shock. “What the…” I almost swore. “Like you have friends!” he scoffed and I could swear I heard Samarah growl. “Of course I do!” she suddenly placed a hand on my shoulder, “You are looking at her!” The boy scanned me and smirked. “You know what, I have one exactly like that!” he looked impressed and I even forgot about my own problem while squished between the two of them. “No, you don’t!” Samarah tried to lead me away. “And what is this mask even? Pretending to be a child so that they forget what you really are? Pathetic!” We walked around him but hadn’t made it past a whole flight of stairs when he appeared in front of us again. But this time he was taller and … well… I stared at him, not realising what had just happened. He suddenly looked as if he was in his twenties. And he was ridiculously good looking as his amber eyes were glued to Samarah next to me, who paused, taking him in. “Is that better?” he chuckled, brushing his hand over his blonde hair and winking at the Keeper Spirit next to me. “Worse!” she snarled, and we continued our way. This time Ash did not follow us but I could feel his gaze on our backs. “Why?” I heard him shouting as we kept walking. “Brings back all the memories of what a prick you are!” Samarah yelled back. “When we were friends?” “We were never friends! You have no friends!” the woman’s grip on me was so tight that it was hurting me now. “I have more friends than you!” Ash burst out laughing. “You’ll see! They are almost here!” We walked and we walked. And I didn’t risk asking any questions. I just acknowledged that we left the dorms and moved to the part of the castle where teachers and guests lived. “Sage!” I heard a familiar voice and stopped to see my friend Callum. My initial reaction was the usual – I was happy to see him. But then I remembered that my two other best friends had just betrayed me and that made me tense at once. Samarah stopped too and crossed her hands on her chest, watching Callum get closer. Callum wasn’t a noble. He was one of the scholarship students. A talented artefactor just like me. We started off as rivals but soon came to the conclusion that it didn’t make any sense, since we were the only two people in our class who could really understand each other. And so, over time, we became friends. But it was time to test this theory now. “Sage!” he ran into me and grabbed me into his slender arms, trying to lift me up. “I heard about everything! How are you?” “You are talking to me.” It wasn’t a question. A statement slipped off my tongue and he looked at me in shock. “Of course I am talking to you!” he stared at my face for a while, “Why wouldn’t I? You are my friend!” “It’s just…” I almost had tears in my eyes. “It’s just her other friends are pricks!” Samarah added, still waiting patiently for us. Callum seemed startled by her engaging in a conversation with us but chose not to comment on that. “I told you those girls were not good company for someone like you!” he turned back to me. “Their loss! Who wants to keep a company like that?” “True,” I smiled at him. “Exactly!” Samarah chimed in, looking furious. “Who wants people like that in their life?! The ones who make you promises but then don’t arrive to support you during the battle of your lifetime! The ones who leave you behind with a small group of warriors against a whole army! The traitors! The monsters!” She went on and on. And I had a feeling that she wasn’t talking about me at all. Callum gave me a questioning look and I shrugged my shoulders. We followed the Keeper Spirit in silence as good little soldiers, scared to say even a word and cause her wrath. Samarah led us into the guest wing and opened one of the doors by slamming her foot into it. Somehow, I was sure now that the rumours about her were true and she indeed used to be a demon general. She was giving me that vibe now. We walked into a spacious room, filled with light through several enormous windows. It had a small but stylish living room with a sofa, chairs, a small table and a desk in beige tones. And included a separate bathroom and a bedroom. It reminded me of luxury suits in hotels back in my previous world. I so wasn’t going to complain about this! Especially considering that now I didn’t have to share it with other people. “Amazing!” Callum whispered to me and I nodded. “And he had the audacity to tell me that I have no friends!” Samarah was still talking angrily. “I have friends! I have you!” She suddenly pointed her index finger at the two of us and we gulped simultaneously. “Yeah,” I mumbled. “See?” she smirked triumphantly, “Sage, you and I are besties now! And this…” She clearly didn’t know Callum’s name even though it was literally her job to know these things. “This… funny… nerd guy,” she tried. She really tried. “I am Callum,” the guy next to me mumbled, but then cleared his throat to introduce himself properly. “Callum Severin.” “Of course,” the Keeper Spirit rolled her eyes. “I knew that!” I bit my lip not to laugh. I did owe her today. “Thank you for this,” I gestured at the room. “You are my saviour.” “I am your friend, Sage,” she stretched the word as if she was explaining something to a stupid child. “Right,” I quickly came to the conclusion that it was best not to argue with her. It was simply safer that way. “Ugh,” Samarah grimaced. “Someone calls for me and I need to go. See you later, friends!” She disappeared into the thin air and Callum looked at me with wide eyes. “What was that about?” he asked. “That’s a very long story,” I sighed and pointed at my bags, all of which were already there. “Will you help me?” “Of course,” my friend agreed with ease. Slowly, I shared everything that happened to me in the past few days, not missing any details. He listened attentively, gasping where was necessary. Callum was a great listener and I loved that about him. “I can’t believe you met Killian Winter!” he said when I was done with my story. “Really?” I let out a little chuckle. “Out of everything you find this the most fascinating part?” “Yeah,” he nodded vigorously. “He is like… this… War god!” “Oh my god,” I muttered, rolling my eyes. “Seriously?” “Yes!” Callum looked slightly offended. “He is so… mysterious. And I really do think that people misunderstand him a lot. But not all! There is his fan club here at the academy. We monitor his activity and distribute his posters to everyone who…” “We?” now it was my turn to be shocked. “As in you are IN this club?” Callum coughed a few times and I noticed how a soft blush appeared on his cheeks. “About that…” he averted my gaze, pretending to check out the ceilings. “I am the… president.” I facepalmed. How did I not know that? “Well,” I tried to keep my cool. ‘I assure you, you would be disappointed if you met him in person.” “Can you introduce us?” he now looked at me like an innocent puppy wagging his tail. “Sure,” I snorted, “ as soon as I will be paying him off my huge debt! Speaking of which, I quickly need to come up with some sellable artifact. So, I need a good idea. Care to help?” “Always!” now Callum looked even more eager. He was as obsessed with Artefactorics as I was. And we spent the rest of the evening brainstorming ideas. Unfortunately, we came up with nothing worthy other than some new protective devices. The problem with those was that even though I was able to create the best, the market for them was already oversaturated. I needed something new. Something original. Callum left me when it was time for dinner. I decided not to go, considering that I had a pretty good idea what was awaiting me. If my best friends and fiancé dumped me at the first opportunity, I could expect worse from everyone else. I used to be the popular rich girl just a few days ago. A lot of people would be at my throat now. I was lucky to have Callum even speak to me. And I was really grateful to him now, since it felt as if nothing had changed between us. One friend like this was worth more than all the traitors combined. I took a relaxing bath, happy that I still had this luxury at my disposal. Fern was curled on top of one of the pillows on my new bed and I was worried that she hadn’t eaten anything for a while. But she seemed so comfortable… I brushed my fingers over her fur and felt a spark of electricity hit both of us. But to my surprise, it only made her purr. That night I wasn’t thinking much. The weight of everything was too much and I didn’t even remember how I fell asleep. But when I woke up in the morning, I felt refreshed. I went to breakfast early to make sure that I didn’t meet too many people. And then escaped quickly when I heard voices of approaching crowds. All I wanted was to go to my first class and drown myself in studies. But I heard school bells, which signalled that we all had to be present at The Assembly Hall. I arrived there at first and heard whispers and laughs behind my back. I could only hope that it all wasn’t about me. But when I stood at the very front of the stage, where some of the professors were already standing, I felt relieved when I realised that none of them were looking at me. They all seemed worried though. And even I got curious why. The headmaster walked to the centre of the stage and knocked on the voice-enhancing crystal on his chest. “Dear students!” he said loudly and confidently. “I have an important announcement to make today! We has just become aware that the Crown Prince of Riord has ordered the top academies of our kingdom to be carefully inspected. And, of course, The Royal Magical Academy of Riord was at the top of his list! That means that an inspector will be arriving every moment now and we have to…” “I am already here!” I heard a familiar ice-cold voice that made the blood in my veins freeze. Students around me were stepping aside and in less than a second I saw him. Oh, no. No, no, no! AUTHOR'S NOTE: I never said this before during the past week. But my heart goes to everyone involved in the current war in Ukraine. Please know that you are in my daily prayers and I hope that this nightmare will be over soon. P.S. Will you help me with the title of this chapter?