His Singularity

Chapter 50

"NEBULA!!!"

"Heavens! Why are you yelling at me?" I am way too startled by Arya's loud scream.

"Probably because you didn't hear her again." Ace says as he and Alaric walk into the kitchen for breakfast.

I love breakfast. It is the only meal Alaric eats shirtless so it is a feast for the eyes. Also, I need to get laid. I think I am re-growing my virginity.

"Nebs!" Fingers snap in front of me and I follow the hand up to Arya's face.

"I said do you want crepes or French toast?" She asks exasperated.

"French toast, please." I give her my winning smile.

"That has been happening a lot lately. Do I need to be concerned?" Alaric asks taking his usual seat next to me.

"I don't know. It just no longer feels right." I try not to be distracted by the bead of sweat travelling down his clavicle.

"Elaborate."

"I don't know how. It is a feeling." How do you explain a feeling?

"It just doesn't feel like it's me anymore. Nebula was the human going town to settlement to everywhere looking for her brother. I'm not that girl anymore." Arya places his plate in front of him and I know the conversation is over.
We eat in silence until it is time to return to training.

Rita is still here. As helpful as she has been, things between us are still awkward. We have both been ignoring the elephant in the room.

I'm sick of it.

I march over to her with purpose.
"We need to talk." I address her back.

It is only when she turns that I notice a tear falling. She's crying.

"Come with me." Uh, okay. This is awkward.

I follow silently as we make our way to the lake. She leads me down a certain path to the rocky shore before sitting on a particular rock.

I sit beside her silently, waiting.

"You take after Nia, you know."

"What? I look nothing like my mom."
My mom was gorgeous, of course, but we look very different.

"Not true. You have her bone structure and her lips, but that isn't what I was talking about."
I have my mom's bone structure?

"You have her personality." I do? The thought makes me smile.

"I was kicked out of my coven when I was twenty-five." She begins.

"Why?" I interrupt curiously. Very few witches are asked to leave covens. Especially those as powerful as she is.

"I was born to the Styrka coven." Ah, what now?

The Styrka coven is potentially the most well known coven in the witching world. Not only is it one of the oldest covens in history, it is the only coven to be made entirely of sorcerers. Most sourcerer supremes are born to the Styrka coven and it plays a key role in witch politics.
I remember seeing a few Styrkas at my trial. You cannot miss them; they are all tall, with fair skin, blonde hair and blue or green eyes. No one knows why.

Looking at Rita, I think things are starting to make sense.

"It was one thing to be born so physically different, but once everyone found out I was a chanter, I was no longer wanted. Especially after my mother found her fated. As soon as I was old enough, I was made to leave." She goes on.

Damn, I had hoped I was wrong.

"It wasn't long after that I met Alaric and Aedion. Needless to say, we did not get along. The coven might have kicked me out, but I still believed everything they taught me. I would have rather died than befriend a lycan. And I almost did. Life as a wildling was hard. I was used to a different standard of living and I barely knew any magic to protect myself. My attitude didn't help either."