Will Of The Fates

33.

The sun was just rising as I walked out of the Castle. I could see it past the guards that stopped me from leaving. Again.

A tired sigh left me as I heard footsteps. Killian walked up beside me. "Leaving without goodbye, Alekto?"

I didn't reply. The guards were too close.

"Come back. We're not done with you yet."

My body turned with the hand on my shoulder.

Come on, I just woke up...

Sosthenes' voice trailed off in my head as I walked under the massive arch of the backdoor. "My friends are waiting." I whispered to him once inside.

"They can wait some more." Killian ignored me.

I had to let it go. There was clearly no choice here. The guards wouldn't let me go anyway.

Hanna had said it would take them two days to clear out. I'd waited out the two days in the Castle— eating, sleeping, training, avoiding angry Apprentices... and others who wanted to try to unmask me yet again. Killian had said there was no more need for me to train since I was going to leave. However, I didn't want to relax again.

I'd gotten soft during my travels as I ignored and put off constant training. My body was at it's peak right now. My strength better than it had been in the village, my skills better than Sona could ever have beat into me. I wasn't going to stop. I refused to. I'd gotten strong, and I was going to stay strong.

Killian's path followed a familiar route to Alasha's door. He didn't even stop to knock, just pushed the door open and walked in.

"Emerys!" Alasha boomed the moment I dropped my hood. There was nearly a pout on his face. "You were just going to leave?!"

I shrugged as I walked over to my usual chair. "Yeah." A huff left me as I dropped my bag and collapsed into it. "I'm done here. My friends are waiting. Finish saying what you want."

His heavy brows furrowed at the relaxed command. "After all this time we've spent together... you just want to leave like that?"

I... didn't want to leave them. I'd enjoyed my time here, my training. The night talks with Alasha and the drinking was definitely... "I'll miss you." I blurted out. "But I have to move on. We have to head to the capital."

Alasha's eyes widened and his lips pressed together. His grey eyes almost got a bit shiny as Killian sat down beside me. "You'll... You'll miss me?" His voice cracked.

Killian kicked my chair. "And me?"

I raised an eyebrow as I met his amused grey eyes. "Not at all."

He chuckled with ease and reached over to smack my head. I giggled with the jerk. "Liar. If I'll miss you, you'll miss me."

My giggles subsided as I held his stare. It was sad. About as sad as mine. My chest tightened. "Yes, old man. I'll miss you too."

He lowered his head for a moment and looked away. I smiled at the attempt to hide his tears and turned to Alasha, whose nose had started to turn red. "So, why am I back here?"

"You can't just..." He sniffed and shook his head. "You can't just leave like that. Empty-handed." Oh? "You're an Apprentice. Apprentices don't leave without a sign that they're from our Castle. Blackwater Castle."

"Stand." Killian roughly growled.

I glanced at him before I slowly got to my feet. Alasha swiped at his nose as he reached under his desk. My eyes widened as he slid three things across. "What..."