Bright Flame, Deep Shadow (lesbian story)

Flick

The woods are deserted, which is good. If someone saw me here, sitting on the bank of the creek sitting in another girl's lap with her tongue in my mouth, Arabella and I would both be expelled. Or worse, considering Bella's on her final warning. The thought of that is enough to make me pull away, if only for a second.

We stop for a breather, foreheads resting against each other and our breath mingling. I wrap my arms around Bella's neck, running my fingers through her short black hair. It's starting to grow back properly now; soon it'll be like they never shaved it.

"We should go back," I whisper. Above us, the spindly branches bow and creak, leaning in to hear all out filthy secrets, to eavesdrop on the love that could get us into more trouble than we can ever imagine.

Bella grips my waist, leans in to my neck, and sighs. I can tell she wants to go further; I want to go further. I want more of this.

But we can't risk it.

"Okay," she gives in, releasing me so I can stand. Even after my surprise growth spurt in the summer, Arabella Saethryth still towers over me. She has to lean down to kiss me. If we ever leave this place in one piece, I am never letting her wear heels.

As we pick our way through the ferns we've been hunkered down in, I look over my shoulder and scan the section of creek we'd just occupied. It's just a habit, I tell myself; we're all supposed to be in lessons. Nobody will be out here. Nobody will catch us.

"What were you bunking off this time?" I ask Bella as we stroll hand-in-hand along the path that leads back to the fortified prison we call a school.

"Just a study period. I said I was going to go study in my room. They won't miss me. You?"

"History with Martel."

Bella snorts. "He won't even notice you're gone."

"I could miss all of Martel's lessons for all he'd care. He knows I get the work done." And I do. The librarian and I are on first-name terms by now.

The trees shiver as a cold breeze whips through them, and I splutter as my hair catches on my tongue. I draw my black cloak in around my shoulders. This will be one of the last warm days of autumn. I should dig my winter cloak out soon, the one with the fur lining, but that would feel like admitting defeat. With winter's chilled winds and snowstorms will come my final exam and, if all goes well, my graduation. Then I'll be off to the big city to be sworn into the service of the King, and I won't see Bella for another year, or maybe even more. Who knows when she'll graduate?

The perimeter wall comes into view, and I drop Bella's hand like I've been burned. I was losing focus—one slip-up, and it would all be over.

"We have combat training next," Bella says flatly. Her face clouds over and her lips press into a thin line.

"Yeah. With Tanvik."

She sighs deeply. "Well, I suppose I'll have to learn to tolerate him. Maybe the sight of me will give the old man an aneurysm."

I don't know if I should laugh at that or not. On one hand, the idea of Bella's mere presence making Professor Tanvik, esteemed Shadow Assassin and headmaster of the Royal Shadow Academy of Oskany, pass out is brilliant. On the other hand, there is nothing funny about Bella's situation. Nothing at all.

I push open the thick oaken door set into the perimeter wall. Everyone's still in class, so nobody sees us come back. Still, I make Bella wait outside while I check.

Everyone who attends this academy is here because we all possess a unique power; we can bend space around ourselves, cloaking our bodies in darkness until we are invisible. This ability makes us the most efficient spies and the most deadly assassins this world has ever known.

Even so, nobody here lives their life in the shadows as much as Arabella and I.

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A/N: Hey guys, here is my entry for the Wattys (or at least the first chapter of it)! This story is still in the editing phase (as of the 4th of July 2015), so if I make a significant edit to a previous chapter, I'll say so in the author's note of the next chapter to be published, so you don't have to go back and read the whole thing again. It'll mostly be changes to character voice and stuff, since I have 4 PoV characters. x) I'm still working on quotes for the start of each chapter as well as music and cast and all that jazz, so if you have any suggestions, please leave a comment!

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