The Prince and The Witch: A Divergent Fairy Tale | ✅

Chapter 3: The real thing

It has been nearly four weeks since the incident at the net. Stage one has concluded and Tris ranked better than she expected: fifteenth out of twenty. It could have been worse. She barely spoke to Four since that night, but what happened made her realize what an easy target she is. She worked even harder after that and even won a few fights, but others were still better. Stage two started and all initiates were asked to learn about the history of the kingdom, as well about battles and the strategies used to defeat the opponent or what led to the kingdom's defeat.

Tris was fairly good at this part, since she always used to love reading. Whether it was a novel or a history book or even a technical book, Tris loved to read. Her mother even commented that she really thought that her daughter would choose Erudite, as did her brother, Caleb, but in the end she was glad her daughter found her rightful place. Tris smiled at her mother on visiting day, but she was still questioning if her decision was the right one or not. The entire fiasco with Four didn't help matters. In fact, they complicated things to no end. But at least he kept his distance. She knew he was watching her, but he refrained from speaking to her. Whenever she got a glimpse of him and he wasn't aware he seemed sad, even hurt. Did she maybe misjudge his intentions? On the other hand, why on Earth would someone like him want to marry someone like her? She was so insignificant. He ranked first in his class, according to Will who heard it from Uriah, Dauntless-born initiate, who's brother Zeke is best friends with Four. He is well liked and respected by every Dauntless soldier, well with the exception of a few who are jealous, like Eric. He was offered leadership twice, but being humble he refused both times.

Tris wasn't blind. She saw how all the women here looked at him, like he was some sort of prize. She understood them, a little bit at least, but she also despised them for objectifying him. Even if he only sought her companionship for sexual reasons, to which she would never agree, she still didn't like it that people seemed to decide who he should be with.

"Listen up, initiates," Max says as he enters the study hall. "I have an announcement to make," he says and looks around. When everyone seems to pay attention to the leader he continues. "From now on Amar will be your instructor. Four asked to be relieved, for personal reasons and since Amar was available and agreed he will now be your teacher." After the announcement Max just leaves and the initiates start whispering, everyone wondering why their intimidating instructor suddenly resigned. Tris heard all kinds of theories, from he was kicked out to he was send on a secret mission, beyond the wall to even got killed. At the mention of him being hurt possibly dead Tris' heart constricts and she excuses herself from class. Amar allows her to leave, since he already knew from his former trainee that he liked the girl. Amar often joked, saying that if he got any more picky he would never find a wife and the kingdom will remain without an heir. When Tobias finally told his old friend that he finally found the girl for him, but she misunderstood his intentions, the older man told him to be patient.

Tobias struggled with the decision of continuing training this year's initiates or not. On the one hand, as their instructor he could see Tris all day long, but while he was still her instructor he couldn't court her. He talked about it with his best friends and they all agreed. If he liked Tris the way he said he did, he needed to show the girl that his intention were honest. It was clear to see that she wasn't a simple peasant girl who was after the prince, otherwise she would have thrown herself at him, like so many before. Zeke commented that maybe she didn't know that he was the heir to the kingdom, which wasn't uncommon. Most people don't really know, especially with the nickname Tobias adopted. But even so, Tris wasn't the type of girl to just give herself to the highest bidder. She was the real thing and Tobias knew that. The more he got to know her, the more mesmerized he got. He wasn't sure if she felt the same, but if the kiss they shared is any indication than the answer is yes. However, that misunderstanding set them both back and he regretted not following her and explaining.