Royal Glass Hearts: Immortal Secrets {A Reverse Harem Romance}

Seven

"Here come the babies," a vampire snickered as our carriage rolled up the steep incline. Our pumpkin joined a whole procession of carriages, all delivering first-year students from across the seven kingdoms. Corrie pointed on her map as we passed each building. The academy buildings were unlike any I'd seen in the Glass Kingdom. The light and airy faerie kingdom's towers were also a stark contrast to the dark, gothic facade of the academy.

We passed witches too busy drawing magical runes onto parchments to worry about the new arrivals. Faerie magic was limited to the individual's affinity, elvish magic relied on mist and witches were limited to rune magic. Though incredibly powerful when mastered, there was a steep learning curve to rune magic, and it took them decades, even centuries to learn.

"It's all so low to the ground," Corrie said, her mouth agape. An imposing two-story building came into view. It was a gothic castle built with blocks of hewn stone and surrounded by dormitories and winding cobblestone paths through landscaped gardens. Behind the academy rose spindly trees like daggers rising from the ground—the Dead Forest. Tutor Maverick was the only immortal I knew who'd travelled through the Dead Forest, a place of dark magic. It spanned the length of the werewolf, nymph, vampire, and elven kingdoms.

The carriages ahead of us pulled up, one by one, into the grand courtyard. Black vampire carriages without windows stopped beside the elegant white carriages of the nymphs. We'd arrived late, so it took some time for our pumpkin carriage to pull up to the front entrance so we could disembark.

Immortal students and mortal drivers and footmen crowded the courtyard, some offering greetings, some saying farewells. I thought I saw a nymph poke a shifter and point at our carriage, but she could have been pointing at anything. I gripped Corrie's hand. All I'd wanted was to get here, but now I wanted to turn around and go back. Corrie gave my hand a reassuring squeeze.

My aunts, the headmistresses, stood like sentinels by the grand doors, observing the arrival of their new students. The eldest, Alda, was nearly identical to her younger twin Aldene. Both were short, stiff-backed witches with eyes that saw everything. After Cinderella killed their mother, they were taken in by a powerful coven dedicated to knowledge. On their shoulders perched their pet doves which shifted and cooed at the new students.

Beside them stood an attractive male professor. Physically, he was the opposite of Tutor Maverick. Female students swooned around him, attracted like moths to a flame. I could barely take my eyes off him.

"Damn, I hope I'm in his class."

"If all our professors are that hot, I'm never going to graduate," Corrie murmured.

"These immortals look near feral but I bet I could take them in a fight." I took in the pack of werewolves lounging on the steps and whistling at first-years. Near the gardens, a vampire bared her fangs in a smile as she hugged a fox shifter.

"No fights, remember?" Corrie whispered. "We're flying low. No unnecessary attention."

"I wish I could fly," I grumbled, and she snickered.

"I wish my hair didn't grow an inch every night. Life's a bitch. Now let's do this."

Suck it up, buttercup. You're freaking royal.I scanned the courtyard one last time as the pumpkin rolled to a stop. Delaying would only make it worse. I yanked the door open and stepped out, my boots echoing against the paving stone. They shouldn't have, except that every single immortal had hushed, and they were all now staring at me.