Fateless

Chapter Three: Fresh Air

~Dawn's POV~

I smiled at Nick and Jon as Ashlie closed the door.

"Alright," Ashlie said, spinning around to face us, "back to the lesson." She shot a pointed look at me. "And no more help from you or I'll make you wait outside." I smiled. Even though I stood a good 6 inches over the girl, I knew she could, and would, make good on her threat. I nodded.

"Sorry Ashlie." I put the book down and walked away from the table so I could lean against the closest wall. There was a window next to me and I glanced briefly outside, appreciating the beautiful day. Uni sighed and placed his quill down, ready for the next question.

"Alright Uni, I'll give you an easy one." Ashlie thought for a second. "What are the signs that someone has been cursed?"

"Uh, the signs of a curse?" Uni repeated. He glanced back at me and I shrugged.

"Sorry, I can't help you." I said. Uni groaned and turned back to Ashlie.

"I thought you said this would be an easy one?! All curses are different and have unique effects depending on a lot of different variables." Uni complained, quoting something he remembered Ashlie saying.

"Very good." She nodded. "Here, just pretend it's a basic curse on someone you know" Ashlie smirked as she walked over to me. "Pretend Dawn was under a curse, how would you be able to tell?"

I shifted uncomfortably and Uni rolled his eyes.

"Well, I suppose Dawn would act differently. Curses cause their victims to be prone to erratic behavior and mood swings, so Dawn may become brash and loud since he's usually quite soft spoken and sensible. There might be a change in appearance, and his health would go down since his immune system would react to the curse as if it were an illness and try to fight it." Uni glanced at me and I nodded encouragingly. "But," he continued, "depending on how skilled the person who cursed him was, all these effects could be barely detectable."

"Good job Uni!" Ashlie praised as he finished. "And you're absolutely right about all curses having different effects. There are numerous factors that affect how a curse is both cast and received and-"

Ashlie was interrupted by a sudden knocking on the door. I stood up straight and Ashlie rolled her eyes, sighing. "That better not be Nick and Jon saying that they dropped the potions." Aslie walked over to the door and opened it.

"Lady Ashlie." said an out of breath sounding voice. I moved away from the window so I could see who the voice belonged to. A knight, dressed in the same simple attire Nick had been in was bowing respectfully towards Ashlie. He straightened. "Your services are needed in the Main Hall."

"Can it wait?" Ashlie asked, tapping her foot impatiently. "I'm in the middle of a lesson." She stepped out of the doorway so the knight could peer in.

His eyes glanced over me and widened when he saw Uni. The knight bowed deeply,

"Ah- my apologies your highness, I wasn't aware of your presence." Uni sat up taller in his seat and tried to speak in an authoritative voice. "Rise and, uh, no- no worries sir." The knight stood and nodded his head then shifted his attention back to Ashlie.

"I'm afraid it is urgent. One of the horses is acting strangely and one of the grooms requested your assistance. He said you would be able to help." Ashlie's eyes immediately softened.

"Of course, let me just grab my satchel." Ashlie hurried into one of the side rooms and returned shortly with her hat and bag. She lifted the skirt of her red and brown dress as she hurried towards the door, her staff strapped against her back. She glanced towards us as she joined the knight who was still waiting by the door. "Sorry guys, lessons off for today."