Dark Love

Part 22

Dinner was a quiet affair with most of the students still busy in queues or packing. Saera sipped at her mushroom soup before breaking bread and dipping into it. The saucy flavour of garlic and mushrooms blossomed in her mouth with every bite but Saera was too depressed to even moan her pleasure. Who the fuck had she married in the first place? Suddenly the idea of having shared her body so intimately with perfect strangers made her feel sick. Had she been under the influence of something? Had she imagined the pleasure she'd felt at the act itself? Was she being duped? None of it felt right. Could her blind trust in her mother be completely misplaced?

Saera herself had long given up hope of ever finding anyone to marry within the wizarding community. The many she'd asked had all said no. Even those of the criminal ilk. The prince's words had stung because she had tried them. Having stolen goods for years and hocking it off through  middle men, she'd known plenty of wizards who'd turned criminal in her lifetime. All of whom had no inclinations to wed her, even for the power surge she'd offer in exchange.

If the scum of society didn't want her who did? Or more importantly, what did? That she'd been bound to a wizard was not the concern for her powers would only activate at the touch of a wizard. But was he just a wizard? And what was with the vamp that was with him?

Plagued by such unpleasant thoughts, Saera tossed away the rest of her meal unfinished and made her way sadly back to her new dorm.

She reached the dorm to find her newest dorm mates already moving in.

"Er.. Prince," she muttered by way of greeting as she pushed past his imposing presence to let herself in.

"I have a name you know."

"Yes. Yes, er.. I didn't quite get it," said Saera.

"It's Svennett," said the Prince shortly.

Saera cringed. "Sven?" She suggested hopefully.

"Prince Svennett," he returned far from pleasantly.

Saera grimaced, "Svennett it is then."

"And will you be calling Prince Darr the same?" Svennett asked defensively.

"Duh.. no, his name is Darr." She rolled her eyes pointedly. His chuckles were deep and rusty but Saera took it as a good sign. She moved towards her trunk and pulled out a combination of clothing that could serve as a nightwear. Oblivious to the two men's gaze studying her every move she disappeared into the bathroom.

Saera made quick use of the shower than paused before the mirror to study the latest of the cuts and bruises that had begun to adorn her face since her joining the academy.

"If you're done with the shower, mind if I go ahead?" The shock of hearing Darr's voice so unexpectedly close to her ear had her heart leaping off her chest in a thumping beat.

"I'm done. Go for it," she managed with a nonchalant shrug. A sharp grin was her reward and then the prince whistle past with a catchy tune.

Saera emerged to find the chamber's already darkened and Svennett already lying across his bed. She made for her own and after a quiet production of setting aside clothing for cleaning to be picked up by the wash and stashing away some of the fruits she'd swiped from the cafeteria, Saera settled in her bed for a hopefully restful sleep. She paused a moment to cast a wake up call spell, unwilling to face another day of being late for classes. She knew she'd gotten off easy before, with the school distracted with the integration they were trying to enforce.

She stared up unseeingly into the dark for a while. Darr emerged from the bathroom and slid beneath the sheets of his bed. Sheets that were far more luxurious than hers. She heard the bed magically stretch and widened to accommodate his larger frame. Then listened till his breathing quietened and softly even out.

But it was the chirping of the birds on the brough alongside their dorm windows that told her she should have been asleep a long time ago. It was the faint glint of dawn peeping through the blue curtains that told her a new day was about to begin.

She couldn't quite shake free the depression that held her tight in its grasp. She couldn't quite break free of the thoughts of the man she'd bound her soul to. The man who hadn't wanted her for more than that one night. Saera had honestly thought there had been something magical between them. She'd felt things she'd never felt before. Would that one night be it for her? For them? Was she never to experience such intimacies again?

Her eyes wearily drifted shut, and a moment later the magical blare that was heard only in her head woke her up. Time to rise and shine for yet another day of suffering at Change Academy.

She rose to her feet and stretched. Then bending over to her trunk pulled out a pair of skinny jeans with pearl beads decorating the folded up pant legs. And chose a hot pink stretchy top to match it. Grabbing some undies to go with it, Saera moved off to make use of the showers before the guys woke up.