it.
“What the hell! Give it back!” she demands.
“How very kind of you to make me a coffee on the morning I’m going to risk my life pretending to be you,” I sarcastically reply. If steam could come out of her ears, it would be right now. I smirk and move to the table, sitting down in the seat I was in last night. I take a long sip of the coffee, not giving a shit if it burns a little on the way down my throat.
“Oh yeah, this is good stuff,” I mumble as Poppy and Alun come into the room, followed by Velia, who looks like she hasn’t slept a wink. Poppy looks pale as fuck, and Alun just seems stressed. I guess this is what a normal family looks like when they are about to send one of their kids to a death academy.
“We must be leaving. The academy suggests no one eats before going through the gate,” Alun announces.
“Why?” I question, sipping on my drink. “And what is the gate?”
“The gate to the academy is made of pure original magic. It’s the oldest part of the city, and it marks everyone who enters through it,” Alun explains. “It also tests your magic, gives the academy teachers a fair judgment on you.”
“That’s not a great idea,” I mutter, knowing this is going to go wrong. “In fact, a magical test on me is a very bad fucking idea.”
“Language,” Alun scolds and sighs after. “I don’t know what your secrets are, Daesyn, but I’m sure nothing within you will damage a four-thousand-year-old magical gateway.”
I try not to snort.
“Now the ridiculous parts of the morning are over, can we get moving?” Torfinn asks, and I turn my eyes to see him leaning against the doorway. “I do not want to be late.”
“Of course,” Velia is quick to mumble, and I go to take one more sip of my coffee when she snatches the mug from my hands and then starts shooing us all outside the back door. I glance up at Mossy, who is observing everything around us as we head to the stable. I follow them all in to see six black horses. They are huge, towering over me as I look up at the first one. Its long black mane is plaited in several places, and its eyes seem even darker than its black fur.
“This is my horse and the one you will be riding,” Laelia tells me, moving to my side.
“What’s her name?” I question.
“His name is Stormfire,” she tells me and opens up the stable door. “He saved my mum when he was just a young foal from a fire caused by a storm.”
“I like the name. It sounds as fierce as he looks,” I reply, following her to Stormfire’s side. Laelia’s hand reaches out and grabs my arm, trying to pull me closer but with no luck.
Curious, I let her speak rather than reacting. “My sister means a lot to me. If you come out of this alive and she doesn’t, I’m going to drag you back to wherever my dad got you from.”
I smile before easily grabbing her arm and flipping her over my shoulder. She flies out of the stable, crying as she lands on her side.
“What is going on!” Alun roars, rushing to her side. I ignore them both and look at the saddle. I jump up and grab the top of the saddle to bring myself all the way onto his back. After sliding my feet into the stirrups, I pick up the reins. Finally, I look down at Alun, who is hugging Laelia, and Velia is in the middle of them now, cupping her daughter’s face. A normal family. But as I glance down the stable, seeing Poppy on her horse nearby, I figure not everyone in their family is doing good. Her jaw is tightened, and her eyes are burning with something I think is longing.
“Hey, Poppy,” I call to her, the soft part of me wanting to distract her. “What is your horse called?”
“Mistress,” she calls back, humour lacing her tone, and she looks grateful for the distraction. “She is quite stuck-up for a horse.”
I laugh with Poppy until Torfinn interrupts, walking past with his horse. Dammit, he looks super sexy on that horse. His thick and toned thighs spread nicely around the black horse that seems the same size as mine. The way he holds himself just makes him look good. Like a snack I wouldn’t mind