I wanted to make sure I didn't disappoint my king, so I was going to spend every moment I had studying and perfecting my hold on my magic just like he wanted. The stronger I was, the better I could protect him and that was the one, single thing I knew I needed to do with my life.
I pulled my Atlas from my pocket, my gaze skimming over the horoscope that had appeared on it as I took in the words.
Good Morning, Gemini.
The stars have spoken about your day!
Though it may seem that you are lost in the dark at times, just remember what is dear to your heart and you will always find a way back to yourself. Fortune favours those who follow their own path, but beware - pitfalls await you if you allow yourself to be tempted off of the route your heart desires.
Well, that seemed clear enough. I needed to follow my heart which meant I needed to please my king. And there was nothing that would make me stray from that path in this world or the next.
I took a moment to look at the screensaver Clara had saved on the device for me as I pressed my fingers to the Aries mark hidden on my forearm beneath my shirt and sighed. The picture was a posed shoot of Lionel, standing tall and proud with his shirt off to reveal his muscular physique while he held a sun steel sword in his hand with the tip thrust into the ground. Behind him, an image of him in his emerald green Dragon form was roaring, releasing a burst of flames into the air which highlighted the golden colour of his hair. I closed my eyes to drink in the image, but somehow, behind the confines of my closed eyelids, I found myself imagining a golden Dragon instead.
I frowned as I tried to figure that out and suddenly my moment of peace was interrupted by the pounding of a fist against my air shield.
My eyes snapped open and I looked up to find Geraldine Grus knocking her fist against my shield like it was a door while holding a plate stacked high with bagels in her other hand. She smiled broadly as my gaze met with her deep blue eyes and she waved before pointing at the plate of bagels then at me.
My stomach growled, reminding me that I needed sustenance and I released the magic securing my shield.
"Oh, thank golly for small miracles, I thought you might have been napping like a narwhal in November and you'd have missed out on my buttery bagels while they were still fresh from the bun oven," she gasped while I just regarded her in silence. "How are you, my lady Tory? It has been a long and mournful summer without the pleasure of your happy face and joyful presence to enhance it. I have missed you something chronic. I do hope that loathsome lizard didn't subject you to too many mishaps while we were hunting for you? I swear I don't think I've slept a full wink since I realised you were taken by that rotten reptile and I have been begging the stars to return you every moment of every day. I have been wracking my brain all night, wondering what might help you return to your senses and I wondered if a buttery bagel in the morn might spark something helpful." She placed the tray of bagels down on my table so that she could swipe tears from her eyes before peering at me hopefully like she'd only just realised that she hadn't heard me speak yet.
"You can fuck off now," I said flatly, realising she wasn't going to actually leave unless I told her to.
"I can...I can...you want me to..." She gaped at me like somehow I hadn’t been clear while the tears in her eyes built up and up as she clutched her chest like she’d been mortally wounded.
I sighed, flicking my fingers at her and knocking her back several steps with a blast of air magic.
"My lady!" she gasped in horror as I lifted my Atlas again and gave my attention to studying. My king wanted me at this academy to learn so that was what I was going to do. I was going to become the strongest Guardian he could ever wish for then maybe I'd be his favourite instead of Clara.
Geraldine continued to splutter hysterically, making me seriously consider using a stronger