Her mind was full of Balthazar, as she walked into the Academy. It was getting later in the year and soon she was going to have to decide what she was going to do with herself. School was going to be over, and Mallory was about to start another chapter of her life, a chapter that she really didn't want to even think about. It held not only an arranged marriage for her future, but also unhappiness that would be unparalleled to anything that she had never known before.
Mallory couldn’t get it off of her mind, and she wasn’t paying attention later when she was supposed to be in the middle of a fight. Georgerey Ballen was a man she had taken down several times in the past, but not today. Her attention was gone, and he had thrown her down hard several times, knocking the wind out of her as he did it.
She was gasping for air on the ground when the match was called from a firm and abrupt voice coming from the back of the room. Mallory didn't notice who was talking at first and she refused to stop. She tried to get back up, even though her whole body wanted to collapse. Her match was over, even if she didn't want to admit it. Nothing that she had done could have prepared her for what happened next.
“Mallory. You are needed in my office. Now.”
Mallory could feel people’s eyes on her and she tried to ignore all the sounds that were made. They thought she was in trouble, and maybe she was. Mallory didn't know what she had done, but her thoughts alone made her guilty. As soon as she entered the office, he was right behind her, slamming the door in his anger. Why was he so mad? she wondered to herself. And why did he look so damn good when he was mad?
“What the hell is going on with you?”
He was moving into the small office and she sat down by his desk. Mallory was obviously upset, and she doubted that the guy who hated her was going to be able or willing to help her. Instead, she just told him that everything was fine, and he called her a liar.
“Did you seriously just say I was a liar?”
He agreed.
“It's easier for me to say that it's nothing than to tell you out loud what is going on. Trust me, you don't want to hear about it.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I just know.”
“Well, I want to hear what is going on, or I'm going to have to kick you out of the Academy. You don't seem to be understanding how important it is to stay focused. You have been all over lately, and you’re endangering yourself. You almost got creamed out there.”
“I'm just worried about what happens when all of this is over. My life is already planned out for me, but what if I don’t want to live it? What if I don't want to get married to your cousin? I don't know, he came to see me a few minutes ago, and it really messed with my head. He probably got something out of it. I never know what to think of him and now my mind is off.”
As soon as Mallory even mentioned Balthazar's name, Vincent immediately started to change the way he looked at her. She wanted to think that it wasn't personal, but it certainly felt that way. She knew that the two of them didn't get along, but it's not like it was something that she had chosen.
It was something that was chosen for her, and Mallory believed that was a big difference. It was a huge difference as far as she was concerned. He hated the exact person that was making it impossible for her to have any say in her own life. That seemed like enough of a reason for them to get along, but he refused.
“You’re promised to him, which is a shame.”
Mallory looked his way and he didn’t seem mad at her, but there was definitely some underlying feelings that she didn’t quite understand. By the look of things, he didn’t understand it either. It was hard to watch him, questioning everything, while she herself was doing the same thing.
“It’s not like I had a choice in it.”
“Yes, well, it’s what your lot in life is. We all have roles to play. This one is mine, and yours is already laid out for you.”
She shook her head and didn’t want to believe it. Mallory was content to pretend like she had some say. She wasn’t going to let anyone tell her how she was going to live her life or what her lot in it was supposed to be.
Mallory didn’t know why she expected anything different. She tried to harden up, even though there had been a thawing between the two of them. Now, though, she wasn’t going to even look him in the eyes. It was all she could do not to burst into tears.
It must have shown on her face because his own softened for a moment.
“Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t have to say it like that, but you’re off in your own world. That can be dangerous here. You know that. You have to get your head in the game or take some time off. There are no rules saying that you can’t take a few days or a few weeks to get yourself back together.”
Mallory didn’t want that to happen at all. Her marriage to Balthazar was hinging on her graduating. As much as she would like to fail to prolong it further, it wouldn’t work. If she left the Academy, that just meant that there would be nothing stopping the two of them from getting married. That would have been fine, if she would have left it like that.
“I can’t go back home. If I leave, this is all over even sooner.”
Mallory hated the sound of desperation in her voice. It was a side of her that she didn’t want to show, especially to the man who didn’t even like her, most likely hated her because of who she was marrying. Mallory was well aware that Balthazar was the man who killed not just Vincent’s father, but his mother and older brother as well. She knew that the bad blood between them ran deep. Maybe that was why she thought that she would get some sort of sympathy from him. That wasn’t what happened at all, though.
When he didn’t say anything, Mallory told him that she knew it wasn’t his problem and she apologized for bringing it up. She didn’t want to make things worse, but the reality of what she was going to have to do hit her suddenly and left her unable to move forward. For what?
“I don’t know what to tell you about all of that, Mallory. If you don’t want to go down the path you are headed, change it. What I can help you with is forgetting about it. All I am worried about is moving forward. Train with me every morning, and I will leave you too tired to worry about what happens after you graduate. That’s months away.”
She agreed and thanked him for the offer. It was exactly what she needed to hear. Mallory just wanted him to tell her that everything was going to be okay and that’s what he’d told her. He also made her believe it too.
