“Just get up. Falling asleep in a library—who does that? You’ve not even got a book,” she said, walking away from me and towards the exit. She turned back to me. “Come on,” she called frustratedly, waving her hand for me to follow. “I doubt you remember your way back.”
I grudgingly got up, my legs feeling stiff having been tucked beneath me for however long I was sleeping. I hated to admit it, but still not being completely sure of the lay of Ardens Estate, I could do with a guide—especially if the halls were as dark as the library.
“Where is she?” I asked as I reached Katrina.
“I’ll find her easy enough. Last I saw her, she was in the north wing,” she replied.
“How long have I been missing?” I asked.
“Only a few hours, but only in the last hour has she begun to lose her mind. You’d been exploring the grounds, walking back on yourself multiple times. She’s been like a hound—walking in circles around the north wing and the master tower. You haven’t really explored the south wing, and your scent had faded to near nothing. It was chance I was able to pick it up. If I hadn’t been going from room to room and had just past by the library instead of venturing in, I wouldn’t have found you,” she explained.
“Am I not being watched?” I questioned.
I felt that she turned to look at me, but the lights in the corridor were not on, and there were no windows to provide moonlight here.
“What are you on about?” she asked in return.
“I mean, usually I’m being watched, and my doings reported back to the princess,” I explained.
“Damn, you’re on a short leash,” Katrina replied, and I was about argue but thought better of it. It wasn’t necessarily an incorrect statement.
Selene’s spies had at first infuriated me. I was always kind of aware that Edward or any of the other Borealis students—and others I probably didn’t know about—were quick to provide Selene with information about my day. From where I’d been and who I’d seen, to even the content of my conversations.
But I knew it wasn’t controlling. She only wanted to protect her interests—and myself.
“So you’ve never been missing before huh? Never had the chance to sneak off?” she asked.
I hesitated. My abduction during the summer wasn’t a secret, but it wasn’t something I had spoken about with anyone other than my closest friends and Selene. Even then, I didn’t enjoy talking about it.
I bumped into Katrina, almost falling if not for her arm shooting out to catch me.
“Sorry,” I said reflexively. I was usually the most clumsy person around.
“You don’t have to apologise. I stopped,” she said.
“Oh,” I said, “Why?”
“You went all strangely quiet and your heart sped up. What aren’t you telling me?” she asked.
“Maybe it’s none of your business,” I replied, frustrated and still tired.
“Fine. I guess it’s not,” she said and huffed before she began to walk again, tugging my arm once to follow.
“Why do you hate me?” I asked.
“I don’t hate you. I’m just disappointed.”
“That’s not fair!” I said, my voice rising, “It’s not fair that you expect something from me. I don’t have any power. I never asked for any of this. And you’re judging me—being, being nasty, a bully—and I haven’t done anything!” I complained.
She sighed loudly. “No one that asks for the kind of power you have should ever get it. But what’s worse about you is that you’re completely clueless!” she told me.
“Then give me a clue,” I said, frustrated, angry tears threateningly, burning behind my eyes. “Don’t talk to me in cryptic ways. I’m clearly not that smart.”
“Oh, I realise that,” she said sarcastically.
“If you can’t tell me what you mean straightly, just leave me alone,” I told her.
“You don’t even know who you are,” she told me.
