Legend | Celeste Academy Series BK #2

Chapter 29 ♕ The Harem

As soon as Faolan dropped the two inside a stinking jail, Tamara listened cautiously for his movements. She heard the jingling of keys, the familiar creaking of rusting jail bars and the lock clicking into place. She willed her face to stay neutral as there was a pause, with not a sound reaching her ears in exception for a faint, blowing wind. Even so, she could not hold back the small twitch her nose made as she picked up the odor of an unpleasant scent—not to mention the ground was somewhat damp and cold.

"I do apologize for my actions until now." His voice rang low, echoing and bouncing off the thick walls. "But what I do, I do not do for myself."

Tamara waited until she heard him start walking away. It took a while for his footsteps to fade completely that the third-ranker was starting to feel impatient. She made sure she could not feel his presence anymore before opening her eyes and looking around.

"I guess Charles was right." She muttered to herself before picking out the dirt between the strands of her hair in disgust. "What a bother."

She smirked.

When it came to the fourth-ranker, there wasn't anything that would go unexpected. He only told everyone the most obvious of his plans, but gave a select few specific instructions. It wasn't only him, but some of those within the Twelve were vigilant and very alert—like Rowe and Corvan for example. She couldn't call herself a part of 'them' since she wasn't really one to think up of complicated strategies. Tamara was only up for the action part.

Of course, she was in her last year of study—an eighth-year student of the academy. It would be laughable if she had not gotten enough experience in this field after at least eight years, considering she was better than the average newly-graduated Celestes. Of course, she was also a part of the Celestial Twelve. Although she was not an appropriate candidate for handling the position of 'strategist', she followed her innate instincts and intuition without thinking too much. She often was right about her conclusions.

The redhead turned and eyed the passed out Courtney lying on the cold floor. It wouldn't be too long before she woke up. She could wake her up if she wanted to, but she had to try and find out a way out of this stinking prison first.

And there was someone missing. She already knew the boys were gone. She had overheard Asthore ordering Faolan to put the boys in a separate room to be treated as guest, but Valeriana was missing.

She looked around, hoping to catch sight of a honey-blonde head somewhere. Unfortunately, she failed.

Tamara pushed herself up and sat, her head practically doing a three-hundred-and-sixty degrees turn, but she could not see her or them anywhere. "Valeriana?" She whispered. "Where are you?"

The redhead did not notice since she was busy trying to 'act'. Sure, she might've not been good in a lot of things, but she had the skills needed for these situations. Frowning, she thought back to the time before when they got into this dilemma and curled her lips at the possibility of the girl escaping.

'Tamara. Tamara, dost thou hear me?' Her familiar called out to her, tapping into the link they shared.

'Iolani.' She replied.

'I am glad thou art well.' The bird began. 'Charles and the others are inquiring about thy situation. How art thou?"

'Stuck in a cold, stinking prison. Ugh. I can practically taste the air down here.' She found herself sighing at the statement as she crinkled her nose at the polluted, thick air. 'Don't worry though, I'll find a way to get out of here somehow.'

'How about the others?'

'I only have Courtney here with me. I don't see Valeriana or the boys.'