Royal Games

Chapter 10

"Hey roomie!" A perky female exclaims three days later as she wanders into the living room for the first time.

"Hey." I reply from my position on the sofa nearest the door. "I'm Ally. You're the first roommate I've met. Actually, scratch that, the first other student I've met."

"Well, it's still early in the morning. I'm Zoey, by the way. Are you planning on doing some of the freshers events later? I know I am." She flops down next to me on the sofa.

"Yeah. There's supposed to be campus tours throughout the day and I was hoping to go with a few other people. Are you in?" I've hardly been out of my room the past few days and really need to re-join civilisation.

"Defo. So what's your degree? Mine's drama."

"I'm doing English. Have you seen your room yet?" It feels remarkably strange to have a regular conversation, smiles and all, after everything I've been through lately. I might be masking the hole in my heart and magic in my veins, but I'm being as genuine as I possibly can be.

"No, but I should probably go up now. I'm in room 1. You?"

"Room 3."

"Well," Zoey springs to her feet and bounces out of the room. "I'll be back soon."

I put a hand to my forehead when she's gone. She seems really sweet, but that girl is way too sunshine and rainbows for my current mood.

An hour later, Zoey is still upstairs and I'm reading the novel I started on the train here. I hear someone else walk in the front door.

"Hi. I'm Ally." I say, greeting the girl in the hallway.

"Hi." This girl looks more down to earth. I glimpse nervousness in her eyes, although she does well to hide it. "I'm Elizabeth, but people usually call me Eliza."

"Now we're just waiting on one more person."

"I'm here!" Another girl stumbles through the door. She holds out her hand and for me and Eliza to shake. "Megan, ready for fun."

"Ally." I reply.

"I'm Eliza."

"And I'm Zoey." She comes down the stairs taking two at a time. "I'll see what drinks we have." She walks right past us and into the kitchen.

"I'll just drop my bags in my room and be right back." Megan announces.

"Me too." Eliza follows Megan upstairs, while I join Zoey in the kitchen.

"Lemonade or coke?" Zoey asks.

"I vote for coke."

"Coke it is. So, what time did you get here?"

"Only about half an hour before you did." The lie rolls easily off my tongue. "It was long enough to unpack the food and drink I brought."

"Oh, this is yours? I hope it's okay I'm helping myself."

"Go ahead; it's for all of us."

"So then," Megan starts as she and Eliza walk back into the room. "What's everyone studying?"

"I'm a drama student and Ally's an English student." Zoey answers, handing out glasses of coke.

"I'm doing geography." Eliza states.

"Well, I'm studying medicine." Megan finally says.

"Oh, Miss Smarty Pants." Zoey teases, before changing to a more natural tone. "Hey, so me and Ally are going to do a campus tour together later. Who wants to join?"

"Sounds great." Eliza says.

"Yeah, count me in." Megan agrees.

"What does everyone want to see at the freshers fair?" I ask.

"I'm looking for something sporty to do. Maybe cycling. Although I have heard there's a good netball team here." Megan replies.

"I just want to find out where all the good parties are. And if I find any cute guys I'll let you know." Zoey says.

"I'm more interested in cute girls." Megan admits, giving Zoey a wink. We all laugh. A wave of homesickness hits me when I realise the last time I laughed was with Helena and Nessa at the palace.

"I've actually heard about this occult society I want to join." My ears prick up at Eliza's declaration.

"You want to join a cult?" Zoey bursts out, clearly disturbed by the thought.

"Not a cult, occult. You know, like witchcraft and the supernatural."

"Wait, you're into that stuff? I am too." I confess. Occult isn't a word used by seelies, so the society must be human-led and should still keep my cover. Although, with my hair now properly dyed black, someone would probably have to know me quite well to recognise me anyway.

"Yeah. I actually practice witchcraft, not that I'm very good at it, though." Considering that witchcraft is the human art of magic, and humans have little to no magic, witchcraft usually doesn't work. I guess it's just a bit of fun for them. "Have you ever tried a spell before?"

"No. But I'd love to learn. What spells have you done?"

"Well, there was a protection spell for my house, and a karma spell for this guy who cheated on my best friend, and...

"Not that this conversation isn't interesting," Megan cuts Eliza off. "But can we please talk about something we all have in common?"

"Sorry." I say. "Oh, I never actually said what I'm looking for at freshers. I want to see what campaigns are going on around here. There's got to be a feminist society, right?"

"I'll join that." Zoey chimes in. "So what if I'm blonde and like to party and flirt with boys? I've spent years boxing and could easily hold my own in a fight. I'm fed up with stereotypes."

"Me too. And I'm also sick of guys judging us for things they applaud each other for." Eliza adds.

"If a guy is sexist, cut him out of your life." Megan advises. "Simple solution."

An alarm interrupts us. Zoey takes out her phone and mutes it. "Time for our campus tour, girls!"

We wander out of the house, still discussing the downfalls of the male species. Obviously, there are lots of great things we could list about guys too, it's just more entertaining to stick to one list rather than create an argument. I'm so caught up in the conversation that I don't notice there's something on the ground until it's too late.

I trip over, landing sprawled across the tarmac. A hand reaches out to me and I take it. As I'm helped up to my feet, I realise the hand doesn't belong to one of my roommates. I gaze into the sapphire eyes of a male I've never met.