The Beginning (Book One in The Illusion of Certainty Series)

The Fight

Most of the things I wanted to take were already packed up. There weren’t many boxes and Sebastis and Luke didn’t grumble as I led them across campus and to the dorm. There were a total of four dorms dedicated to what everyone referred to as the high school years. The younglings and young breeds had a campus all to their own and stood adjacent to the apprentices’ campus. It was all very complex and strangely arranged.

Luke was staying in the apartment with my parents but would stay with me in the dorm until curfew. He would do periodical rounds at night to ensure everything was ok. He didn’t need sleep like the rest of us. An hour or two tops. There was a second bed in my room and I decided to push the beds together to make one big bed.  

After moving my boxes in and making sure I was ok, Sebastis took off. Luke helped me unpack and set up. He was putting my copy of Alice in Wonderland on the shelf when he finally said something. We had the music on and I hadn’t heard what he said. I turned down Kelly Clarkson’s newest tune and looked over at him.

“What?”

“How was sparring class?”

“Weren’t you watching?” I smirked.

He smiled, “What were you two talking about?”

“He’s my sparring partner…” I said.

Luke frowned and stopped organizing books, “Why?”

“He’s the only one on my skill level according to Sabain and Hektor.”

I plugged in my computer and moved to get up. I winced as my stitches pulled. Luke put the books down and came over. He helped me up and I thanked him.

“Maybe by the time I get back to class my skill level will have gone down,” I smiled.

“I doubt that…” Luke said. “Here, sit down.”

He pulled the chair out from the desk. I sat down and looked up at him.

“I’m fine Luke. Stop worrying.”

“Have you ever thought that maybe you’re not ok? You need to stop getting into trouble Gee.”

I smiled, “You want me to change Luke?”

“I want you to stay alive. This is not a good way of accomplishing it.”

The next couple days passed by like a blur. They all seemed to run together, nothing extraordinary happened. Early on particualr morning, I got the go ahead to start sparring again. I was excited. When I got to class, Sabain was waiting for me by the girl’s locker room door.

“Your mother said you might need some help.”

“It’s ok. Sophie said she would help me. Have you seen her?”

“I got a letter from her Elder. She’s sick. Something about the stomach flu. There have been a few kids out with it today.”

“Alright then.”

We headed into the locker room. Many of the girls had already changed and there were only a few stragglers left. They said hello and quickly exited. I ended up being able to get everything on by myself. The loops at the waist were the hardest. Sabain ended up having to get the ones located on the sides and the one in the back.

“Ready?” she asked.

“I think so.”

She gave me an easy smile and we headed towards the door. I was putting my hair in a pony tail when we exited. Several people were whispering but Harriet gave them the evil eye as I put it. The whispers soon abated and I caught Michael’s eye. He nodded slightly at me but soon turned his attention back to Hektor. The first half passed by quickly and I was doing well. My technique hadn’t suffered from neglect. I was able to do the easy moves with grace and ease but the harder ones took a little more effort. Sabain caught me wincing once and pulled me aside, telling me not to over exert myself. She called break soon after that.