Unequal

Chapter Forty-One

Chapter Forty-One- Baurindriel

Catz's arrival went by with much notice. He was tall and muscular and his deep voice had a way of filling rooms, making it nearly impossible not to acknowledge his presence. The first thing in informed us of was the correct pronunciation of his name, telling us it was pronounced like "shots," which I chose to ignore and continuously call him Cats.

Catz was completely unlike Servius.  He wasn't quiet and reserved. He flirted with practically every girl he met and made use of the fact that he was so obviously handsome.  He had wide, almost feminine eyes, of a pale blue and his unruly straw-colored hair set sloppily on his head, but his defined jaw and tan skin worked well with it and made him admittedly attractive. He was well aware of this and used it to his advantage, but I just ignored him.

When fighting, Catz used a broadsword and a shield. He didn't seem to mind that I was an elf, and if he did, he hadn't said anything. He was fairly casual about things and didn't try to engage in conversation with me until three days after his arrival.

"Where did the other guy go?" He asked me after training.

I clenched my fists and told him, "Servius' father had objections to him training with an elf and had him leave."

"So...it's pretty much your fault?" He responded, an amused look on his face, clearly enjoying using my hurt as an upperhand.

I resisted the overwhelming desire to clock him. "No. It's only D'Rogis' fault for being a manipulative idiot."

Catz's eyes widened in disbelief.  "Wait. The guy was the Councilman's son? And you two tried to defy him? You know he's racist and hates elves, right?"

"I had no idea!" I snapped sarcastically.

"Hey, there's no need to get upset."

This time I did punch him. My fist slammed into his nose and then I spun on my heel and stomped off to find Scarlett and Izuk. When I located them I yelled, "I absolutely hate that guy!"

Izuk raised an eyebrow.  "You said that about Servius, too."

"Oh just shut up! No one appreciates your jokes!" I would have probably hit him as well if hadn't have been for Scarlett putting her arm in front of me and telling me to calm down. I took a few breaths and muttered, "Servius was different."

It depressed me to use the past tense, as if he no longer existed, but I decided it was in my own interest to accept that I probably would never see him again. With D'Rogis involved, it was just stupid to dwell on the thought of Servius returning. That doesn't mean that I didn't hope to see him again. I put the thought in the back of my mind, but it was never completely disposed of.

When Servius left, Eliana and her friends started bullying me again. It started with words. They seemed to think I was defenceless,  that without Servius I had no one to protect me.

"Hey She-elf," they would call,  "where's your boyfriend to save you?"

When I ignored them, they would push on, "Oh, that's right, it's all your fault that he's gone." Then someone would trip me or shove me. They hit me and kicked me or taunted me until I would snap into a fit of rage, yelling and punching walls. They took my irritability like any jerk would, continuously fueling my anger until I was so upset, I collapsed and cried. They called me weak or useless when that happened, but I was already too hurt for it to do anything, so they would leave me to cry. I didn't tell anyone what happened. Not until Catz found me in the corner, so upset and in pain that he had to carry me back to the dorm and everyone lulled me into telling them what was happening. Michael promised me Vaughn would find out. What they had done was grounds for expulsion, but I was fairly certain that they would still be there next week.

After that, I did my best to use all my aggression during training. Catz and I silently agreed to ignore the other outside of practice and most of my time was spent with Izuk who turned out to be a better friend than I had assumed. We spoke often of what it was like to be at home and those thoughts calmed us down. I explained Aendriethiel and the King's Palace and my hope to one day return. I told him about my parents and what Silvyr was like. Izuk told me about his younger sister. He seemed to have a soft spot for her and it made me smile. We both missed Servius and sometimes sitting silently in eachother's company was reassurance enough to push on with the day.

Scarlett grew distant from me. Our conversations never lasted long. Besides, she spent most her time with Catz, appearing to be the only person on our team who actually liked him. I suppose I tolerated Catz, but "friends" wouldn't be an adequate word.

I put aside time every night to pray for Servius' return, and other than that didn't torture myself by thinking of him.