Shcielle (Draeyer Academy 2)

Chapter 28-Color Warning

Icefall City
Arktis Skyland
Northern Space

Laughter drifted from the closed doors of their private dining room. Alec's brows scrunched at the sound, wondering what was happening to elicit it. He turned the golden knob and slipped inside as he pushed the door to widen the gap for his frame. His three baby Draes slipped past his legs and went ahead to his chair.

No one took heed of his entrance. His fellow Sentires, minus a certain brunette, huddled at one side of the long table, each holding a thick stack of envelopes of either white or pink. Headmaster Donovan, Gael, and Kreis were the only grown-ups in the room. They wore amused smiles on their faces as they watched the younger ones doing whatever it was their doing.

Alec's attention snapped to Rei when he read something from a piece of paper he took out from a pink envelope.

"Dearest Rei," the redhead began. A smile at the corners of Alec's lips when Rei's face contorted at the word "dearest."

They're reading letters, he thought. He walked closer to them as Rei read on, his face twisting in something similar to disgust when he encountered the letter sender's way of describing his "bright fiery hair," "soft chocolate eyes," and his "sinfully gorgeous lips."

Alec lost his composure at the last part when Rei's eyes threatened to jump out of their sockets. Every pair of eyes in the room turned to him, eyes widening as they caught him laughing without a single thread of restraint. He bended over, shoulders shaking, his laughter loud and uncontrolled. He only stopped when he lost his breath. "What?" he asked as he met their raised-browed gaze. He was still catching the air he lost. "Never seen me laugh before?"

"We've never seen you laugh like a complete lunatic," Kreis said. "Don't blame us if we're shocked." Gael and the headmaster only chuckled.

Alec shrugged.

"Laugh all you want Alec," Rei said. The redhead narrowing his "soft brown eyes" at him which looked like the complete opposite of the description in that moment. Alec suppressed a chuckle. "You're reading a sickly sweet letter of admiration you received too and I hope you choke on the equally sickly sweet perfume coating it!"

Alec's smile dropped and a frown plastered itself on his face. "I have one too?"

"Of course, you have one," Solana said, with a grin on her face. She stood from her chair and bent over till the table hid her form. She came in to view a few seconds later with a medium-sized wooden box in both hands. A dull thud echoed in the room as she slammed it on the table. "One box."

He had no idea how to react. There were those who had given him letters back at Draeyer Academy. It never reached an amount wherein he had to use a box to hold them all in place. His frown deepened when he peered down at the lidless container and saw all letters, most of which were pink and some white.

In Arktis, the color of the envelope represents what type of letter it was. Blue was for business, green was from Ryders, white was friendship, yellow was for family, and pink was...he stopped a shudder from racking through him.

"Bloody Blazen," he muttered under his breath. As subtly as he could, he took slow steps back. "I forgot that I actually need to be somewhere before we go to Icefall Academy."

"And where will that be?" Solana asked. With a mischievous smile on her innocent-looking face, she picked a pink letter from the box and raised it toward him like it was some knife. Her twin and the other male Sentires looked on with the same glint in their eyes. Even Ceiver was enjoying his discomfort.

His brain scrambled for a possible excuse. Luckily he came up with one.

"I promised Roselintine that I'd take her to Healer Kura for the bruise on her cheek," he said. "After all, I was the one responsible for it." After talking with Areisha, they agreed that he would take the blame for the dark color on her face, and not a certain bitch of a stepmother. At first, nobody believed him, but they gave in. Am I really that soft on her for them not to believe that I could hit her face? He had thought.