She looked around, her aura intimidating, and everyone quickly nodded their agreement and began to disperse. Lady Belanna sent the injured boy off to the infirmary with two of the teachers and then turned, calling out after Erin who had only moved a few steps away.
"Éirinne de Roderick, stay behind."
Sighing, Erin, came to a stop, noticing that Olivia and Gerald both came to stand protectively on either side of her.
"Yes Headmistress."
The older woman glared at the two other students standing near her. "I don't believe I called either of your names."
Gerald shrugged. "Of course, Headmistress, but by your order we cannot walk alone without a roommate or a friend. I don't have a roommate and Erin here is my only friend." He smiled. "So I have no choice but to wait for her."
"Same!" Olivia chimed in. "She's my friend AND my roommate. Plus, her life would be in shambles without me. I can't leave her alone, she'd die without my support, poor thing."
Lady Belanna sighed loudly. "That's enough nonsense, you two. Go stand over there." She pointed to a nearby tree a good twenty feet away.
"Fine. Gerald, while we wait, I'll teach you everything you need to know for a perfect first date with Erin..." With a wicked grin, Olivia grabbed Gerald's arm and led him away, both of them careful to stay within a direct line of sight of Erin, in case she needed help. She couldn't help but feel a flash of warmth at her two friends' stubbornness.
The Headmistress raised an eyebrow, looking over the young man standing under the tree with increased interest.
"You have a boyfriend now? Does your father know?"
Erin stiffened up, forcing a casual smile to her face. "He's been rejected. There's nothing to tell my father."
"Good. You know he will pick an appropriate marriage partner that will suit your status as a noble daughter of the Roderick household." The woman smiled, and Erin felt the urge to leap forward and punch her in the face.
How dare she act like she has some inside knowledge of me or my family!
Erin knew that Lady Belanna and her father had... a close relationship, one that she had not understood when she was young. Nor had she understood why her mother locked herself in her room to cry every time the woman had come to visit them. Of course, now with her mother dead and buried, they were a lot more open with their affection. Lady Belanna often attempted to act like a replacement mother to Erin, only succeeding in earning her disgust and anger.
But she knew the repulsive woman reported back frequently to her father, and if she didn't want him catching on to her and her aunt's scheme, she had to play nice.
Even if it killed her inside.
"Is there anything I can help you with, Headmistress?"
The woman relaxed, her happy expression giving Erin a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"No need to be so formal, dear. You can call me Belanna if you like. We're practically family..." She reached out a hand to stroke Erin's hair, and unable to stand it, Erin stepped away, avoiding it. She saw the older woman begin to frown and desperate for an excuse, blurted:
"I don't want others to think I'm only here because of favoritism... Especially since..." She hoped referring to her disappointing abilities that it would distract her, and thankfully it worked.
"Of course, dear. How thoughtless of me." She looked around, and then whispered. "Any improvements on regaining your abilities back?"
Erin smiled sadly. Growing up, before she had left academy, she had been training daily with her father with over eight different level 3 and 4 abilities. Despite this being considered extraordinary talent, to her father, who had the three different catastrophic level 5 abilities of fire, wind and physical enhancement magic, she could only be thought of as weak and useless. Of course, when she found out what he had done to her mother, and made a pact with her aunt...
Chapter 3
Start from the beginning
