Court of Nightmares and Ruin

Chapter 18

Icelyn

A month passed before the smile returned to Jen's face, and the mischievous twinkle in her eyes reappeared. My heart broke all over again every time I saw her brokenness. Even though that rat had not succeeded in raping her, he stole something just as precious, her confidence and her happiness.

I turned over in bed and saw her beside me, smiling from ear to ear. "It's a beautiful day, isn't it?"

My heart was happy that she was happy, and I smiled back at her. Ever since the incident, she had been too afraid to sleep by herself, so I had a permanent roommate for the last month. Many of her nights were filled with terror, and I knew she relived the horrors she experienced in her nightmares every time she closed her eyes. When she was too restless, I called upon Kohl to chase away the horrors of her mind so she could rest.

Finally, about a week ago, Kohl informed me that he would no longer ease Jen's troubled mind. He told me she needed to process everything that had happened alone and that he was just pacifying her by taking away the pain. I yelled at him and told him he was an insensitive jerk for letting Jen suffer through this on her own, but as she looked at me now, reminding me of the old Jen I remembered, I had to admit that maybe he had been right. Not that I would stroke his ego by telling him so.

"It's going to be a good day, and we have much to do to prepare for tonight," Jen says as she hops out of bed.

"What's happening tonight?"

I got up and threw my training uniform on. I trained every day from sunup to sundown and was proud to admit I was doing well. I was starting to exceed my own instructors.

"You don't know what tonight is?" Jen looked at me, slacked jaw.

"Tonight is a full moon...The Night Realm has a moonlight feast every full moon!" Jen threw her hands up like she couldn't believe I didn't know such a thing.

"The Night Realm fae are at their peak, if ya know what I mean, under a full moon. These parties can get a little wild! I live for it!"

I laughed as Jen danced around the room in excitement. I didn't care what the occasion was as long as Jen was on the mend.

"Maybe you and Kohl will get together tonight." Jen winked at me.

My heart fluttered at the mention of his name. I hadn't seen him in about a week since our disagreement, and I had to admit, if only to myself, that I felt like a chunk of my heart was missing.

"Don't be silly." I shushed her as I walked into the hallway, searching for breakfast.

As I was about to enter the dining hall, Kohl rounded the corner.

"Once you have eaten, join me on the west end of the training field." He never stopped walking as he spoke to me and soon was out of sight.

Ok, that was weird.

After I ate, I went in search of Nero, saddled him, and headed towards the west end of the field like Kohl instructed. I couldn't figure out why he wanted me to meet him so far away from the rest of the group.

Nero swooped around and landed. I removed his bridle so he could gorge himself on the lush Night Realm grass he had come to love. Once he was taken care of, I walked towards Kohl, who was leaning against a tree trunk, watching my every move. My stomach summersaults as I approached him.

"What exactly are we doing here?" I stopped a few feet from him and crossed my arms over my chest.

"You have met the exceptions of your physical training; now we work on controlling your powers."