Chapter 20
"So Lucas really does not like anything different does he?" Arriana sighed and sat on the ground.
She bit her bottom lip and rested her chin in her hands. Her heart thumped in her chest. The weight of what she agreed to do was weighing heavily on her. This was a lot more than winning a swim meet or being lead on a school project. An entire world rested on her shoulders.
"No, he does not," Zoe said.
"Alright, I'm ready to go make Coresova a hell of a lot more different. Let's go give this maniac a migraine. I'm ready to take my kingdom back," Arriana stated firmly, standing up.
Her adrenaline coursed strongly through her veins. It almost seemed as though she was having an out-of-body experience. She knew what she was doing, but she didn't feel in control of her acions. She was terrified. Not brave.
The room of people began to chuckle and the mood seemed to lighten a bit. Tensions were high; they all knew this would be a hard journey for the young girl. She had never been in a fight, never stood in front of people when it wasn't necessary. Like she always thought...she was a normal, average, mundane teenager that always blended in with the background. She was about to step into the spotlight and be there for a very long time.
The next few days were such a blur for Arriana. So many questions were still flying around in her mind. She was beginning to get nervous as the hours ticked away.
When will Barwick come for us? Why didn't the others ever rise up and take control? Why wait for me? I'm nobody. I've never been there. I don't even know how to fight. Will I be a good queen? Will I be able to learn enough to defeat Lucas in time? Is this all even real? What if I screw up? Oh man, what am I getting myself into?
Everything she knew to be right and wrong or real and fake seemed to be the opposite. The thought that she would lead an entire army seemed like a joke. She had no idea if she was doing the right thing or if this was going to be the biggest mistake of her life. In the back of her mind, she still always assumed that everybody would jump out of somewhere, someplace and yell "Gotcha!" and they would all have a good laugh at her expense. It still hadn't happened. Arriana continued going to school for some sort of normalcy before chaos surrounded her. As she watched her fellow classmates file through the hallways, mess around in class and just act the way they normally do she began to realize how immature and pathetic it all seemed now. Here she was, only seventeen years old and about to travel to this other world and prepare for a battle against a man who is so full of hate that he has been on a mass murdering spree for who knows how long. He could very well have been killing the magical and mythical creatures of Coresova for a lot longer than seventeen years. Arriana would've bet money on it at this point. She also began to wonder if everyone else had ever thought about life beyond Smithtown. If they thought about their future or what else was going on out there. Lost in her thoughts, she did not here Ms. Monegan calling her name. She did realize it when she was wacked on the back of the head with the yardstick though.
"Miss James, are you with us today?"
The class erupted in laughter.
"Yes, Ms. Monegan. I'm sorry. I just have a lot on my mind," Arriana murmured coming out of her daydream.
"Well if you can pry yourself away from your ever so important thoughts do you think you can join the rest of the class and answer my question?" Monegan asked sarcastically.
"Um, what was the question?" Arriana asked.
Sighing heavily Ms. Monegan looked down at Arriana from the top of her silver rimmed glasses and her long pointy beak of a nose. Her lips pursed tightly together and her muddy brown eyes glared at Arriana.
"I asked who was king of England from 1491 until 1547 and what did he do that was so important," she repeated.
Arriana stared at the gangly, grey haired woman for a minute. Her hair was pulled tightly up in a bun, while her beady eyes still glared down at Arriana.
"Oh, um, Henry the VIII and he was the first king to get a divorce and he separated from the Catholic Church."
"Correct. You may go back to your own world now, Miss James."
This sent the class into another fit of laughter. Arriana's cheeks burned a scarlet red as she quickly focused her gaze down at the empty notebook. She quickly began to twirl her hair with one hand while doodling with the other. She could feel her classmates staring at her still. She tried not to care but she was never good at pretending. This wasn't the first time Ms. Monegan had done this. It was as though Arriana was her own little play toy that she could embarrass and harass whenever she felt the need. Apparently she felt the need at least three times a week. Arriana hated history class.
She put her head into her hands and rubbed her temples. How was she supposed to focus on school when there was so much going on? Barwick could come back for them at any moment.
What about these supposed powers I have and a wand? If I have powers why haven't I been able to use them? Is there a wand waiting for me? If my mother had hidden it so well that Lucas could not even find it how am I supposed to? God this is so ridiculous! Why am I wasting time sitting in a class that is not going to help me anymore? I'm not even going to be living in this realm! I'm a queen who is sitting in this ridiculous history class with this ridiculous teacher. Rubbish. That's what this all is. Pure rubbish. Do I really have to be here anymore? I should just get up and leave. Walk out that door and say, "See ya". Yeah right. I don't have the balls to do something like that. I'll endure a few more days of this. But what if it's longer than a few days? What if it's a few weeks? Or months? What if I lose my nerve before Barwick comes back and I can't battle Lucas?
Hearing the bell ring brought Arriana back to life, she hurried and put her books into her shoulder bag and got up. As she began walking out the door, she glanced over her shoulder at Ms. Monegan and noticed her staring. Just sitting at her desk staring with those dark, menacing eyes, Arriana tried to ignore it but she could not help the sinking, icy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She knew the feeling was probably nothing but could not shake it. Knowing that there was a man who wanted her dead had set her nerves askew. Ignoring the nagging feeling in her gut and head, Arriana hurried out the door and down the hall to her French class. She had been wondering how Marc was holding up. She had not seen him yet today and was hoping he was going about things normally. As she rounded the corner, Deacon was standing by his physics class. He looked at her and smiled. She smiled back at him not wanting to make things seem odd. She wanted to just run up to him and kiss him. She was so scared and knew he would be able to make her feel okay. Instead, she turned to the right and walked into her class.
No balls, Arriana. We have no balls.
Marc was sitting at his desk writing as he normally was.
I wonder if that is school related writing or if it has anything to do with Coresova. How will Marc act towards me now that I know whom I am? Will he be able to treat me like a student or want to treat me like the queen?
Arriana slowly walked to her desk and sat down. The bell rang and Marc stood up, walking to the chalkboard. After he was finished with his board work and had everybody translating the newest novel, he made his usual round to each student.
He paused at Arriana. "Afternoon, your majesty." He whispered bowing his head slightly while looking around at her neighbors, making sure nobody had heard him.
"Afternoon Colonel." Marc looked at her surprised while Arriana just smiled.
"Congratulations on the promotion."
He smiled at the queen and continued his usual walk around his classroom. The rest day went slowly. Arriana did not think the last bell would ever ring. As she headed through the hallway, she looked around for Zoe. She had not seen her all day and was hoping to talk to her as they went to practice. She never found her so she headed there on her own but ran into Deacon.
"Deacon! Hi. How are you doing today?" Arriana tried to hide her excitement but knew she was doing a poor job.
He flashed the biggest, widest smile he could manage. The one that made her heart skip a beat and her eyes light up. Seeing his chiseled jaw, piercing blue eyes and kissable lips always made her day complete. She longed to run her fingers through his hair, while pulling his head down to meet her lips. Arriana knew though, that would never happen.
Bowing to her. "Good afternoon your majesty. My day was fine. How was yours?"
"Deacon don't call me that."
"Why?"
"Because it's weird."
"Mm hmm, so how was your day?"
"It was alright, except, well, forget it. It's nothing." Arriana let her voice trail off.
"No, tell me?" He asked actually sounding concerned.
"Well, Ms. Monegan was acting odd today."
"That woman is always odd." Deacon laughed.
"I know she was just odder than usual. When I was leaving class today, she was just staring at me with this weird, creepy look on her face. I don't know maybe I'm just letting my imagination get the best of me. I'm probably paranoid." She tried playing it off as nothing.
"I will talk to Marc and see if he has noticed anything and I will do a check on her. Be safe my queen," Deacon told her as he took her hand and kissed it lightly.
"Deacon, I'm no different than I was last week. You don't have to call me majesty, queen or anything. I'm just Arriana."
"Actually it does mean you're different. You are now my ruler. My superior. My beloved queen." He replied.
"Seriously, call me Arriana. In public in Coresova you can call me queen, majesty or whatever if you want but when it's us or we're with friends, just call me Arriana." She pleaded with him.
"Will do Arriana." He gave her a slight wink and that smile again.
"Um, Deacon?"
"Yeah?"
"I was wondering. Do you want to; I mean will you walk me to the locker room? I wanted to walk with Zoe but I haven't seen her all day." She chickened out again.
No balls, Arriana. See, we have no balls. You couldn't even ask that gorgeous, God of a man, out to get a burger. We're so pathetic.
"She's not here today. She's back at her house talking to our parents letting them know what's going on and that you are accepting your destiny and fate," he said so nonchalantly as if it were an everyday occurrence.
"So your parents really are from Coresova to?" She already knew they were.
"Yes. Our families are some of the oldest families that have the magic in Coresova. This is why Zoe and I were chosen for this assignment," Deacon told her matter-of-factly.
"Can you do spell's and stuff?" She asked.
"I can do some things but my parents did not teach me much because they did not want me blowing our cover while here. Basic counter spells, protections and self defense. So I'll be training alongside you," he told her.
"Well, that's cool."
"Yes it is. Will you be ok?" he asked her.
"I hope so. I'm really scared. What if I'm not a good queen? I'm really not what a queen is supposed to be. What if I screw things up even worse?" Her voice quivered as the emotions bubbled to the surface.
Arriana could feel the tears welling in her eyes. The only thing she planned for this year was getting a new car.
"Arriana, I don't think Coresova can get much worse than what it is already." He chuckled.
"I guess."
"You'll be fine. You're going to be a great queen and you're parents would be so proud."
"Do you really think so?"
"I most certainly do. You are an amazing woman; you are going to be an extremely powerful witch and the best queen Coresova has ever seen. You are going to change everything for the best. Trust me," Deacon said, trying to put Arriana's mind at ease.
Smiling she looked up at him. Her heart began to speed up as he took a step closer to her. She saw him lick his lips and reach out for her. She didn't even know if this was all really happening. Could it be a dream? She wasn't sure if she was going to be able to breathe.