005. Rejection Ritual

~Bethany~

Zuri manages to find a side-by-side seat for us in the almost full hall.

A few moments later, an average height man with a pot-belly and an annoying mustache walks into the hall.

Quiet washes over the hall as he makes an irritating sound with the microphone before starting his speech.

“We welcome our dearest new Nobles to Crestbane University. Whether you are joining us at the Alpha Hall for the first time or you’ve been with us long before now, we humbly welcome you into our midst.”

A resounding cheer with the fond name, ‘Professor Stone,’ goes up all around me.

“I’m certain everyone knows the reason Crestbane is a compulsory school of study for all Nobles. But, let’s throw more light on that for the sake of our new Nobles.”

He clears his throat and steps close to the pulpit placed on the podium.

“Several years ago, the Mortal realm experienced a peaceful time for the humans and our ancestors. Until the battle of the Aradish, where an entity whose name I won't be mentioning was sent away into Tophet and sealed off with the help of the Liminal order. This entity wreaked havoc on humans before the gods intervened by sending us help through the Liminal order.”

That lie of an explanation hits home for me. I try and fail to unclench my grinding jaw.

“The goal is to have and live in a peaceful world devoid of bloodshed and killings, and to protect the humans who are weaker creatures. That is why the four founding families came together to create Crestbane University, a mandatory school of learning that helps Nobles understand their powers and how to use them to protect humans. In other words, we are teaching you humanity.” The professor continues.

A few of the newly admitted Nobles, who probably didn't know that protecting humans has any reason for their being at Crestbane, gasp at the Professor’s explanation.

My gaze travels across the hall, resting on the dark and crazily handsome Mosley Froskarn, the ice elemental, from his position across the room.

He stares icily at me, and I flip him a bird. At least Dani, the one friend I've ever had all my life, made sure I learnt a couple of petty things before I left for my current mission.

Professor Stone's voice tears through my show of pettiness, and I pull my gaze away from the pissed ice elemental.

“Being at Crestbane University will also provide each of you the opportunity to find and bond with your mates since it has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Nobles find their fated within the ages of eighteen to twenty-five.”

More murmurs of awe echo through the room.

“So now, the humans are safe, and so are we. All thanks to the Liminal order.”

Murmurs of concurring resonate throughout the room.

The stupid Nobles all accepted the white-washed, sugar-coated speech, swallowing it whole.

‘Bullshit!’

Twisted history is no history at all.

“We are all safe because we exist together,” Professor Stone adds. “And if the world's safety ever gets challenged again, we will come together and fight to keep the world safe,” he adds proudly.

The audience claps while I roll my eyes.

Safe, such a subjective term.

The rest of the evening goes on without much issue, just the princes stalking around me while pretending not to.

All the silent attention is getting me pissed. Also, I’m suddenly not in the mood to watch a bunch of Nobles chattering away as they size up Crestbane's new admits.

Once the princes’ attention gets snagged by a few people, I pull my seat aside, deciding to visit Deskar’s temple to conclude my induction into Crestbane. At least that will afford me time to plan my next line of action from tomorrow.

Also, the priestess of Deskar is responsible for the Mate rejection ritual. I’d use the opportunity to get an appointment. I need to get rid of these princes before this shit gets more serious than it ought to.

 Unsurprisingly, Zuri insists on following me to the temple. I tell her to sit back and enjoy the party, but she’s insistent that her presence will offer me even the littlest protection from troublesome Nobles I might run into.

gods! It's so annoying when these Nobles underestimate my capability.

…

The temple priestess makes an odd symbol with her hands as we step into Deskar’s temple. It sounds like she's muttering something… maybe a prayer. But I wouldn't know since I gave up praying to the gods a long time ago.

There are a few Nobles in the temple, seated at various locations.  A new Noble that had just been attended to by the priestess was already leaving.

Seeing the free spot, I ignore the onlookers in the room and head straight to the priestess while Zuri takes a seat on one of the few empty pews in the temple.

The priestess stares at me, a warm, welcoming smile spread across her face. I don’t bother returning her smile because let's face it, there's nothing funny at the moment.

Being certain that I'm the center of attention of a few Nobles is not a pleasant feeling.

Standing before the priestess, I tell her why I came. She steps up behind me and rests her hand gently at the crown of my head, causing me to wince momentarily at her touch before relaxing.

Her voice is so smooth and soft that I'm certain only I can hear her.

“Dear Deskar,” she starts. “Your daughter, who has chosen the name, Bethany Metrov…”

I frown…

No one knows that those aren’t my real name. I had to choose a name before coming to Crestbane, so I adopted Dani’s daughter's name and her surname.

“Fear not, my fearless one.” The priestess whispers, the sound of her voice so soothing. “I know you, more than you can imagine. Perhaps even more than you know yourself.”

What a creepy thing to say. Yet, surprisingly, it soothes something inside me.

She says a few words in a language that I don’t understand, but I feel them. Each word seems to wrap around me like a fur blanket, sinking into my chest to soothe and fill the emptiness inside.

It's the strangest sensation. It makes me realize the absence of a particular feeling of warmth I haven’t had all along.

Then she whispers, “Welcome to Crestbane, my Warrior. I bless you, your mission, and your purpose.”

Another frown.

Now this priestess is seriously sounding creepy.

“You can't perform the rejection ritual you seek, Bethany,” she says.

I never asked her about the ritual, so why is she speaking of it so comfortably as if we had discussed it earlier.

“You cannot reject your mates. However, you can decide not to be bound to them.”

Fuck my life!

“Why not?”

She's about to reply when I cut her off. “If I refuse to be bound to them, where does that leave them? Mateless?”

“Not unless they decide to initiate the rejection ritual themselves.”

Oh, so the gods don’t think me worthy enough to initiate a rejection ritual.  Not surprising though. I don’t give two fucks about them. So, it’s understandable if they decide to return the energy.

I want to ask how she knows about the rejection ritual and why exactly I’m not allowed to initiate it.

But I realized I would get the same lame excuses Deskar’s worshippers always make for him or her, whatever sex their god chose to go with.

It doesn’t matter.

I'm not staying mated to those overpampered Nobles, nor will I be mated to anyone else for that matter.

Since Deskar has chosen to frustrate me, I'll make the princes detest me and end up initiating the ritual themselves.

Next on my agenda: make a list of how to make them reject me.

I expected them to feel insulted that the gods would mate them to a low Noble like me.

However, since that’s not the case, I need to devise a genuine means to achieve my goal.