The following days were a blur for me. Classes, training, more training and the likes. To think I had referred to regular training as grueling. Training for the Games is much, much worse. The first few hours felt like death and I have been going at it for days now. To represent Lycan School, I’d have to be at least on the level of an average lycan.Which of course, I am not.By the end of the week, with little to no progress, Chancellor Vesper strikes my name off the register. That’d make me the first royal who is unfit to participate in the Games. The first royal who cannot represent her people.Frankly, I don’t care. If it means I’ll get more sleep at night.We have not lost any more students in the last week but signs of rot have been noticed around the schools and in the realms. Suffice to say, the rot has begun.The Hekate has not visited my dreams since that night, but I find myself thinking about his words and what his motives could be. His name is all over my journals. My late

My tongue darts out, licking the tear off his cheek and I don't realize what I have done until his fingers circle my wrist. "Astrid," Rune whispers and I pull back with wide eyes. "Oh. I—That wasn't—I wasn't trying to—" I stutter for several seconds, trying to explain why I'd done that, but I can't seem to find an answer. I stop talking when our eyes lock. I glimpse something in them that I never have before. There is a softness there, a vulnerability that is a stark contrast to the strength and cruelty I am used to. His walls have come down, if only for a moment, and I can see the fear and loathing in them. The fear, I can understand, but the hate, I do not. Seeing him like this, stripped of all of his defenses startles me. I have known the prince all my life and he's been a constant pain in my neck and thorn in my flesh. His cruel antics, insults, demeaning words, forceful aura, insensitive and utterly unacceptable behaviour, I can handle. I have learned

" Oh, for the love of the Goddess, wipe your mouth," Chancellor Vesper says, tossing a handkerchief on the table in front of me. I don't take it. I merely stare at him with a dead-eyed expression that usually makes even my mother squirm. "You do realize what you have done is unacceptable and deserves an expulsion," he says. I say nothing still, feeling the thickness of Ginevra's blood dry up on my chin. He's been staring me down for about thirty minutes, demanding that I explain myself. But I don't. I did nothing wrong. I merely defended myself and he's seen that in his cameras--though, I think it's pretty strange that there are cameras in the restroom. I wonder if the cameras captured last night with Rune, and the moment before that as well. "Does Ginevra get punished for this?" I ask, raising my hand and the shard that's still sticking out my hand. "If she does, then I'll accept whatever punishment you give me." He pushes his glasses back and obs

I rear back, breath catching. "What? What...are you saying--what does that mean?" He turns from me sharply and his broad shoulders bunch up with tension as he stares at the wall. "Your ancestors have spun lies for centuries, pushing a narrative that is all but untrue, hiding the truth of what they have done to me and why I am really here, beyond the Void." I laugh. I hug myself and laugh harder. "You're lying." I don't doubt my father. Or the stories that I listened to every night as a child, woven from my grandmother's lips. I have heard of what my people went through at the hands of this tyrant. His brutality and cruelty that threatened to wipe out our existence. I don't doubt it for a second. "Sit." His command leaves no room for argument or fights and I hate that my legs are moving of their own volition. Somehow, against my will, I settle by the edge of the bed. I glare openly at his figure. "I am not interested in whatever lies you wish to speak."

Time flies quickly. Days blend together as one. The nights are better now. I haven't had nightmares in a while...or walking dreams. I've been studying and hanging out more with Maya and Darian and sometimes, just Darian. Darian's been sweet. Getting me things, coming to see me before he goes to bed, bringing me flowers and gifts and small sweet notes that feel very human. It makes me feel warm inside but not enough to want to be his anything. There have been no further incidents since I moved to the hall. Everyone mostly stays away from me now. They don't even point and laugh at me anymore. They don't even look my way. It feels like there has been some order or instruction that has been passed across that I know nothing of. "TAKE ONE LOOK AT ASTRID AND YOUR EYES WILL BE FORFEIT." Yes. It is that bad. I don't let it bother me much. I have been sticking to my space and my business. Being in the same hall with Rune and Ginevra makes it harder to avoid them. T