"Oh, and remember, children, my study session has changed from right after school to an hour later! I especially hope to see some of you there, with midterms coming up."

Xara rolls her eyes into her textbook. Professor Saurcleave is probably her nicest teacher but she doesn't seem to know a thing about teenagers. Who will want to sit in the library with their teacher, studying more? But if she's already hinting at midterms, it must mean she doesn't have much hope for her class to succeed.

The minute the bell clangs it's release, Xara stuffs her books and notes into her bag, letting the notes join the other older ones crumpled at the bottom. Vieva, being the control-freak that she is, has already started studying for midterms, which isn't for another two months. Other than Saurcleave, Vieva's probably the only person at Ruxnorth Academy that has already started thinking about the midterms.

Xara shoves her way lightly through the horde of students piling to get out the door. Not that she can blame them. These next few weeks are really their last chances to relax before the midterms loom before them. Obviously, Xara doesn't have a problem in any of her classes, but it's still tedious.

She squeezes her way through, just before someone thwacks her bag right out of her grasp. They toss back a hasty apology before running to catch up with a gaggle of students clustered near one of the pillars. Xara scowls. She's surrounded by idiots.

She drags her bag and uses that momentum to swing her bookbag over her shoulder-

Right as someone exclaims, "Ow!" Xara veers around, gasping when she notices a boy sprawled on the floor behind her. She must've hit him with her bag!

She hurries to his side. "I'm so sorry! I didn't even-" Then she looks closer. This boy seems vaguely familiar. He moans loudly, squinting his eyes shut. Black hair, lean build...

"Founders! Were you trying to kill me?"

"It was an accident," she retorts defensively. "And it's your fault too, genius. What were you doing, sneaking up on me like that?"

The boy struggles to a seating position and when he blinks blearily, a jolt of recognition jabs at her.

"Caedric?" she asks in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"

He hisses as he rubs the side of his head, hair mussed. Students have loosely congregated around them, and he glares at them all. "Move it along, nothing to see here."

Everyone disperses, moving along with their Friday afternoon.

"I saw you leaving class and I came over to say hi and help you with your books, when you nailed me with the bag." He stumbles to his feet. "Great. The left side of my vision has been reduced to blurry blobs."

Xara winces. "That's going to leave a bruise."

"You think so?" he says dryly, trying to finger-comb his hair back into position.

"Well, for the third time, I'm sorry."

That familiar smirk-smile surfaces. "It's no trouble. It gave me an excuse to talk to you."

Xara feels heat rise embarrassingly to her face. Caedric seems to read her thoughts. Xara's gaze lingers on his eyes. Though they are from the same blood, Vieva and Caedric's eyes are so vastly different. Vieva has eyes that burn hot and ever-bright, yearning to be released, whereas Caedric has molten eyes that simmer and smolder slowly. Her skin sears under his gaze.

"You're staring." He challenges her with his resplendent amber eyes, a dare glittering in it's lava depths. "Though I can most definitely imagine why."

With his comment, Xara wits fly back to her and she stiffens indignantly.

"I was absolutely not staring."

He leans in and Xara catches a brief whiff of leathery amyris. If there's anything that the nobility are obsessed with, it's scent oils. Cassamire's convinced that they bathe in scented oil, which is why it seems as though their very pores ooze the overpowering smell.

"You look pretty when you're angry," he says with a wink, before sauntering off the other direction, leaving Xara stewing in confusion and irritation. This is the second time that Caedric Bestel has gotten on her nerves, and she doesn't like it one bit. But then her mind drifts back to the way words had left her when he'd smiled at her, the feeling of a hundred horses stampeding in her stomach. The headiness that had overcome her when she'd smelled Caedric's scented oil.

He's trouble. If there's anything Xara despises, it's feeling vulnerable, and somehow, within two interactions, Caedric Bestel had stripped away all her defenses.

It simultaneously despises and invigorates her.

Xara sighs, snapping her eyes shut for a swift moment, evicting Caedric from her mind. She doesn't want to think about Vieva's cousin right now.

Thankfully, a distraction comes in the form of a dragoni. It swoops smoothly under the time-ridden arches and pillars, weaving and cutting through the air as one would in water. It's beautiful to watch.

Unsurprisingly, it stops in front of Xara. She recognizes this particular dragoni- Liira Casktalon's dragoni is the only one in the school with metallic bluish purple scales. She purrs, kneeling down in offering. Xanthippe is her name, Xara recalls. 

It's a summon, plain and clear. For the second time in the past 10 minutes, students gawk as she clambers on the dragoni's smooth back. She has enough experience riding dragonii. Both Bren and Cass have given her ample practice, some occasions of her own will, and some that weren't.

Oddly enough, Xara finds the students' curious whispers a comfort. Living in the aftermath of the incident during the Summoning, the whispers and hushed conversations surrounding her had been her only company. Everyone else had avoided her like the plague.

"Hup, Xanthippe," urges Xara, locking her stomach in as tight as she can when Xanthippe launches in the air, pushing off of her muscular hind legs. Her wings snap out and Xara slowly exhales as they smooth out, drifting low. The headmistress must've requested Xanthippe to fly slow and low. Though her own Familiar dwells in the skies, Xara herself isn't great with altitude. She doesn't have a fear of heights but looking down when she and Leonah fly is enough to make anyone anxious. But Leonah's fast-- in the occasion that Xara falls, Leonah will be able to easily catch her.

Xanthippe banks a sharp left and Xara positions her fingers in between the grooves of her scales. The saddle shifts too much, and it's a model Xara's unfamiliar with. It appears that Headmistress Casktalon prefers to ride without the use of reins.

Her stomach flops over as Xanthippe speeds up. Headmistress Casktalon's office resides in the highest room in the tallest tower of Ruxnorth Castle. Xara's been there before, and it's actually a rather beautiful place, spacious with a breathtaking view. Xanthippe chirps happily, puffing smoke rings affectionately as she approaches her home. Xanthippe being the Headmistress's Familiar, she doesn't sleep in the stables as the rest of the Familiars. She has her own little cove right below the office on the exterior of the castle tower, which allows her to come and go as she wishes. Xanthippe drifts up towards the balcony, straightening her wings to give Xara a way down.

Xara scratches the underside of Xanthippe's wing as a thank-you, and the dragoni shakes her frills appreciatively. She dives as Xara turns her back on the dragoni, feeling the soft whoosh of hair across the back of her neck.

The doors slide open, and the Headmistress fills the doorway. "Ah, Xara. Perfect timing. Come in."

Xara dips her chin and follows Headmistress Casktalon inside. A woody warmth surrounds her.

The Headmistress smiles slightly. "Please, sit."

Xara obeys, perching at the end of her chair. The Headmistress notices her rigid position.

"You expect something bad." She sounds thoughtful, lips quirked slightly.

Xara shrugs lightly. "It's not every day I get called to the Headmistress's office."

"That is true. But the news I have for you can be good or bad, depending on how you take it."

Xara frowns lightly. That sounds ominous. But with all that's happened lately, maybe whatever the Headmistress has to tell her will be good. Ever since Vieva, Lysabel, and Derald had returned from the Gala, tripping over their words of what they had seen, the five of them had been on high alert. The Warlord knows about them, of them, and that enough is worrisome. The fact that he'd come to the warehouse at the exact same time as Vieva and Derald had been there, seems more than a mere coincidence.

Either he'd predicted that they were going to be there, or he had known the entire time. Both explanations don't sit well with her.

"Do you like the library, Xara?"

Xara nods slowly. "I do. I love books."

"I just got a report from our librarians, who had completed their indexing of the library collection. Apparently, there was a book missing."

Oh Founders. She knows.

Xara's stomach drops out from under her, and she struggles to keep her expression pleasantly neutral. But her mind races to cobble together an acceptable excuse. Headmistress Casktalon is extremely perceptive and she'll be able to see through most weak lies.

"Then, I heard about a group of five students who managed to catch a creature for their project seemingly overnight. For that to have happened, they would've had to have snuck out of the dorms at night. No one can get past the Fenrirs, meaning that they took a secret underground passage. The only underground tunnel I'm aware of that runs from the school to the woods was used by a particular student a long time ago, and has been abandoned ever since. Interestingly, the knowledge of the tunnel is located in that missing book." Xara swallows hard, eyes flitting to the Headmistress's face. There isn't a speck of anger on her face; merely bemusement.

"Would you know anything about that, Ms. Roffinnes?" The Headmistress leans against her desk almost in a casual fashion, arms crossed.

Xara nearly babbles out an excuse, but she deflates. "How did you know it was me?" She asks in a meek yet curious voice.

Headmistress Casktalon angles her head, peering down at Xara. "I was a lot like you when I was younger, Ms. Roffinnes. Besides, I've been at this school for many years. I know more than one would accept. But never once has anyone managed to steal Cynem Runemore's very journal from under our noses." The Headmistress shakes her head with a small chuckle. "It seems that I have underestimated you, Xara."

Xara sits up in her chair, spurred forward. "So you are not displeased with me?"

"If anyone, I would actually rather it would be you to have possession of the Runemore journal."

Xara narrows her eyes at the Headmistress. "What do you mean?"

The smile is gone, replaced by a deep and troubled look. "I'm not the person to ask for that. But I know who is."

"Who?"

"Your grandmother, Alisud."

✡✡✡

Later that evening, after a meal of mushroom soup--which tastes a lot better than it sounds-- and a calming chamomile bath to wash off the week, Xara settles at her desk and pulls out a letter paper. The pad had been a gift from some unknown relative. Strangely, it had been her favorite 12th birthday gift, in comparison to the girly frou-frou others had sent her. 

She'd mulled over the Headmistress's words all through the remainder of her Friday, deciding whether or not to reach out to her grandmother about what the Headmistress had told her.

Alisud has always been a reclusive person, even to her. Now that she thinks on it, Xara knows veritably nothing about her grandmother, about her childhood, about her life before she'd been born. The realization just proves Headmistress Casktalon's point. I know more than one would accept.

With a deep breath, Xara puts the pen to the paper.

Dear Grandmother,

There is something I need to know.

>>AUTHOR'S NOTES:

this chapter took me soooooo long to finish. It wasn't even hard to write- with the third quarter of school finishing up, the teachers seem to be trying to bury us under work <ugh>

anyways, we are coming to the end of the Elixir, even though it doesn't seem like it. I'm super excited, because when I finish this book, I can get to writing one of my other paused works, which i'm beyond psyched for. 

anyways, i hope you enjoyed this chapter! we got to say caedric bestel again, who I LOVE LOVE LOVE, and we are getting a hint into the backstory. i cant wait to see how all of this plays out!

peace&love, and happy international woman's month;)

raniaditi