The Aldean Chronicles: Hidden

The next morning, I wake up half an hour to six. This isn't fair, I'm supposed to sleep in on weekends. I had a bath last night so I dress up in sweatpants and a tank top. I put on a black sweatshirt with the words 'Class of 2020' across the chest. It was a graduation gift from my old school four months ago.

I walk to the very wide clearing behind the school that makes up the fire field. Makes sense that they'd put it there, the school wouldn't want us burning down buildings.

The other elementals have equally good spaces. The water elementals have a big lake beside their training field. The air elementals don't have a field, they practice in a different section of the school. The Earth elementals practice in a large forest.

I know what Tristan looks like cause Sara and I stalked his socials last night. I see him and bite my lip to keep from smiling, he really looks like his pictures.

"You're late." He says as I approach him. I stare at his face. He has deep blue eyes and curly black hair. He's at least a foot taller than me and is muscular but lean.

"I'm three minutes late. I got lost." I defend myself.

He sighs. "Let's just start, I don't want your dad getting angry with me."

I look around even though I know nobody could have heard. "Can you please not say that out loud? The last thing I need is people finding out."

"Smart choice, the media will rip you apart. Your aunt is barely managing you as you are. Besides, I didn't say who he was."

"I can't believe he told you we're related." Seb didn't have to mention that to Tristan. "I thought he and the Queen only told selected council members."

"He wanted me to look after you." Then he adds in a whisper. "Since your brother and cousin don't want to."

"I wonder why," I say sarcastically. "Just please promise you won't say anything to anybody."

"I won't. Now for the reason we're here." He looks out at the empty field that's easily a half-mile long. "I want to see how much dragoit you have in you."

I don't move. Memories of my thirteenth birthday flood my mind, the fire, the smoke, the carnage. It destroyed my dad's bowling alley. If not for insurance, he would have lost his business. Or worse, someone could have died in the fire.

"What's wrong, princess?" He asks. "Scared of a little fire." He stretches his right hand and lets flames flicker on his palm.

"Can we just start small? I'm still not over the last time I lost myself."

"Ah, your thirteenth birthday. A strong burst of energy rippled through the Percival." The Percival is a clearing deep in the capital's biggest forest. It's the source of Aldean's magic. There's a big, ancient stone in the middle rumored to be where Adolphus met the dragon and received his powers.

I shake my head. "Can we just start small?"

"I know what you need." He jogs over to a blue backpack a few feet away and pulls out a sheet of paper. "Do you want to start with this?" He laughs. "I asked around. Your classmates don't expect you to make it to second semester."

"My reputation precedes me." I joke even though I feel dark inside. "How wonderful."

"I never thought I'd see a Harrington struggle so miserably with magic." He teases.

"Please don't kick me while I'm down. And besides, I'm not a Harrington, I'm a Flores."

He raises his hands in surrender. "Sorry, just having a bit of fun." His face turns serious. "But you need to learn this."

"Then tutor me, how do I light it?" He reaches into his backpack and pulls out more pieces.

"Here." He hands one to me. "Just focus on the edges and watch as the fire spreads. When it gets close to the middle, stop it."

I stretch the paper away from me, holding the middle. I focus on the edges and manage to spread the fire around. It moves closer to the middle and I try to stop it. It doesn't. I keep trying harder and harder. I jump back and drop the paper when it catches fire completely. I don't stop stomping till the fire is out and the soles of my shoes are covered in soot.

I look up and Tristan is watching me with a careful expression. He takes a very deep breath. "Wow, just wow."

"What," I lash out at him. "It's not my fault you're a terrible tutor."

Before I can apologize for what I said, he takes a step back and throws a fireball at me. I dodge it by a hairsbreadth and almost lose my footing. "What is wrong with you? Why would you do that?"

"You are scared of fire." He says simply. "You are scared of fire."

"Of course I'm scared of fire. Anyone with half a brain is scared of fire."

"Maybe where you're from. But as a fire elemental, you shouldn't fear it. If you don't get over your fear, you're never going to be able to master it."

"How do you want me to do that? Fire is uncontrollable, it hurts people. It grows on its own, how am I supposed to stop it?"

"Fire isn't uncontrollable, you control it." He counters. "You don't even believe that."

"Fine, how do I get over my fear of fire?" I give in.

He responds by firing another ball at me. "Stop dodging them, catch it."

"How?"

"As you would a normal ball." He fires another one my way. I try to catch it but chicken out at the last second and move.

He groans. "Stop running. Okay how about this, you create the ball and throw it at me."

I nod in agreement and bring my hands together. I feel the heat coming out from them and before long, a little flame is flickering in my palms. "Good, now make it bigger and throw it at me."

I make the flames bigger and get ready to launch it at him. "Are you sure?" I'm scared on his behalf. He nods forcefully. I take my hands back and as I would a ball, throw it at him. The flames leave my hands and soar through the air. He catches it effortlessly before closing his hands, vanquishing the fire.

"Now your turn. Ready?" I reply by getting into position, my arms are outstretched and ready to catch it. "And remember, it's not going to burn you. If the fire wanted to hurt you, you wouldn't have been able to leave that building."

His words replay in my mind, assuring me that I'll be fine. He launches it at me and I brace myself. I catch it in my hands and it flickers a bit. "I did it, I caught it," I say victoriously. "Did you see that?"

"I did." He says with a light smile. "I mean, you just accomplished what six-year-olds do, but it's still progress."

"Not even your harsh words can bring me down." I watch the flames in my hands. "Now how do I get rid of it?"

"Just close your palms." He instructs.

I do as he says. The fire is gone when I open them. "I'm getting better."

"Oh really, are you ready for the paper test?" He asks smugly.

"I am." For the first time, I'm confident in my ability. He hands me a piece of paper and I repeat his words in my mind. The fire can't hurt you. It spreads around the edges slowly making its way to the middle. I keep my emotions in check and try to stop the burning. It doesn't work, I refuse to panic even though the paper is almost burnt up. I keep trying till the flames die down, leaving just a tiny piece of paper in my hand. "I did it."

He takes the piece from me and nods. "Good, now on to our next lesson." We train for one more hour. "It's getting crowded. That's why we come early."

"Okay, when next are we meeting?" I'm happy this lesson is over.

"How about next week Saturday? Earlier, 5:30 perhaps." He suggests.

"I will see you next week at 6 am."

He laughs. We see Katya and Jamie a few meters away. He shouts Jamie's name and he and Katya start coming our way. I try to leave but Tristan blocks my path.

"Why are you in such a rush to leave? Aren't you happy to see your favorite cousin?" He chuckles.

"This isn't funny, it's probably best if we don't meet," I say but he's relentless.

"Just say hi." He presses. "They're almost here."

They're some steps away. "Tristan, what are you doing with a first-year, so early, alone? Don't tell me you're preying on them." Jamie asks in a serious voice.

"I'm training her. And also she isn't just a first year," Tristan says to them.

Jamie rolls his eyes. "Really, and who is she then?"

Before I or Tristan can respond, Kat speaks up. "She's my cousin."

No one is more shocked than me.

"She's your what?" Jamie asks, confused. "But your dad doesn't have any siblings."

"Not from my dad's side. She's Uncle Seb's daughter," Kat says, almost angrily.

"Wait, if she is your cousin that means..." Jamie starts.

"That she's a princess, possesses the dragoit and if she pledges next year, can compete for monarch with me." Kat helps him out.

"I should get going," I'm ready to leave.

"Cassandra," Kat calls me. "It is Cassandra right?" I nod. "Grey said he talked to you on Monday and you weren't very nice to him."

"Tristan, why don't you show me that new move you've been practicing," Jamie says, looking for an excuse to run away.

"Now is as good a time as ever," Tristan says. Wow, put me in trouble then leave.

"Greyson wasn't very nice to me either," I say in defense. "But don't worry about it, you don't have to talk to me, I don't have to talk to you, he doesn't have to talk to either of us. It doesn't matter, just forget this whole conversation ever happened. I already know you both don't want me here."

She follows after me. "Cassandra, wait. I'm sorry, that was rude." I give her a side-eye, she's apologizing to me. "That was unfair of me, I should have been more understanding of what you're going through."

"Why does it sound like you're being nice to me?"

The wind blows loose blonde hair in her face. "These past few months haven't been the best for me, knowing you were coming only made it worse. I had this irrational fear that you were being brought to replace me." I internally snort. "I would have talked to you but I wasn't sure how, I wasn't even sure if you wanted to talk to me. You always seem happy with your friends."

I nod. "I wanted to talk to you too but well, everything you said." She removes the hair from her face "And I couldn't replace you, everyone loves you. Even with the incident."

"You're right, you haven't even pledged yet. I don't know why I'm so bothered. It's my mum, she has me on edge all the time." She pauses. "And might I say, you look so much like her."

My hand instinctively goes to my hair. "It's the hair." I do look a lot like aunt Freya, we have the same hair color, same eyes and same facial features. The only difference is the light brown skin I inherited from my Latin mother.

"You have her hair and the family eyes. My grand...our grandmother had brown hair." She corrects herself.

That little statement warms my heart. She's starting to accept me, I mean, only because she doesn't see me as a threat but still. "Yours is nice too." She got it from her father. "It's different from Grey and Sebastian's. All nice colors."

She laughs. "Are we really talking about genetics right now? Tell me about your first week."

I tell her about fire classes and the corners of her lips twitch up a bit. She is reveling in the fact that I'm no threat to her. "Harding's mean but he's a good teacher. And as ridiculous as that idiot is over there." She gestures at Tristan talking with Jamie a few feet from us. "He's strong, you're in good hands."

"I'm just trying to not get kicked out of this school. So far there's been good and bad moments." My voice drops. "Can I ask you a personal question though? How is your life, as a princess, do people treat you differently?"

She guffaws. "Yes, it's the worst. People are always watching your every move, waiting for you to fail, it's exhausting. And you have to be the best all the time. You're so lucky nobody knows who you are."

I don't know if she's being serious or just discouraging me from ever revealing myself. Either way, I'm put off, at least I can fail peacefully in obscurity now. "I should get to my training."

"Of course, sorry for keeping you," I say. "I have a project and there's breakfast."

She has a sweet smile on her face. "We should talk again soon. This was fun."

I look back at Tristan. "Thanks for the lesson. See you next week."

He nods at me. "See you next week." He calls out. "And practice everything I taught you."

I nod slowly at Jamie, I'm not sure if I should say anything. When I'm almost off the field, I hear a sound and turn back. Kat is standing far from Jamie and Tristan. She's shooting a huge burst of fire from her hands. The other elementals stop their training to stare at her.

After a while, she stops and turns to Jamie who just claps with a polite smile on his face. She catches my gaze and offers me a little smile. As if to say, never forget I'm more powerful than you. Or maybe that's all in my head.

I head back to my room and find Sara awake and concentrating on her books. "Cass." She looks up. "A package came for you, it's on your bed."

I open the box and see two books inside. There's a note attached to one, it says that the first book has everything I need and the second is in case I need more.

"Hey Sara, do you need something for your project?" I ask.

She shakes her head. "The books in the library were uploaded to the school's website. I just bought it and I'm really busy now."

"I suppose you're not going for breakfast." She shakes her head. I have a shower and go to the dining hall to pick up sandwiches and stop at a vending machine to buy snacks. The machine keeps rejecting my money.

"I got food for you," I drop the turkey sandwich and orange juice on her desk. "And also, the vending machine won't accept my money."

She gasps and says mockingly. "You mean Earth money isn't accepted here." I move to collect the food and she quickly apologizes. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. But it isn't accepted here."

"Is there any way I can transfer the currency?"

"We use Illyrian Cedis, you can convert it. How much money do you have?"

"I don't know, about 200 hundred dollars." That's how much I have in my account. She brings out her phone and types something. She hisses.

"That's not very much here." She says sadly. I peer down at her screen and choke.

"What can I get with that?" I ask.

"You can have a fun night out. A short one but fun nonetheless."

I groan. "What am I going to do?"

"And you don't have any other money?"

I do, but I don't want to use that. No wonder he gave me the debit card. "It's only for emergencies."

She takes a big bite out of her sandwich. "You'll be fine." She manages to get out through a full mouth.

I start my assignment and am done by evening. I call my parents and my friends back home. They both think I'm attending some fancy boarding school in Europe. We don't talk for long because they have a party to get to.

I find that strange considering we never went to parties. They tell me that it's freshmen year and it's part of the new things they're trying in a new school.

The next morning, I get enough food to last the whole day and come back to my room. I spend the day going over my paper and adding the finishing touches. Paisley and Michelle come to our rooms and we chat. Kat was right, I am happy with my friends.