Redeemed by Heather Fledderus (best novel books to read .txt) 📕

“Weren’t you coming on the bus?” Jamie asked, glancing back to where August was emerging from the jeep.

“Car trouble. We got a lift from the Defense Ministry.” Candace opened her mouth to tell her more, but the words got stuck.

Jamie grinned, “More than a little bit of car trouble if they spelled you guys to keep quiet about it.”

“A Reaver attacked us,” Candace managed to get out, though it felt like she was being strangled.

Jamie’s eyes grew large. “Seriously? Are you okay? Sweet Sparrow, your sister’s starting school this year. Is she okay?”

They both looked over to where August stood awkwardly, one bag slung over her shoulder as she gazed around, looking completely lost. “I don’t think the events really sank in for her yet,” Candace replied as they watched one of the Professors walk over to her. Professor Montery, one of the three dorm marms for the First and Second Years, helped her take her bag and lead her to where a group around August’s age were sitting. A chill ran up her spine as the image of the Reaver standing over August with a sword held high, aiming for the kill flashed in front of her eyes.

“I didn’t even say thankyou to Zen,” Candace realized out loud.

“Who? Why?”

“Zen, she’s that girl who was looking for the main office. She-“ Candace’s words were choked off as the Vow of Silence spell took over. She swore under her breath. “Can’t tell you,” she said at last.

“Honestly, there are times when I hate that spell,” Jamie said. She dragged Candace back to her jeep. “Come on, grab your stuff and let’s see if we can get a room with a view of the Seraph statue this year.”

The interior was dark and foreboding compared to the brilliant sunshine outside. The ten foot statue of a woman wielding two hand and a half Lodricari blades being the first thing that an arriving person saw when they entered the building most certainly didn’t help with that. She narrowed her eyes in annoyance at it, studying the small curve of the nose. They never got that part right, no matter who it was who carved it. Graemons, they were all a nuisance.

She glanced around the rest of the building as her eyes adjusted. She was in the foyer of the massive building, the ceiling here going all the way up to the roof, with the different floors all having balconies that opened up on the room. The walls were covered in different types of wood, a pattern that seemed familiar starting to make itself known. The floor made a similar pattern, except it was tiled green and white, the rows stopping at different spots, almost at random intervals. Zen grimaced at the thought of what she was supposed to do, and fingered Curveen in his sheath. “Just until we find her,” she muttered under her breath, more to herself than to the sword.

“Miss Pakto,” a voice cheerily called from her left. It took her a moment to realize that he was calling to her.

She plastered a smile on her face as she turned to him. “That would be me,” she said, allowing a gay lilt to enter her voice. Teenage girls were supposed to be perky, right? She should have studied up on that more before coming here where she was about to be submerged in the feminine culture. Too late now.

“I’m Clarke Hilroy, Headmaster of Belladonna Academy.” He made his way towards her, walking only on the green tiles, a book tucked under his arm. He was dressed in the customary robes of a…diviner. That was the word. In the modern times, the Diviner’s robes was merely a colourful jacket that fell to the knees, like a house coat. His receding hairline was still blond, but she knew that it was only a matter of time before that started greying. He looked to be about old enough to be the uncle of most of the students. Maybe he was related to someone.

“Cool,” she said, remembering that the word seemed to be integral to the average teen’s vocabulary.

“If you’ll just follow me, we can go over a final few things in order to get you settled in. Mind you don’t step on the white tiles in here. It’s a maze at times, and no one seems to be able to tell when the spell’s actually working and when it’s cut out. Remember that. More than one student has ended up missing entire classes because they couldn’t solve the maze and get to where they wanted to go in the first place.”

Because he said it, she lightly touched one of the white tiles with the tip of her toes. Nothing happened. She shrugged and began to follow him down the hall into the depths of the building. She had taken no more than a dozen steps when she felt it and froze in her tracks. It felt like déjà vu, complete with the sense that something was missing, a little vortex in the school, behind them, back the way that Headmaster Hilroy had come. And she knew what that something was. She turned back as her body visibly relaxed. So she was here after all. That was good. This whole charade hadn’t been for nothing. Her hand dipped behind her to touch the sword for reassurance.

“Something wrong?” Headmaster Hilroy’s voice disrupted the moment, causing Zen to jerk her head back around. He had stopped with his hand on a doorknob, curious as to what had stopped her.

Zen splashed a smile on her face, it coming easier this time now that her objective was clear. “No. Just thought I heard something is all.”

He nodded, “You’ll get used to that. This building is old, and likes to settle down every so often. Come in.”

They entered the room, which turned out to be his office. Zen hesitated at the door just long enough to assess the room for threats, and to take in the décor. There was little for either count. There were no dark corners, no assassins hanging from the simple chandelier that looked in good need of a cleaning, no murder holes from which darts might be shot. The bookcases might hide a secret passageway… no, that was under the Headmaster’s desk, and seemed to get very little use. She doubted that he even knew about it. There were cobwebs on the stairs.

She blinked to shake away the vision. Idiot, she chastised, of all the abilities to take the forefront, that one should never be exercised in public. She took the seat that he had indicated even as he rounded the large, neat desk and sat in his chair. She let her bags drop to the floor.

“I assume you had no trouble in getting here?”

She decided to get the pleasantries over and done with. “Yeah, it was a hell of a good time. A Reaver attacked us.”

His eyebrows shot up at the news, but that was his only reaction. “And how did that go?”

“Well, the world is short one Reaver and one bus driver, and there’s a kid who’s got more guts than brains. She’s fine though. Not so much as a scratch.” Zen stretched her neck to the left to let it crack, her head brushing against the hilt of her sword.

“I’m surprised that you’re capable of saying that much, considering that a Vow of Silence was cast on the incident.”

Zen shrugged. “Yeah well, I am a Repeller. It’d be kind of embarrassing if I couldn’t manage to slip out of that sorry excuse for an entrapment.”

“I suppose that I have to ask you to keep this between just us?”

“Which ‘this’ are we referring to?”

He smiled at that. “The incident, of course. It doesn’t do to let children or their parents worry unnecessarily about something that was completely under control.”

She shook her head at him. “If I hadn’t chosen that route, that thing would have killed three people.”

“There was only one? What makes you so sure that it would only kill three?”

“The bus driver was an oopsies. The gutsy-no-brains kid would have been body number two, but the Reaver was still intent on someone else in the bus. It was weird. And that’s all I have to say about it.”

He nodded. “I suppose we can look forward to your swordsmanship this year in the battle class?”

She shook her head, a thin smile pressed on her lips. “Nope. I drew my sword today because a kid was going to die. Reavers aren’t affected by magic. I’m not going to spar with kids for the heck of it. I chose school over prison. I didn’t sign up for some stupid extra-curricular.”

“Each student is required to participate in three extra-curricular activities, one of which has to be a sport. Battle Club counts as one of those.”

“Spare me the pitch and tell me where I have to sign.”

The headmaster had several waivers for her. Zen took her time reading them, scanning each of the documents for attempts at someone exploiting her. There was none, but she committed them to memory anyways before signing them. The last one was a copy of the school rules, including basics like “no leaving the dorm room after lights out” and more magically-inclined like “no alchemy is to be performed without the supervision of an instructor.” Zen signed on the dotted line and handed the stacks back to him.

As he turned to file the papers away, she ducked down to dig through her backpack. At last, she came up with the thing she wanted. When Hilroy turned back around, a smudged paper covered in nearly illegible scrawl sat neatly on his desk. Zen smiled at him.

“What’s this?”

She leaned forward. “It’s just something that you need to sign. It states that you recognize why I need to keep my magic a secret and that you will not tell the others about my past.”

He squinted at it, but gave up and muttered “Grakos”. The ink on the page rearranged itself, letters straightening out to the point where it looked like the document had been typed on a typewriter. He pulled out some glasses and studied the page for a little bit. “There’s nothing on here about Repelling.”

She shrugged, “Never the less, it does mention that action will be taken against you if you speak of my abilities or heritage to anyone. And we’re not talking about taking you to court. We Repellers have our own methods of dishing out the law. With all that I’m giving up here, it only seems logical that I have something like this as insurance that you will keep your word.”

He leaned back in his chair, the paper still not signed. “You seem to think that you’re in a position to make demands. May I remind you about the circumstances as to why you are here?”

“Nah, that’s alright, I think my memory’s alright on that score.”

“Attending this academy is a privilege for you, a privilege that I can revoke at any time if I deem you unsafe for the other students.”

“You’re seriously saying that after I just saved three of your precious students? You’re welcome for that, by the way. Not that I expect you to say thank-you or