Page 23 of Trivium

Loveleena’s father received regular updates from Defenders, so she was quite aware of the outposts. She certainly wasn’t privy to the innerworkings of the Defenders, but he liked to vent during family dinner after a couple glasses of wine, and she suddenly wished she hadn’t spent most of those rants daydreaming.

“Interesting,” Ahmina pondered, “I thought all graduates lived here.”

Lennox turned to face them, walking backwards. “Jarrians believe what we want them to believe. It serves us to have outposts in secret. We’re able to take care of things… discreetly.”

He continued showing them around the first-year dorms until they landed back in the common room, concluding their tour. “So, I guess I should tell you in case you don’t know: graduates, just like students, are put into squads: one Alchemist, one Clever, two or three Slayers.”

“What about Charmers?” Ahmina asked. Their whole group froze at her words. Loveleena didn’t know much about the Academy, so she didn’t get what the big deal was.

“I thought Charmers were just a rumor,” a girl with pink hair said, eyes wide. Loveleena snuck a quick glance at Emerson to catch his reaction, but his face remained neutral.

“Charmers are just a rumor.” Lennox shot Ahmina an intrigued look. “Trust me, if they were real, I’d get a Charmer to influence the cooks to switch up the food in the mess hall so I’m not eating the same bloody stew every day.”

Everyone laughed, and Loveleena made a mental note to avoid the stew and request that the cooks make her something tastier.

“What does a Charmer do?” Loveleena whispered to Emerson, because she genuinely had never heard of it before. She was probably the only person here who hadn’t studied for years to attend the Academy.

“The rumor is that they use magic to control creatures… and people, technically,” he said low in her ear.

“But people don’t have magic.”

Only creatures had magic. Everyone knew that.

“Exactly. Like Lennox said, Charmers are just an urban legend,” Emerson confirmed.

“Alright, one last thing and then you’re all free to wander about the village for a while until the Gala. Let me introduce you to rounds,” Lennox said, leading them out of the dorms.

Rounds? As in chores!? She hadn’t done a single chore in her life, and she didn’t plan on starting now. She sighed, dragging her feet as they headed to the laundry room.

15

LOVELEENA

Loveleena left the tour feeling better than she had felt in Trivium. If there was any way she was going to find out what happened to Park, it was within these walls, she reminded herself. She made it here, despite it happening on a complete whim. Despite having little to no training. And despite her better judgement. That was something.

She went for a long walk around the grounds, wandering up the streets of Defender Village. She watched other students pour in and out of buildings, speaking excitedly in groups, learning the grounds on foot. And after getting lost on her way back to the main castle, she finally found her dorm in the first-year wing. She swung the door open, her optimism immediately dissipating. “You can’t be serious.”

Kumani sat on the bed to the right, her bag’s contents spread out over its surface. Out of everyone in this school, she was placed in a dorm with Kumani. Was this some sick joke Ren was playing on her? Her face heated.

“Oh.” Kumani’s face fell when she registered who it was.

Loveleena stood in the doorway, frozen in place. “This is not happening.”

“It’s not ideal for me either, Leena.”

Kumani took inventory of her belongings, sorting them into the adjacent armoire. She seemed to be just as annoyed as Loveleena was about the situation. Ren had dragged her here with nothing but her name, so, with no bag to unpack, she flopped down on her bed and watched Kumani work.

Loveleena knew that, to Kumani, the wound of their breakup was still fresh. They met one night when Loveleena and a couple noble friends tried to disguise themselves and sneak into a popular wine bar. Kumani was their bartender, and she recognized them right away. But unlike most Jarrians, Kumani seemed to have no interest in being associated with them, which was what attracted Loveleena to her in the first place. But the truth was that they came from very different worlds, her noble family a stark contrast to Kumani’s common one, and their relationship could never last. Nobles were expected to marry nobles or other high-ranking members of society. And, of course, she was expected to marry a man. So, they never fully committed to each other.

Kumani fell hard. And Loveleena… well, in the wake of Park’s disappearance, she just couldn’t deal with it all, so she fell into someone else’s bed.

Technically she hurled herself, legs tangled with a very attractive man from east Jarrah, onto the bed.

And technically, she didn’t do anything wrong because her and Kumani weren’t in a committed relationship. But that didn’t make it sting any less.

Plus, Kumani was headed to the Academy, so a long-term relationship wasn’t possible. Their breakup was inevitable, but Kumani openly gave herself to Loveleena anyway. Loveleena knew it wouldn’t end well, so she drove a wedge between them that they couldn’t repair.

The worst part was that even though she felt guilty, she didn’t regret it. Escaping into someone else’s arms was intoxicating. It was the only time she got a break from the constant pain inside. Admittedly, she could have waited just a few weeks longer for when Kumani left for the Academy. She wasn’t always the best at restraint, if she was honest.