Page 26 of Lucent Academy 2: Trinity Awakens
"I'm sure I'll be okay. Maybe all I need is someone to cheer for me when I perform my spells. Maybe you can?"
"What? Cheer for you? What are you talking about?"
I brought a fistful of bobbles out and showed them to her. "We can make you pom-poms from these, and you could cheer for me, like a real cheerleader. What do you think?" The notion of someone as powerful, dignified, and graceful as Cleopatra cheering someone like me on as I did my spells was so outlandish and ridiculous, I thought my joke would finally crack the Princess' armor, that she'd laugh, knowing I was joking, and that it would finally break some of the ice between us.
Instead, Cleopatra's face grew pale, and her lips drew into a dangerously thin line. Without saying a word, she turned around and left, slamming the door behind her.
"Well, there goes a potentially beautiful friendship." Amber said, and I blushed, "Well done, Leah. I don't think she appreciates your strange brand of humor."
I shrugged, trying to make it seem like I didn't feel as much of a jerk as I was feeling. Was it possible that Cleopatra thought Iwas being serious? "She should learn to lighten up. I think it'll be okay. It takes a while, but I grow on people."
"Yeah," Amber snorted, "Like fungus!"
I threw some of the bobbles at her. She giggled, scooped some of them up, and threw them at me, too. We proceeded to chase each other around the shop, throwing bobbles. When Miss Lovilla returned carrying a small treasure chest in her hands, we settled down, but not before the seamstress reprimanded us and made us pick up every single bobble. Then she made us leave her shop and closed the door in our faces with a long-suffering sigh.
We walked together in silence, and I thought about Cleopatra and the look on her face after I told her she should be cheering for me. Was it possible that she seriously thought I was that arrogant? Didn't she know me at all, how shy I actually was, how uncertain most of the time?
I thought back to the summoning ceremony and the speech she had given when it had been her turn to summon a mate. She had clearly been hoping to be chosen as the Trinity herself. Instead, she had bonded with her archangel Asau. She had been disappointed but resigned, thinking the Trinity was a legend, after all.
Then, I had bonded with my three mates; I had been the Trinity instead. The more I thought about it, the more it dawned on me that Cleopatra really thought I had reason to believe I was so much better than her. And that after she had been so nice to Amber and me by introducing us to Lady Lovilla, by offering to ask her mate to cure me the previous night, and now by offering to teach me her relaxation techniques. I realized I owed the Princess an apology. I also needed to explain to her that Ihadn't been mocking her. If anything, my joke had been self-deprecating. It was a misunderstanding, that was all.
Of course, I didn't look where we were going, and when we rounded a corner in the hallway, I almost bumped into someone.
I was startled out of my musings long enough to recognize the voice of the person who was apologizing for bumping into me before I even had a chance to look up. But I looked up and heard the words die on Caleb's lips as he stared down at me in awkward recognition.
"Leah! Oh, hi... What are you?" He began, and I remembered the look he had given me in the dining hall, apologetic and embarrassed by Trina's actions, yet rooted in place beside her. It was the first time we had met outside of class, where we were forced to act professionally.
I felt the smile about to form on my lips die, and it became more of a grimace as I regarded him resentfully. Amber sensed the tension between our instructor and me. "Hi, Caleb. We were just shopping for dresses." Then she turned to me, "I'll see you back at the dormitory."
He nodded and stepped out of the way to let Amber pass as she gave him a little wave goodbye and told her she'll see him in class tomorrow. "Yeah, of course."
When she was gone, he sighed and said, "Leah, I'm sorry for the way Trina's been acting and for what she said about you after the demonstration."
I glanced around us and saw the hallway was empty. "Really? She's been giving me dirty looks from day one. I tried to tell myself it was my imagination, but after that, she made it pretty clear she hates me. I don't know what I ever did to her to warrantit, but I guess she's found the perfect echo chamber in some of the other staff members. You didn't seem too bothered by what they were saying about me. I didn't see you standing up for me, anyway."
Now, he had the grace to look down at his feet, ashamed. He was shaking his head as he said, "You don't understand. I've known Trina my whole life."
"I heard the two of you grew up together and that you were... Uhm, close once."
He nodded. "What you don't know, what the school's gossip mill rarely tells, is that we grew up as orphans raised by the church. One of the temples in Glenburn, the city where we're from, had an orphanage, and that's where I met Trina. It's always been the two of us, and I think it felt at times that it was us against the world."
"What are you saying?" I asked quietly.
"I'm saying it's not that easy to stand up to someone you've known your whole life like that, even if you don't agree with everything they say or do." He shook his head and seemed certain that I didn't understand. I wasn't sure that I did, but I knew it seemed like an excuse.
"You don't realize this, Leah, but out there in the larger world, there's a prophecy about you."
I looked at him, confused. "Yes, I've heard that the Trinity is supposed to end the Void Wars. So? Why would that make Trina call me an abomination?" Even saying it out loud, the word still stung.
"Just like some people, like Cleopatra and the Empress, believe that the Trinity is supposed to end the Void Wars, there arethose who believe that the Trinity is meant to destroy the world. Trina was never a fanatic about our Religious Studies, but she always took them more seriously than I ever did. Now, the fact that the Trinity turned out to be a real thing, and after what happened the other day, I think it solidified a belief that she was unsure about before."
I looked at him, unable to believe there were more people like Trina out there. People were actually being taught I was a world-destroyer?
"What about you?" I asked, afraid to hear the answer, but asking anyway, "What do you believe?"
"I always thought the Trinity was a myth. Then, with your summoning, it turned out to be real. I didn't know what to think about it after that. During the demonstration, what you did..." He shook his head. "It wasn't supposed to happen. You weren't supposed to have had access to that amount of magic. Not on the level you're at. It was unusual, to say the least."
I felt my face burn. Though out of anger or shame, it was difficult to tell. Maybe it was both of these things, because I had thought Caleb was my friend.
