VII

"That's a lie, I didn't do anything". Aria defended herself to Kael.

"She is lying, we were just practicing our magic when she made rude comments to us," the leader told Kael.

"You ladies may go, you come with me," Kael told Aria.

"What?" she asked.

"Are you deaf? Didn't you hear what he said?" the leader asked Aria.

"Ruki, that's enough! I told you girls to leave, didn't I?" Kael asked her.

Aria eyed her, so her name was Ruki. It was too nice a name for someone like her.

"Fine, see you later Kael" Ruki said as she left with the rest girls.

Kael turned to look at Aria.

"Come with me." He told her as he turned to leave.

"I am supposed to meet Riya" she tried to protest.

He didn't even look back when he replied in a stern voice.

"I won't repeat myself"

Aria had no choice but to trudge tiredly after him.

They got back to his house, he sat down on a chair, and she was about to sit down on one when he cleared his throat and glared at her.

"I don't remember telling you to sit," he told her.

Aria stood back up, great! She thought to herself. Just one day and she was already pissing off the person in charge of the forest.

"So what happened?" he asked her.

She narrated everything that had happened to him, not letting any part of it out.

"So is there anything you could have done to get a different outcome?" he asked her.

"I don't know," she said in a low voice as she looked down.

"Ruki is a bit troublesome, I know that but you shouldn't have allowed her to rile you up," Kael told her.

She looked at him in surprise.

"Wait! You believe me?" she asked.

"Yes, you aren't lying. I know that".

"So why did you act like you didn't back at the scene?" she asked in exasperation.

He leveled a glance at her.

"You are a newcomer in the forest and she was born and raised here. Plus you are also on probation, if I had defended you against her. It would only make more problems for you in the future". He told her as he stood up, he gestured for her to follow him inside.

She followed him to a room that looked like a study, it had a lot of books.

"Can you read?" he asked her as he settled down on a chair.

"yes, I can" Aria replied.

"Can you write?"

"yes I can" she replied.

"Good, during the month of your probation, you will be working with me as my secretary" he informed her.

"What do I have to do as your secretary?" she asked.

"Follow me to meetings, jot down stuff, take care of my schedule, and manage it," he told her.

"Will I get paid?" she asked.

The glare he gave her in response made her wish she hadn't even asked the question on the first page.

"Your stay in the forest and the free food you eat and the space you occupy is enough payment. There is no money in the forest or salaries" he answered her.

"Oh! I see"

"Do you have any other questions?" he asked.

"No, I don't" she answered promptly.

"Good, now get a chair and come over here," he told her.

She nodded grabbed a chair and sat close to him.

This close to him, she could look at him fully and notice things she hadn't noticed before. Like how his blond hair had streaks of pale pink in it and how his blue eyes had specks of gold on them.

"Are you done admiring me or do you need more time?" he asked her.

She blushed and diverted her gaze.

"so you will sit in front and intercept any visitors I might have, ask them what they want, and then ask them to wait while you ask me if I am free, do you understand?" He asked her.

She nodded in response, the next couple of minutes was a blur as he explained everything to her.

"and under no circumstances are you going to be involved in a fight with any of my visitors, understood?" he asked her.

"I am not a troublesome person" she grumbled.

"Do you understand?" he asked her again undeterred by her grumbling.

"Yes," she replied with a pout.

"Good, now go sit down" he shooed her away.

"What about lunch?" she asked.

"you haven't even done anything and you need lunch?" he asked in shock.

"I am just asking to be sure," she told him.

"Fine, go work and when it's time for lunch, I will get you something". He said tiredly.

She nodded as she went to sit in the sitting room.

The first visitors were two old women.

"Hi, how may I help you?" she asked them politely.

Instead of answering they looked her, up and down.

"uhm, hi, how may I help you?" she asked again.

"Who are you?" one of the old women asked.

"I am Aria, Kael's assistant. How may I help you?" she asked them after introducing herself to them.

"Our names are Helena and Demitra." The old woman said as she pointed to herself and the other old woman.

Aria wrote their names down immediately.

"so how may I help you?" she asked.

"We want to see Kael," Demitra said.

"and what do you want to see him about?" she prompted.

"It's private," Demitra said stubbornly.

"well I need to tell him your reason for seeing him before I let you see him"

Helena sighed, "Fine, we will tell you, The forest is in grave danger, and we need to act quickly. Tell Kael the tree is losing leaves, he will understand"

"Okay, wait here and I will tell him quickly," Aria told them. She quickly stood up and went inside the study to meet Kael.

"Why do you look panicked?" he asked her.

"Come quickly, there is an emergency in the forest, these two women came in and said the forest is in danger," she told him.