Chapter 23

Serene's POV

Everything seemed blurry to me. My mind seemed to have shut down. Ayrden helped me change and clean up. She kept asking if I was alright and I kept nodding my head. As we went to our room someone came to inform us that Artins Sensei had called us to his office. We went down and knocked at the door.

As the door opened, I saw several people in the office: Mikasim, Tanzil, Arlo, Zeph, Shumal Sensei and Artins Sensei. Since Tanzil was part of Auburn Stars, it was fitting that her Sensei was there as well. We went inside and stood near the door. The atmosphere of the room was rather tense and everyone seemed to be on the edge. Tanzil glared at me while Shumal Sensei looked furious.

"Serene, please step forward and narrate what happened today. Remember, not to lie or leave out any details." Artins ordered me who seemed rather furious. I glanced at Mikasim who had his head bowed.

"I was standing with Ayrden earlier today. Mikasim came over and joined us and we were casually discussing our duels. Ayrden left to fetch us some food. Mikasim told me how Zeph had agreed to help him train. Then we began to discuss the duel between Zeph and me. And we discussed how I headbutted Zeph and we began to laugh. Mikasim then gave me a friendly hug before leaving because he wanted to go meet his girlfriend. But as he was about to leave. Tanzil walked over and accused me of stealing her boyfriend. I assured her that this wasn't the case because we have only met today and we hardly know each other. She refused to believe me and threw her drink over me before walking away." I recalled all the events that had taken place.

"She is lying," Tanzil shouted at me. "Watch your tone in my office," Artins Sensei growled at her, his eyes looking furious. Everything went quiet and she lowered her head.

"I have heard the story from different accounts and seen things from all angles. It seems like a case of pure jealousy which led to a girl being humiliated in front of the whole institute. Tanzil, you will be given detention for a week and your future actions will be monitored by your Sensei. Any further similar instances can lead to serious consequences." Artins announced his verdict in a serious tone. Tanzil's mouth was left half open.

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She opened her mouth to say something but Shumal Sensei shut her up: "I can't believe insecure pussies like you are part of my team. If you think you can get away with bullying here then you are in the wrong place and I am not the type of person you want to get on the wrong side of."

Shumal Sensei pulled her by her arm and made her stand in front of me. "It's better if you apologize to Serene before we leave."

As I looked into her eyes, she had so much hatred in them. "Sorry," she mumbled to me and quickly left the room followed by Shumal Sensei.

Once they were gone. Artins Sensei turned his attention towards Mikasim: "I can't believe the way you handled things. How could you let your girlfriend humiliate your teammate? And, if she is so insecure you shouldn't be going around hugging people. In future, I want a better reaction from you."

Mikasim looked so ashamed of himself that he couldn't make eye contact with anyone. "Sensei, I apologize but we recently turned 18 and discovered that we are mates. We haven't been together long so she doesn't understand my joyful nature and I didn't have any idea that she would react like that." He replied in a hurt tone.

Artins Sensei patted him on his shoulder and then turned towards me.

"Serene, I understand this all is very new for you and this might be the first time you have been treated like that. But next time someone tries to bully you, you have every right to defend yourself instead of crying. Not everything will happen openly and this won't be the last time something like that will take place. So learn to defend yourself against such people. You are too naive there is a lot you need to learn." I nodded my head, I felt so ashamed.

"Arlo and Zeph good job on keeping an eye on your teammates and helping out at the needed time. For those who don't know, Arlo saw everything that had happened and was the first person to report it to me." Artins Sensei informed us. I looked at them with gratitude. Arlo was just looking down avoiding eye contact with anyone while Zeph looked indifferent as usual.

"That's how a team should be and I expect greater things from all of you. Head back to your rooms now and get some sleep. Your real tests start tomorrow. Dismissed." He walked back and settled in his chair. We left the room one by one.

Zeph was walking ahead of me. I quickly caught up to him and started walking alongside him. "Thanks for what you did for me, today."

"It was nothing, someone had to drag you out of that or the situation might have escalated. I didn't do it because I thought you were innocent, since I had no clue what was going on. I just followed my instinct." He replied in a flat tone and picked up his pace without glancing at me.

Ayrden and Mikasim came up from behind while Arlo was nowhere to be seen.

"I am extremely sorry, Serene. It wasn't my intention to put you in harm's way and I should have handled the situation better instead of letting Tanzil get out of hand. But she belongs to a renowned family while my family is an ordinary one. They have a lot of hold over decision-making in our realm. We are no match for them. I will be careful from next time onwards." Mikasim was so full of emotions.

"It's alright, Mikasim. It's not your fault, I can understand your situation. You do what you gotta do to maintain your relationship." I tried to smile so he could feel at ease. It worked and he smiled meekly at me before leaving.

Ayrden placed her hand on my shoulder and I was so relieved to have her by my side.

Once we reached our room, I took out a piece of paper and started writing to Zian as tears trickled down my cheeks. How I wished he was here. I was missing him so badly. But I promised myself that this was the first and last time they would make me cry. I would be stronger from this day forward and will earn everyone's respect, not as a princess but as a warrior.