Chapter 17

Zeph's POV

I didn't expect to get a confirmation letter after how they accused me of theft. But, Artins personally came to apologize as they found no evidence of it being stolen. It was our family heirloom passed down from our ancestors.

So, here I was being made a part of a weird-looking group of people. I wish Ralph was with me but as only five folkels have been chosen so they divided us into five different groups.

I stood at a distance from them because I had no intention of making friends. I knew they all had magical abilities and from what I heard through murmurs and whispers around me we had a Fae princess in our group too. I was furious, we "Folkels" were already discriminated against and looked down upon because of having no magical powers and now I had to deal with a snooty princess too.

I looked straight into her eyes and she quickly averted her gaze. She had Purplish black hair with hints of violet and indigo which were neatly tied. Her eyes were violet in colour which stood out on her small slender face. Her cheeks were pink, maybe she was blushing or had makeup on, who can tell with girls? Her tall and slim figure was adorned in a black and white dress. A perfect princess figure and must be so full of herself at the same time.

Artins had given his small speech and everyone else had started shaking hands and began the introduction. The petit girl in our group with blue-black hair along with a muscular curly-haired boy stepped towards me.

"Hey, I am Ayrden, I am a witch. Nice to meet you." She extended her hand towards me while Mikasim tried to strangle me with a hug as he shouted: "We are a team now, let's hug each other." I tried to push him away with my left hand while briefly shaking my right hand with Ayrden. This is gonna be so annoying, I wasn't here for hugs.

Meanwhile, the princess had stepped closer to me as well from my left. She looked at me with those big violet eyes of hers. Great, exactly the thing I don't need.

"Hi, I am Serene," she extended her hand toward me with a smile on her face. I could see her from the corner of my eye but I purposely ignored her and tried to act as if I hadn't seen or heard her.

She must have taken the hint as she stepped back and turned her face away from me. I felt bad but I didn't like royals and in my mind, they all are full of themselves. We, commoners, were looked down upon by them.

Artins shook hands with us all and told us it was time to head towards the institute. He told us that, although we will be using combined common rooms with others. Five of us will have access to his common room, which we can use for meetings and discussions.

We reached the building. Everyone was awestruck by its architecture and beauty. We entered the institute and were led into a huge hall. Everyone was given the room keys. I was to share the room with my team members Mikasim and Arlo. Girls had their own room. We were instructed to put our luggage into our rooms, get fresh and come down to the dining area for some refreshments and our timetables.

Ralph came and put his hand on my shoulder. He looked happy. "Man, I have a feeling we are gonna absolutely rock here. I have already made friends with my group," he beamed at me. "How could you make new friends so quickly, you just met them and it's hardly been five minutes," I asked him quizzically.

"Well, what can I say I am awesome you see," he replied shrugging and I just rolled my eyes at him. "I gotta go, my group is already headed for their rooms, will you try to go easy on your teammates and make a few friends," he asked me softly.

"I am not here to make friends, you of all people should know better," I gave him a severe look. "Ok ok, stay calm," he raised his hands and moved towards the staircase.

My teammates had already left so I took my luggage and headed for the room assigned room using the map which was given to us with the keys to the room. It was on the first floor near the boy's common room, the area I had already visited. The corridor walls were filled with gold-plated portraits of various men and boys. The doors were made up of wood with intricate designs and painted blue with golden door knobs and knockers. We were given room no. 17.

I entered the room which was huge with three single beds lined up on the right side. The walls were painted different shades of blue and the ceiling was painted in a fashion that looked like a night sky. There was a gigantic window fixed in the front wall. On the left side, there was an enormous cupboard for books and luggage.

Arlo and Mikasim had already taken up their beds leaving me the one closer to the window. They seemed polar opposites to each other. While, Mikasim seemed a friendly, interactive and hugging kinda guy. Arlo hadn't uttered a single word and seemed to keep a distance.

"Hey! Zeph," Mikasim called as soon as he saw me with a big smile. I just waved and headed to my bed. Arlo was bent over his luggage and didn't pay heed to me. I was just glad he didn't. I placed my luggage on my bed and began to take out my clothes and necessities to place in the cupboard.

After arranging my cupboard, I took my soap and made my way toward the bathroom. Several guys had gathered in the bathrooms making it chaotic and noisy. Some of the stronger guys had pinned down a lanky looking one and were pouring water on him. Others were just hanging around watching. I just washed my face and headed down to the dining area, ignoring them.