Chapter 5

When they had their next night of classes, Annaliese shook her head at Kore as soon as the Witch left her dorm and said, "You look like Wylan right now."

"True," Kore had to say because she wore the trouser uniform without the vest. Her black shirt was loosely done up, the top few buttons undone to accidentally show off her neck and a touch of cleavage. More than modest enough for school, but maybe a little less refined than normal. At least she wore the black jacket over it.

"At least you've actually tried to do your hair, unlike someone..." Annaliese accusingly said, narrowing her eyes playfully as Wylan walked out of his dorm with Silas. "Do you even own hair products, Wylan?"

He smirked, jutting a thumb back at the Siren next to him. "Silas uses it all within a day."

"No, I do not!" Silas gasped, patting his hair softly. He had shaved sides and back but the top had baby dreads, only a few inches long. "This doesn't need any product, it's already perfect."

"Yeah..." Kore rolled her eyes.

Silas grinned, jumping forward so he could try and get her hair messy. He miscalculated her speed, finding himself in a headlock as she scruffed his hair up with a laugh.

"Not the hair!" He whimpered. "I just got it fixed!"

"Next time, don't touch mine!"

Annaliese looked at her dainty gold watch. "We'd best get going before Markus tells us off for being late."

They descended the staircase, quickly falling in step with the rest of the Key House as they began the small journey to the gates. It always seemed that the members closest to Markus were the ones to walk near the front of the group, or the back, depending on where Markus himself walked. It seemed like Markus surrounded his main little group of friends with the more powerful Arcanes of the class, and now it almost included Kore.

It held five of the major princes or princesses of the Arcane and Witch worlds.

Annaliese was next to her as Silas and Wylan complained about something irrelevant behind them.

"Kore, are you alright?"

She sensed two new people, one Mundane and the other a Vampire.

The human was supposed to be a Warden, the small amount of Magic in his system told her so. But the Vampire was sick, very sick and only lived on spare time.

"Your eyes are glowing," Annaliese said, "Why did your eyes suddenly start glowing?"

"I felt something. I need to talk to Markus quickly," Kore stopped walking when she got inside the building, as did Annaliese and Wylan.

"Is it important?" Annaliese asked. "Or dangerous?"

"I don't know."

Kore waited for Markus, letting the rest of the class pass them before she asked if she could have a moment of his time. They stood outside of the classroom, the door closed after the rest of the class went in but Richard poked his head out to make sure everything was alright. Markus nodded and Richard left them to their conversation.

She told him how she sensed some new people.

"There will be a student coming back tonight," Markus said lowly, keeping his voice quieter than normal so the rest of the Key House wouldn't overhear. "Davina Knott. She's got a blood disease that cannot be healed, only maintained. She comes back to school only when she is well enough. Is there a problem?"

"No, I'm just being paranoid," Kore admitted, her arms crossed loosely under her bust. "I sensed them a minute ago and I was a little concerned because I didn't recognise them. And the guy with her?"

"He's of no concern, he is simply a bodyguard and caretaker for her. I've vetted each and every member of the Key House before they were allowed to attend," He said as they came up to the door of the classroom. He opened it before letting her go through it first before he closed it again when they were within.

"Thanks," Kore nodded before taking a seat. She always preferred a seat near the back where she wouldn't have anyone near her back.

Kore took her phone out of her jacket, beginning to scroll through social media. She didn't post anymore, not since leaving England but she did keep track of what other people in the Order did for activities or festivals.

They recently did a Lupercalia festival, something similar to Valentine's day but a little more physical. There was an age restriction, of course, because of the consent laws in England. Anyone partaking had to be over sixteen, and be with someone of a similar age.

There were a couple of pictures from the festival, the one the nearby towns were allowed to partake in. And then there would only be a few of the aftermath of the ritual. Some of her distant cousins looked exhausted and hungover, but happy and content with what they did.

"Hmm, it is good to see that you are in better health, Davina," Markus's voice broke through Kore's thoughts.

The Witch looked up from her phone, clicking it off within a second as she scanned the room. She found the form of a thin Vampire at the front, standing before Markus as he came down the tiered seating.

The newcomer was tall, skinny and frail, looking like death warmed over with sunken cheeks and dark eyes. Her blood was the one that confused Kore the most out of the two new people. The other one wasn't here.

It had a mixture that didn't seem to work together properly.

Davina Knott scanned the room, slowly coming up the stairs until she reached the top tier. She reached a hand forward, trying to grab Kore's hand.

"Don't touch me," Kore instantly said, folding her arms with a slight scowl that was more displeasure than disgust.

"I've never met a royal Witch!" she said. "I'm Davina Knott."

"Kore Greylight." She watched the frail Vampire suddenly back away a little in surprise.

She bowed at the waist slightly, "I didn't think I'd get to meet Witch royalty on my first night back."

There was something about her that Kore didn't like nor trust.

Who was she kidding?

Kore didn't trust anyone.

Who was there to trust? Who would have her back when the going got tough? Who showed loyalty and got it returned? Who would be there when she needed them?

Her mother was dead. Her Clan split into two and was forced to choose between herself and them. She'd see who was loyal when the time came.

Though, she didn't expect anyone to be loyal to her because they wanted to. They would be loyal to the Greylight name and power, but not to her. That was the sad thing. Her mother had years before the old Crown passed the title on, and Kore was supposed to have the same.

Kore wasn't even nineteen and she had the burden of a whole Clan on her shoulders. She didn't want the fucking title and power that came with it, she wanted to be able to make mistakes and learn from them. She didn't want to be on the run from a group of people who wanted to control her.

She wanted something she could control but there wasn't much. She just had to wait until she was nineteen and then she could do what she wanted.

)()()(

Markus dismissed the class early, needing to speak to Richard without the others trying to figure out what was wrong. While this library was for the use of the Key House, Markus used it more often than not in the early morning after class. They both sat in there, the door closed as everyone knew to knock before even thinking of coming in.

Richard sighed, a hand raised to his forehead as he rubbed away the beginnings of a headache. "Markus, what are we going to do with Davina? She's still sick. She's only back for you and it's dangerous for her to be here whilst Kore attends. I already feel the discord within Davina rising with each day."

Markus hummed in thought, finishing the last page of his book. "If it's going to be a problem, you should cater to her until the time comes for her to leave again. "

"Oh, sure," he rolled his eyes. "How long will that take?"

"Not long. Davina wants my blood. If she can't have that to heal herself again, she will have others," Markus paused, bringing the book and tapping it against his bottom lip for a second. "Kore doesn't like her, she finds her uneasy to be around."

"Why's that?"

"Something about her put the little Witch on edge and I don't like that,"

Richard nodded. "Do you want me to try and keep Miss Knott away from Kore?"

"If it is possible, but I suppose Kore wouldn't be happy if I interfered," Markus slotted the book away in its place. "Do your best to keep Davina Knott away without her figuring it out. Kore is already paranoid because of the chaos the Order is causing."

"What's happened?"

"They are going to send a representative to the Institute, wanting to keep an eye on her but Iscariot has refused. He said it is unfair to her. He compromised and they are allowed one visitation as long as Kore agrees."

"When are they coming?"

"In a couple of hours, around eight AM I think."

Richard sighed, already knowing but he had to ask. "You haven't told her, have you?"

He smirked, "Not yet,"

"I'll make some tea and see if I can put in a word or two before you do," Richard waved a hand as he neared the door. "I hope you don't get too injured."

"We will see how her temper is tonight. The tea should calm her nerves." Markus nodded to himself. "She likes the English tea with three sugars and milk."

)()()(

While the tea did help, Kore had taken a long sip after he told her what was happening, but it did not stop the onslaughter of books suddenly being thrown from the bookshelves and at him.

Kore just sat at the desk and sipped her tea, humming in satisfaction at the taste. "Richard does make the most wonderful tea. And I'm still pissed at you."

"I—" He dodged a book, stepping to the side. "Can—" Another was aimed for his head and he dodged that. "Tell."

The final book was aimed at the family jewels but it dropped before it hit him as Kore slouched in the chair.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"After all I've told you, why would you let them onto the school grounds?"

"Originally, they wanted a member of theirs to become a staff member here, to keep an eye on you, they said," Markus sat down at the desk across from her, watching her solemn expression settle on her pretty face. "Iscariot refused, saying that it wasn't lawful for him to let one of theirs become part of the school. He was able to negotiate them having a single meeting with you. They threatened to just take you by force."

"It was either a meeting where I could attend willingly, or they would come and get me. Fuck." She wanted to bang her head against the table but she refrained from doing that, running a hand through her hair before finishing her cup of tea. "When's the meeting?"

"Eight o'clock,"

Kore checked her watch. "Gives me a couple of hours to get ready then. I know I want Iscariot there but I don't know how many will attend with them."

"They said that there would be three,"

She nodded as she turned serious. "As much as I don't want to ask you because I am fucking pissed off at you right now, do you want to attend the meeting with me? They will try to influence me, by Magic or manipulation, because that's what they always do."

"Would my presence help?"

"Yes." She said through gritted teeth before shaking it off. "I suggest getting dressed into something else. Suit or the like will do, just not the school uniform. They'll see you as a student and nothing else otherwise."

"We will leave at half seven to be there in time."

)()()(

Kore had to get ready and that more or less meant battle armour. Her war paint was the sharpest eyeliner known to man, red-tinted lip gloss and mascara. She pulled her hair into a loose french twist, showing off the charcoal and purple with perfection.

Red wine was her colour. The dress moulded to her form as it was short and strapless. It had a small slit to the right thigh, going high into the hip without revealing too much skin. It showed off the scar she usually hid.

There was a large scar on her back, curling down her left shoulder blade, travelling down her spine a little as it reached around her right hip and extended down to the beginning of her thigh. It was silvery in colour, with a very pale purple tone to it. It was a shade or two darker than her normal skin colour, and it seemed to reflect light to look just like a lightning strike.

The scar had been caused by lightning striking her, it was called a Lichtenberg figure and the origin point was her left shoulder.

The top portion of it was shown, as was the bit on her thigh, otherwise, the rest of it was covered by the dress. Kore pulled on a black fitted blazer, just to hide the scar a more.

"You look good," Kore muttered as she saw Markus come out of his room.

He wore a black three-piece suit, polished black suit and a dark plum tie. He had done his hair again, putting a little bit of product to keep it out of the way.

He smirked. "Thank you. You look beautiful. Won't your feet hurt with those heels?"

"Only if they expect me to stand during the whole meeting," Kore checked the sleeves of the blazer, making sure they were fitted properly before nodding in satisfaction. "Evette is waiting for us. She said Iscariot sent her to escort us to his residence."

Markus nodded. They both walked to the staircase before Kore paused and swore. She held onto the railings as she tried to walk down them in five-inch heels. Walking upstairs wasn't a problem, walking down them was.

He shook his head at her, a tiny smile on his lips as he saw her pout at his amusement.

"Don't even start," she grumbled, undoing the straps and sliding her heels off. "They look good, I look good, they're worth it."

"Are they truly worth a broken ankle?"

"Yes."

They continued down the stairs with Kore being barefoot. She was not going to break her neck walking down those stairs.