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MARAUDERS.
Chapter 16.
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The first day of classes have exhausted out most of the students, their summer holidays made them too dependant on late night and even later lie-in in the mornings.
"I mean, having somewhere where we can chill out and have some fun at the end of the day is fun" Lorenzo says excitedly to his group of friends.
They're heading up to the Room of Requirement on the seventh floor, where Hera has the Four Founders bar set up for the students.
"Mate, don't pretend that you aren't just excited to see Hera, and beg her for forgiveness at how much of an arse you were to her last night" Mattheo taunts Lorenzo.
Lorenzo has been acting twitchy and nervous since Theodore mentioned coming to Four Founders this evening.
"Mattheo Riddle, I could set Hera on fire and feed her to a basilisk, and somehow you and Artemis would still look more toxic" Lorenzo informs Mattheo.
Lorenzo had felt like he wouldn't be able to get Hera to forgive him. Seeing how Artemis and Mattheo have been with one and other today has given him a lot of hope that he can be forgiven.
"You and Hera aren't toxic to one and other, you just can't make your mind up if you want to purse her or Penny Sweeting" Mattheo tells Lorenzo.
"Yeah, because you, Artemis and Imelda are a completely healthy love triangle" Lorenzo argues back to Mattheo.
"Is it a triangle? There seem to be a lot of people involved in this web of romantic entanglements" Theodore scoffs.
"That includes you as well" Lorenzo reminds Theodore. "You know, when Artemis dumped you for Mattheo?" Lorenzo had to live through the drama of it last year.
"Thanks for the reminder, Enzo!" Theodore growls through his gritted teeth, he doesn't like to think of his ex-girlfriend dumping him for his best friend.
"Hey, it worked out for the best, you're playing the field" Mattheo feels obligated to give Theodore a bright side to the poison of last year.
The three Slytherin boys stop before the wall of the Room of Requirment, and wait for the doorway to form.
"Lads, we've come to have a good time and unwind tonight" Lorenzo sighs to his two best friends. "How about we just have some fun tonight, and try not to cause any more shit with the girls?" Lorenzo feels like its an impossible task, but he's optimistic.
"Agreed" Mattheo and Theodore tell Lorenzo, neither of them are optimistic they'll have a night without drama.
Mattheo pushes his way inside of the Four Founders.
Hera and the Weasley twins have done a great job at decorating the place. It's a real hole in the wall vibe.
The bar is highly polished wood, and carved with all of the crests of the four houses. Behind the bar is large barrels of alcohol and other beverages.
A pool table spans across one of the areas, and students are bustling around it, intrigued by the muggle game.
The place is packed with students of all ages, mingling, spending their money on the drinks and snacks behind the bar.
And there is even a band playing in the corner, they aren't real (as they're a creation that comes along with the room), but they still sound good.
"Geez, this place looks amazing" Theodore chuckles. "I can definitely get used to this place" Theodore tells his boys. "Now let's go and see who's up for a good night" Theodore laughs.
Theodore puts his hands on Mattheo's shoulders and pushes him inside of the bar.
"I'm not hanging around you while you bounce from girl to girl all night" Mattheo forewarns his friend, but still allows Theodore to push him towards a large cluster of girls.
Lorenzo chuckles at Theodore cracking on with the girls, and Mattheo looking completely bored. Then Lorenzo looks over to bar, where Hera is serving drinks to students.
"Be calm, Lorenzo Berkshire, if you can fly around school aback a Hippogriff, then you can talk to her" Lorenzo hopes that Hera isn't too grumpy about his insults last night.
Lorenzo slides up to the bar, taking a seat on one of the stools, and he just waits until Hera turns around and notices him.
Hera is busy stacking glasses, and her flat expression falls to disappointment when she turns and sees Lorenzo waiting for her.
"What do you want, Lorenzo?" Hera asks tiredly. She really is not in the mood for another round of being insulted by Lorenzo.
Lorenzo shrugs. "Do I need to have a reason to come and see you?" Lorenzo asks of Hera. "How did your date with Colin Creevey go last night?" Lorenzo isn't subtle about his approach to the topic.
Hera nods. "It was good" Hera informs Lorenzo. "We had a few butterbeers, danced a little bit, and enjoyed the fireworks together" Hera tells Lorenzo.
"There were fireworks?" Lorenzo doesn't remember anything like fireworks last night.
"With the way that you were knocking back drinks, I'm surprised that you remember anything about the party" Hera laughs at Lorenzo.
"I was not that bad" Lorenzo chuckles in response. "There were plenty of people that were worse off than me" Lorenzo remembers people being passed out drunk before he even arrived.
"I'm sure that Penny made sure that you got back to the common room alright" Hera sounds a little more bitchy as Penny Sweeting is brought up.
"I didn't see Penny last night. I've only seen her in my Care of Magical Creatures lesson" Lorenzo tells Hera. "Why do you care about how often that I see Penny?" Lorenzo has a feeling that Hera might be getting a little jealous.
"I don't" Hera says lazily.
"I don't believe you" Lorenzo gives Hera a big toothy grin.
"That's your problem, not mine" Hera tells Lorenzo. "Did you want something to drink, or are you just here to annoy me?" Hera asks of Lorenzo.
"I just came here to annoy you" Lorenzo grins at Hera. "And I'm not dating Penny Sweeting, by the way, me and her and just friends" Lorenzo feels like he wants Hera to know that.
"That's a shame" Hera busies herself with cleaning down the bar, if she looks into those dark eyes of his then she'll be trapped.
"So, are you and Colin Creevey boyfriend and girlfriend?" Lorenzo puts his elbows on the bar, and uses them to rest his head down.
"I don't think that he's the boyfriend type for me" Hera confesses to Lorenzo.
"Got your eye on someone else?" Lorenzo taunts Hera.
"Sometimes" Hera confesses. "Then said person acts like a complete arse and I feel like I want nothing to do with him" she isn't hiding her feelings about last night.
Hera gives Lorenzo a pointed smile.
"I hear that you've been flying Hippogriffs around the castle skies, why don't you tell me about it?" Hera likes that Lorenzo is going so well in that class, it's nice for him to have a class where he's the top student already.
Theodore is already kissing with some Hufflepuff girl in one of the booths, and Mattheo doesn't have the stomach to listen to the rest of the girls about their problems.
Mattheo grabs his glass and leaves the booth.
He knew that Theodore would do this to him so it's not a complete surprise, and Lorenzo seems to be laughing and joking with Hera so Mattheo doesn't want to interrupt them either.
Thankfully he sees a familiar face. "Mattheo Riddle, all alone, without his cronies?" Imelda asks of Mattheo.
Imelda is still nursing a few bruises from her fight with Artemis, especially where Artemis had blasted her in the face with a banishment charm.
And yet, that was still Artemis being tame with Imelda. Mattheo has seen Artemis perform a lot more powerful and dangerous magic.
"Everyone else seems to have better plans for the evening" Mattheo motions to his two best friends and the girls that are currently occupying their time. "How are you feeling after your duel this afternoon?" Mattheo asks of Imelda.
Imelda thought that she would handily beat Artemis Bellator, that all of the rumours about her were exaggerated, but apparently they were true.
"Sore. Your girlfriend has a really strong grasp of charms" Imelda informs Mattheo.
"Be thankful that's all she did" Mattheo tells Imelda. "You can't go picking a fight with Artemis, she can be dangerous when she needs to be, voodoo, potions, hand-to-hand combat, she was trained to fight from a young age" Mattheo tells Imelda. "It's for your own good that you don't do anything to annoy her in future" Mattheo is telling Imelda this for her own personal safety.
Imelda smirks. "Like kissing you?" Imelda wonders of Mattheo. "That's what that whole thing was about for her, wasn't it? She didn't like it that I kissed you last night. It boiled her blood" and Imelda likes that she could enjoy a kiss and piss off her newest rival in one stroke.
Mattheo laughs nervously. "I wouldn't like to comment on how Artemis' mind works" Mattheo tells Imelda. "And she's not my girlfriend. I have a signed contract from the both of us that lists the rules of me and her being friends" Mattheo offers.
"That sounds complicated".
"It's really not" Mattheo offers. "I told her that I just wanted to be her friend, and nothing more" it nearly killed Mattheo to do it, but he still managed it.
"You turned down Artemis Bellator? You've been following her around and waiting for her scraps of affection for two years" Imelda cannot believe that Mattheo is the one that turned Artemis away.
"When someone withholds affection from you long enough, you tend to lose interest in them" Mattheo mutters darkly. And Artemis getting closer with Tom has done nothing to make Mattheo regret his decision.
"I best not without my affection from you for too long then" Imelda smirks at Mattheo, and Mattheo has to laugh at her forwardness.
"Kissing me in front of witnesses two nights in a row might send rumours flying" Mattheo gives her the Riddle smirk and the dark eyes, a powerful weapon of seduction.
"I've never been one to be too subtle, Riddle. I go after what I want by any means possible. It's the Quidditch player in my blood, to be bold and unapologetic" Imelda comes from a long line of Quidditch players, and they all go after what they want.
Mattheo steps up to Imelda, and takes the drink from her hand, setting it down on the nearest table.
"Then go for what you want, Reyes" Mattheo prompts Imelda.
If Mattheo cannot be with the girl that he wants, then he's going to use Imelda to distract him from thinking about Artemis too much.
Imelda doesn't hold back when she steps up on her tiptoes and presses her lips against Mattheo's.
Mattheo is surprised at first, just like he had been the night prior, but he eventually gets into the rhythm of returning the kiss against Imelda's lips.
Hers points over to Mattheo, and Lorenzo sees his best friend kissing Imelda.
"Merlin, he never learns" Lorenzo gasps at the sight of it. "Your sister nearly tore Imelda in half in Duelling class, if they start dating then that rivalry is only going to get worse" Lorenzo tells Hera.
"Artemis can handle herself against Imelda Reyes. I'd be more concerned about what Artemis will do when she finds out Mattheo is already dating someone else" Hera tells Lorenzo.
"They might not be dating. Theodore kisses loads of girls and he's not dating them" Lorenzo says to Hera.
Hera smiles. "Enzo, this is the second night in a row they've kissed. Trust me, they're dating" Hera advises Lorenzo. She's a girl and she knows these things. "Just because you kiss someone once doesn't make you boyfriend and girlfriend, twice is a pattern" Hera tells Lorenzo.
Lorenzo's eyes narrow in on Hera. "Did you kiss Colin Creevey last night?" Lorenzo suddenly asks Hera, the panic of the question invades his mind.
Hera stops her cleaning, and looks up at Lorenzo. "Excuse me?" Hera scoffs.
Lorenzo leans forward over the bar, his face only inches from Hera's. Not so that he can be close to her, it's so he can get a closer look to tell if she's lying to him.
"Did you kiss Colin Creevey last night? It's a simple question" Lorenzo repeats himself, though he's a lot ruder in his tone.
Hera sets down her rag and cleaning bottle. "So what if I did?" Hera asks of Lorenzo. "It's not like I have a boyfriend" she tells Lorenzo.
Lorenzo nods sadly at what Hera has just said to him, he feels like she must have done that just to hurt him a little bit. "I am sorry that you feel that you need to do something like that to get my attention" Lorenzo tells Hera sadly.
Hera wasn't expecting Lorenzo to look quite so broken at the mere thought of her kissing another boy. Old feelings of not being good enough plague his mind.
Some close by students see Lorenzo's sour mood after having talking to Hera, and they begin the swirling gossip of what Hera might have done to upset Lorenzo.
Hers knew that kissing Colin Creevey was a bad idea last night, but it was a party and she got caught up in the moment. It was only a small peck on the lips and both of them knew that there was no spark between them from it.
Hera was just so mad at Lorenzo last night that subconsciously she wanted to hurt him, and kissing Colin Creevey seemed the best way of doing that.
"Maybe the guy that you like can't get a read on your feelings when you're kissing other boys and spending time with everyone else?" Lorenzo says calmly. "Goodnight Hera" Lorenzo doesn't look at her again before he leaves the youngest Bellator alone.
"Why did I tell him?" Hera mutters to herself. Telling Lorenzo about that kiss was never going to be a good idea.
*
The Duelling classroom has been kept open later so that Artemis can have her special lesson with Mabel. Iris and Frey have both decided to come along to see what this special training is going to look like.
"Maybe she's going to teach you really advanced Auror training?" Frey asks excitedly. Artemis already has battle training, but this would take her to a whole other level.
"Maybe she's to teach you how to get over your aversion to killing an enemy?" Iris suggests.
"I doubt it's that, Iris" Artemis says to Iris. "And even if it were, I am not going to knowingly kill someone" Artemis protests. She's killed enough people in that Library explosion, and that was her losing control of her magic.
Mabel is waiting in the centre of the duelling platform when the three girls arrive. Her cloak is thrown off to the side, revealing her in her battle clothing. Leggings, a vest top, a harness built around her torso that holds various weapons and potion, and leather arm guards on running from her hands to the end of her forearm.
"You've brought guests with you?" Mabel can sense their arrival, and she speaks ominously over her shoulder to the students.
"I hope that's alright?" Artemis asks of Mabel. "They wanted to see what this special training would—" Artemis begins to say.
Mabel spins rapidly and swipes out with her wand. "Stupefy" Mabel cries out.
The red bolt of light launches from Mabel's wand and rockets towards Artemis. The younger girl is not expecting to be struck down, and the spell hits her right in the face.
Then darkness.
"Did you have to stun her like that?!" Frey's voice comes through slightly distorted as Artemis wakes up.
"It was necessary" Mabel advises Frey. "This is what she needs to learn in order to survive. People are coming for her, and she's not ready to take them on. Either stay quiet and out of the way, or you both can leave!" Mabel tells the other two Slytherin girls.
Mabel needs to teach Artemis how to engage enemies, or she might die. Mabel's whole job at the moment is to protect Artemis for the Squibs that want to drain her of her magic.
"Ow" Artemis grumbles. "What in Merlin's name was that for?!" Artemis demands of Mabel.
Frey and Iris both help to guide Artemis back up to her feet.
"You were not ready to defend yourself. You should be ready at all times to defend yourself from attack" Mabel advises Artemis.
"I didn't think I would be attacked in the castle" Artemis huffs. Squibs have yet to venture past the school perimeter.
"And that thinking left you open for Imelda Reyes to strike you earlier" Mabel noticed when Artemis looked away from Imelda, and Imelda took the chance to strike at Artemis.
"Obviously I wouldn't hesitate in stopped a rebel if they came at me" Artemis tells Mabel. "How long was I unconscious for?" Artemis asks her friends.
"Half an hour" Iris tells Artemis.
"What?!" Artemis shrieks. As she shouts the headache intensifies in her mind.
"Take out your wand and get ready to defend yourself" Mabel tells Artemis.
Artemis looks up at Mabel to see if she's being serious. Artemis thought they would take this a little slower, ease into the defensive magic.
Artemis shrugs off Frey and Iris' hands, they know that they should move out of the way.
"I need to know that you can defend yourself, Aralias wants me to make sure that you can defend yourself. You've proven in the past that you have a penchant for finding trouble" Mabel offers to Artemis. "So I am going to teach you how to engage an enemy, like I was taught" Mabel knows that Artemis will probably resent her for this, but she needs it.
Mabel waves her wand, and ten dummies pop into existence all around the duelling arena, forming a circle around Artemis.
"Patricia Rakepick was as evil as a person could be, but she taught me how to engage an enemy without mercy" Mabel tells Artemis.
Mabel herself failed at this training method for a long time, until it became clear to her that her very existence depended on her being able to fight.
"Patricia Rakepick?!" Artemis shrieks. "She was your teacher?" Artemis did not know that Mabel was personally trained by the Curse Breaker.
"She was" Mabel replies. "These dummies are all going to fire stunning jinxes at you, and you need to be able to sense which dummy is going to fire on you, and block the spell. You can use your main wand for this exercise, but you should also be practicing with your second wand" Mabel tells Artemis.
"All of them!" Artemis cannot duel ten targets at once.
"Problem?" Mabel asks.
"There are too many for me to take on alone, this is suicide" Artemis barks back at Mabel.
Mabel laughs a little bit. "Begin" Mabel shouts to the dummies, and they all raise their wands ready to attack Artemis.
Artemis holds her wand backhanded, and readies herself to defend against the jinxes. Her eyes move about suspiciously at the dummies, waiting for one of them to strike.
"Focus your magic, and you should feel the intention before they strike" Mabel advises Artemis.
Mabel can sense which dummy is to strike out first, so Artemis should be able to as well.
"This seems like it's going to end badly. She's worried, I can feel it" Frey whispers to Iris. Artemis' worry is like a cold feeling inside of Frey's chest. "It's blocking her ability to focus" Frey can see the worry is clouding Artemis' mind.
"She's got this" Iris knows that Artemis isn't going to be stopped by dummies.
The first dummy shoots a non-verbal jinx at Artemis, and she turns in time to block the spell.
Then the next blasts at Artemis straight away.
Artemis spins and slashes her wand and blocks the attack.
Then all of the dummies begin firing the spells one after another, and Artemis struggles to keep up with blocking the spells.
"You aren't sensing where the next spell is going to be coming from" Mabel can tell that Artemis is reacting after the spell is fired and not before.
Artemis is hit in the shoulder with a jinx, and her wand shoots out of her hand. Then another jinx strikes her in the chest and knocks her down.
Artemis falls back unconscious.
"Are you sure you aren't going to cause her some lasting damage with all of these hits?" Frey wonders.
"Artemis will be fine" Mabel tells the two girls. "She's strong enough to handle this training, it will just take some time for her to hone her skills" Mabel failed at this training for a long time when she first started.
Artemis wakes a little faster this time, and her body hurts just as much as it did the last time.
"Shit!" Artemis screams out in frustration.
"You didn't sense for the incoming attack" Mabel informs Artemis. "Come on, try again" Mabel grabs Artemis by the hand, and pulls the girl up onto her feet.
"Again?!" Artemis barks. "My body is still killing me from the last attack" Artemis whines at Mabel.
"So?" Mabel asks. "In battle you do not get breaks, you need to be able to carry on fighting" Mabel can see how much Artemis has been sheltered by Aralias, it has made her soft.
Mabel clicks her fingers, and the dummies all ready themselves to begin firing again.
And once again Artemis is struck to the ground with a jinx she didn't sense coming.
"How long is she going to be doing this for?" Iris asks of Mabel. It doesn't seem to be getting any better.
Mabel looks down at Artemis' unconscious body. "Until she gets it right" Mabel cannot protect Artemis every second of the day.
Artemis wakes within ten minutes. "This is stupid, I don't know how to sense for the intention of these stupid dummies" Artemis tells Mabel.
Frey is the Empath, and Iris is the legilimens, they should be able to handle this.
"Every witch and wizard is capable of sensing magic, all it takes is a little effort and training" Mabel tells Artemis. "I know that it's hard to begin, but once you can do it, then you'll be an unstoppable force in battle, you'll know your opponent's move before they even make it" Mabel tells Artemis.
Artemis gets up to her feet, and she readies her wand again.
"Reach out with your mind, sense your opponent's magic" Mabel advises Artemis.
Artemis isn't exactly sure how to reach out with her mind and sense for magic, but she still gives it a go.
Artemis swipes up with her wand on instinct and blocks the first spell. Then she feels as if something behind her is wrong, and so she spins and blocks the spell.
The feeling is only fleeting, and then it goes away.
Then Artemis is struck in the back with a jinx, and knocked down unconscious.
Mabel looks over Artemis' body. "Not great, but better" Mabel has to admire how quickly that Artemis felt even a small connection with this ability.
A storm begins to rage outside of the castle, and with a flash of lightning Frey feels that something wrong rides on the back of this storm.
"Something is going on out there" Frey mutters. It's like all the negative emotions that the Dementors have brought to the castle grounds have brought the storm.
*
In a dark castle, in an unfamiliar location, Caleb Holmes watches the storm that ravages the Highlands at this very moment. The thunder and lightning holding secrets from his and Frey's past.
"Can you feel me, Alfre?" Caleb speaks out to the storm. "Do you remember the tricks that you've taught me over the years? Or are you too far gone to even remember?" Caleb speaks out to the howling wind.
The balcony of his room is wide open, and the storm is pouring into his bedroom, but he doesn't mind the cold, or the slight flecks of rain that make their way inside.
Back at Hogwarts Castle, Frey tosses and turns in her sleep. The silence of her bedroom has never brought such whispers in her dreams before this evening.
"You..." Frey can see Caleb so clearly in her mind.
Caleb laughs in disbelief that he can still use the storm to speak to Frey. "Me" Caleb confirms. "That you can hear me now, tells me that there is still a part of you that remembers me, that thinks about me, Alfre" Caleb laughs happily at the girl.
"I don't remember you, not really" Frey tells Caleb. The boy looks familiar in her mind, but her memory is blocking her from seeing why.
"I'm an orphan, just like you. My family disposed of me when they learned that I could not use my magic. They tossed me out onto the streets" Caleb starts to get angry as he thinks about the great Holmes family that couldn't have a Squib in their midsts.
"How old were you?" Frey asks the boy. She can feel the pain radiating from him in waves.
"Four. By then they couldn't lie to their friends anymore about me being a late bloomer. My cousins were all performing rather powerful magicks by then. It was easier for them to dispose of me, and lie that I had died, than to admit they had a Squib in the family" Caleb informs Frey.
"I'm sorry, that's awful" Frey doesn't know why she is apologising or feeling sympathy for him. Caleb lead the attack on Bellator Manor that killed people, and turned Lorenzo into a werewolf.
"The great Holmes family are pillars of the magical world, I see them in the Daily Prophet and hear the whispers of their 'great deeds'" Caleb is filled to the brim with the resentment for his family.
"Holmes family? I've never heard of them" Frey has heard of most of the prominent wizarding families, and the Holmes one isn't familiar to her.
"I'm sure that Artemis will be able to tell you all about them" Caleb laughs to Frey.
"Don't talk about her!" Frey responds hotly. "You and your rebellion have done enough damage to the Bellator family" Frey won't continue to talk to him if he mentions her friends. And Artemis is the one person that Frey will push herself to the hilt to protect, the closest person that she feels to having family.
"You're right, I'm sorry" Caleb doesn't want for her to stop talking to him. "There are some of us who don't hold resentments to all of the witches and wizards. I hate my family, and the Squibs gave me a home, so I owe them" Caleb tells Frey.
"So you kill for them?" Frey asks in horror.
"I've never killed anyone, Alfre. I've never even taken magic from a person" Caleb tells Frey. "I have used stolen magic, but only to defend my friends" Caleb acts upon the orders of those above him because they keep Squibs safe.
"How noble" Frey doesn't see much distinction between the people who steal magic, and those who use the stolen magic.
"Why have you been thinking about me, Alfre?" Caleb cannot understand why he's been in Frey's thoughts so much.
"I haven't" Frey lies.
"You have. I can feel it across this distance when you do. We're connected" Caleb and Frey have been as one since they met, when they were promised to one and other by her parents and the leader of his cell of the rebellion.
Frey has thought about Caleb a lot. Every time she tries to practice with her Empath powers she sees him in her head, and then she feels guilty that she's thinking about Caleb and not Luca (her boyfriend).
Frey doesn't really know how to respond to hearing that she's connecting with this boy.
"Frey?!" A loud banging comes on Frey's bedroom door.
The banging is loud enough to wake Frey from her dream, or nightmare, either way she isn't thinking or talking with Caleb any more.
Artemis opens the door and sticks her head around. "Are you okay?" Artemis asks of Frey. "I thought I heard you talking with someone" Artemis could have sworn that she heard Frey talking. Loud talking, loud enough that Artemis could hear it from her bedroom.
"No, I was asleep" Frey doesn't really lie.
"Okay...".
"Hey, have you ever heard of the Holmes family?" Frey feels like she needs to ask before she forgets.
"The Holmes family? Where did you hear that name?" Artemis laughs a little at the randomness of the question.
"Just...in passing I guess. I've never heard of them" Frey tells Artemis.
"You wouldn't have, since they aren't around anymore. They were one of the first families killed by the Squibs, or the first prominent family that got the attention of the Ministry of Magic should I say" Artemis tells Frey.
"They're dead?!" Frey shrieks. Caleb seems to have left out that little detail. And now she understands why she hasn't heard of them.
"Yeah" Artemis nods her head. "One of those little mysteries. Only someone of their bloodline could bypass their security, but all of them ended up dead, so no one could figure out how the Squibs overpowered their magic" Artemis tells Frey. "My grandfather went nuts testing the boundary spells around the Manor for like a month after he heard about it".
Frey shouldn't be shocked that Caleb lied to her. He says that he's never taken a life before, only the lives of all of his family.
Back at the hidden castle, a knock comes at the door of Caleb's room.
"Enter" Caleb calls back to the door. Not that he would have the choice at having much privacy when living with an army.
She walks in.
"You've been talking with the traitor again?" The woman asks Caleb carefully. "I can feel the connection that has been built between you" the woman sensed the magic that bonded Caleb and Alfre.
"She's not a traitor" Caleb snaps at the woman. "She just doesn't know who she is" Caleb hopes that Frey will come to her senses and return to the rebellion before long.
Caleb looks around at the woman.
She is draped in black robes, with pelts made from all of the prominent magical beings that she has bested in combat. Instead of a wand, she uses a large staff that has goblin silver built into its core. And upon her face is a veil and bone antlers fitted to her head.
Just like the Dark One, the Antler Queen is also in charge of her own cell of the rebellion.
"I have hoped that Alfre would return to us. Robin and Regina Lancaster betrayed us all when they tried to kill their own daughter, in order to take her from us..." the Antler Queen speaks to Caleb. "...do not hold onto hopes, they can betray you" the Antler Queen advises Caleb.
Alfre belongs to a different family now, and Caleb is the only one that cannot see it.
"I know" Caleb cannot stop thinking about her, not since he saw her at the Summer Ball.
"Our plans will come into action soon. Then Alfre must choose a side. Us, or the side of the magical beings" the Antler Queen has no desire to fight or kill Alfre, but she will if she has no other option.
"My master is confident that Alfre will return to us" Caleb tells the Antler Queen. Caleb answers directly to the Dark One.
"Time will tell" she speaks. "Now, get some sleep. A tired warrior dooms himself to death" the Antler Queen informs Caleb.
When she leaves his room, Caleb falls back against his bed. His thoughts only thinking about the one girl. The girl he's loved since they first met.
"I can't stop thinking about you, Alfre".