Thanks to my editor SkepticalHeretic who is an awesome editor and has not only been editing my work but has been asking questions and encouraging me. I hope everyone likes this one, and please keep rating and commenting, its pretty awesome to be getting such an amazing response from everyone. Also the reasons why the chapters are taking longer to come out is because of the approval process for Literotica, I'm submitting them, it just takes a bit for Literotica to get them posted.
Anyway thanks for the suggestions and comments.
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I woke up the next morning and skipped breakfast entirely, opting, instead, to go to class early and reread the chapter and try to answer more of my own questions. I had unpacked my art supplies last night and after weeping irrationally over them, I tucked them into the very nice carrying case that came with them. I had to carry them to my art class and drop them off.
I escaped out of the Palace unseen, quickly made my way to the gates. I smiled at the guards who greeted me warmly and asked me how my day went. I thanked them for their directions telling them how much time they saved me, which seemed to make the guards even brighter. They let me through quickly and bid me another good luck as I raced across the grass.
I stopped at the art class open door and saw that the professor was there sketching in a pad. I knocked softly and he looked up smiling, "Ah, you are the first one here. Lets have a look at those supplies so I can decide if you need to go back and get better ones."
I nodded and handed him the case and canvas bag. He whistled and nodded appreciably going through all my supplies very delicately. He complimented me on my guidance counselors choice of art supplies and directed me to a locker where I could lock the supplies in safely.
He removed a box of charcoal, erasers, shaders, and the small sketchpad and handed them to me before letting me put the supplies in the locker, "You need to sketch every day, that's everyone's daily assignment, one sketch daily, doesn't even have to be good. And you get to show it to the class for critique, before begin our actual work."
I nodded tucking the pad, and pencil case worth of things into my bag. I thanked him and left for first period, spending the rest of my time attached to my tablet answering questions that I had prepared for class, without even having to ask them myself. And that was how the rest of the week went.
I avoided Dimitri, Ryder, Victor, and Mariah as much as possible. I kept myself busy studying in my room until dinner, in which I would sit away from them and would eat sparingly, mostly because Delilah, as I found her name to be, was a frequent dinner guest. I stopped eating breakfast and lunch, mostly because I hated seeing Delilah first thing in the morning, and I didn't eat lunch because I used the time to sketch instead.
It was towards the end of the week that I noticed my hands wouldn't stop shaking and as I struggled to take notes in my third class of the day I heard feet running down the hall in a frantic hurry. I felt my stomach drop as everyone froze for a moment and then continued the lecture. I didn't pay attention however, as I realized Dimitri and Delilah, both, weren't in class.
I stood up suddenly, pausing only long enough to let the dizzy spell subside and to apologize to my professor, and leaving my tablet and bag in class I ran at a break neck speed toward the Quad. I burst out of the doors and down the steps only vaguely aware of the crowd there, instead all I could hear were the thuds.
I forced my way to the front and watched with horror as Dimitri and Ryder wrestled on the ground, each getting a chance to pin the other and land some very violent blows. I looked around to see if anyone would stop it and my eyes landed on Delilah who was standing off to the side grinning and giggling behind her hand.
The two stood up and backed away from each other and with what little energy I had I yelled, "STOP IT!!"
Neither one heard me, of course, they never heard me when they were this mad. So I jumped into the middle of the fight, realizing that they must be pretty far gone, because they didn't even notice me. I realized I only had a few seconds more before they killed each other. I ran at Ryder and slammed my fist into his left ear as he yelped and fell down. I turned to land an elbow into Dimitri's left, middle, rib, causing him to stop his charge and collapse as well gasping from pain. Knowing that they could both focus I slapped the pair of them across the face, finally gaining their full attention.
"Are you kidding me?" I was yelling at the top of my lungs at them, "Look at you, look at each other. What the hell was so important that you did this?"
I turned and pointed at the Delilah who still hadn't stopped smiling, "You did this to each other FOR THAT?!? Look at her, she's nothing but glad you two are trying to kill each other. What is so wonderful about that disgusting creature that you would do this? And on top of that don't think I haven't noticed how its been this last week. I don't see you at all, and when I do you, BOTH OF YOU, pretend I don't exist."
Delilah stepped forward, "You don't have any right..."
I was so violently angry I didn't give her a chance to say anything instead I turned to her and stalked towards her, her forward motion stopping instantly and she began to back away from me, "And you, I don't care whether you are sleeping with the King himself, I never want to see you within ten feet of these two in ANYTHING but the academic setting. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!?"
She nodded quickly and ran away clutching her chest as she went. I turned and looked at the group that were staring at me opened mouth, "AND YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING BUNCH CAN BEAT IT AS WELL. YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES, LETTING YOUR FUTURE LEADERS DO THIS!!"
The crowd dispersed quickly and I returned my fury to the two princes, my energy careening out of control. I grabbed Ryder's bruised ear and pinched the skin on Dimitri's bruised rib and dragged the pair of them to the main building. I didn't have to say anything as students opened the doors for me and I dragged the limping Princes along with me to the medical office. I ignored the nurse and yanked Ryder by the ear until he sat quietly on the cot I put him on and walking across the room did the say to Dimitri.
I turned to the nurse who had become very upset, "Where is the phone."
"Look I know who you are, but you have no right..."
I cut her off with the commanding voice I used on the two princes, "I ASKED WHERE THE PHONE IS!!!"
She gasped and stepped backwards, pointing shakily to a small door off to the side. I turned to the Princes and glared at each of them, "Do not move a freaking muscle, you hear me!!!"
The both nodded and I stormed over to the phone and called Victors emergency number.
"Hello?"
"Hi, its Seraphina, you need to call Mariah, and both of you need to come over here and sort your sons out."
I heard Victor sigh and before he could say anything, "It was over that stupid girl you all seem to be so doting over. Maybe next time you will think before you pit two Princes against each other over a stupid, vapid, female."
And with that final scolding I slammed the phone down and took a deep breath, releasing the tension I used when dealing with these sort of situations. After a few deep breaths I stepped out of the office feeling very light headed and wobbly. The nurse caught me as I felt the world tilt and sat me down quickly in a chair.
Both Princes made to stand up but I glared at both of them and they both sat back down and didn't move. The nurse took my blood pressure and temperature and then looked at me closely, suddenly flashing a light in my eyes and checking my throat.
When she was finished she crossed her arms and looked down at me, "Is there anything I should know?"
I looked at her confused and noticed Dimitri and Ryder both looking at her warily, "I have no idea what you are talking about."
"I don't know much about slaves and your habits, but starvation for any reason is not good."
I shook my head, "I'm not starving myself, I just, haven't been hungry really. And then these two idiots were fighting over Delilah, and her being at every dinner and breakfast like she lived there..."
I felt a rant coming on and I felt too weak to stop it, "And no one in that stupid palace except for Lady Alekzaner and the servants could see through that girls bullshit. Do you have any idea what its like to see your best friends, two people who you love like family fight over a creature LIKE THAT. My mom died two days before I came here, two days. I moved into the Palace and had NO ONE there. I had no one to talk to about my mom, except my slave friend who is paired, so I don't get to talk to her much.
Even the King was drooling over that stupid girl, EVEN THE ALPHA WAS. I felt like the only person in the world who saw her for what she really was. And I was overwhelmed with the work, the reading, and I had so many questions but I had no one to ask because those two idiots over there, they were too busy partying, or pinning after Delilah. I was alone, and...and I just wasn't hungry okay?!? It all tasted like dirt when I ate it, okay?"
I pulled my knees to me and buried my face in my arms, shutting out the entire world. I stayed like that until I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up into Victor's concerned face. I smiled weakly and nodded towards the Princes, resting my head back down and closing my eyes. I head Mariah a moment later and she touched my shoulder and I looked up nodded and rested my head back on my arms.
This time the Nurse took over and told the King and Alpha what had happened, "...Their marks will fade and be gone by tomorrow, all except the bruising on their pressure points that Seraphina, here, dealt them, rightfully so. However, its her I'm truly worried about. She hasn't been eating."
I heard Mariah huff, "Of course she has, we see her at every dinner."
I heard the nurse cough softly, "Um, yes, well she sat there and told me she hasn't been eating a full meal in almost a week. Which isn't unusual for grieving humans, however, because she hasn't eaten she is severely anemic. My suggestion is to take this weekend, and to make sure she gets food in her, start with broth so her stomach doesn't reject it right away and then more solid foods by Saturday. All three of them have been excused and the teachers have sent their belongings and assignments to the office."
The nurse bustled off and I felt warm hands touch my shoulder again and I looked up again into Mariah's face, it was pinched with worry now, as she grabbed my chin and forced me to look straight at her.
