bChapter /bb104 /b

    Valencia

    When I learned that I was given time off from the grueling training and physical tasks by Killian for a week to let me heal, I had been ted,

    I had hoped to rest a little, maybe read a few books and work on awakening my dormant magic that didn’t want to show up for whatever reason,

    What I had not expected was that I would miss my mornings with Killian.

    He had forced me to get up and run around the castle grounds for a whole month, dops no matter whether it was rain or blistering heat.

    Thanks to him, I could walk up and down the castle, pass through its many corridors and climb the staircases without feeling like my lungs were going to die on me.

    Butbat was still something I was weak at. It didn’t stop me from trying though.

    I wanted to surprise him, so I prepared a dummy, sort ofb, /bwith cushions and tried to practice it whenever I could.

    My moves weren’t that great, but I felt I had improved a little. At times, I would ask Mary to watch over as I kicked and punched at the pillows.

    She was an excellent observer, and she might not be trained in fighting but she told me she had seen plenty of warriors train to guide me on basic stances.

    “You are slouching too much. You have to stand straight and kick at a ny degree angle.”

    I huffed and tried again.

    The kicknded on the pillow, but I stabbed my toe against the wooden bedpost in the process.

    “Owi, /iow” I held my foot in one hand and was prancing on one foot like a frog.

    Mary rushed towards me to inspect the injury, but thankfully it was just a scratch.

    “Hmm, the prince would kill me if you bled because of me. Thank the Goddess you are okay.”

    She said, cing a hand on her chest, to sigh in relief.

    “I dont think your prince will hurt someone as innocent and lovely as you,” I offered, and Mary only shook her head.

    “You have no idea what he can or can’t do. But I still think it is best that you take lessons from him instead of trying to get yourself identally stabbed.”

    I gave her a long look, and then just shook my head.

    “Believe me, I have tried, but he is now afraid he will be the reason I will pass out again.”

    Mary shrugged.

    “You can’t me him for that.”

    “Huh,” I scoffed. “I didn’t even pass out the first time because of him. It was because of that stupid Nina.”

    “I hope you and Sarah canin to someone. Sarah was saying that they rotate jobs and she would plead to get shifted to some other department.”

    I rubbed the soles of my feet as she told me about Sarah’s n. I had gotten a few days off courtesy of Killian, but I sure as hell didn’t want to go and meet that woman again after returning to the temple.

    She had not even taught me anything worthwhile. I hoped the other seniors would be much more willing to teach bus /bbstuff/b.

    “I would do anything except copying stuff from one scroll to the other. I swear it is even more sickening than reading through and the low files.

    Sighing, I get up and decided to visit the temple, I could not just sit in this room for eternity and practice on the pillows.

    I had to get Killian to train me Again. He not only gave up on the training sessions but also stopped showing up in his quarters entirely

    When I questioned Mary about his whereabouts, she just shrugged and said that it was normal for him to not return to his room for days

    Utterly bored, I showed up outside the temple door three days earlier than the leave I had gotten to rest.

    Though when I knocked on the door, a new face greeted me.

    “Ah, you must be the castle dweller,” The woman said, eyeing me up and down.

    “Valencia Raskin. I work here as a Novice and wish to return to my duties.”

    “I see” The woman nodded thoughtfully. Unlike me, she wasn’t in all white. She wore a cream colored robe and her head was covered as well

    She pulled something out of her pocket and read it once before looking back at me.

    *Follow me,” She said and began walking down the hallways.

    I nodded and fell in step behind her but soon realized that she was not taking me to the usual room where I and Sarah did all the clerical work.

    Instead, she led me down through a spiral staircase. I had only spent time on the ground level of the cave, and even then I had not roamed around fully.

    So, it was exciting to explore other parts of the cave. I was just beginning to see how big the cave actually was because there were so many women working here that I had not thought would fit inside the space.

    The cave was lit with sconces ced high on the wall all around the spiral staircase, and a woman was running up and down, carrying oil to ensure they stayed lit up.

    The staircase was also made of stone, but thankfully an iron railing prevented me from falling down because when I peered down to take a look, all I saw

    was a ck hole.

    It was dizzying to even imagine how deep the cave was. My mind came up with weird beasts that could be lurking at the bottom, though I hoped I would

    never meet them.

    The woman passed by a group of Senior Priestesses who immediately bowed their heads to her.

    And that is when I realized she was a level above Nina. Maybe she was an elder priestess. That meant she was just a level below the Crone.

    My hopes soared thinking that I could inow /imeet the Crone easily.

    However, my hopes crashed when she led me down a rather dimly lit hallway and continued to walk ahead.

    We passed several doors on the way, and she stopped outside one of them finally. It was arge wooden door just like the rest, and she pulled out a long, rusty looking iron key to open the lock.

    When the doors flew open, my eyes popped outb, /balmost falling out of my sockets.

    Behind the doors was a massivebyrinth and the biggest apothecary I had ever seen in my life.

    She turned to look at me and mumbled.

    “For the next few weeks, you are going to work as my apprentice at the temple’s apothecary to supply medicines to the weak and injured.”

    Weak and injured?

    11.09 Thu, 2ZR AUD

    Was there a war going on that I knew nothing about? Because I had not teen any weak or injured people around me.