Demon Lord's Little Human: Anne Hale by Anne Hale & Celeste King

Author:Anne Hale & Celeste King [Hale, Anne & King, Celeste]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Protheka Publishing
Published: 2024-02-28T00:00:00+00:00

17

RACHEL

My head aches, and my eyelids feel like they’re made of sandpaper. Since the mauling, there’s been a distance between me and the other girls that wasn’t there before. I’m so tired of everyone walking on eggshells around me.

Worse, the professors are starting to notice the toll all this after-hours activity is taking on my schoolwork. My marks are going down in every class. Today, I resolve to put on a good face and try my hardest to dispel any notions that I’m the monster’s bride.

But I am. I shake the thought from my head, determined to focus on my schoolwork, life with the girls – anything but what happened last night. It isn’t easy when the beast’s imprint lies so fresh and painful.

Elindine is back in class and outwardly appears none the worse for wear. She’s subdued and moves carefully, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t speak at all for a while. Unfortunately, though, we’ve all been there.

Thankfully for me, her outburst has everyone on high alert for any talk of the reaper. Directly benefiting from another’s pain brings me no joy, but if I stand up for her in any way, the professors will say I’m “mothering” and both of our days will get harder.

Instead, I do my best to ignore her and focus on my chores and schoolwork. The change is noticed. Miss Rose shifts the assignments.

“Rachel!” I stand at attention. My name hasn’t touched Miss Rose’s lips in weeks. “Switch with Elindine and go outside. She’ll be no use out there.”

The act could be mistaken for caring if one didn’t know Miss Rose. Instead, we all know she wants Elindine in the spotlight today, where all of us can observe her as a cautionary tale. I dutifully leave my mopping and march outside to help the groundskeepers in the garden.

I used to love being sent outside for chores. Something about the fresh air and plant life made me feel free. Outside, I could pretend I was an average girl with parents and a home. But Miss Rose and her staff have a way of reminding us of our place in the world.

“I’m to help you in the garden today,” I inform the woman in the garden, who answers with an apathetic grunt. I know better than to make small talk, so I simply find a place she hasn’t weeded and settle in to tend the somana and frisse.

Lost in thought among the leaves, I begin to enjoy myself. It isn’t the same childish ecstasy of being able to imagine myself away from my present circumstances, but it’s a chance to be away from chatter and discipline and think.

For a while, I stick to my resolution to focus on anything other than Dakka. I think of my studies, of spices I could sneak into the food the next time I’m on kitchen duty when the cook isn’t looking, and how the sky reminds me of a painting I saw through the windows of the art house once.

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