The Aldean Chronicles: Hidden

It's Wednesday and the entire school is on high alert, especially the combatants. Paisley and Michelle won't stop talking about how excited they are. "Today is the best day of my life." Michelle squeals. "I cannot believe this is happening."

I go to class early, I cannot handle them anymore. I love my friends but this is getting annoying. In class, I get a text from Kat asking me to come to Lilian's office during lunch. Her dad wants to meet me. I feel my heart rate go up, why does he want to see me? And I ask Kat that.

'No reason.' She texts back. 'He just heard a lot about you and thought why not, since he's already in school. But don't worry, my dad is nice."

No, he's not. I want to exclaim back. He looked strict in all the interviews I've seen him in. Like the human equivalent of a GI Joe.

'Can't wait then. See you at lunch, bye.' I reply instead. I panic and call Grey next. He picks up on the third ring.

"Hey," he says. "This is a surprise, to what do I owe this call?"

"Your uncle asked to meet me, what do I do?" I ask frantically.

"First of all, he's our uncle. Secondly, don't worry about it, he's nice, and not fake nice like aunt Freya." He tells me. "He seems stern, that's because he is. Just don't let it get to you."

"Are you sure?" I ask.

He laughs. "I am, the only person allowed to be crapping themselves right now is Jamison." I don't bother asking about that.

I sigh. "I am not looking forward to this. Today is going to suck."

"It won't suck as much as mine," Grey whispers.

"Why," I ask. "What are you doing today?"

He laughs. "Can't tell you yet, it's a surprise."

"Good. If you do then I'll be involved."

"Very smart," he remarks. "Anyway, I have to go, there's something I need to do before class."

"Yeah sure, thanks. Bye." I say and cut the call. Class starts and I barely pay attention because of how nervous I am. I'm the same way all morning.

The rest of the school is more energized than usual. Combatants keep talking about their talk with the consort. From what I gather, he advised them to work hard and do their best. He also walked them through the process of joining the military and the special task forces set up by monarchs over the years. He talked about the opportunities this school gives us and how he plans on accepting a selected number of fifth years after they graduate. The speech sounded like fun, I think.

After my fourth class of the day, I text Sara to tell the others that I won't make it for lunch. I then go to the administrative building. There are guards positioned outside. I tell them my name and that director Lilian is expecting me. They allow me to walk in.

I go up to her floor, her assistant waves me on. I knock and Lilian's voice tells me to come in.

Consort Maxon is standing by the window. He looks as austere as ever. He's a little shorter than Sebastian and has hair a slightly darker blonde than his daughter.

He walks briskly to me and shakes my hand. "You must be Cassandra, a pleasure to meet you." His tone is curt.

"Consort Maxon." My voice comes out wobbly. "It's an honor to meet you."

He nods. "I've always disliked being called Consort, I prefer General." His military rank. "You can call me Uncle max or if that's too weird, just Max."

"Thank you." I smile. "And it really is nice to meet you, my friends can't stop talking about you."

"You probably never heard my name on Earth. I'm a pretty big deal here." He jokes.

"Okay," Lillian looks a tad annoyed he doesn't hate me. "I'll call the rest, they should be here by now."

As she finishes her statement, the door opens and Grey walks in. He smiles when he sees his uncle. "Uncle Max." He shakes his hand. "It's been too long. How was Malone?”

Max sighs. "We've been able to keep the incendiaries at bay. The new recruits are hating their lives and regretting signing up. So I'm doing a few things right." They both laugh. "What about you, how is school?"

"I've been up to something recently," he says mischievously.

"Sounds interesting, what is it?" Max asks.

"I'm waiting for Kat, she will want to hear it," Grey says. A minute later, Kat arrives and the smile on Grey's face is enough to light the room.

Kat beams when she sees her dad. She wipes the smile off her face and marches up to him. He also stands at attention. "Good day, Consort Maxon, Major General of the Aldean military." Kat greets, saluting him.

He salutes her. "Good day, Katya Harrington - Becker, crowned Princess of Aldean." He breaks character and wraps her in a tight hug.

"Oh, they're still doing that," Lilian says in a low voice.

"It's their thing," Grey whispers to me. "And yes, you're allowed to think it's creepy."

I think it's sweet, it makes me miss my dad. I feel my throat clogging up so I take a deep breath and turn to Grey. "You said you had an announcement."

"I do and now that everyone is here, I can make it." He rubs his hand together. "I have decided to join Blue Rose."

His mother has a happy, proud look on her face and Kat looks the most irritated I've ever seen her. Kat looks at me and I shake my head. I'm really happy he didn't tell me about this during our call. She then looks at her father, he seems happy.

"Good for you, Grey, I've been trying to get you to join for a while. Glad to see you're finally doing it." He nods his head.

Kat laughs awkwardly. "But you can't," she says to Grey. "Dimitri has already picked the pledges and submitted their names to..." She pauses at Lillian.

Lilian shrugs. "I added his name to the list this morning. He already talked to Dimitri, he says he'll love to have Grey in the club."

"The tests are almost over," Kat argues. "How are you planning on getting around that?"

"Dimitri was willing to let it slide, I'll catch up as the competition goes on. Besides, I'm sure I can pass every challenge they throw at me." He seems so self-assured. For all his playfulness, he is a very strong elemental. Maybe even stronger than Kat.

"Well that just worked out perfectly for you, didn't it?" Kat jibes. "I hope you do get in."

"Sure you do," Grey says. He, like the rest of us don't believe her. "It will be nice to join, you're there. Cass is already attending meetings."

"You are?" Max and Lilian say at the same time but in different tones.

"I was just invited to a meeting, I doubt I'll even be invited back," I say.

"Of course you will, why won't you?" Max asks. "They'll be lucky to have you."

Kat nods. "They will. In fact, I'm inviting you to our next meeting on Friday. As my guest," she says this to me but her eyes are on Grey.

Grey looks between me and Kat and nods. "Okay," he says simply. What is going on?

"Why don't we all go out for lunch?" Max offers. "Lilian, would you like to come?"

"I can't, I'm sorry," Lilian says. "I have work to do, with the tournament and it still being the first month in the school year. I'm just swamped."

"I can't, Uncle max, I have tasks to complete for Blue rose. Another time though," Grey says.

Max then turns to me. "What about you?"

"Me." I gesture at myself. "Won't it be suspicious if we're seen in public together?"

He waves his hand. "You can just say you're a friend of Kat's. And also, we're going to a private restaurant. I doubt anyone will see us together there."

"Yes, you should come. It will be fun," Kat insists. I see Grey scowl out of the corner of my eye.

"Okay, thanks. I will come," I say to Max.

He clasps his hands together. "Then it's settled. Excuse me for a minute." He leaves the office.

Grey pulls Kat aside and whisper-yells, "I know what you're doing. It's not going to work."

She leans back and acts innocent. "I have no idea what you're talking about. If I was you, I'll be getting ready for the challenges. It would be really embarrassing if you fail." Grey casts me one last look before storming out of the office. "Well that was strange, wouldn't you say so, aunt Lilian?"

Lilian doesn't respond, she keeps staring at her computer screen.

Kat gets a notification. "We should get going," she says to me. "The front of the building is clear so no one will see you leave with us."

We hurry to the front door, one of the security operatives beckons us into the car as quickly as possible. The car is like a mini limo, there's a divider between our side and the driver's. Two sets of chairs are facing each other, Kat and I are on one side and Max is on the other.

"That was fun," Kat says. "It felt familiar, reminded me of when I used to sneak in and out of clubs."

"Funny." Her dad says, finding the joke anything but. We drive out of campus and towards the city. I smile, it's my first time out since I got here. "So Cassandra, how has school been?"

"It's been bad, but then it got better. Then bad, then better again," I reply honestly. "But it's been fun." Sometimes.

"Fun." He repeats slowly. "That's not a word a lot of people use to describe Brimstone, especially first-years." He turns to his daughter. "What about you, Kat, how are you?"

"I'm better, it was hard at first but Jamie has been really nice." She casts a wary glance at me. "Speaking of Jamie, how is his dad?"

Max sighs. "He's good." He nods. "Gets better every year."

"That's good to hear." Kat bites her lip. "So what do you think of Jamie? You haven't seen him in months."

"I think he's a fine young man, darling." He keeps nodding his head.

"That's good to hear," Kat says, a thick blanket of silence descends in the car. "He's been meaning to see you. They're choosing the competitors tomorrow, I just know Avan is going to pick him."

"It will be nice to see Avan after all these years. I wonder how he is." Max looks deep in thought.

Kat doesn't give up. "Jamie's fighting is getting so much better, I think you'll be impressed during the tournament."

"I'm sure I will be," he says quickly. "I selected Fedorra's for us, we haven't been there in so long. Remember, we used to go there every second Sunday of the month."

"I remember dad, I also remember that we didn't go this summer because you weren't here," she says harshly.

He looks hurt. "Well now I'm here and we're going."

"What's the point, you're still going to leave." She stares out the window.

Max looks out his window. I'm not sure if they've forgotten I'm in the car with them or they just don't care anymore. The rest of the fifteen-minute ride is silent.

As soon as we reach the restaurant, Kat jumps out of the car. The security ops rush to her front and walk in before her. I go in with Max. The decor is rustic and the lights are dim. The hostess leads us to a table in a quiet corner.

I look through the menu, I don't know what to get.

"What do you say, sweetie? Our usual?" Max asks Kat.

She sighs. "I had it not too long ago, I'm not in the mood."

"You've been here recently?" Max asks.

"I have, uncle Seb took me and Grey two months ago." She's staring at her menu. "You weren't here and he's been meaning to come. I thought why not."

Max nods. "How kind of him. If you're not interested, I'll order it alone then."

"If that's what you want." She mumbles. "Have you decided what you're getting, Cassie?"

"Um yes, I think so," I say as a waitress appears at our table. I don't know most of the meals so I settle on a rice dish.

The food arrives quickly and we all dig in.

It's good, definitely worth skipping school for. I start a conversation. "This place is really nice, no wonder you come here all the time," I say.

Kat talks first. "Or at least we did before he left."

"I had to leave, you know it was for the best." He tries to reason with her.

"But you didn't just leave her, you also left me." Kat snaps, drawing the attention of some distant customers. I stop eating, I'm starting to think he didn't just leave for his military duties. "Just go back, I'm starting to think I liked you better when you were gone." She throws her napkin on the table and storms away from the table. Was there a part of this conversation I missed?

Max smiles sadly. "That couldn't have gone worse."

I contemplate between staying out of it or getting involved. "I'm sure she doesn't mean it," I say, making the bad decision.

"She does, and she's right. I shouldn't have left her, it was selfish. And I did it when she needed me most." He laments.

I don't know what to say, and I'm scared of saying the wrong thing, so I flee. "I should check on Kat, she's been gone a while." I follow after her and pause in front of the bathroom door. There's no going back after I walk in. I take a deep breath and open the door.

I find Kat crying in front of the mirror. She sniffs when she sees me. "What do you want, can you get out?"

"Kat, are you alright?" I ask, she clearly isn't.

"I said get out." Smoke is coming out of her hands. I glance down at her palms, drawing her attention to it. She groans and puts her hand under the running water. I hear a hissing sound as the steam covers up the mirror. "You can relax now, I won't burn down the restaurant."

I scoff. "I'm pretty sure your parents can pay for the damages. I'm worried about you."

She sniffs again. "Thanks, I'm fine."

"Your dad loves you. I'm sorry but I believe him when he says he had to leave," I say this at the risk of angering her.

"I know." She shakes her head. "I just wish they'd drop their stupid front and solve their problems like normal people."

I nod even though I'm not a hundred percent sure who she's talking about. She notices this and smiles sadly. "If it wasn't clear, I'm talking about my mum and dad."

"Oh, yeah."

"Can you believe it, the Queen and King Consort of Aldean are separated." She scoffs. "My mum will rather die than let anybody know there's something wrong with her marriage. She says image is everything and everyone likes their royalty being perfect." She switches off the tap. "I wasn't angry with my dad at first, then I found out he told Jamie to break up with me." I don't respond to that. "I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm telling you all my problems." She seems a little embarrassed.

"No, I don't mind, you can tell me," I assure her. "Why did he tell Jamie to break up with you?"

Her lips are set in a hard line. "He says Jamie isn't good for me. That I should work on myself first." She pauses. "It doesn't matter, let's just go back."

I don't push her. "Yeah, our food's getting cold."

"It doesn't matter, I'm not hungry." Ha. I'm starving.

We go back to the table and Kat and Max don't say anything to each other for the rest of lunch. They both skip dessert, I don't want to hold them back, and also I have school so I skip it too. It's a shame because I was looking forward to that double chocolate cake.

On the way back to school, Max gets a call. "Yes, I'm still here...I don't know yet, I need to take care of some things...now...okay, okay, I'll be there...I'll leave Sunday, I can't Saturday I have things to do." His voice turns serious. "I'm putting this matter into your hands Admiral, don't disappoint me." He cuts the call and shuts his eyes tight.

"You're leaving earlier than you planned," Kat says. "You weren't even here a week."

"Incendiaries were spotted close to the base and I have to go take care of it. I need to leave as soon as possible." He tries to explain.

"Really, or did mum ask you to come home and you were looking for the quickest way out of here?" She accuses. "And by the way, how are the tiny beds in your quarters? You could have gone home, an actual palace but you rather stay at the base here."

I didn't know that was why he was staying there. I thought he was inspecting the place, that's what the news said.

"Katya please, I'm tired and I'm already under so much stress." He pleads. "Can we not fight now, I only have a few more days here."

"And that's why we're fighting, first you leave me when I'm at my worst. Then, you sabotage my relationship with the only person who understands what I'm going through, the only person who wants to stay with me."

"You know why I did that. Your relationship with Jamison is unhealthy and you know it. You only feel good or enough when you're with him, you need to work on yourself instead of relying on him for emotional support. He's a natural fixer and you're..." He stops himself.

Her eyes are glazed. "I'm what, broken?" Her voice comes out straggled.

"No sweetie, I didn't mean that. I just mean you need to take some time for yourself. And Jamison is a good guy, he understands that."

"Yes, because I should be getting relationship advice from you." She says in a very harsh voice. "I hope you leave and get murdered by terrorists."

"Katya." Her dad's yell startles me. Kat doesn't even flinch. "I know you don't mean that."

She shrugs. "You're the master on things I know and things I don't."

"You're angry, people tend to say things they don't mean when they're angry." He says that more to himself.

Kat bends her head to the side. "You know what else people do when they're angry, especially fire elementals." Her hands are heating up.

Her dad looks at them. "Katya, that's enough."

She doesn't seem to think so. "No, this seems as good a time as any to tell you what happened. I would have earlier, but you left." She opens her palms and little flames are flickering on it. "Kelley and I were alone, she said some things that made me very mad, like you are now. I didn't appreciate her words and I might have gone a bit out of control."

"Kat," I place my hands on her palms and put out the fire, another trick Tristan taught me. "I know you're angry but threatening your dad with fire isn't going to help anything."

"Thank you, Cassandra but I can take care of my daughter." Max is staring straight at her. He looks so angry. I expect him to go off on her, to yell at her, punish her but instead, he sighs and goes. "I'm really disappointed in you."

Kat's shoulders slump and she looks away, she doesn't look angry anymore just really... broken.