S. K. Williams' Livejournal

mood: contemplative

            My skin tingled a moment before a bright slit in the worlds opened. I clenched my teeth and kept my eyes locked on my scantron, refusing to acknowledge the Fey entering the lecture hall. I didn’t give a damn if it was the King himself, I would pass this test tonight.

            I darkened in C on my answer sheet then read the next question.

            “Mackenzie.”

            No one else heard Kyol call my name from the front of the room, not even my professor who stood less than two feet away from him. Every student bowed their heads over their desks, focused on their final exams. I gripped my pencil and bubbled in another circle. 

            “Mackenzie. We must go.” Kyol climbed the steps to my fifth row seat. I knew I should have sat in the back.

            Still not raising my eyes, I shook my head.  I’d told him – I’d told all of them – a thousand times not to call on me this week, but none of the Fey understood why I needed this degree, not when the Court took care of all of my needs. I’d tried to explain that I was human, that I had human dreams and needed a human life and that it shouldn’t take anyone eight years to earn a Bachelor of Arts in English. They hadn’t listened. At least, Kyol hadn’t. He laid a hand on my shoulder.

            Not now!  I wanted to scream, but even the softest whisper would disturb the quiet in the lecture hall. I reread question number ten for the third time. The Court’s war could wait until I finished.

            Kyol’s fingers dug into me. I shifted, trying to get him to let go. When his hand remained, I slammed my fist down on my desk.

            My classmates turned to stare and Dr. Embry frowned at me.

            “Number ten,” I said. “It’s a doozy.” It wasn’t. It was on the works of C.S. Lewis. Easy. I bubbled in A.

            Kyol pulled on my shoulder and I squirmed again. There was no way in hell I was flunking this course again. I needed it to graduate, and I didn’t care if Kyol unglamoured in front of all my classmates, my ass wasn’t budging until I finished my test and triple checked my answers.

“We’ve no time to waste,” Kyol said. “The rebels have found you.”

            I sucked in a breath, held it as I closed my eyes a moment, then exhaled and sat down my pencil.

            “I’m sorry,” I said to a surprised Dr. Embry as I stood. “I have to run.”