Seconds to Midnight: A Maiden of Midnight Prequel
Seth- Day Sixty

Seth- Day Sixty

Flicking through the brittle pages of an old history textbook on one of Jason’s cluttered tables, I rifled through his things, earning a slap on the wrist from the Vampire-Fae Shaman, “Leave that alone,” he commanded, tossing me a stack of books instead- the reason I was here so early at dusk. He wanted me to drop the books off at the Academy library on the way to my lessons. They were all books he was donating to the library. The smell of dust was so thick that I felt a sneezing fit coming on, placing the books aside and grabbing a handkerchief, sneezing loudly, sniffling and groaning, “You could have dusted them off first!” I was going to be ridiculously early for my lessons tonight. My Professors would be happy. Maybe I could find a quiet spot in the library and draw, or read.

Grabbing another book from the top of a spiderweb-covered shelf, he added it to the pile, “Just take it to the library, Seth. Then, after your lessons, come straight back here. I’ll have a second pile for you to deliver by then.”

By Lilith’s beauty… Putting on my best, patient smile, I promised, “I will, Jason.”

Nobody, not even my mother and Darcie, knew much about Jason Helmont. We knew he’d come originally from Lamia before travelling to Ordeallan and working as a Shaman, but other than that, we had no idea who he was.

Even his parents were a mystery. They must have been a Faery and a Vampire, for him to be a Vampire-Fae, but in all the years I’d known him, he never once mentioned them, and I knew better than to ask, despite my burning curiousity to know.

“Off you go, then,” he said with a wave, “I have patients to see, and you have homework to do!”

Ugh, homework. I still had that test to study for, at some point or another.

I didn’t feel like it tonight.

Scooping the books into my arms, waving goodbye to Jason, I stepped out of his shop, tucked in the Town Square of Ordeallan, and began the long walk to the Academy, snow drifting around me in gentle swathes. I didn’t have enough spare coins to grab a carriage over there, nor did I have the status to even have the driver of one give me a second-glance. No amount of money would erase my lack of title in this place.

Getting up the icy steps with an arm full of books was going to be a pain in the ass.

A carriage tore by me, sending a cloud of mud and snow flying up toward me, splattering against my lower legs, burning cold, and Bramfield leaned out the window, shouting, “Nice night for a walk, eh, Seth?”

He was gone before I could argue with him, instead grinding my teeth, reminding myself that it wasn’t worth it. Fighting Bramfield, according to Merry, would cost more energy than he had bouncing around in his brain. It was better to just grit my teeth and keep my focus for my lessons.

If I was lucky, Bramfield would trip down the stairs at the end of his lessons tonight.

Shaking my head to clear the awful thought away, I sighed. It wasn’t right to think like that, but…

Heaven above, I really hoped he did trip.

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