Chapter 3 The encounter
ZORA’S POV
Valen had skated over to the edge of the rink, resting his gloved hands on top of the barrier as he looked down at me with a smirk. His dark hair was damp with sweat, and his chest rose and fell in a steady, slow rhythm despite the intense workout he had just finished.
My anger surged. Blood boiling so hot that I could feel the hidden magic of my true nature tingling at the very tips of my fingers. I wanted to scream at him, to climb over the barrier and rip that arrogant smirk right off his face, but I forced my fists to remain steady inside my pockets.
I had almost blown my entire cover on the train by talking back to him, and I could not afford to act unruly again if I wanted to find the evidence against his family.
“Give me my identification card, Valen,” I said.
“Your identification card?,” Valen asked, cocking an eyebrow in mock surprise. “Oh, you mean that piece of metal over there? I happened to find it lying on the ground near the train tracks earlier today. I am just a very nice guy who decided to pick it up so it would not get ruined in the snow.”
“You did not find it on the ground and we both know it,” I shot back. “You stole it out of my coat pocket on the train because you are a petty bully who wanted to watch me struggle all afternoon.”
“Those are very heavy accusations from a stray scholarship girl,” he murmured. “You should really learn to show some gratitude to the person who saved your entire academic career today.”
I ignored his stupid remark completely, walking past him toward the bench to snatch the silver card off the wood. I gripped it tightly in my palm before I turned on my heel and began walking back up the concrete steps toward the exit.
“Do not think you can just walk away from me whenever you please, Nadia,” Valen called out after me, his voice echoing loudly. “The game has barely even started.”
I did not turn around as I marched straight back to the hostel registration building through the dark. I walked up to the counter and slid the silver card across the wood to the same Beta receptionist who had turned me away earlier.
“I have my identification card,” I said, breathing heavily. “Please give me my room key so I can finally get out of the cold.”
The receptionist took the card, swiped it through his electronic reader, and stared at the computer screen before he shook his head. “I cannot give you a room key, Nadia. You do not have a housing allocation on this campus.”
“What do you mean I do not have an allocation?,” I asked. “I am a fully registered student. My admission papers clearly state that housing is included in my sports scholarship.”
The man turned the computer screen around so I could see the screen of the hostel layout, pointing to a red line of text flashing across my profile name. “Your scholarship guaranteed a room, but someone with high administrative clearance manually accessed the system an hour ago and completely rejected your request for a room. As of right now, you are officially homeless.”
I walked straight up the stone steps of the High Administration fortress, slamming the heavy iron-reinforced doors open before the two Beta guards at the entrance could even raise their spears.
“You cannot enter the administrative wing at this hour, student,” the larger guard shouted, stepping into my path.
“Move out of my way or I will make you move,” I spat, my voice shaking with a dangerous mixture of exhaustion and fury.
The commotion must have been noisy, because a sharp, commanding voice cut through the air before the guard could touch me. “Let her through.”
The guards dropped their weapons instantly and stepped back, bowing their heads.
At the end of the hall stood a woman who looked like she had been sculpted from marble.
She wore an elegant, midnight-blue gown that swept the floor, her silver-streaked dark hair pulled back into a flawless bun.
She was a high-ranking Fairy Alpha, her presence so suffocatingly powerful that the air temperature in the corridor instantly went thin. This was Principal Morwen. The woman who held absolute power over this mountain fortress, and the wife of the Supreme Judge who had signed my family’s death warrants.
I forced my face to remain entirely still, masking the hatred flowing in my veins as I walked up to her.
“Principal Morwen,” I said. “My name is Nadia. I am here on a varsity hockey scholarship, but your hostel receptionist just informed me that an administrator manually deleted my housing assignment.”
The woman looked down at me, her sharp eyes scanning my face with an unreadable, calculating expression. “I am well aware of who you are, Nadia. And I am also aware of who deleted your assignment. My son has a terrible habit of treating this academy like his personal playground.”
Before I could process her words, the heavy front doors creaked open behind me. Heavy, echoed down the stone corridor. Unfortunately, I did not even need to turn around to know who it was.
“Mother,” Valen’s smooth, mocking voice purred as he strolled up to my side, his hands casually shoved into the pockets of his dark jacket. “I see you are dealing with the campus stray extra late tonight.”
“Valen, enough,” the Principal said, her tone hard. “You crossed the line today. Stealing a student’s identification card on the train is petty, but altering administrative housing files to force a scholarship athlete off this campus is an embarrassment to our family name.”
Valen’s smirk did not fade, but his dark eyes flashed with a dangerous, defiant spark. “She lacks respect, Mother. She needs to learn her place before she sets foot on my ice.”
“And you need to learn accountability,” the Principal shot back. “The hockey program requires this girl on the roster for the upcoming seasonal games. Since you chose to destroy her accommodation, you will provide the solution. Until a vacant room opens in the scholarship wing, Nadia will occupy the secondary bedroom in your executive suite.”
