It was amazing how something as simple as a regular weekly meeting could ruin an entire day of the week for me.
I was walking slowly to the clearing we were meeting in. Since this whole dance thing was taking up all of our allotted time.
It all just made me glad I wasn't going.
"Serafina!" A voice called out.
"Representative Bastet," I greeted.
"I was hoping to speak with you away from the others for a moment."
"Yeah, okay. What do you need?" I asked.
"I'm worried, about you and how you're handling the responsibilities of being Tower Representative."
At least he didn't sound like he wanted to see me removed from the school. I could work with this.
"Which part are you worried about?" I asked. I had no idea where he was trying to go with this conversation. But if indulging him meant I could put off being within a hundred feet of the worst members of the council I was more than willing to see where this went.
"I know it may seem easy, with you only having four students you're responsible for."
"I assure you, some days it feels like twenty."
"And I may not have been…tasked with dealing with one of you Dragons."
I shrugged.
"What I'm trying to get at is that we aren't your enemies."
"I know that, Representative Bastet. I would be open and willing to cooperation when the situations arise for it. I have nothing against you."
"Good. Anubis and Horus can seem…stiff to outsiders."
That felt like very generous word choice. "I don't wake up in the morning with the intent of picking fights."
"I'm not saying you do."
I sighed, "Look, if it's all the same to you I so far have managed my Tower without much issue. If an issue does arise where I need any kind of help or feel out of my depth, I'll let someone know."
Probably Vivian Hearth first. But that's none of their business or concern.
"I suppose that's all I can ask."
"Thank you for talking with me anyway. I know it isn't easy to be stuck with someone a few years younger and with a fraction the experience and then being told we're supposed to be equals."
Which is probably where a chunk of the hostility came from.
Blayze Bastet looked a bit bashful. "Yeah. That probably doesn't help."
I was going to have to make it work though.
(*********)
But gods above Thoth did not make it easy.
"So Stewart," he said just as Bastet and I arrived.
My wrist started to itch. It was almost reflex when he said any version of my name.
"What was up with you this week? Heard you and Horus got into a big fight." Tower representative, head editor of the newspaper, and king of gossip.
"For clarity's sake there was no fight. We had a mild discussion about nothing important," I told him. I looked around the clearing to see if I could find the green prick.
"Forgive me for being concerned when the Representative of the trouble-making Tower was in the library with her eyes glowing," Horus commented.
There he was. Anubis was standing next to him. Silent but her judgement written all over her face.
The curse was moving from itching to painful very quickly.
Breathe. Stay calm.
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You can get through this.
"My eyes tend to do whatever they want. I wasn't casting anything and I assure you it would be fairly obvious if I was." I tried to be civil. Hecate help me.
Bastet took a few steps back from me.
"Don't act like I'm stupid Stewart," Horus sneered.
I could feel my cursed hand start to tremble.
"Horus, please. That's not called for." There was a bright flash of light brown light and then Gregory Set was standing between me and Horus. His back was to me and he hand his hands up defensively.
"Set-"
And Gregory Set interrupted him, "Don't. Please. It's nothing you need to worry yourself over. I'm sure there are lots of better uses for your time."
I couldn't recall hearing him interrupt anyone before.
Anubis looked shocked.
I unclenched my fist and felt my body relax. My wrist was itching but had started to ache like a bruise.
That's when I realized that the shocked stare from Anubis wasn't aimed at Set.
It was aimed at me. At my arm.
I glanced down to see curse green crawling up my veins past the gloves. Dark green was also seeping through the gloves and dripping down onto the grass.
Oh no.
No no no no…
The crackle of thunder was loud enough to make my ears ring. Dark green energy shot out of my wrist, burning through my gloves and hit a tree causing it to crack open and fall backwards.
I could feel warm wetness on my left hand as I cradled it to my chest.
"Are you okay?" Gregory Set turned around to look at me.
I didn't think I was. The curse was getting worse still.
I felt a sudden chill before my vision started to fade. Voices near me became distant.
I had no awareness of hitting the ground.
(*********)
I was in the Healer Wing when I woke up. The glass ceiling showing a later afternoon sky. I could hear people talking.
I groaned as I sat up.
"Serafina," Vivian called out. "Gods, you scared us."
"I'm sorry? I don't know why it freaked out like that."
"Was it bothering you this morning?" She asked.
"No, it was perfectly normal this morning. It didn't start bothering me until I got to the clearing."
I looked down at my cursed arm to see stained bandages wrapped around the mark. The discoloration in my veins was gone.
"Really glad we didn't try anything yesterday," I mumbled.
She looked at it, worry all over her face. "I'm sorry you have to go through this."
I shook my head, "You're not the one who cursed me."
"Maybe. But I can't help but feel like I could have prevented it."
"Somehow I doubt he went around bragging about the curse he was going to place on his daughter." I sighed and shifted myself so my legs were folded underneath me.
"I think it's time you and I had a talk about whether or not you should remain in the position of Tower representative."
I shook my head. "If we're having that conversation, I want the others there too."
(*********)
There was an odd tension in the air as the others started to arrive in the main room of Dragon Tower. I was sitting on the window seat curled up with my knees to my chest.
Something didn't feel right.
"What's all this about?" Fethris asked as he sat down.
Probably the curse overreacting.
"There was an accident at the representative gathering today." I explained.
"No one's hurt, this time." Vivian was standing by the fireplace.
Celica looked between me at the window and the bookshelf. The one that had Living Accursed on it.
I looked down at the floor.
I couldn't be rid of this curse fast enough. If I ever saw Merripen in person I going to punch his lights out.
Fethris crossed his arms and settled further into the couch he was on. "You want us to pull her off the council?"
"I want you all to consider the idea that it might be for the best."
"Absolutely not," Celica argued.
"Celica does have a point," Fethris commented.
Russel frowned. "Maybe, but what do you think Serafina?"
I shrugged. I had no answers. "Who do you think should do it?"
"No one!" Celica was apparently ready to argue.
"Celica's busy with Chaser," Fethris added. "Russel's-"
"Not interested. And me and Ra argued a lot when I was in Salamander," Russel admitted. He didn't even sound bothered by that second fact.
Right. I had almost forgotten. Being chosen by the same Tower meant we had similar true natures. Whatever the pamphlets meant by that.
"Horus mentioned he would have rather seen you do it Fethris," I spoke up but was still curled up in my spot.
"When the hells collapse, I'll think about it." Fethris countered. "Especially if Horus wants it. I don't trust him."
That was fair.
"And now Serafina has more experience with this than we do," Celica continued. "If we went through with it the next person would be at an even greater disadvantage. And the rules about changing Representatives don't include stepping down for convenience."
"Exactly. It's only supposed to be if they aren't capable of continuing their duties. Serafina has handled it so far." Fethris was starting to sound upset.
"I've barely done anything," I countered.
"All the more reason to stick with it." Celica's accompanying smile was intimidating.
Jarec was being very quiet.
"What happened today anyway?" Russel asked.
"The curse decided to zap a tree," I said.
"Destroy a tree is more accurate," Vivian finally commented.
"I think we're all just glad that it didn't harm anyone," I added.
"Except it did, didn't it?" Jarec commented at last. "It hurts you when it…lashes out."
I shrugged. The curse was mine to deal with, as well as the consequences. Hurting me was a given at this point. But hurting other people was something that I wanted to avoid no matter what.
"It only does that when I'm stressed or upset." I commented. "It's not usually so bad."
"Is it the responsibility of being representative or is it something else?" Jarec asked.
Celica turned her stern look on him.
Vivian was taking her turn to be quiet while frowning in a way that I was certain meant she was thinking. Or at least speaking to someone telepathically.
"Going to meetings isn't the issue," I tried to explain.
"Then removing you from the council won't solve anything anyway," Celica's face was going from stern and borderline angry to victorious.
"But there is a problem," Fethris said contemplatively.
"Yeah. The problem is me. I'm bad with people. People themselves stress me out. It's not about anything else. Honestly having things to do and focusing on that helps more than anything."
I didn't know which side I was arguing for at this point. If such a thing existed anymore.
"I thought you didn't want this position," Vivian spoke.
"I don't. But since when as anything about it been about what I want? The point of the position is what's best for the Tower and I still fail to see how that's me." I uncurled from my spot as I spoke.
"See? And that's why she should keep it!" Celica gestured towards me with her hands.
I still had no idea why she wanted me to do this. But if she was that adamant and the others weren't countering her…
"Fine. Serafina will stay on the council."
Celica's grin made it feel like a victory, but I still wasn't sure about any of this.
There was still a lot of school year left to go.
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