Muse.

“Cara and her knives…” A female voice muttered as she shook her head. There was a group of three watching a toned girl spar with a much larger man. This group consisted of two females and a male.
The tall male with messy blond hair spoke up with a smile in his voice. “She likes to get up close and personal.” He responded with a laugh.

“That’s cause she takes everything personal.” The final girl replied. She also had blond hair that almost exactly matched the boy’s, except hers ran all the way down her back to her butt.

The male laughed again and pulled the shorter, but still tall, blonde girl to him by her shoulder. “Nah, she’s just got a bit of a temper on her. She’s fiery; that’s what I like about her.” He told the girl in his embrace. His eyes never left the fighting girl, nor did his smile.

The girl they were watching was pretty average. She wasn’t short, but she wasn’t tall either. Her body was more muscle than anything else, leaving her chest a little flat. She was pretty; small waist and toned legs. Her skin was tanned from spending most of her days training in the sun and spotted with freckles. Her dark brown hair stopped a few inches below her shoulders. Her hair was always in a tight braid down her back. What made her stand out were her eyes; one was ice blue and the other a pale green.

She was also top of her class. The large man she was fighting was obviously far too slow to lay a hand on the nimble girl. Dressed in a tight grey pants and a black tank top that had three straps instead of a proper back, the girl was edging her way around the giant. He had drawn a large hammer and was swinging it around with tremendous strength. She ran towards a tree and swung upwards from a branch as the hammer swished just under her. Launching herself off of the tree she landed on the man’s shoulders. Her previously sheathed weapons were at his throat. He dropped his hammer in a sign of defeat.

Adalyn Carissa Tenorhart; or Cara as she preferred. Cara was a muse, well a muse in training. As such she bore a mark on her left wrist. Muse always had a mark on their left wrist and Mageia on the right. Her weapon of choice was a pair of knives. The blade was about 8 inches long. The hilts were silver with a blood red gem on each end.

Cara back flipped off of the man’s shoulders and back to the ground. She gave him a slight nod before grabbing her towel and moving towards the group that had been watching her. She wiped the sweat from her forehead before stopping in front of them. “What do you guys want?” The bright eyed girl asked as she put her knives back into their places on the sides of her thighs.

“It’s the first Saturday of the year, the ball is tonight, we wanted to get ready together…and Lyle just sort of followed us,” The blonde girl replied standing two inches above Cara. She turned her attention to the blonde male that was grinning like a fool. “We all know he has an unhealthy obsession with you.” She finished off sticking her tongue up at the male.

Lyle grinned and shook the smaller girl a little. “Hey little sis, that’s not very nice.” Lyle and Liana were twins; Lyle and Lianna Vensure. Lyle was a muse and Liana was a mageia. They were almost guaranteed to be bonded. Twins born to separate classes were nearly always bonded. “I have a completely healthy obsession with Cara.” Lyle stated with a wink towards the unimpressed dark haired girl.

“Well you have to leave. No boys in the girl’s dormitory. It’s a rule, have you heard of them?” The final girl said with a know-it-all tone. She had light brown hair that fell in waves to her shoulders. Quinn was in the mageia class. She was a little caught up in proper behavior and rules, but what could you expect from a royal? She was Quinn Hatherwood, princess and heir to the throne. She was the favorite to get bonded with Cara; royals usually got paired with the top of the muse class.

The bonding is talked about like someone sits there and decides who is going to bond with who, but that’s not it at all. There is a ceremony, which is the ‘graduating’ you could say. Once a muse or mageia is deemed ready or skilled enough, they are eligible to graduate. This event is held once a year. The current King and Queen attend to give their blessing to the graduating classes. The Desmos, which are the strongest pair of muse and mageia, are the final step in graduating. With their magic, they remove the ‘lock’ on each person. This ‘lock’ keeps a hold on the powers of the individual until they are deemed able to control it. Once removed, the muse and mageia are able to bond. Once a bond is formed the two are called a Dyo. The bond is the most important part of everything; it allows the true magic and strength to be revealed. Bonding is a very difficult topic to explain. When a bond is formed, it is just known, nothing has to spark it, it just happens.

“Cara, please let me do your hair.” Liana begged watching the girl fitted in a stunning navy dress put that one braid down her back. Liana was an extremely pretty girl. She had bright sapphire eyes and full pink lips. Her dress for the night was strapless and pushed her breasts up. It was a pale pink and sparkled when she moved. It hit the floor and trailed slightly behind her.

Quinn was pulling on a red dress. Her shoulders were bare, but had long white gloves covering her arms. Her dress was much more royal and large. It was tight through the top and puffed out at her hips. Her hair was pinned up and adorned with the tiara of the princess. “Please, let Liana do your hair. You’re by my side all night; I want you to look proper.” She was also a little vain on top of being so strict on the rules.

Cara sighed and let the taller blonde undo her braid. The duo-tone eyed girl sat restlessly as the blonde pimped and prodded her with various things. Finally Liana gave her the signal she was done. Cara stood up and shook her head lightly. Her dark chocolate hair fell in ringlets over her shoulders. The dress she wore was a navy color. One side of it was strapless and the other was a full lace sleeve that ended at a loop around her middle finger. The fabric clung to the few curves she had and fell gently to her feet. A slit on the opposite side of the sleeve ran up to her lower thigh.

“Oh! You look so pretty Cara!” Liana clapped her hands at her work. The dark haired girl rolled her eyes slightly before turning and pulling a garter that held both of her knives onto her unexposed thigh. “No, Cara, why?” The taller girl groaned in exasperation to her actions.

She raised a defined (thanks to her girlier friends) eyebrow at her. “All of the students in one area, generally unarmed, our enemies could be lurking. I was asked to keep Quinn safe, so I’m bringing them.” Cara replied tightening the garter to make sure it stayed in place. The Queen and the headmistress of the academy they attended both approached her with the request she watch over Quinn for this event. The princess wasn’t what anyone would call the top of her class. She was physically weak and struggled with controlling her powers.

The three girls walked down the large staircase that led to the grand ballroom. A large ornate stage was set up in the back for the music. At the bottom of the stairs were three males dressed in suits. Lyle was amongst them and adorned his typical grin as he watched Cara. Next to him was a chestnut haired boy who looked rather serious, his name was Aiden. Aiden was favored to be bonded with the black haired male next to him. Wren: the highly obsessed over prince of the school, literally. Wren was Quinn’s younger brother. Quinn was two years older than Cara and the twins, which made Wren their age.

Heels clicked as the girls reached the bottom of the stairs. Lyle took his sister’s hand though he couldn’t take his blue eyes off the dark haired girl next to her. Since they were children Lyle had always been fascinated by Cara and her blue and green eyes.

Aiden held his arm out for the crown princess. Quinn was born first so she had the right to the throne. She gracefully placed her arm intertwined with his. Aiden was there to protect Wren, but it was natural to have boy-girl walk down the hall.

This meant Cara had to act civil with the raven haired boy. A smirk flashed through his dark eyes, but the rest of his face remained in a gentle smile. He was the devil and she knew it. They had a long standing feud the two of them. He moved his arm in her direction. She wanted to snap it like a twig, but wrapped her lean arm with his instead.

“You look so beautiful, Cara.” Lyle complimented as the three pairs made their way towards the ball.
A scoff came from the mouth of the dark haired boy. “You and your childish crush, Lyle. Adalyn would crush you with those monster thighs if you two ever tried to be together.” Along with being fawned over, Wren was a cocky, self-centered ass. It was rare to hear something not offensive come out of his mouth.

“It’s Cara, you pompous tool bag.” Care shot back with a glare. The six of them had known each other since they were five; that’s when children are tested and accepted to the academy. Now they were nearing their twentieth birthdays, with Quinn’s exception. Fifteen years and Cara didn’t like Wren an ounce more than she did the day they met.

A fake offended gasp came from Wren. “Is that any way to talk to your prince?”

“Quinn is my princess, you don’t mean anything.” She snarled back in a whisper. This boy had a way of setting off her quick temper.

Thankfully they had reached where they were going before the argument could get much further. “Her Royal Highness, Quinn Hatherwood, accompanied by Aiden Pendon.” The pair turned to bow to the crowd made up of the students of the academy. They walked further into the ballroom and disappeared in the crowd. “His Highness, Wren Hatherwood, accompanied by Adalyn Tenorhart.” Cara grinned and bared it as she held onto Wren and bowed for the rest of the school. They then followed suit and followed Quinn through the crowd. She and Aiden were waiting by the punch table. The introductions were so silly, but the academy insisted for every formal event.

Cara was almost immediately picked out to be a Muse to a royal. First, she was a child born from a bond; there is old magic in that. This meant her parents were bonded and had a child. With magic becoming more and more rare, people who bonded were less likely to fall in love and have children. Secondly she was a Tenorhart, a particularly strong Muse bloodline. Some bloodlines were more likely to give birth to Muse or Mageia. Naturally the royal bloodline, Hatherwood, has only ever given birth to Mageia. Lastly, she quickly became top of her class and rose above kids twice her age. All this added up to her being quite often in a spotlight of these types of events.

This particular event wasn’t anything too important. The students in the upper division gathered for the ball at the beginning of every school year. There was a grade, middle, and upper division to the school. The middle division held something small and nothing as grand as this ball as well. The ball was mainly to connect all the students again after the summer break. There was dancing and it was always over by eleven.

Wren and Aiden fell off into the crowd as soon as they met up. Cara sighed in relief that he wasn’t planning on hanging around and causing a fight. Lyle and Liana joined Cara and Quinn shortly. The four grabbed drinks and moved to a less crowded part of the ballroom.

The night moved slowly for Cara. She wasn’t much for these types of events. She wasn’t a dress person. She wasn’t a dancing girl. She stood in the sidelines while Quinn and Liana danced with each other, giggling and smiling. Lyle lingered around by her, asking every now and then if she was sure she didn't want to dance; with him or otherwise. Finally people began to trickle out of the ballroom signaling the end. A heavy breath escaped her; there weren’t any problems the whole night, that was nice.

Liana hung off of Cara and Lyle. She groaned and complained about the high heels she had been wearing. Quinn had also taken off her shoes, which she held in one hand and her dress off the ground in her other. Wren and Aiden swooped in from the crowd to walk with them surprisingly and unfortunately.

“Let me guess, you exciting bunch are going to go back to the common room, drink some tea, and go to sleep.” Wren opened breaking off the complaining coming from the small blonde.

The dark haired girl couldn’t muster a snarky reply. “Go away you crow.” Cara muttered trying to shoo the black haired male with her hand.

A laugh escaped Wren’s lips. He didn’t seem too keen to fight with her today and nodded to Aiden. They took a turn towards a different hallway. After these events the classes liked to take advantage of getting dressed up and throw secret parties.

Naturally, this was against the rules. Quinn would never allow anything of the sort to happen; which is why the location was always kept secret from her. Cara, being a proclaimed guard dog to the princess, was also left out of such knowledge. Lyle would never do anything if Cara wasn’t going to be there and Liana was particularly fond of just floating around with the rest of them.