A Dangerous Destiny: The Pure One Book I

Chapter Twenty One

So Karina took quite a beating in the last chapter. Let's see how she feels about it. That cant have been easy for the kid...

Karina

By the time Karina began her journey home, the sun had long set. Drenched in sweat, she'd shivered the whole way. Caleb Blackwell had forced her to train for hours without break. Her whole body ached, bruised all over from the rap of his staff. 

After running drills for what seemed like an eternity, Blackwell made her face him again and again, beating her down so many times that Karina began to think that he had no desire to train her at all, only to humiliate. Her arms were exhausted from the weight of the staff and her legs felt like jelly. When Manna's home mercifully appeared before her eyes, Karina walked through the door in a trance of exhaustion, wanting nothing more than the chance to fall into bed.

"How was it?"

Manna's cheerful mood was instantly grating. Karina collapsed into a chair by the fire without answering her teacher's question. She heard Manna laugh in response to her clearly sullen mood.

"That good?" she joked as she came to sit across from her. Karina glared back in response, but Manna's smile did not fade.

"No one said that training with Caleb would be easy, Karina. Few things worth doing are."

"They hate me," Karina said staring into the flames. She turned to Manna, "Even Aidan." Karina watched as the banter in Manna's face quickly disappeared, her mouth tightening, her eyes narrowing into a sharp stare.

"What do you mean they?" she asked.

Karina felt the tears welling in her eyes as she turned away to avoid the judgment she could already feel radiating from her teacher. She was so tired. She didn't need Manna angry with her as well.

"What happened?" Manna pressed, her hard tone not responding to Karina's obvious frustration.

"I saw the boys Mr. Blackwell trains. They were they when I climbed the hill."

"I told you very clearly to wait until after the evening bell rang before approaching Caleb's home, did I not?"

"I know but..."

"I warned you to tell no one he had agreed to train you. That you could not be seen on his premises."

At Manna's condemnation, Karina couldn't hold back her tears anymore. They slipped down her cheeks unashamedly, wet and salty.

"They said I should go home. They don't want a girl there. I thought Aidan was my friend, but he didn't do anything to stop them. And then Gavin pushed me, and then we fought and."

"Fought?"

Karina could hear the disapproving timber in Manna's voice unabated. Would she blame her as well? It wasn't fair.

"It wasn't my fault!" Karina insisted, trying again to gain her teacher's sympathy. "He pushed me first!" Seeing no change in Manna's expression, she began to cry in earnest, drawing her legs in close to her body and closing herself off from her teacher's judgmental gaze. 

What did it matter if she told Manna what had happened? She didn't care. She was just like Blackwell had been. Maybe everyone wanted her to fail.

"I didn't mean to disobey," Karina managed to choke out through her sobs. "I just wanted to prove myself. I didn't mean to ruin everything. But now Mr. Blackwell hates me as well."

Karina turned, sniffing back tears as she felt her teacher's hand on her shoulder.

"Come here," Manna said, her voice no longer angry.