A Change

I didn't stay home on Monday, because I wanted to watch Jonas closely, while Elias watched the Councilor. Although Mother threw a fit about me going, I didn't want to fall behind in my classes. Eventually Father calmed down her, and wished me luck.

Although it's been awhile since, I've had a peaceful breakfast with my whole family, I had to leave quickly to meet up with Elias. Both of us decided to watch each other's backs, in case another incident happens, we can only learn from our mistakes.

Standing by the front entrance, I waited for Elias's ride to come around and drop him off. While standing, I could feel the prickles of attention by the other students, they were shocked that I was even attending school, since that's what other students would do.

"Willow!" I heard someone holler my name, and I smiled to the Lieutenant, I was grateful that he took care of the problem, where other students didn't know where and how we were poisoned. Seeing the slick SUV pull up, and a familiar face, I placed a small smile on.

"Am I excused from classes, until I can hold a blade?" I questioned, and the lieutenant looked away, not knowing how to answer the question. He was worried about, how she was taking this restriction, and she didn't seem fine under the facade.

"No, do come for the classes, you can watch the others and help me critique them." I raised my eyebrows in shock and smiled, at least there were a couple of people that realized my struggle. Hearing the light pads of footsteps, I turned to face the slightly grumpy boy.

'What could have happened so early in the morning, for him to wear this face?' I thought to myself, before waving later to the teacher. Elias greeted the man, before he pulled me to the corner of the front yard, away from the constant traffic.

"Elias," I paused to see his eyes darken, there was a brim of tears waiting to be spilled. I tapped his shoulder, getting his attention, and he nodded his head, and I raised my palms in question.

"His Majesty's health has decreased further, I'm probably not coming to school for the rest of the week." I dropped my hands, this was bad news.

"How bad?" I inquired, looking away from the boy. He stood there quietly, before giving me an answer a couple minutes later.

"The doctors says he fell Ill, with exhaustion, however, with this illness he could falter in his health. You know it's not the best, I keep telling him to rest, but he insists to answer all of the Councilor's problems." I looked around, making sure no one was near, before clamping my hands on his face.

"I'm sorry, but this is not the place for this conversation. I'll come to the castle sometime this week, but don't let these words slip out, unless it's Father or Lieutenant Jones. Alright?" He nodded his head, and I released the grip. The grip wasn't tight, just enough to grab his attention.

"I had to rant." He murmured. Walking out of the corner, we took different directions to our classrooms, as we were both on opposite ends of the school, and on different floors.

Math and science, were my first two classes, and I could feel myself becoming bored. My pencil moved as I listened to the teacher's mellow voice, just out of habit. Looking away from what I was writing, I looked out the window, to see a class ready for gym.

"Miss Willow, do you want to answer this question?" She asked, and I set down my pencil, giving Miss Jennifer, my full attention. I glanced at the question and spoke the answer, I knew she was trying to catch me off guard, but I wrote everything down.

"The answer is 42, when you add all of the numerical values and divide them by how many values there is, you get the mean of 42." She let out a sigh, and continued on with class, eventually the remaining of the class breezed by, and I decided to take a nap, during lunchtime.

Placing my head on the cool tabletop, I closed my eyes to instantly see a battlefield. Jerking up from my seat, I took deep breaths to calm myself, this wasn't just a normal battlefield, it was at the time where dragons laid on the ground, their cold bodies covered in blood.

"It's going to be alright." I mumbled under my breath, pushing it out of my mind. Standing up, I opened the classroom door and walked the direction of the lunchroom. As I walked, I couldn't seem to get that image out of my head, it was so vivid, even if I was there for a couple of seconds.

"Well, well, if it isn't Lady Willow." Hearing the sarcastic tone, I turned around to face Jonas. His duffel bag hung from his shoulder, as he looked down on me. I smirked then turned around stepping away from his gang of people.

"Hey Jonas, how was practice?" I asked and his smile cracked, I was being considerate on his defeat, however it wouldn't be long before the whole country knows.

"Thanks for asking, it went well." Turning down the hallway, I entered the cafeteria calmly. Picking up a tray of food I took my seat in the corner, quietly. Elias studied me for a moment, as I wipe the cold sweat off my face, before continuing eating his meal.

"Another sudden vision?" He inquired, as I took a bite of potatoes. Feeling his constant gazing, I had no choice, but to answer.

"It was something." I replied while wiping the cold sweat off again. I remembered the doctor mentioning, to not wear myself out, or it can slow my recovery. "Any problems with Francis?" He shook his head, while taking another bite.

"She's been quiet, I think it's because of the constant attention on the Willow household, that has put a halt on her pranks." I nodded, since the incident, Father has worked with the school to create a safer environment for both of us.

"It's a good thing, I can't waste my energy on petty things." I mumbled while waiting on the bell to dismiss us to class. We both stayed in our corner, during the first bell, because Elias knew what the doctor said about my condition.

"You think you're going to be okay with me not coming to school during the week?" He asked while falling into rhythm with my steps. Before we both had different directions to go, I raised my eyebrow in question, he always had to be a couple steps ahead, while thinking.

"Do I look like I need your protection?" I asked and he let out a boyish chuckle and even gave me his signature grin.

"I suppose not." We came to an agreement before walking to opposite ends of the school, it was once again that I was on the verge of falling asleep to the teacher's voice. When it was time for history, I walked to the back building, where Elias and Lieutenant were speaking to each other.

"You just have to make sure, don't you?" I sarcastically spoke, while both of them jumped a couple inches. The Lieutenant looked between us, and smiled lightly. To him, they were like his own children, they both were close to his heart.

"Yep, I can't leave you unprotected." I rolled my eyes, and stepped into the miniature gym room, every time I stepped into this room, I could never get used to it, for something always changed every time I leave.

"The Prince wanted to see what you were doing for after school practice, I just told him that you were going to help with your fellow students." I tilted my head, and Elias let out a deep sigh, I knew he would comment on this.

"It's not like, I'll be holding a sword. It will give me a peace of mind, while I'm slowly recovering." I quickly spoke, before he could get a word out. He bit his tongue, and contained he complaints.

"Make sure she doesn't do anything that will hurt her further, I'll be checking in on a daily basis." He finished the conversation, before racing back to his class, who were finishing with gym.

"Argh, he's so demanding, I know my limits." I groaned aloud, while watching him dash away. The Lieutenant widened his eyes, there were few times that she has lost her temper, yet he could still see more on the surface.

"He's just looking out for you." Turing away from the door, I picked up a wooden sword with my other hand, and balanced it, with help of my left. "Rebecca, you don't understand your condition, do you?" I paused what I was doing, and took a seat on the floor.

"Huh," I let out a deep sigh, before speaking. "Whatever poison they've used, it was meant to freeze my muscles, that why I've been having gripping issues with my dominate hand." The lieutenant sat there in silence, and watched me process this.

"I've also noticed that they've targeted just your dominate hand, there are only a couple of people that know you're fighting skills. Do you have any ideas?" I turned my focus away from the burly man, and nodded my head.

"I think it was one of the kids here, Jonas. However, Jonas wouldn't have done that unless he was ordered to. It's also strange how Elias received a new driver at such a convenient time, and there are only a couple of people that can arrange that.

"However, I can't go before the court with just opinions, I have to provide evidence." He nodded his head, it would be hard to get evidence against the Councilor's family, since he was one of the top families at the moment.

"What do you plan on doing?" He asked and I twisted the charm bracelet with multiple dragons of different colors and histories.

"I'm going to fix my first problem first, I need therapy for this to go away." I raised my arm, while trying to pull it into a grip. "Then I'll wait for the Councilor to make one wrong move, that's all the King is waiting for. Once we get James off the Council, then things will start to flow correctly, we need to think of the people's interest." I continued on with my plan, and the lieutenant listened, since there was nothing else to do.

"I already have some evidence of him saying, that he would find a plan to get rid of me. This is the perfect year for him to make allies, and that leads me to be worried about the whole royal blood line." I stopped my thoughts, as I remembered Elias's sadden look this morning, he usually kept his emotions in check, however today it was about to break.

"If you're going to do therapy, then you'll have to have plenty of patience, and don't push yourself too much. I'm going to meet up with you're etiquette teacher, see if she can go easy on you, for the next week." I nodded my head, it would be a relief, if Madam Dorthy loosened up her lessons.

"I promise not to strain myself too far. I know my limits, however I'll be extra careful since, I have a reason to be." I placed my hand over my heart, and swore. It was childish, but we needing something to brighten up the gloomy mood.