Worlds Collide: Chapter 31 Zia

I inhale deeply, enjoying the smell of the rain that floats in through the open window. Even the boring lessons can’t bring my mood down today, knowing that I can have my cake and eat it too really helped motivate me to learn and I have to admit some of these spells will definitely come in handy. I’m still staring down the clock until I’m I’m released for dinner because I’m ravenous and not just for the food, but also for the delicious snack of a man who was willing to sacrifice everything for me.
Just as I’m about to gain my freedom, the door opens and Zia storms in. “There you are! Leave us Julia!” She commands and my tutor quickly scurries out of the room.
“Have you been looking for me Aunty?” I ask confused by her anger.
“You will leave Malifa and never come back. It took years of undermining Ruby’s abilities for me to claw my way to this position and I’m so close to getting what I want that I will not let you get in the way. I have already banished your friend and now it is your turn.” She shouts and recites a spell I don’t understand, but thankfully my faithful dress deflects it.
“So you and grandma don’t really communicate do you?” I say.
“How? How are you deflecting my spell!?” She screams frustrated.
“Ok first you need to chill out, literally.” I say as I gather the water from the rain and throw it at her freezing her in place.
“Disgusting half breed mongrel!” She curses before I freeze her mouth too.
“So to set the record straight, I never wanted to be high priestess, I only wanted to get to know my family and to find a way home. The high priestess offered me the informant position that my mother had and I have provisionally accepted it. So I will be out of your hair soon. Now, you are going to tell me exactly what you did to Juan and how to find him otherwise I will tell the high priestess about this. And before you threaten me, please bear in mind that while I’m new to this whole witchcraft thing, I’m a very powerful dragon with training in martial arts and self defence so should you choose the hard way, I’m more than capable of kicking your arse.” I say, as calmly as I can manage while reining in the anger that I feel towards this woman right now.
I unfreeze her mouth so that she can respond.
“You..You don’t want to rule?” She asks confused.
“Nope. Now where is Juan?” I demand.
“I sent him home to Vladra. I.. I’m sorry” She apologises like it is a foreign concept to her.
“Bring him back!” I insist.
“I can’t it’s a banishment spell, he will not be able to re-enter Malifa.” She explains.
I groan in frustration “Maybe next time, try talking to people before going all psycho on them. What kind of example are you setting if you are willing to hurt innocent people to get what you want? I want to hate you for whatever plot you set up for my mother, but I can’t because it set me on my own path. I can however hate you for taking the man I love away.” I admonish her and then breath to calm myself “But I wont, I will give you another chance to earn my respect. You would do well to remember the best leaders are respected not feared” I add as I walk out of the room, preparing to go and find Juan.
“Wait! You have to release me” Zia shouts after me, but I don’t stop. A little time out while she thaws is the least she deserves.
I go to my room to collect my things and then make my way to the high priestesses office. I figure I need to explain my leaving before Zia gets a chance to twist it in her favour. I may not have drowned the witch, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to trust her.
I ignore the do not disturb sign on the door and walk into her office. The sight before me looks like something out of a cartoon. My grandmother, dressed in her usual all black floor-length gown, is holding a wand, standing over a bubbling caldron of green goop. The only thing missing is the pointy hat.
“Rain! It is dangerous to interrupt in the middle of a brewing!” Esme warns without looking up from her task and using what I thought was her wand to stir the potion.
“Sorry, Juan has left. I need to go after him. I will be back as soon as possible to take up my informant position.” I explain, edging back to the door.
“Very well, you must be back before midnight tomorrow, otherwise this potion will expire.” She warns.
Of course its midnight, I bet there is some kind of pumpkin caveat too, I think suppressing an eye roll to smile and agree before leaving. I debate flying, but I doubt that that is the easiest way out of Malifa. I look down at my feet and smile wistfully at my red heels, wishing I could just click them together and wish to go home. Then an idea strikes me.
I make my way back to the last place I wanted to spend my evening- the library. I scan through the sections, ignoring the librarian, until I come to the section I’m looking for. I manage to identify runes from my earlier lesson and find a book of teleportation spells. Translating the rest of the book is going to be much harder, but given that my own aunt caused this problem, I don’t really trust anyone to help fix it.
It feels like it takes hours to find the spell I need, each passing second weighing on me while Juan is probably alone and confused. I hope that he knows I had nothing to do with this and doesn’t think I’m rejecting him.
By the time I have the spell ready, it is only actually half an hour later, so it was indeed much faster than flying back through that stupid maze and portal system.
Praying that I don’t accidentally incinerate myself, I take a deep breath and recite the spell, picturing Juan’s home as clearly as I can from my memory.