Dhampirica

VI

SUNDAY PASSED BY IN THE blink of an eye. Yvanna came to find that Lord Dante usually spent his Sundays at home in the company of only himself, either studying, relaxing or practicing his archery skills. Since there was no need for her to do anything, Yvanna spent most of her morning in the gym on the fourth floor, and then the afternoon exploring the estate.

She found that the estate had magnificent gardens. A leisurely walk around the property, through the carefully manicured walking paths, took her approximately twenty minutes. The western side of the property had a clearing which had been repurposed to an archery range. The eastern side had a greenhouse which appeared to have been neglected for several years, whilst the back of the estate had a swimming pool which overlooked the wide river below. Yvanna had some concerns about the lack of security along the back of the property, as the cliff was not extremely high, but one of the guards told her that it was impossible to climb, as they had tried to do it themselves.

When Monday came around, Yvanna woke up at 5:00AM and decided to make use of the gym once again. It would be another two hours before Lord Dante needed to wake up to get ready for college, and she found this to be ample time to keep her skills sharp. Unfortunately, there was not much available by way of honing her combat skills, so she made use of the equipment to improve her strength instead.

After she was done, she took a shower and dressed in her uniform. When she went downstairs, a maid named Ava plated her a bowl of oats with yogurt, berries, bananas, and nuts, alongside a glass of orange juice. It was a considerable upgrade from yesterday's breakfast, which comprised a single muesli bar and a glass of water. At the time, Yvanna was reminded of the fact that she was the only non-vampire in the household. And although vampires could eat regular food, it was consumed as a delicacy rather than out of necessity.

Sure enough, when Lord Dante came downstairs some fifteen minutes later, he elected to have a glossy green apple and a glass of blood. He downed the blood and took the apple with him to Soren's car. They rode to Invictus Academy in silence.

During the drive, Yvanna felt a small sense of ... not fear, exactly... but of things unknown. It was akin to the feeling she had on her first day of combat class at Crossgrave Academy. But things were a lot less intimidating now than they were when she was five. The only thing she really had to fear now was displeasing Lord Dante. Unfortunately for her, he seemed to be so far rather unimpressed.

Invictus Academy was by no means as large as Crossgrave, but it was certainly no less intimidating. The Academy was bordered by a towering steel fence on all sides and, looking closely, one could spy a strange shimmer between each rail, which Yvanna strongly felt that she should not touch. It was impossible to even glimpse inside the Academy grounds with the way the fence refracted the light, but they could not hide the monumental buildings which lay within.

Lord Dante exited the car to approach the front gate and announce himself. After a moment, the camera scanned his ID and then, afterwards, his eyes. Yvanna went to follow, but stopped as the car's window partition lowered.

"I'll be back at 4:30PM. Don't be late and do not lose track of the young lord again," Soren warned, giving her a pointed look.

Yvanna promised she wouldn't, and stepped out of the car to follow in Lord Dante's footsteps. She identified herself to the camera, exactly as he had, but since she was doing this for the first time, she had to have her eyes scanned several times so that the system would remember her. When the gates opened to allow her in, she rushed to catch up to Lord Dante.

What lay behind the gates was nothing short of magnificent. As she walked upon the paved bluestone path, she gazed upon boundless stretches of fresh green grass, hedges which had been pruned and trimmed to resemble trees and spirals and other odd sorts of figures, and a number of extravagant water features. The Academy itself looked like something out of one of Yvanna's history textbooks. It resembled, quite oddly, a school chapel, with its veneer stone walls, endless archways, and spires and finials whose peaks seemed to graze the sky.