Forged in Frost and Fire (Book 1 in the Chronicles of Kings trilogy)

Chapter Twelve

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　　☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙.

I awoke to the feeling of warm fingers touching mine.

I jolted awake and nearly rolled out of my bed as I twisted to see what was happening. I was disoriented at first, expecting the warm glow of a fire, or the smell of tea in the air, maybe Elda's voice murmuring lowly to Anastasia. But I found none of that and was instead met with the smell of damp earth and...people around me. There was snoring and the shifting of blankets as people adjusted their positions in their beds. I guess the rest of the initiates made their way back from the cafeteria.

Another grope to my fingers and I flinched, yanking my hand away from whoever was touching it. I saw a hand dip into the space under my mattress. My bunkmate. I squirmed onto my belly and looked down to see a boy lounging in the bed underneath me. He had his blankets kicked off and had one arm under his head. I couldn't make out much thanks to the little light, but I could see he had sharp cheekbones and curly brown hair.

"Hello there bunkmate," the boy whispered, raising his bushy, dark brows. He was handsome in a juvenile way, with his sweet curly hair and soft eyes. He sort of reminded me of a puppy.

"Why were you touching my hand?" I hissed, glaring at him and hoping he could see it in the dark.

"Easy there, tiger," he said, sitting up, a grin playing on his lips. "Your hand was hanging off your bed, I couldn't sleep, and suddenly my hand was reaching for yours. You know...your fingers are very cold. You probably have poor blood circulation, you should get that checked out."

"Poor blood circulation?" I hissed. "Who in the hells are you?"

"I'm Callan," he said, "I would offer you my hand, but you've already shaken it." His teeth flashed in the dark and I saw him laugh at his own joke. "You're new here. When did you come in?"

"Last night," I said.

"And what's the name of the girl with the peculiar hair?" I felt my cheeks grow cold and resisted the urge to flip the hair in question back over my shoulder. Even in the dark the white of my hair showed through. It practically glowed.

"Eira," I said.

"Well, it was a pleasure brushing fingertips with you, Eira," he said. "I'll sit with you at breakfast, you look like you could use a friend."

"What makes you think I don't have any friends?" I asked.

"You were sleeping when we walked in, it's not like you were waiting up in excitement for anyone. Not to mention, I haven't seen you around...anywhere. And I've been to a lot of places. My mom was a soldier so we moved around a lot with her." So Callan here was an oversharer it appeared.

"Maybe you've just missed me," I said, shrugging.

"I doubt that. I don't think I could forget a woman with white hair who wasn't a grandma." He said.

I wrinkled my nose at him. "Har-Har,"
I mocked. Making him grin up at me. I could already tell I was starting to like this boy. He somewhat reminded me of Marc, and how easily I got along with him. My heart ached at the memory of my best friend. I wonder how he was now, what he was doing with his life. If he was happy. I hoped he was happy. Marc deserved all the happiness in the world.

"I would recommend you remove yourself away from the edge of the bed," Callan whispered up at me.

"Why?" I asked

He opened his mouth to speak but then there was the sound of a loud horn blaring sounding throughout the room. I flinched so hard that I fell out of the bunk and smacked into the concrete floor. I groaned as I realized I had probably just gave myself a third-degree bruise.