SCHOOL OF MAGICAL ENLIGHTENMENT

HARSH REALITY

CECILS POINT OF VIEW

I wake up abruptly in my room within the dragon castle on the schooi premises, drenched in my sweat. I look around me, panting heavily, expecting to see the witches and Akan, but I am alone.

l try to get up, but my abdominal region throbs painfully. I pick up my phone and call Warren, but he doesn't pick up my call. He has been distant from me ever since the night he got hurt, but I am not worried because I know I have won.

When the withches cast a love spell on Warren, they had warned me that unless he rejected his true mate, the love spell would slowly unravel until he felt nothing but hate for me. Thankfully, they had given me voodoo hate dolls and instructions on how to use them.

'They must be activated before Warren and his mate make physical contact, but Warren must first recognise her as his mate before you activate them,' they said to me as they placed the dolls in my hands. I carried the dolls everywhere with me, so on that night, in the dining hall, the moment I saw him sniffing the air deeply and looking in her direction like no one else existed. I knew that she was the girl who would ruin everything for me and quickly activate the dolls. She looked so shocked and helpless when Warren attacked her, but I didn't care, victory was mine, and Warren was the prize. All I have to do now is wait for him to fall madly in love with me and do anything that I want. The first thing I will do is punish that girl who attacked Warren and I. I will make sure I take back my pound of flesh as soon as all of this blows over. I lost the voodoo dolls because of her, but thankfully, the witches said that once the dolls are activated, the spell can not be undone. She wasn't a shifter, but she was able to stand toe to toe with me in combat. She attacked Warren because of the girl he rejected but turned on me and beat me to a pulp for intervening. She will pay for the humiliation she caused us.

I hear a loud insistent banging on my door and try to get up but still feel intense abdominal pain. The door bursts open, and my father storms in angrily, followed by my mother, who follows behind him.

'STAND UP CECIL!', my father roars at me.

I try to stand again despite the pain I feel but only manage to stand for a few seconds before I stumble and fall. I am caught by my mother, and we both fall to the ground.

'GREAT, JUST GREAT!' My father roars again.

'Calm down, Raqid, and shut the door,' my mother says.

'HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO CALM DOWN? DONT YOU', my father screams but lowers his tone 'Don't you know how much we have sacrificed to get this far, only to lose it because of your daughter' he whispers forcefully trying to control his temper.

'We can still fix this Raqid, help me get her into bed, she is burning,' my mother says, holding my trembling body. My father kooks at the both of us unmoving.

'Raqid!', my mother hisses.

'Listen to me, both of you. I have done everything just to ensure that I give you all the best in life. All I asked is that you do one simple job to place us on the highest pedestal on the dragon hierarchy, and what do you do? You ruin it! No one will want to associate with us after this.Everything I have worked for my entire life down the drain because of you.'

My mother gets up, and I hear a slap.

'Walls have ears Raqid, restrain yourself or leave and let me deal with this myself. Now.pick her up.'

I hear heavy boots and feel my father carry me from the floor before dumping me like a sack on my bed. I squirm in pain as I land, trying to hold back my tears. My mother comes to me and places me correctly, placing pillows behind my back, helping me to sit. I look at my father and see that he looks beaten up with a black eye and several bumps and bruises on his face. I look back at my mother, who, as always, wears an unreadable expression. We stare at each other for a few minutes before she touches my face gently.

'Dont mind your father, my love. he believes that you have failed our family, "she says, and then she hugs me saying 'but I know you, my love, i know you will not fail. All of this is nothing more than a minor setback. We will return to the sisters. The sisters will fix everything'

'What is wrong, mother?' I say with difficulty.

'What is wrong?! You attacked the crown prince publicly. You committed a crime against the crown. Do you know what the king said to me? Can you even guess?' My father asks angrily.

'No, father. What did he say?', I ask

'The king has called off your engagement to the prince. The wedding has been cancelled.' My mother says to me.

Everything stops, and I begin to hyperventilate, trying to process my mother's words in my head. I scream loudly, and my mother tries to cuddle me, but I push her away, screaming and trying to get out of bed.

'WARREN! WARREN!' I scream as I climb out of bed, but I only make about three steps before I fall to the floor. I continue crawling as I shout his name, but he doesn't come.

'Help me, Raqid!' I hear my mother say, and I feel my fathers arms around me, but I wriggle trying to get out of his grip. screaming with my eyes shut as I watch all that I have lost flash before my eyes.