The Warrior (Kiss Me at Midnight) by S.S. Skye

The Warrior

    It’s a new year; everything’s going to be different. It’s a new year; everything’s going to be–
    There was a streak of lightning, the following crack of thunder, and a sudden downpour of rain.
    – exactly the same.
    Edander sighed. He hadn’t really expected anything to change, but it had been nice to pretend that this year was going to be a little less hellacious, even just for the morning. He’d been deluded if he’d thought for one moment he’d receive some sort of reprieve in this kingdom.The clouds eternally brewed and the rain never stopped pouring and Edander couldn’t remember what it was like to be warm and dry.
    Sometimes, in the dark of the night, he thought about home, while the thunder crashed outside his window. Compared to this kingdom, most would consider it a desert, with the sun beating down and warm, dry breezes blowing through the open air houses in the afternoon. Rain was only a seasonal occurrence back home, and even then, it was nothing like the rain here, driving and biting and cold .
    With another sigh, he put it from his mind and kept trudging, thankful at least that the Conservatory had been designed by a competent architect who’d had it built almost entirely of stone. The ground might always be wet, but the great flagstones that made up the paths kept the mud to a minimum.
    Edander yelped in surprise as two boys came bounding through the planter of trees beside him, splashing him with mud as they whooped. "Hey!" he protested, though it was simply a bit more mud on an already mud-splattered coat, and it was still raining besides.
    "There’s a stranger in the Receiving Hall!" one of the boys called over his shoulder, before the two rounded a corner and disappeared from sight.
    Edander’s eyebrows ticked up a notch. He’d been at the Conservatory for a number of years, since his magic had first presented itself and he’d been sent there to learn to control his magic . Once he’d achieved that, he’d been forced to remain there, to wait until he could find a bondmate, that stabilizing force which would balance him out and keep him grounded as his power increased in breadth and strength as he matured.Outside of the Conservatory and without a bondmate, it would only be a matter of time before he either lost his control or went mad trying to keep it.
    While he'd lived there, the Conservatory had seen any number of arrivals every day, most of them mages who came seeking control and bondmates, the rest traders who did regular business bringing goods to the thousands of students and boarders who lived here. The one thing they did not get was strangers.
    Deciding against returning to the dorm barracks, where the rain would be unbearably loud on the roof and drive him just a little bit crazier, Edander cut around the same corner the boys had, making for the Receiving Hall.
    It was unsurprisingly crowded when he arrived. No doubt everyone in the Conservatory knew by now that there was a stranger.
    Edander couldn’t see from his vantage point, pressed against the wall not far from the door, but he could hear the Conservatory’s chancellor going through the welcome speech, and could hear the unintelligibleanswer in a deep baritone. He couldn’t understand what was being said, but he knew it would filter through the crowd quickly enough.
    As expected, it was only a few moments before the people around him started whispering bits and pieces to each other.
    "…very handsome…"
    "…suppose he thinks his scars look…"
    "…says he’s heading to war…"
    "…pity he’ll die and that voice’ll go…"
    "…didn’t see a bondmate; wonder if…"
    Edander slipped away then, having gotten enough of a gist to appease him. He was not much interested in the direction the gossip would soon take. It was a truth universally acknowledged, that a warrior in possession of his stars must be in want of a bondmate, and if the rumor was true that he was indeed unbonded, the stranger was