Moonveil Academy: Trapped With The Five Kings

Esme:

The sound of another punch echoed through the private gym, followed by a violent snap.

I watched the punching bag swing wildly before the chain holding it finally gave out. And for the fourth time in less than an hour, the bag crashed to the floor.

Reign didn’t even look at it.

He stood in the middle of the gym with his chest rising and falling heavily, his hands wrapped in protective tape and streaked with blood despite it. The atmosphere around him had grown so heavy that breathing in the same room was starting to feel like work. Sweat clung to his blonde hair and ran down the side of his face, but his expression remained terrifyingly empty.

That was somehow worse than watching him lose control.

My gaze shifted toward Kairo next. He stood near one of the large windows with his arms folded across his chest, staring at the fallen punching bag without actually seeing it. Normally, Kairo would have found something amusing about Reign destroying four expensive bags in a single hour. He would have made some sarcastic comment, perhaps complained about the gym staff charging us for the damage. But today, he hadn’t said a single word.

Alaric didn’t look much better. He was seated on one of the benches with his elbows resting against his knees, his hands clasped tightly together. His jaw had been clenched for so long that I was starting to wonder whether his teeth would survive the day. The three of us kept glancing toward Reign, waiting for someone to say something, but none of us did.

Because we all knew exactly why he was like this.

Princess Eleanora Argentis.

The news of her and her friend being attacked and found unconscious on the road the previous night had spread through the academy before morning arrived. By breakfast, nearly everyone knew about it. By noon, the rumors had already multiplied into several different versions. Some claimed the girls had been robbed by thugs. Others insisted they had gotten into a fight with outsiders. One particularly stupid rumor suggested Elara had been attacked because someone wanted revenge after the stunt she had pulled with Reign in Professor Stroll’s class.

As if I would believe that was all there was to it.

To say that I had been stunned when I heard the news would be an understatement.

In the month Elara had spent at Moonveil, we had crossed paths perhaps four or five times. Not nearly enough for me to claim that I knew her well. Yet somehow, every encounter had managed to leave a stronger impression on me than the last.

Despite the friction between her and Reign - and perhaps because of it - I had always enjoyed her company. I admired her confidence. Her stubborn determination. Her ability to walk into a room filled with people who wanted to see her fail and somehow refuse to lower her head. And then there was the softer side of her. The one I had encountered in the greenhouse.

She became different there. Gentler. Quieter. Her attention shifted from survival to the tiny details of flowers, herbs, and plants. There was something strangely peaceful about watching her there, especially when the entire academy seemed determined to turn her life into a battlefield.

She was beautiful. There was no point pretending otherwise. She was smart, intelligent, strong, and far more interesting than any of the women who had spent years throwing themselves at our feet because of our family names. She was everything a man could want in a woman.

And there was definitely a tension between us.

I wasn’t blind enough to deny that either.

I had actually been looking forward to seeing her again that morning. I knew she often visited the greenhouse on Saturday mornings, and after completing my own training, I had planned to stop by.

Instead, I learned what had happened the moment I stepped out of my dorm. I could still remember the exact moment.

Pansy had been standing in the corridor with two other girls, talking loudly enough for everyone nearby to hear. She had been talking about Elara, of course.

”The overconfident princess finally got what she had been asking for,” she had said with a laugh. ”Maybe now she’ll understand that acting superior gets you nowhere in this academy.”

My entire body had gone still, and something cold had settled in my chest as I stared at her. For one second, I had actually considered telling her to shut her mouth. Then someone walked past me.

Reign.

Pansy barely got another word out before he had her pressed against the wall, making the entire corridor fell silent.

I had never seen Pansy look afraid before. She was Liliana’s closest friend and usually walked through the academy like that fact made her untouchable. It clearly didn’t help her then.

Reign’s hand had curled around the front of her uniform, his expression so cold that even I had felt the change in the air.

”Hold your tongue,” he had warned quietly.

Pansy’s face had gone pale. Reign had released her a second later and walked away without another word. While I had stood there, staring after him.

And now, less than an hour later, we were here.

Elara was unconscious in the infirmary. And Reign was destroying punching bags.

Another violent sound pulled me from my thoughts.

Reign had moved toward the next bag. His fist struck it again and again relentlessly.

I leaned against the wall, crossing my arms as a familiar heaviness settled inside my chest. I kept thinking about Elara. About the condition she had been found in.

No one knew exactly what had happened.

The academy had been told that the two girls were discovered unconscious on the road by a group of third-year students returning from the town. According to the speculations, they had apparently been attacked by a group of thieves or thugs.

It didn’t sit right with me.

It had been years since someone dared attack a Moonveil student. The academy’s name alone was enough to discourage most people from causing trouble. And the road connecting the academy to the towns at the base of the mountain had been declared safe long ago. Students walked there constantly. Some used it to visit restaurants. Others went shopping or spent time with friends.

The academy allowed it precisely because the path was considered safe. Yet somehow, Elara and her friend had been attacked there.

And the coincidence became even harder to believe when I remembered exactly who Elara was.

The lost princess had returned barely a month ago. She had immediately become the center of attention. She had made enemies among some of the most powerful students in the academy. And now, someone had attacked her.

Could it have been a coincidence?

Possibly.

Could she and her friend have simply encountered the wrong people at the wrong time?

Maybe.

But something about the entire situation felt wrong. Deeply wrong.

My gaze returned to Reign just as his fist landed against the bag again.

I watched the muscle in his jaw tighten. The bag swung as Reign punched it again. This time, I finally understood something that made the heaviness in my chest grow worse.

Whatever everyone else might believe about last night’s attack, this wasn’t simply Reign being furious because someone had dared attack one of our own just like he claimed earlier when Alaric pointed out his unusual anger.

He knew something. Or perhaps he felt something. Because I had never seen Reign Valemont look this close to losing control over another person’s safety.

Not for anyone.

And as I stared at the fourth destroyed punching bag lying across the floor, I couldn’t stop the thought from forming in my mind.

Someone had attacked Eleanora Argentis.

And whoever had done it had no idea what kind of monster they might have just awakened.