Several days passed by and no news of any way of stopping the huntress came. I began to feel trapped in the castle and continued wandering about frequently. To my surprise, I met Prince Arryn often on my detours. It seemed as though he liked wandering about too. Weeks flew by, and we became sort of friends.

He told me all about his life at Vervosia and the royal family. The king had died in a Selzer attack a few years back and his family only consisted of his mother Queen Flavia and his brother Prince Illyr. A few Carthans from the noble clan stayed in the palace but most lived outside like our family. 

It was well-known gossip that Prince Arryn and Prince Illyr did not get along well. They had many differences in their opinions and once had almost broken out into a fight in public. 

I attended Prince Arryn's guest lecture and he was amazing at it. He spoke expressively and had the whole room spellbound. 

I mostly talked to Arryn, Wanda and my friends. I was not alone, but something felt missing. I wanted to see Aiden again. But it was nearly impossible to sneak out of the castle. I thought and thought about it until I finally came up with a plan. 

I would ask Wanda to let me out and then help me sneak out from there. I decided to ask her the very next day. 

"Hey," I said. I had been lounging outside the witch headquarters since the past hour and had finally spotted Wanda coming out. 

"Hi Verina," she said and smiled. "What is it this time? Not another burned shoulder, I hope?" 

"Thankfully, no," I said, smiling back at her. "Um, actually I wanted a favour from you." 

She raised her eyebrows expectantly. 

"What is it?" 

"I want you to help me sneak out of the school." 

She opened her mouth to protest, but I interrupted her before she could. 

"I know it's a crazy idea," I said hurriedly. "But it's important. I tried to get it out of my head, but I couldn't. I only need you to do it for an hour." 

She looked less than thrilled about my proposal like I had imagined. 

"Verina, it's for your safety. A huntress is on the loose. Have you lost it? I couldn't have it on my conscience if anything happened to you or if you got hurt." 

"You know I would try to find another way to do it. It just would be better if you helped me instead of me asking someone else. At least I can trust you." 

"What makes you think I won't tell on you?" she asked. 

"You wouldn't," I said with conviction. "You are not like that." 

"Am I not?" she said, looking resigned. "Fine, I will help you. But just this once okay? Don't ask me to do it ever again. And take care of yourself. Be cautious. I am only doing this because the huntress is far away. But that is no excuse to be tardy for there maybe Selzers about. I will place a few spells on you for safety. And don't take too long." 

"Okay, grandma," I said grinning at her. "Seriously though, thank you for everything. I owe you big time" 

"Let's just get this over with."