Chapter 342 - The Challenge (1/2)
”You look like you have seen your death.”
Chris looked up hearing the voice and found Oziyat standing in front of her with his usual amused expression.
After her encounter with that little spy boy, she was walking back to her room. She was so distracted that she didn't notice Oziyat coming towards her.
”Oh don't worry, I have been close to my death many times,” Chris answered crossing her arms and tried to look indifferent. ”Deadly situations don't scare me anymore. I was just thinking about something. Nothing special. Anyway, what are you doing in guest room hallways?”
Oziyat gave a small knowing smile before answering.
”I was looking for you. Mother wants to meet you.”
”Really?” Chris almost smiled feeling happy, then stopped herself. ”Great.”
”Yes, and I am here to escort you to her,” Oziyat said gesturing her to follow him.
”Isn't it something the servants or your guards would do? Why the Prince is escorting me?” Chris asked as they started walking.
”Always suspicious, aren't you Christina? I offered to escort you because I wanted to, that's all.”
”Sure,” Chris rolled her eyes. ”There are no ulterior motives, right? Nothing you want to ask me?”
Oziyat chuckled.
”But I promise not to ask any difficult questions. Let's start with something safe, how about your life at Hogwarts?”
”Life at Hogwarts was the exact opposite of safe,” Chris replied as they started walking. ”All my five years has been utterly chaotic there. But honestly, life at Hogwarts never gets boring.”
”Five years? Is that all magical education?” Oziyat looked genuinely curious. ”Is that enough to know so much about magic?”
”Oh, no, it's a seven years magical education curriculum. I just didn't finish my years.”
”You are trying to fight a century-old wizard without any proper education of magic?” Oziyat suddenly looked surprised and very disappointed.
”What? No. I said I didn't finish my school years but I have enough skills, okay?” Chris glared at Oziyat. ”I just didn't get to finish school.”
”If you say so,” Oziyat shrugged looking sceptical.
Chris opened her mouth and then closed it. There was no point wasting her energy on him. But his assumption made Chris furious. It was an odd thing because Chris hadn't been this mad over a silly thing like this for a long time.
For some time Chris and Oziyat walked in complete silence. Then Chris thought she should ask him about the boy.
”Hey, do you guys have humans here? Like normal people -- Muggles?”
Oziyat furrowed her eyebrows a little at the change of topic but replied anyway, ”Yes, there are many humans here. For blood.”
”So do their families live here? And you drink blood from all of them?” Chris felt a little weird asking this stuff but she needed to know about the boy.
”The humans here, don't have families. They are outcast or homeless people in the normal world,” Oziyat looked unbothered as he explained. ”They have no one in this world.”
”What about . . . kids? Do you take homeless kids in too? To drink their blood?” Chris asked hesitantly.
”No, we don't drink blood from kids” Oziyat looked at Chris with a strange expression. ”Drinking blood from young is a sin for us. We have punishments for doing it. So we don't take in young children in the palace.”
Chris nodded slowly. If not for blood then what does a normal kid like him was doing here? Chris was deep in thought when she realised Oziyat was staring at her.
”What?” Chris asked, feeling anxious. Did she just stupidly revealed that she knew about the boy spy?
”How old are you?” Oziyat asked looking very uncertain.
”Er . . . seventeen.”
Another long and rather uncomfortable silence stretched. Suddenly the realisation struck Chris, she understood, maybe Oziyat thought she was asking the kid question for herself, that if they would drink blood from her. Feeling a little weird, she self-consciously looked down at herself. Did she look like a kid?