The Roman Encounter: Novella 1 of the Kinstone series

“Miss Rivenfeld.”

I groan softly.

“Miss Rivenfeld,” I hear again.

I slowly open my open, rolling my head over to see towering woman with short, cropped hair and wearing a mix of irritation and relief on her face. “Yes, Coach?”

She sighs softly, shaking her head, “Honestly, I knew you were a heavy sleeper. However, I never expected to have to rouse you this much.”

I grin softly, pulling down my headphones with the music still playing, “Yeah…sorry about that. I think I must’ve really passed out as we crossed the Channel.”

She nods, standing up. “In any case, we’re about to land. The other girls are already getting ready. I suggest you as well.”

I nod, “Yes, Coach.” She nods again and leaves.

I stretch my body and groan, feeling my muscles burn and my joints pop as they burn away the stiffness of my extremely long nap. I let out a long exhale as I gaze out the window. As I do, a thought comes into my mind. It’s been fifteen months since the final battle in Dewloura and I’ve actually settled into the life of a normal teenage girl.

Well… not exactly normal.

Last fall, Mom enrolled me in Evanvale Academy, a very prestigious school that is a mix of Hogwarts and any elite school one can think of. When I started, I felt like I had stepped right back during my time at the Acadenora. Yet…I should be extremely grateful that I didn’t have to deal with the same problems I did.

It was quite the opposite, in fact. My enrollment was leaked to the school and it sparked a massive storm of invitations from various school groups and individuals. More than likely it was in an attempt to gain the clout of having me join them. Yet I didn’t let my ego take over and actually kept to my tendencies to retreat back.

Yet even still, I’m touted as the princess of my school, with my wolves acting as my “royal guard” much as they did while in the past. It is mainly due to being the crown princess of Dewloura and the daughter of Rachel Rivenfeld.

I giggle to myself, as I’m also the stepdaughter of Arcturus Helaron. Even before they got married, he and I really became father and daughter. We bonded strongly in the months following the battle and soon it was as if he’d been my father all my life.

My eyes then train onto the outskirts of Rome. I still remember the first time I came here. Granted, it was by train rather than plane. My week here was incredible, and it’ll always be engrained in my mind. I sigh softly, already missing home, having left it just twelve hours ago. I smirk, as I know another it very close by.

I’m also making this trip alone. No one from my coven is on this trip with me, no Marie or Bianca, not even my knights are here. So yeah… alone. I smirk slightly as I glance at my shadow, well… not quite alone.

Now... as to why I’m on a plane heading to Rome. I actually joined the tennis team, being it combined my love of the sword and acrobatics. It turns out I have a natural knack for the sport. We’re participating in an international tournament there, something I’ve been looking forward to since the semester started.

This is going to be fun.

We soon come to our terminal and disembark, grabbing our carry-on luggage. Our coach then lines us up and we head off the gangway.

“Remember to have your passports out and ready, girls,” she announces. We nod, rifling through our bags and pull them out.

We soon exit out of the terminal. I look around, again recalling when I was last here and heading back home. Again, one would think that having the crown princess of Dewloura walking about unguarded would be insane. Yet again…I’m never really ever alone.

We breeze through customs, with me once more rolling my neck, feeling the joints pop. My team then rides the escalator down to baggage claim and retrieves our luggage. To say I’m exhausted, despite the nearly eight-hour nap, is an understatement. I should be grateful that the tournament is in a couple days, giving us much needed time to rest and prepare.

We head out of the airport and load into a pair of waiting passenger vans, heading out into the city. My eyes still pan around, feeling nostalgia creep back. I sigh softly, laying my head against the window as the van winds through the streets.

We soon come to our hotel, seeing scores of other teams already unloading their luggage and heading inside. When it’s our turn, we hop out and head in. I look over to our boys’ team, noting that a couple if the girls already are pairing up with their boyfriends. I smile as another and I are having a small conversation about our boyfriends. I have made friends at school, having Marie and Bianca being at center.

After check-in, the teams then head up to the second floor to our rooms. We had the spilt up the teams as we only reserved four rooms. The moment my group steps into our room; we roll our luggage by the dressers and collapse either onto the beds or the couch.

Sleep couldn’t have come any quicker.