“Pizza for breakfast, hot dogs for lunch, and hamburgers for dinner.” She sounded pleased. Lucian reached his hand in the air and Becky slapped it playfully in a high five.
“I might just stay for that.”
“And give up a weekend of freedom? You'll leave and go with your dad tomorrow Lucian, even if I have to push you onto Emanuel myself.”
“Emanuel is King Helmut's dragon,” Sammy whispered again.
Riley walked into the cafeteria and went first to the buffet line. Chef nodded in the direction of our table. She turned around to look at us. Disappointment was written over her face as she stalked to our table. Riley wasn't pretty, but not ugly either. She had a strong body. I wondered who would win between her and Becky in the Parthenon dome.
Without saying hello she asked, “You got the riddle?”
I kicked Becky’s shin underneath the table and begged her with my eyes not to tell Riley it was me.
“Yes, you have a problem with that?” she challenged.
Riley huffed, arched her eyebrows and stormed away to a table filled with girls who couldn't stop glaring our way. She dropped into a pillow and huddled in with the girls at the table.
“Why don't you want to let them in on the fact that you're good at solving riddles?” Lucian's question broke my gaze from their table.
“I'm not good at dealing with confrontations the way Becky is.” I nodded toward her. She made brushing off people look so easy.
He looked at his plate again and smiled. A gentle crease formed on his forehead. I could feel myself getting warm again; this had to stop happening in public.
The food was great just like the company. I listened to Lucian talk with admiration about his father's kingdom, Tith, and how he wanted to make his biggest dream, to claim Blake, a reality. He spun his empty glass in circles on his plate as he talked. He sounded so brave when speaking of swords, shields, and fighting. He hardly made eye contact with me, but the few times our eyes did meet, I could feel the electricity passing through us. Maybe it was just my imagination running wild, but the picture of Lucian, the dragon abuser, vanished, leaving behind the image of Lucian, the hottest guy ever.
By the end of the night, a couple of girls had scolded and murdered me with their eyes. I tried to ignore them, but I could feel their glares burning straight through to my soul.
When the bell chimed nine times, we returned to our dorms. We said goodbye to Lucian by the stairs and I wished him a lovely weekend. I sure viewed things differently after our talk. A fuzzy feeling inside my chest rose whenever he jumped inside my mind, especially his brilliant smile.
I still had one lingering question on my mind as the three of us sat down on Sammy's bed. “Do any of the humans ever get hurt during a claim?”
“Oh yes, the Chromatic dragons don't give up easily,” Sammy said.
“Then claiming a dragon can kill you?” I was suddenly afraid for Lucian, since he had just explained to me that he was planning a third attempt to claim Blake.
“There’s always one of the professors nearby, Elena,”Becky said in an assuring tone.“So when the going gets too rough they jump in.”
I was just glad they didn't go poof.
The subject soon changed away from the claiming to their capital city, Etan. Sammy said that creepers had consumed the entire city, along with the nearby villages and farms, on the night of King Albert and Queen Catherine’s death. For the past fifteen years, brave Dragonians had tried to find a way through the creepers. But when they got too close, the creepers became wild and alive, tearing apart everything in their reach. Every year, scientists checked the creepers to measure their growth, but they had yet to find a single one dead. The way the two of them explained it made me think about Jack and the Beanstalk. Becky had her own opinion and believed the Council was wasting their time with science. She believed that only Blake and his true Dragonian would be able to pass, like the Viden had prophesied when Blake's egg hatched. But since his true Dragonian didn't exist, Etan was lost forever.
The Viden predicted when Blake's egg hatched, that his Dragonian would be from King Albert and Queen Catherine's bloodline.
“They died before producing an heir and with that, my brother's only chance at getting claimed.”
“Oh, Sammy, you can't say that,” Becky said, giving her a side hug as Sammy's eyes sparkled with tears.
She sighed and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “The Viden has never been wrong, Becky,” she said in a soft, sad tone.
Trying to lighten the mood the conversation changed to the Viden. She was three hundred years-old, but her human body was still relatively young. The boys attending Dragonia Academy drooled over her. Sammy explained to me how vain she was and how the Viden had a fondness for only her famous fore-tellings, like Blake. He saw her at least twice a week.
When the clock chimed eleven, we called it a night.
I struggled to go to sleep even though I was so exhausted my cells hurt. I wasn’t sure if it was all the information my mind was trying to processor the new bed. I shivered, thinking of what the other side would do if they discovered that dragons were real. Humans had the tendency to destroy everything they didn't understand. They wouldn’t even consider a truce
I hoped Constance was right about the wall and that it would never lose its power, otherwise Paegeia could be in serious danger. I said a small prayer to keep us safe as I drifted off to sleep.
Chapter Nine
The next day I had the pleasure of discovering just how much Becky loved her alarm clock. She hit the snooze button at least a million times until it fell off the nightstand and crashed to the floor.
Sammy jumped on Becky. “Wake up sleepy head, or else we're leaving without you!”
Becky growled, but reluctantly got out of bed. I laughed as she struggled to wake up even as we were leaving our room.
We found Master Longwei at the main entrance. He was busy unlocking the gate.
The gate I love and hate all at the same time.
“He really needs help with his fashion choices. Those ankle shorts are so last season. Not to mention his ancient Hawaiian shirt,” Becky said, critically as if she was the fifth member of Fashion Police.
“It's not so bad,” Sammy said.
Becky rolled her eyes. “Sammy, no offense, but if I didn't tell you what to wear every day, you'd be dressed like a circus clown.”
“My choices aren't that bad, I just love color.”
I smiled, feeling at home with these girls. Dad jumped into my mind again, and a lump rose in my throat as I thought about how many of their mannerisms aligned with his.
“Good morning girls.” Master Longwei greeted us as he swung the gate open. “How did your first day go, Elena?”
“I’m still alive.” I swallowed hard, trying to hide my fear. I looked around and found the sky and clouds where buildings and trees should've been.
“I heard about George. I’m deeply sorry about his behavior and I assure you it will never happen again.”
“No hassle.” I waved in the air, hoping to change the subject. “Why didn't you tell me you're a dragon?”
The expression on his face told me he hadn’t expected that question. “I should have known Becky would enlighten you as to what I am.”
“See it as a little payback. Do you have any idea how hard we had to work to keep Elena from running away?” Becky chirped.
We all laughed.
“Are you comfortable with having a dragon for a head master?” he asked hesitantly.
“It's okay. If it's not too personal, can I ask you another question? How old are you?”
He grinned. “I'm scared you'll run away screaming. But Elm with all the historic buildings and museums is a good place to stumble onto something like that.”