I smiled at her nervously and my greeting barely came out.
“Just show her around, and please don't let her get lost. There are still a lot of things she doesn't know. Try to tell her as much as you can,” he explained diligently.
“Master Longwei, you always do this to me,” Becky intoned, a whine slowly emerging to replace the hyperactivity.
“I thought talking to someone her age would help her to understand it better. I’m much too old for this, and don't know how to be hip and cool about stuff. You two speak the same language, Becky,” Master Longwei said.
“Fine, I’ll try. Thank heavens she knows about the dragons.” She raised both her eyebrows and took a long, deep breath.
“Good luck, Elena, and if you need anything, don't hesitate to come and see me. I will see you tomorrow morning for some shopping.”
Becky gasped. “Are you going to Elm?”
“Yes, and if you manage not to freak her out today, you can come too,” he said.
She bounced up and down, barely able to contain her excitement.
I really liked her, she reminded me of a pixie rushing on adrenaline. “This is your room, Elena, I hope you like it. Enjoy your day girls.” Master Longwei disappeared back through the door we had just come through.
This is my room.
I repeated the thought over in my head a million times and waited for it to finally sink in. Becky closed the door, and my eye caught the small lounge with a big screen T.V. hidden in the corner.
“Here's your bed, Elena, I will help you with the linen. I know they are huge, but there’s a reason for that.” She led me towards the empty bed.
“Where’s the other girl?” I referred to the other bed that had already been occupied.
“Sammy is an early riser and you’ve got Vicky’s spot. She's on a self-discovery quest,” she said, as if I was supposed to know what that meant. “I have a bit of a problem with the first, second, and third time my alarm goes off. I love the snooze button way too much." Her nose wrinkled up. “So, I bet you have a lot of questions huh?”
“I did, but my mind went blank.”
“Yeah, I know the feeling.”
I was glad that she offered to help with the bed. I didn't know how I would've managed it all by myself.
“I heard that you have a very dark mark.” She lifted up her sleeve, showing me the light brown stain on her arm. “You can barely see mine.” She promptly waited for me to show her mine.
“Mine is above my knee.” I gestured to my newly acquired jeans.
Her smile dropped instantly.
“Can I show you tonight?”
She nodded, and her smile went all the way up to her eyes. “So, your dad was really a Copper-horn?”
“Yes,” I said in a soft whisper.
She gave me a one-sided smile. “I'm sorry that he died, Copper-horns are extremely lovable and I can't imagine who would want to hurt one, not to mention kill one.”
Tears formed in my eyes, and I wiped them away quickly before she could see. “Did you know my dad?”
“No, he must have left when King Albert died. A lot of them left when he died,” she explained sadly.
“King Albert …he’s the guy that built this school, right?” I tucked one of the corners of the linen underneath the heavy mattress.
“Yes, he was also the true ruler of Paegeia, and the best king that ever lived. He was betrayed by his best friend. Nobody likes to talk about it.”
We finished and fell, breathless, on top of the freshly made bed.
She looked at her watch and jumped up. “Yikes, is that the time?” She grabbed her backpack with her one hand and my arm with the other.
I literally flew out the room, through the main door and down the stairs. My feet skidded off the steps, and I prayed that I wouldn't fall on my face, or worse, break my neck.
“We are so late. Master Longwei is going to kill me,” she said, panting with exertion.
We ran into the reception area, and I gave her a hand with the door.
We managed to open it wide enough for the both of us to squeeze through. More buildings appeared on the other side, which made the castle begin to look like a school.
She darted around the first corner, down another hallway and stopped. She turned around. “You ready?” She opened the door, and ushered me into a hall filled with other students. I felt like I was being thrown to the sharks. Good thing I was a fast swimmer.
Chapter Four
The hall was filled with students and the lecture had already begun. Becky and I crouched and walked to the second row, while the teacher scribbled on the blackboard facing away from the rows of students. As soon as we reached the row, we slipped into the only two empty chairs next to each other.
The other students chuckled softly at our stealthy plan.
"Late again, Ms. Johnson?" the teacher asked in a brisk Irish accent.
“Thanks, you guys,” Becky said to the chortling students. Turning to look at me, she rolled her eyes dramatically.
“Welcome, Elena,” the teacher said, and turned around with a grin not meant to be ignored. I gave him a small smile back. “My name is Sir Edward. In this class you will learn Paegeia's mysteries,” he said, and the whole class sighed. It felt as if the entire room was deflating with their obvious displeasure.
The teacher appeared much too young to be a professor, with honey-colored eyes and golden blonde hair. He wore a pair of faded jeans and a black T-shirt with a tribal print design. “Now, where were we?”
“You were telling us about the King of Lion sword,” one of the boys with bulgy eyes and dark brown hair reminded him.
“Thank you, Trevor,” Sir Edward said. “The King of Lion sword is the only sword that can slay evil too strong for non-magical weapons, especially dragons.”
I gasped.
“Not all dragons are good,” Becky whispered at my apparent discomfort.
“Why only this sword, Becky?” Sir Edward asked, and she shrunk in her chair.
“It's the only sword blessed by King William, a thousand years ago.” She clearly sucked the answer out of her thumb.
“Yes, and how did the sword get blessed?” he asked, still grilling her.
“Holy water,” she answered, and everyone laughed. Sir Edward smiled too.
“No. Try to pay more attention, Ms. Johnson. Riley,” he called on a girl in the third row who's hand reached the highest.
She flipped her hair and gave Becky an I'm-smarter-than-you-are smile. “No one knows for sure, but there are plenty of ideas.”
“She's a big know-it-all. A real toothache, if you ask me,” Becky whispered as Riley gave a breakdown of a million possibilities.
“Correct, Riley,” Sir Edward said.
“So we shouldn't rule out holy water,” Becky chirped. The class broke out in laughter.
“No, Becky, that one has been tested,” he said, ignoring her curled lip. “Who can tell me what the Japanese call it?”
The know-it-all, Riley, was the only one who knew the answer this time.
“Riley?”
“Shishiwo,” she said.
Becky was doing an accurate impersonation of Riley, and I had to suppress my laughter in order not to draw any more attention to us.
“Here, you deserve it.” Sir Edward tossed Riley a chocolate bar.
“Who can tell me how many King of Lion weapons we have?” he asked. This time everyone's hands went up, except for mine.
“Charlie?” He pointed to a boy in the first row.
“One,” the boy said. “Now where’s my candy?”
Sir Edward chuckled and tossed him one too.
“So if something happens to the King of Lion, we're basically screwed?" another boy asked.