You have touched William Ri’Cloch, Siphon activated. Assessing stats and experience...
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You have touched Ashanna Ri’Cloch, Siphon activated. Assessing stats and experience...
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You have touched Derrick Ri’Cloch, Siphon activated. Assessing stats and experience...
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You have touched Victor Ri’Cloch, Siphon activated. Assessing stats and experience...
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She glanced over the skills briefly for a moment, noting that Victor seemed to be a mini-Derrick, then mentally minimized them and pulled up her skills, searching for what she wanted before reporting on it. “Let’s see, my healing magic is at beginner 9, light is at intermediate 4, water at beginner 10, and wind at beginner 6.”
One of the girls bumped Victor out from in front of her gently, and she smiled at Jade, minus the evil eye she’d been giving Will earlier. She was utterly lovely, her long blonde hair coming down to mid-back in soft curls. Her skin seemed flawless and glowed a fantastic golden color. While not quite as impressive as her mother, she was still well endowed and wearing a dark blue dress that emphasized all of her loveliest features, matching perfectly with her eyes.
“That’s incredibly impressive.” She leaned forward, pecking Jade on the cheek as she said warmly, “I’m Camille. It’s lovely to meet someone as interested in magic as I am. Perhaps you can teach me your secrets.” Her eyes were twinkling, but Jade was reasonably sure she did want to compare magic notes. Clicking on her screen briefly, she could tell why.
You have touched Camille Ri’Cloch, Siphon activated. Assessing stats and experience...
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“I’d love to compare notes sometime, though my secret isn’t really a secret, sadly. I was given a special ability called accelerated growth, and it’s been helping me immensely.” It didn’t occur to her that she was gaining points quickly because of her effort and stubbornness as well.
Camille seemed a tiny bit put out upon learning her fast growth was due to a special ability, but still smiled serenely to cover it up. “That’s okay. Simply being able to discuss and practice with others is extremely beneficial for mages. I’m also at Dracona, in my second year, so I’m sure we’ll be seeing quite a lot of each other in the magic sections at least, I suspect.”
Jade grinned. “I’d like that very much.” Camille seemed like a genuinely nice person; plus she was an excellent target for upping her magic potential. The whole family was. Since Will had told her that the first King was a fantastic earth mage and two of them had earth magic so far, it seemed that magic was a fairly hereditary thing. Obviously, there were probably some exceptions, but once the magic got into the blood, it seemed to run strongly. She’d have to wait and see the others to be sure, though.
Camille stepped gracefully to the side as the younger girl behind her practically bounced into her place. She was jittery with excitement, and she almost smashed her nose into Jade’s trying to kiss her on the cheek. Blushing, but undeterred, she bubbled with energy. “Hi! I’m Tisha! Your hair is so pretty! It’s like you’ve got a crown of hair! I’m not old enough to go to Dracona yet, but I will be in two years! Can you teach me how to do my hair like that?” Her mouth was going a mile a minute as she chattered gleefully. She was like a tiny blonde doll, her hair in perfect ringlets almost all the way to her waist and shining baby blue eyes accenting her round face.
Jade broke out into a huge grin, unable to stop herself. Tisha’s energy was just so infectious. She laughed softly, nodding. “Thank you, and I’d be happy to come teach you sometime. My world was very into fashion, so there were all sorts of creative hairstyles there. I only know how to do a few of them, though.” She had to include that last part because she’d run out of ideas soon enough. Thank heavens for nurses who were always trying to figure out a new way to put their hair up when they had energy, which granted, was usually when they had a date after their shift. Well, it didn’t matter. She was sure she could wing it and try to recreate at least a few of them. Tisha’s hair was resplendent and as fine as silk, so there was probably a lot she could do with it.
“Yay! Soon? You’ll come soon, right?” she pressed, obviously super excited about it.
Jade laughed and demurred, “I’ll do my best. I’m not quite sure how busy I’m going to end up being yet.”
Seemingly satisfied, Tisha drifted out of the way so the last two boys could approach. They looked to be around fourteen, she’d guess, though she wasn’t sure. They were still so tall and shiny. Their hands were softer than the other men, and their hair was identically flopped over their ears and eyes in what she associated with the skater style. Their eyes seemed to have little golden flecks, and she absently wondered how she’d be able to tell the boisterous puppies apart. They each claimed one of her hands, bending over in unison. If she hadn’t been sure they were twins before, she was now.
“Nice to meet you! I’m Hayden.”
“And I’m Hunter, his better half.” He winked precociously, and she laughed in response.
“It’s lovely to meet you both.”
She grinned at them indulgently until Hunter asked curiously, “So, are you the zombie healer?” She was unable to keep her expression from falling in dismay.
Chapter Nineteen – View
She had instantly recoiled, surprising them by yanking her fingers back and out of their grasp, since they’d still held her hands captive. She recovered a moment later, but not before everyone had seen her expression and actions. Trying to put a smile back on, she asked quietly, “Do I look like a zombie to you?” Her voice had an undercurrent of menace, and her expression had turned colder. She was so happy to look normal, and if these boys dared suggest she still resembled a zombie, she was going to lose it.
“Of course you don’t. Ignore the pipsqueaks,” Will had chosen this moment to butt in, whacking his little brothers on the back of the head as he ordered, “Apologize, now.” They both mumbled a quiet ‘sorry,’ and Will cuffed them again before saying, “Well, now that introductions are out of the way, shall we sit down?” He was giving his brothers a look when he thought she couldn’t see him, but there were a bunch of mirrored surfaces around the room, now that she was surveying it more thoroughly. Probably so people couldn’t do sneaky things.
“Yes, of course! Sit down, sit down! Have you eaten? Would you like something? We’ve got plenty to choose from.” Queen Ashanna was quick to take control, leading Jade away from the twins with Will and pointing at the spread of food at the side of the room.
“We’ve already–” Will started to say something, but Jade quickly spoke over him.
“We’d love something to eat, thank you.” Uhm, hello? She gave Will a look, as if trying to remind him that you did not get between her and food.