“He won’t hurt you!” Jahrra blurted out desperately.
But the girl who’d screamed and the boy standing next to her started shaking their heads in disgust and began gathering the other children together as far away from Hroombra as they could. Jahrra stood on the pathway feeling like the only person in the world. Why doesn’t Master Hroombra just tell them he won’t hurt them like he did with Gieaun and Scede? she thought, feeling smaller and smaller as so many wary pairs of eyes darted between her and the towering reptile standing behind her.
“We don’t make friends with people who know dragons.” The girl whispered haughtily to her friends, “My mother and father told me that dragons sometimes eat children.”
Jahrra was shocked to hear such things. Hroombra would never hurt anybody!
The old dragon sighed and shook his great head, shocking Jahrra back into the present. He’d been listening and watching the children the whole time and he knew there was nothing he could do to make this easier for Jahrra except to leave her and hope her classmates would find a way to put aside their differences.
“I’d best leave you now Jahrra,” he said quietly for only her to hear. “I fear I’m causing you harm by being here.”
Jahrra whipped around, terrified at the thought of Hroombra leaving her alone with this horrible group.
“Master Hroombra! Don’t leave!” she pleaded, running frantically after him.
Hroombra stopped and turned around to speak to her, “Jahrra, I can’t explain why those children say what they say but you must stay and learn to be patient with them. You’ll be alright. You have Gieaun and Scede. Try not to let the others get you down, just focus on your lessons and know that your family awaits you back at home.”
Hroombra gave Jahrra one last encouraging grin then turned to leave. Jahrra watched him go, fresh tears beginning in her eyes. The twin brother and sister took another besmirching look at Jahrra and then the girl glanced at Gieaun and Scede and said, “You know, you still have a chance to be our friends. But you can’t talk to her anymore.”
The girl finished her speech with a jerk of her head in Jahrra’s direction. Jahrra hadn’t even heard what the girl had said; she was still trying hard not to cry. Gieaun just crossed her arms and stuck her chin in the air, a gesture that contained more gall than Jahrra had seen from the timid girl all day.
“We don’t want to be your friends,” was Gieaun’s reply. “We like Jahrra and Master Hroombra.”
The awful girl just glowered and said, “Fine, you can’t be part of our club then.”
The other children seemed too reluctant to defy this girl so they just stood there, looking between her and Jahrra. A malicious glare from the mean girl quickly made up their minds and they all stayed right where they were, except for the older children who tapered off on their own, eager to talk about the huge dragon who’d brought three first year students to school.
Gieaun and Scede walked over to Jahrra and put their arms around her shoulders.
“Don’t listen to them,” Gieaun murmured encouragingly. “We’ve met them before in town. Their names are Ellysian and Eydeth. They’re twins and their father is richer than anyone else in Oescienne. They think they’re better than everyone else so they’ll treat you badly. Just ignore them.”
What Gieaun said comforted Jahrra and even though Scede still wasn’t talking, his comforting gesture was nice just the same.
The small group of the youngest children waited a while longer for their teacher, on separate ends of the schoolyard of course. Jahrra, Gieaun and Scede found a large granite boulder resting against the side of the hill with a great sprawling oak wedged between. While the three new friends sat waiting for their instructor they quietly endured the unkind comments drifting across the meadow to their side of the schoolhouse.
As Jahrra listened, the tears that had been welling up in her eyes finally spilled over.
“A dragon!” the girl called Ellysian exclaimed, managing to sound amused and shocked at the same time. “And did you see her uniform? How horrible! I bet it is made of old potato sacks that her mother dyed blue!”
Gieaun hugged her new friend tightly when she saw the look of hurt and confusion on Jahrra’s face. “Oh, don’t listen to her! She screamed the first time she saw me and Scede. She was frightened by our dark hair!”
Jahrra looked at the two siblings, eyes wide with surprise. Gieaun closed her eyes and nodded somberly.
“She had no idea that anyone could have black hair, and when my mother walked by her and her mother I could hear her saying, ‘Mama! What kind of people are those? They have hair like a crow!’ Scede and I were upset at first but then our mother said to us, ‘Just imagine how sad it is that she knows so little.’ ”
They then had a good laugh and Jahrra soon stopped crying. The three of them had been so caught up in the talk from across the yard that they almost didn’t notice a man on horseback coming up the path. When they finally noticed, all three of them sat stark still and appraised the man who could only be their school teacher.
He looked younger than middle-aged and his clothes were not as fine as most of the other children’s, a fact that somehow warmed Jahrra’s heart. He wore brown pants and a faded dark green riding jacket, along with a pointed hat complete with an exotic bird’s feather.
The man slid off of his tall chestnut horse and led it around to the back of the school building. Jahrra, Gieaun and Scede watched as he took the horse to the small stable out back, not once acknowledging the curious students glancing his way. After he was done caring for his horse he turned and walked over to the children. He immediately noticed that Jahrra, Gieaun and Scede were on one side of the schoolyard while the others were on the other.
“What’s this?” he asked in a warm voice, his hands placed casually on his hips. “Did these three try to bite you?” He lifted one long arm and gestured towards Jahrra and her friends.
Ellysian and Eydeth blushed at the comment but kept their faces stern. Jahrra, on the other hand, saw the amusement in their new teacher’s eyes. She smiled. She was glad to have another person with a light heart here; the other children were much too serious for her.
“I’m waiting,” the man said, crossing his arms and tapping his foot in a falsely annoyed fashion.
It was the boy Eydeth who spoke up first. “That girl is Nesnan, and those two Resai want to be her friend.”
Jahrra frowned. So what if she was Nesnan or Resai? What did it matter if she had less elf blood in her veins then the rest of the class? It mattered to Eydeth and Ellysian, apparently.
The man raised one eyebrow and scrutinized Eydeth for a while. “What’s wrong with that?” he finally asked.
Jahrra allowed herself a more abundant grin.
“She’s lower in class than us! We can’t learn with her, our parents won’t have it!” Ellysian insisted, stamping her foot in a small fit.
The man curled one hand under his chin and gazed at the group in a pensive manner. By now, even the oldest students had stopped what they were doing to gaze on in interest. Finally, after what seemed like several minutes, the man spoke, “My mother was Nesnan, and therefore I’m half. Will that be a problem as well?”
Ellysian simply stood where she was, mouth clamped shut, not knowing what to say.
“How about we forget about who is Nesnan and who is Resai and focus on our studies instead? Now, everyone into the classroom, we’re wasting the day!”