them. There was laughter and chatter throughout the meal. As at their first meetings, Moira spoke with everyone except Lucian. When the time came for the princesses to leave he said, “I’ll see you in December.”
“Yeah, sure.” Moira looked preoccupied. Worse, she looked upset.
Once the princesses were out of earshot, Lucian turned to Adrian, “What did I do?”
“I have no idea,” he replied. “She wasn’t that upset when she got here. What did you do?”
“I don’t know,” Lucian said, exasperation in his voice. “Things were fine this morning.”
George came up behind them and said, “Well, we’d best do our homework now. I know we were all trying to get healthy again.”
“Not that it worked,” Jacobi said miserably. “Poor Clarissa seemed terrified to be near me even though I told her that Tallia assured me I wasn’t contagious.”
Adrian laughed, “Well, life goes on. Let’s get some work done.”
Year 2 Chapter 2
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The storms that flooded the grounds of the academy and filled the lake behind the castle seemed to last forever. One day in botany a sudden, warm ray of light caused the boys to run haphazard out of the greenhouse and into the sunshine, whooping with their arms outstretched, as though they’d never seen it before. “Would you boys come back to class immediately?” Russett demanded. He couldn’t help but smile as the boys, reluctant to leave the sun’s warmth, came back into the greenhouse. “I know it’s exciting to have sunshine again, but we really must finish class before you enjoy the rays.”
After what seemed hours, class was over and the boys ran back out into the sunshine. “Doesn’t that feel good?” Adrian asked as he tipped his face towards the sun.
“Yeah, but if we don’t hurry we’ll be late to fencing,” Lucian replied.
“Raphael wouldn’t mind. I’m sure he’d understand,” Jacobi said.
“Not even,” Kaelen retorted. “You know how he feels about punctualness, or whatever it is.”
“I believe you mean punctuality,” George teased as they walked into the castle.
They entered the classroom and worked through the hour. When classes were finally done for the day, the group of friends went back outside to enjoy the sunshine. The trees were already beginning to drop their leaves, and the grounds were picturesque in red, orange and gold. The grounds were still soggy and the earth smelled of rain, but the boys enjoyed being outdoors for a little while before returning to their rooms to do the homework they’d been assigned.
As Lucian worked on conjugating verbs for Lorelei, he resisted the urge to throw the book across the room. Working with the mermaid language was difficult. He looked out the window at the setting sun and sighed. Soon a knock at his door reminded him that it was getting close to suppertime.
“Do you plan on eating tonight?” Adrian asked as Lucian opened the door. “We’ve been waiting five minutes for you to come out!”
“Sorry, I was trying to get through the mermaid pages,” Lucian replied.
“I gave up on those,” Adrian said shrugging. “I mean, seriously, when am I ever going to have to talk to a mermaid?”
“Every Monday and Wednesday between two and three,” Kaelen pointed out.
“That doesn’t count,” Adrian retorted. “Most of the time she speaks to us in our language rather than that gibberish.”
“You know you’re asking to talk to mermaids in their language on your quest,” Jacobi teased.
“Oh no, they’re not sending me anywhere near water,” Adrian said.
“You’re digging yourself deeper,” George chuckled. “You should quit while you’re behind.”
The boys laughed and continued into the dining hall where supper was waiting. Conversation flowed easily between the friends as they were talked about the classes they hoped to have the next year. “I really hope I’m in dragon fighting. That just sounds like a lot of fun,” Kaelen said.
“Fun? You want a giant reptilian beast breathing fire down your neck?” Adrian asked.
“Hey, that dragon won’t get anywhere near me,” Kaelen retorted saucily. “I’m too quick. A dragon would be really slow because they’re so huge.”
“Obviously you weren’t watching the fairies very well when the princesses were here,” Lucian said. “Vulcan was moving like lightning and still missing sometimes.”
Kaelen scoffed, “Please, that was all part of the show. You’ll see. That dragon won’t know what hit him.”
“Tell us next year when you’ve actually fought it,” George replied. “I don’t think they’d let us actually be in any real danger though. After all, we do have to graduate in one piece, right?”
Everyone laughed. “I doubt the fairies would allow us to be dismembered. But at the same time, I bet Vulcan would hold out until the last possible second before jumping to our aid,” Adrian replied. “We have to learn somehow.”
After supper, Lucian went back to his homework. When he finally finished he stretched and Rusty came over to his side. “Hello boy. I bet you think I’m neglecting you,” Lucian said as he scratched Rusty’s favorite spot behind his ear. Rusty panted and looked perfectly content with the world. Lucian laughed. “Well, maybe neglect is too strong a word. Come on boy, I’ve got to write some letters, but I’m not doing it at the desk. I’ve been here too long.” He grabbed some paper and lay down on his bed, patting the spot next to him. Rusty jumped up onto the bed and circled around before lying down next to Lucian. Lucian scratched behind his ears again before beginning to write a letter to his parents. When that one was finished, he got a fresh page and started a letter to Allegra. He wrote:
Dear Allegra,
Sorry I didn’t write Monday. I had a lot of homework and I just completely lost track of the time. How are your classes going? Mine have been busy! They give us so much homework.
The rain finally stopped and all of the second year boys are finally well again. Seemed like forever! Nathan, the boy who locked us out, has finally lost his cloud too. He’s still sniffling and probably will be for a while. Anyway, enough about that. I wish you could see the grounds here. Fall looks so beautiful. The leaves have all turned and the forest behind the stables looks like it’s on fire! The air is crisp and smells of rain and earth.
Well, I hope this week goes great for you! I’m having a great time and have made so many friends I never would have met otherwise. I’m still not sure I’m cut out to be a Prince Charming, but I’ll do my best.
With Love,
Lucian
When he finished the letter, he suddenly felt the urge to write a letter to Moira. “What do you think, Rusty? If I write to her do you think I’ll be able to get to know more about her?”
Rusty looked up at him and woofed softly.
“You’re right, it’s worth a shot. After all,” Lucian said, scratching behind Rusty’s ears again, “what’s the worst that could happen?”
Fall slowly faded into winter and finals were looming before the boys again. The horsemanship and hunting finals were combined again as they had been the year before. Lucian looked at the row of nervous-looking first year students. He could hardly believe that was him last year. Of course, no one would have believed that Rusty last year was little more than a puppy at the final. This year, fully grown and trained, Rusty was among the better hunting dogs there. He still walked with a limp which Lucian was sure he would have for life.
Now Rusty went off exactly as he should. Lucian followed behind on Zephyr. They’d been training to hunt on horseback in horsemanship. Lucian wasn’t sure how Nathan would pass his final since he hadn’t been in class during their three week training session. But he didn’t think on it long. He had his own final to worry about. He guided Zephyr through the obstacles, following Rusty who had his nose planted to the ground and seemed to have caught scent of something. Rusty crept up to a bush and started baying. In no time, Lucian had a few pheasants in his bag. “Good boy, Rusty,” he said a
s he patted him on the head. He called Zephyr who immediately came and he hopped up, trying to do it without a stump. Sighing, he pulled Zephyr to the nearest log and gave himself a boost up. “Someday I hope I can do that on my own.”
When Lucian returned to where Diana and Phillipa were waiting, he was walking, leading his horse. “Lucian, you’ve had problems before but Zephyr’s never thrown you,” Phillipa said in surprise.
“He didn’t throw me. I just didn’t think I’d fit with the buck.”
“Bravo, Lucian,” Diana said with a smile. “Venison is always such a nice addition to our dinner the night of hunting finals.” She handed him a slip of paper with his scores on it. “Good work.”
He walked over to where Kaelen and Adrian were standing discussing their grades. “So, did you get an A this year?” Adrian asked.
Lucian opened the paper and his jaw dropped. “You didn’t get a P did you?” Kaelen asked.
“I got an E,” Lucian said, dumbfounded. “I have to be seeing things.”
Stuffing the paper in Adrian’s hand, Adrian skimmed it and whistled. “Wow, you really did awesome”
Lucian scratched Rusty’s ears. “You did it, boy.” Rusty just panted and seemed to smile as they waited for Jacobi and George to come out. When they joined the group they sat and talked until all the rest of their class and the first years had finished. Phillipa and Diana congratulated them on doing so well and Phillipa said. “Now is the time that the second years