Ours was one of those once in a lifetime things. Love at first sight is very rare. Perhaps with time, Moira will come around. I suppose that’s why the fairies spend six years throwing you together.”
“What if she never comes around, Dad?” Lucian asked.
“Don’t worry about it son. You’re both young and you have much time ahead of you. Whether you see it or not, I’m sure in her heart, Moira thinks you’re handsome and even ‘kind of’ likes you.” Clapping his shoulder, Lysander continued, “Now, let’s see what your mother has arranged for lunch.”
They went to the dining hall where Allegra and Alexandra were already waiting. “Well, my dear, that took you long enough,” Alexandra teased.
“I apologize love, we lost track of the time,” Lysander replied, kissing her cheek before taking his seat at the head of the table.
After lunch, Lucian went to his room and started writing letters to his friends. As he was about to write to Moira, Allegra came to see if he’d play a game with her. Leaving the paper untouched, he decided he’d get back to it later. But as the day progressed, he soon forgot all about it.
The afternoon before they left, Lucian received a surprise letter from Moira. He opened it eagerly.
Dear Lucian,
I just wanted to write and say that I’ve missed hearing from you. I guess I got used to getting your letters every week. But I understand that you must be busy at home, catching up with your family. They seem very kind. Mother hasn’t stopped talking about your mother since we left. Could you tell her thank you for me? Mom has few friends.
I also wanted to apologize to you. I was very short with you and that wasn’t fair of me. I hope you’ll forgive me.
Well, that’s all I wanted to say. Enjoy the rest of your vacation.
Sincerely,
Moira
Unbeknownst to Lucian, Lysander had been looking over his shoulder. “I told you she’d come around,” he said, causing Lucian to jump.
“Yeah, I guess she was just having a bad day.” He reread the letter and then folded it neatly and put it back in its envelope. “Where’s Mom?”
“In the sewing room with Allegra,” Lysander replied.
Lucian went down the hall and into the sewing room. He could see Allegra standing on a box while Alexandra was hemming a new dress for her. “Do you like it?” Allegra asked.
Looking over the pale blue gown, he smiled, “It’s very pretty on you. Mom, I wanted to show you something. If you have a moment that is, I don’t want to interrupt.”
“Give me just a moment, darling,” Alexandra said through a mouthful of pins. “I’m almost finished.” Lucian sat down on a stool waiting. “There you are, dear, all finished. I must say that is a lovely color. I’m not sure I would have chosen it myself.”
Allegra spun in a circle so the skirt would fly around her. “It’s perfect. And no flounces!”
“Yet,” Alexandra chuckled. “Go on now, show your father and then get it packed for school.”
She seemed to float from the room as she spun this way and that.
Shaking her head, Alexandra turned her attention back to Lucian. “What did you want to show me?” He handed her the letter.“That’s very sweet of her. Where do they live again?”
“Lictthane. That’s only about three hours from here.”
“You’ve been paying attention in geography.”
“Orientation, Mom. Anyway, I thought you’d want to see that.”
“Yes,” she mused. “I might have to arrange a day trip to see her. Well, is there anything you need hemmed or patched up before you go back to school?”
Remembering his short pants, Lucian nodded and left the room, taking his letter with him. He placed the letter in his trunk before getting out his trousers. He took them downstairs to the sewing room where Alexandra was waiting. He stepped repeatedly behind the large screen in the corner as he changed into different pairs of pants for his mother to pin and hem. When she finished the last one she said, “I hope you don’t grow much more during the semester. I don’t think those can be rehemmed again. We’ll have to buy you new trousers for next year.”
“Well don’t say that too loudly,” he replied. “I may not grow at all.”
She laughed, “Darling, just because your father grew constantly from thirteen to sixteen doesn’t mean that everyone does. Why, I grew ten inches in one year and another three the next.”
“Really?”
“Yes,” she said, her gaze far away. “I went from being the shortest person in my class to the tallest within five months. And I didn’t stop growing there. Luckily there were a couple of other girls who also had late growth spurts. Flounces were very popular that year. I remember one girl who didn’t grow at all, but added flounces to her gown to make people think she had.”
Lucian laughed with his mother. “Well, maybe I’ll grow like you.”
“Oh I hope not, dear. How would we keep you in clothes? You can’t add a flounce to trousers.”
“I suppose not,” he said, instantly seeing in his mind a pair of pants with lacey flounces off each leg.
“Well, these are all done for you. Finish packing and then come to supper. We’re going to call it an early night because we have a long trip tomorrow.”
Lucian nodded and went to his room with his newly hemmed trousers. Secretly, he hoped he’d grow at least another inch during the spring term; two would be better. After neatly folding the pants and putting them in his trunk, he went to the dining hall for supper.
Very early the next morning, the group set out for Biberseth. Fair Damsels was only a few miles from Charming Academy and they had decided to drop Allegra off first. Lucian hugged his sister after going with her to take her horse to the stables. “I’ll see you in the spring.”
“Keep writing,” she commanded with a smile.
“You too,” he replied. He got back into the carriage with his parents and they rode the remaining miles to Charming Academy.
As always, Calista was waiting at the door for them. “Welcome back,” she said with a smile. “I trust you had a good break?”
“It was great,” Lucian replied with a grin.
“Excellent. Once you’ve put your horse in the stables, you can join us for supper. You’re right on time. You’re welcome to join us,” she directed to Lysander and Alexandra.
“I appreciate the thought but we have reservations in town,” Alexandra replied. When Calista merely nodded, she turned to Lucian. “Have a good semester love, and keep in touch.”
“I will Mom,” he replied, hugging her. “I love you.”
After hugging Lysander and watching them go, he went inside and joined his friends for supper. “How was your break?” George asked as he sat down at the table.
“Busy. Dad started teaching me rapiers because I wouldn’t quit pestering him,” Lucian replied.
“No wonder you’re so far ahead of the rest of us,” Jacobi laughed.
“Well, that’s not all I did. I worked with Rusty and Zephyr too. I just want to be at my best here.”
“No arguments here. If my dad was any good with a sword, I’d have him help me,” Jacobi said. “But I think there’s good reason he never needed to use it on his quest. He does okay with beginners, but even I’m starting to outmatch him.”
“I thought every prince needed to do fencing throughout school,” Adrian countered.
“It depends on your quest I guess. Dad finished fencing his third year. I’m guessing princes who are definitely going to use that go through school with it,” Jacobi shrugged.
“Yeah, my dad talked about having fencing but he also had double botany when he got to his later years here,” George said. “He had some kind of magical forest he had to battle through.”
“I would die if they put me in double botany,” Kaelen groaned. “I’m bad enough just once!”
Adrian laughed. “Well, we won’t have to worry about double anything until next year.”
The boys continued chatting un
til supper was over. When Lucian walked into his room, he looked over his schedule. The times really weren’t changing much from last semester.
Class Schedule
Day Time Class Teacher
Monday, Wednesday
8:00-9:30 Mathematics Marius Hawkeye
9:30-11:00 Fencing Raphael Peregrine
11:00-12:00 Lunch
12:00-1:00 Botany Russett Snapdragon
1:00-2:00 Hunting Diana Foxglove
2:00-3:00 Foreign Language Lorelei
3:00-4:00 Orientation Pagoma Snapdragon
Tuesday, Thursday
8:00-9:30 Horsemanship Phillipa Rosepetal
9:30-11:00 Physical Education Achilles Stardust
11:00-12:00 Lunch
12:00-1:00 History Clio Stormcloud
1:00-2:30 Etiquette Gelasia Stardust
2:30-4:00 Language Arts Airlia Willowlimb
Friday
8:00-9:30 Music Amadeus Comettail
9:30-11:00 Beginner’s Alchemy Aurelia Sundance
11:00-12:00 Lunch
12:00-1:30 Art Stefanos Stormcloud
1:30-3:00 Language Arts Airlia Willowlimb
On Thursday evenings, Astronomy will be taught from 8:00-9:30 by Uralia Moonbeam
After checking his bag to make sure all his supplies were available, he decided to call it an early night.
Winter was mild that year, allowing them to go outside with hunting and horsemanship more often. Lucian enjoyed horsemanship more than ever. Zephyr was still too tall for him, but he was also a natural dressage horse. He went through the courses Phillipa set up with ease and grace. His only weakness was the proud streak which often made him go his own way. Lucian shook his head at the end of class one day and said, “We almost had that perfect, you know.”
Zephyr snorted and