act like he’s under a spell?”
“That’s the strange thing and why I didn’t say anything to him,” Diana explained. “He’s acting as though nothing happened. He’s not a strange color, he doesn’t have any unusual tics, he’s just plain Adrian with a magic glow around him.”
“Thank you for telling me. I’ll speak to the Sisters about this and see if I can’t figure out what’s going on.”
Diana nodded and left the room. Calista sent a piece of lavender paper through the window. Soon the Sisters were in her office. “You called all of us, Calista. Is something wrong?” Althea asked.
“I’ve just been told that Adrian is glowing,” she said. “Is there a reason for that?”
Althea remained calm. “I’m afraid I’m not as familiar with your students as you are Calista. Who is Adrian?”
“One of my second year students,” Calista explained, pointing her wand at the blackboard behind her. The chalk sprang to life and began drawing Adrian’s portrait as she continued. “You wouldn’t be familiar with Adrian because he’s never in trouble.”
Lucretia giggled as the portrait finished. Everyone turned to look at her and Althea’s eyes darkened. “Do you have something to say, Lucretia?”
“That’s the frog prince,” Lucretia replied with a malicious smile.
“Frog prince?” Calista repeated. “Why? You know you are only to use your spells when you are called. You have breached not only my trust, but the trust of every parent with a child in this school and at Fair Damsels Academy. Do you realize the consequences which could arise from this?”
“You profess to teaching gentlemen,” Lucretia argued. “A gentleman does not stick his tongue out. It’s unsightly.”
“That is neither here nor there,” Calista replied. “Change him back.”
“She cannot,” Maeve interrupted. “It is written in the stars. His quest has been altered. There is nothing we can do at this point except wait and see.”
“There, you see,” Lucretia said as though this vindicated her.
Calista eyed Maeve. “Are you quite sure?”
“Oh positive,” she said. “I was looking just before receiving your summons. You see, Lucretia gets upset when a spell goes awry. I could tell something was bothering her and so I took to my charts. Adrian’s transformation will take three years, perhaps longer, to be complete. He probably won’t even notice for the next year and a half.”
“Maeve is never wrong about the stars, especially when we’re close to the Change” Calypso added. “I would believe what she has told you.”
“However,” Morghana rasped, “Lucretia must be dealt with. She has breached the trust of the fairies and broken our code by deceiving her Sisters. Althea, you know what must be done.”
For the first time since entering, Lucretia felt frightened. “You wouldn’t.” Althea turned towards her and merely held out her hand. “No,” she hissed. “I won’t give it to you.”
“You can give it willingly, or I can take it by force,” Althea replied. “It’s your choice.”
Lucretia’s eyes glowed and her hair billowed about her like a flame. “I won’t.” Her necklace glowed.
Althea closed her eyes and the ruby in her crown glowed, brighter and brighter each moment. The necklace rose slowly over Lucretia’s head as though invisible hands were playing tug-of-war with it. As Lucretia screamed in anger, Althea said, “You have chosen this. You are stripped of your powers for the next two months.”
“You can’t do this to me!” Lucretia sobbed. “I have to be able to care for my herbs!”
“You’ll do so as a mortal would,” Althea replied. “Maeve will take your place in botany blessing the student’s flowers.”
As Lucretia cried, Calista asked, “Isn’t that a bit harsh? You and the others will have to take on her duties.”
“As you said, she has breached the trust of many. Her punishment may have been shorter if she had willingly given up the necklace. She is young and vain and must learn this lesson,” Althea explained. “However, I believe you have things you need to do, so we will bother you no longer. I’m sorry for this misunderstanding, but have faith that it will turn out alright in the end.” She stood and the others followed her, Lucretia weeping. “Enjoy the rest of your day.”
Calista could still hear Lucretia’s anguished cries as she sent messages to all the fairies on staff and a longer note to Lorelei explaining the situation. When they had gathered in her office, she said, “We have a bit of a problem. Adrian is quite slowly turning into a frog.”
There was a barrage of voices until Calista raised her hand for silence. “I don’t understand,” Airlia said when Calista motioned towards her. “Why is he being punished? Adrian’s such a good boy.”
“There’s been a slight hiccup with the Sisters which has already been dealt with,” Calista replied. “However, in talking to them, I feel it would be best not to say anything to him at present. Human eyes can’t see the glow of magic, therefore it will be some time before he or his peers notice anything.”
“Shouldn’t he be told?” Achilles asked. “This will affect his ability to do his quest.”
“Exactly,” Gelasia said before Calista could explain. “He will see this as leading to imminent failure. He must continue on as though nothing has happened if we are going to be able to teach him all that he needs to succeed on his quest. That is the only way he’ll be able to succeed. Imagine someone telling you that you were going to eventually turn into a frog and yet you still have to make a girl fall in love with you. Even you wouldn’t be up to the challenge. No, Calista’s right. We mustn’t tell him yet.”
“For now,” Calista continued when Gelasia had finished speaking, “there will not be any changes made to his schedule. It would be unnecessary and raise his suspicions. I just hope that none of you will mention to this to him. As Gelasia said, it would destroy his own confidence in his abilities. I believe if we do everything we can to make this an easy transition for him, that he will be able to make his quest work. Perhaps not in the way we planned it, but to a happy ending nonetheless.”
Year 2 Chapter 4
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Winter melted into spring with bright sunshine and cool, refreshing breezes. The flowers the boys had been growing in botany were growing beautifully. Lucian couldn’t help a sense of pride in his rosebushes; though he had noticed with some confusion that not a single bush had thorns on it. He shrugged and put the thought behind him as he pruned it and breathed in the delicate fragrance. He looked about the greenhouse. There were white rosebushes, bright blue larkspur, delicate forget-me-nots, and irises ranging from bright blue to darker blues.
“They are lovely, aren’t they?” Russett asked, noticing Lucian’s line of vision.
“Yeah. I think I know now why Dad spends so much time in his garden,” he replied.
Russett laughed, “My mother always said they bring peace to the soul.”
When the boys were sitting at supper, Calista got up and made an announcement. “As you all remember, this weekend is when we will meet with our princesses. However, due to special circumstances, the meeting will be held at Fair Damsels. We will leave the castle promptly at seven thirty.”
“Why do you think we’ll be going to their school?” Kaelen asked. “They always come here.”
George shrugged, “I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough.”
He was prevented replying by Russett appearing at his shoulder. “Can I speak to you after supper? Come meet me in the greenhouse,” he said, handing Kaelen a deep red piece of paper.
“Am I in trouble?”
“No, you’re not in trouble. I just need to talk to you,” Russett replied. “After supper is fine.”
“What do you suppose that’s about?” Lucian asked.
Kaelen shrugged. “Maybe I forgot to water my rosebush.”
After supper, Kaelen walked outside to the greenhouse. When he walked in, Russett was arranging flowers the boys had g
rown. “I hope you finished eating before coming,” Russett said, barely looking up from the arrangement he was working with.
“Yeah, I did,” he replied. “What did you need to talk to me about?”
“I have a secret for you. I had to beg Calista to let you in on this,” Russett began. Kaelen listened eagerly. “As I’m sure you’ve observed, Tallia and Achilles are very close.”
Feeling very disappointed, he said, “Yeah, so?”
“So, they’re getting married Saturday. That’s why we’re going to be going to Fair Damsels. Tallia’s sister works there. Now, I’m sure you can imagine that a wedding needs lots of flowers.”
Kaelen was starting to feel suspicious. “I’m still not sure why you need me.”
“You’re the only other person in this school who knows how to arrange flowers,” Russett explained. “I’d like you to help me create the flower arrangements for the tables and specifically for the trellis they’ll be married under. All of the flowers that were grown by your classmates and some that I’ve been growing are going to be used for this. Are you up to the challenge?”
The tone in Russett’s voice raised the competitive streak in Kaelen’s nature. “Absolutely.”
“Excellent. Every evening after supper we’ll work on the arrangements. I can keep these fresh until the special day comes. Ready to start?”
“Yeah,” he said, feeling anticipation build in him. He hadn’t told anyone, but he’d missed working with the flowers and their month of gardening had