to tell he was lying.
“Your sister’s right about you. You’re a terrible liar. You’ve never found one of these before, have you?” When Lucian didn’t reply, she continued, “So why give it to me?”
Shrugging, he said, “I wanted to. I thought you’d like it since you seem to love the beach so much. It could remind you of the fun you had out here.”
For a long moment Moira was quiet. She sniffed after a while and Lucian was fairly sure she was crying. She asked softly, “Why are you so nice to me?” Before Lucian could reply, she got up, walked to the others and said she was going to bed before running to the castle.
“Now what did I do?” Lucian asked himself. He rejoined the others long enough to say he was going to bed too before going into the castle and going to his room. He stared out the window at the beach. Stars were beginning to twinkle in the twilight. It had seemed like the perfect gesture, giving her a seashell he’d always wanted. Now he half-wished he’d kept it for himself and just let her alone.
“What did you do to make Moira run off like that?” Lysander asked, causing Lucian to jump.
“I have no idea,” Lucian sighed. “I gave her a seashell.”
“Hmm. Did you say anything to her?”
“I just checked to make sure there were no hard feelings about the race, then gave her the seashell and she started crying.” They were both quiet a moment and he asked, “Dad, do you think she avoids getting to know me because her dad died? I mean, maybe she’s afraid of getting close because she thinks I’ll die young or something.”
“I can’t tell you, son,” Lysander said, putting an arm around Lucian’s shoulders. “Emotions are difficult to understand, especially when you’re dealing with the opposite gender. Perhaps it’s that, perhaps it’s something else. I’m not the right person to talk to about that. Moira is the only one who can explain to you what she’s feeling,”
“I was afraid you’d say that,” Lucian sighed. “Maybe I’m not cut out for this.”
Lysander turned so that he and Lucian were looking straight at each other. “Don’t say that, Lucian. You can’t give up so easily. Lucian, you’re only fifteen. From what I understand, she won’t be fifteen until the middle of August. You’re both young and this is a hard time for both of you. Life is changing in so many ways, many that you don’t understand. Promise me that you won’t give up; that you won’t quit on Moira or on yourself.”
There was an urgency in Lysander’s eyes that concerned Lucian. “I won’t let you down.”
“Don’t worry about letting me down. Don’t let Moira down,” Lysander said gently.
“Dad, are you sure there’s nothing bothering you?” Lucian asked.
“I’m fine, son,” Lysander said, closing the subject. “I should let you go to bed. Keep your chin up, Lucian. Everything will work out fine, you’ll see.”
The next morning, Adrian and Lucian rode together back to the family home. They rode slower than they had coming out to the seaside castle. They talked about school starting again and various other little tidbits. “I wish we didn’t have to go back. This has been a great break, even with Mom and Moira,” Adrian said.
“Adrian, why don’t you guys get along?” Lucian asked.
Adrian flushed. “I, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Come on, Adrian.”
“No, alright,” Adrian snapped. “It’s none of your business.”
“I’m sorry, I’m just,” Lucian started, but never finished. Adrian spurred Stardancer to a gallop and rode ahead of him. Zephyr pulled at the rains. “Not this time, boy. I think he needs some space. I just keep screwing things up.”
Zephyr snorted at him.
“Gee thanks, Zephyr. That made me feel tons better.”
Whinnying, Zephyr seemed to tell him that it wasn’t his fault he was having problems.
Lucian rolled his eyes and let Zephyr speed up to a brisk trot. They arrived at the castle just before the carriage with the others did. He didn’t have a chance to really talk to Adrian before they arrived. However, when he did get to the castle, Adrian was acting as though nothing had happened. “I’ll miss seeing you,” he said.
Surprised, Lucian replied, “Yeah, me too.”
The others pulled up and soon they were busy getting things packed into the other carriage, making sure that no one had forgotten anything and getting the horses taken care of.
“I’ll see you in the fall,” Lucian told Moira as he helped her get the last of her bags onto the carriage.
“Yeah,” Moira said. “Bye.” She disappeared into the carriage before Lucian could say another word. Adrian waved out the window at him as the carriage disappeared down the drive.
Year 3 Chapter 2
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When classes started again, the boys waited impatiently for Tuesday afternoon and their first dragon fighting class. Monday seemed intolerably long and Tuesday also seemed to drag. Spell breaking with Althea was held in a small classroom directly in front of the witches’ hovel filled with cauldrons, dead animals in jars of formula, dried and drying herbs and plants. It was dank, dark and smelled musty, yet there was a hidden power in the room that made the boys nervous. “Good morning. I am Althea, though some of you already know me.” Her eyes seemed to linger on boys who had been punished by her. “In this class I will teach you the basics of spell casting and, of course, spell breaking. You will learn the art of healing and power to destroy. A Prince Charming faces many dangers before finding his true love. He must deal with both good and evil. This class will give you the advantages you need to succeed. To begin with, these are your textbooks.” she raised her arms and stacks of books floated through the air, landing on each desk. “Tonight, you will need to read chapter one.”
A boy opened his book and gasped, “Chapter one is over fifty pages!”
Althea turned to look at him with a flash of a smile. “I never said the assignment would be easy. It is however important that you read carefully. You will be expected to know it well enough for a class discussion Thursday. For now, we will be discussing what you already know. Who can tell me the difference between fairy magic and the magic held by the Sisters?”
Kaelen raised his hand and was called on. “Fairy magic is less powerful.”
“Very good, Kaelen,” Althea said. “Anyone else?”
Lucian raised his hand and waited for Althea to call on him. “Well, I think the fairy magic only has specific things it can be used for. Even in anger, the fairies don’t use their magic, so I guess their magic would only be able to do things that are constructive or helpful, not destructive.”
“An excellent observation, Lucian,” Althea replied. “The magic of the fairies is indeed limited. They cannot destroy, though in times of anger wands have been seen to spark or smoke. That is why the Sisters are here as the disciplinary arm. Our magic is not restricted to helping. We can also harm.
“Another difference is how the magic is created. In one aspect, fairy magic is more powerful because it does not need an incantation. All magic performed by a witch has an incantation. This is something that can hinder a witch, so if you should chance to have one on your quest, keep that in mind. You have a few seconds head start. And I do mean, a very few,” she added.
The class continued on and at the end of it, the boys walked outside to the stables for horsemanship. Phillipa greeted them as usual and they continued on in their lessons as they always had. They went to lunch and after that went to fencing. Raphael met them at the door. After an hour of fencing, Raphael dismissed everyone except Lucian. When the others had gone, he turned to Lucian and said, “I suppose you’re wondering why you’re the only student in here.”
“Yeah,” Lucian admitted.
“You are an excellent swordsman, Lucian. The best I’ve ever worked with,” Raphael began. “However, you are also very left-handed. For the safety of the other students I’ve requested that you be in this class by yourself.”
&nbs
p; Lucian didn’t like where this was going. “What do you mean?”
“It’s time, Lucian, for you to learn to fight right-handed. For the next two years, longer if necessary, you’ll have double fencing and the second half will be right-handed instruction.
Lucian’s heart plummeted. “Oh.”
“Don’t worry, Lucian. As talented as you are, I’m sure you’ll take to right-handed fencing like a fish to water. Now, en garde!”
It was clear by the end of the hour that whatever his skill with his left hand, it didn’t transfer to his right. He dropped the sword several times, hearing its echoing clang against the floor. He swiped in all the wrong direction several times and wondered how he’d ever managed to block Kaelen during their first year.
“Well, that wasn’t too bad,” Raphael said at the end of class.
“That was awful,” Lucian moaned.
“Cheer up lad. Today was just a test run, to see where you are. Now I can truly fit the instruction to best fit your needs. Why, in no time at all, this will feel completely natural. Now, off to your next class.”
Lucian trudged to the greenhouse, meeting Adrian on the way. “You have no idea how disgusting toads are,” Adrian said with his nose wrinkled.
“Nice to see you too.”Lucian teased.
“How was fencing?”
“Terrible. He’s trying to teach me right-handed.”
“Who else is with you?” Adrian asked.
“For their own safety, no one. I’m in class by myself,”