strange ribbeting and they all looked over. Adrian blushed. “Oops, hiccups I guess. Must be hungrier than I thought.”
The boys continued to chat late into the evening in the common room until Gelasia told all the boys in the room that it was time for them to be going to bed. Lucian went up to his room where Rusty was pacing by the door. As soon as he walked in, Rusty came over and he scratched his head. “You’d think I neglected you, boy,” Lucian teased. He walked over to his bed and Rusty jumped up onto it. “Not tonight Rusty. You have a bed and it’s a very comfortable one. I’ve even given you my favorite blanket. You don’t need to sleep by my feet.”
Rusty began whining and turned his big brown eyes at Lucian, hoping that he would give in.
“That’s not going to work this time. I’m not going to suddenly disappear in the middle of the night. On your bed. If I need you I’ll call you.”
Whimpering, Rusty hopped off and curled up on his own bed. He continued to whine at Lucian as he watched him get ready for bed and blow out the candle.
“Rusty, neither of us will be able to sleep if you keep that up,” he mumbled. “I’m fine and you’re fine. Go to sleep.”
With one last soft whimper, Rusty quieted and Lucian drifted off to sleep. Rusty however was listening to Lucian’s breathing. When it slowed to the deep, steady breathing of someone sleeping, Rusty quietly hopped onto Lucian’s bed and curled around his feet. He lay there for a while looking at his master before finally closing his eyes to sleep.
After his classes were done the next afternoon, Lucian led Rusty to the witches’ hovel. He was surprised to see Althea standing outside waiting for him. “Hello Lucian. If you’ll wait here, I’ll talk to Rusty inside. It’s easier if you’re not around, he’ll be more open to discussing his problem.”
He nodded as Althea waved Rusty into the building. Rusty briefly glanced at Lucian before following the witch indoors. As he waited, Lucian sat with his back against the hovel wall, doing his homework
It was nearly an hour before Althea came back with Rusty. When they stepped out, he immediately stood and walked over. “I’ll speak to you for a moment inside,” Althea said before Lucian could say anything. Once inside, she motioned for Lucian to have a seat. When he had, she sat down and began, “I believe you’ll find Rusty to be more willing to leave your side now. He had several concerns he needed to address which is why it took so long.”
“Were you able to find out what was wrong?” he asked.
“Of course,” she said. “The problems are simple. One, he has nightmares from his trauma as a puppy. It would seem he was nearly drowned by a boy who tied a rock to his foot and threw him in a lake. The other problem was one I could more easily remedy. He was concerned that you, like your friends, would be put under a spell.”
“Wait, friends? Kaelen is the only one under a spell. He was turned into a beast,” he replied. “Everyone else is perfectly normal.”
“You’ve not been told?”
“Been told what?”
Althea wasn’t sure how to proceed, then shrugged. “Since the fairies have not told you, I’m afraid I can’t tell you either. All I’ll say is that Kaelen is not the only one of your friends undergoing a transformation.”
Lucian sat for a moment dumbfounded. One of his other friends was under a spell? “This may seem a stupid question,” he said, “but how does that affect Rusty?”
“No question is stupid, Lucian. Animals see far more than humans do. Rusty, like myself and the fairies, can see the glow of magic around your friends; though you do not. You can see the results of the magic on Kaelen and soon you’ll see them on the other. Rusty sees it already and was afraid that you would be transformed as well. He’s quite a loyal animal and loves you dearly.”
“I know,” he said. “I love him too. So, will he be able to stay in his own bed now?”
“He should be able to,” she said. “I’ve assured him that there are no present dangers for you. You’re a true gentleman, Lucian. We don’t see many of those in the world, even here.”
He blushed at the praise. “Thanks. And thanks for talking to Rusty.”
“My pleasure, Lucian. Enjoy the rest of your afternoon.” She showed Lucian to the door.
“You too,” he said as he walked outside. Rusty joined him and he walked with the dog towards the glade near the school to play fetch. It would be good to take a break from schoolwork and try to allow his thoughts to clear. He picked up a stick and threw it for Rusty, enjoying the time with his dog. He knew that Rusty was loyal; he had been from the start. It had been wonderful watching the awkward puppy grow into a handsome, well-trained dog. Lucian was grateful that he had kept Rusty and not insisted on getting a more experienced dog. He couldn’t imagine life without the cheerful, red setter.
“Hey Lucian,” George called. “Do you plan on eating tonight? ’Cause it’s almost suppertime.”
“Oh, is it? I guess I lost track of the time.”
“I can understand that,” George said as the two boys and Rusty headed towards the castle. “Adrian, Kaelen and Jacobi are already at a table.”
“Alright, I’ll meet you guys there after I get Rusty back upstairs to my room,” he replied.
“See you in a bit,” George said as he walked into the dining hall.
“I guess I should pay more attention to the clock, eh boy?” Lucian said as he and Rusty went up the stairs.
Rusty woofed softly and eagerly went through the door as Lucian opened it for him. Lucian watched him curl up in his bed and close his eyes. Laughing to himself, he headed downstairs to join the others for supper.
“Took you long enough,” Kaelen teased as Lucian sat down with his tray.
Lucian shrugged. “Oh, you missed the announcement Calista made,” Jacobi said as they were eating. “She told us that all of us in our fourth year will be starting a new class Tuesday evenings after supper.”
“Did she say what type of class?” Lucian asked between bites.
“No, she just said that we all need to be there at eight o’clock to begin our new lessons. She said the class will start next week and it will affect future meetings with our princesses,” Jacobi explained.
“Well, we’ll find out soon enough,” Lucian said.
Saturday morning dawned sunny and pleasant with a crisp breeze. Lucian wasn’t at all surprised to see that the girls were wearing cloaks against the chilly wind. He was rather grateful for his jacket.
Moira smiled as she saw him. “Good morning, Lucian.”
“Good morning. It’s a bit chilly, isn’t it?” Lucian asked.
“A bit,” she admitted, “but the cloak takes the edge off. How have your classes been going?”
“Pretty good,” he smiled. “Raphael seems happy with my progress in my right-handed fencing class. How are your classes?” He was enjoying the pleasant banter back and forth. Moira usually wasn’t this open right away and he wasn’t going to waste the moment.
After a while the conversation was interrupted by Calista and Melantha telling them to mount up and prepare for their ride. Lucian no longer had to offer Moira a hand up to mount Cinnamon, but he held the reins for her as she mounted. He then mounted Zephyr and they enjoyed an ambling walk through the fiery autumn glade. They were quiet for a moment, each enjoying the beauty. “I love this time of year,” he said as they looked around at the fall foliage. “It’s always so pretty.”
“It is,” Moira agreed. “And peaceful. Everything quiets down, like wintertime.”
They chatted lightly throughout the ride and soon came to the end. Lucian wished it could keep going. He had enjoyed the conversation; especially since Moira had rarely opened up so much before. After dismounting, they walked together to a picnic blanket where the rest of their friends were waiting.
As they began eating, the friends chatted easily. They sipped from steaming mugs of cider as they enjoyed toasted sandwiches and warm apple turnovers. “They always seem to know exactly what we need,” Allegra said as
she nibbled her turnover.
“It must be a fairy thing,” Jacobi agreed.
Kaelen found it hard to concentrate on the conversation. He’d been looking all day for Anna but hadn’t seen her. He hoped that his mother hadn’t done something drastic like pull Anna from school. Then he suddenly found her. She was sitting a few blankets away. “Would you excuse me for a moment?” Kaelen asked as he rose from his spot. He walked towards her. “Hi Anna.”
She blanched and stuttered, “Kaelen, I’m, I’m not supposed to talk to you.”
“Mother’s not here, she’ll never know. Please, Anna, I just want to say hi,” he pleaded.
Tears filled Anna’s bright blue eyes. “Kaelen, I’m so sorry. I’ve missed you so much. It’s horrible what Mother’s done.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“Everyone in Coleston thinks you died in an accident here. Mother made us hold a funeral to bury an empty coffin,” she stopped as she started crying more. “It’s not fair, Kaelen. I wish I could make it go away, I really do.”
He sighed, “I know Anna. Listen, I know you’re probably forbidden to do it, but could you maybe write to me every once and a while, just so I know I’m not totally abandoned.”
She got a defiant look in her eye; a look he knew he had had several times before. “I will never abandon you, Kaelen. Not ever. I’ll talk to some of the other girls who write to their princes and see if I can get some messages to you that way.”
“Talk to