Eleanor, Moira and Allegra. They all write to their princes and they would get the messages to me. Thanks,” he said. “I know this is hard.”
She grabbed his arm and slipped something into his hand. “I’ve been hanging onto this for you. I wish I could have saved more.”
Opening his hand, Kaelen saw the signet ring that his grandfather had given him upon his acceptance to Charming Academy. Grandfather had died less than a month later. Because the huge ring hadn’t fit his small hands, Kaelen had left the ring at home where it would be safe. Now he was glad he had it. “Thank you, this means a lot to me.”
“I know. Mother was furious when she couldn’t find it,” she added with an impish grin.
Kaelen smiled and then walked away, leaving Anna with her prince and her other friends. He looked at the ring. His grandfather, the ultimate hero, had left him with a precious gift. “It’s not just a ring,” he remembered his grandfather confiding as Kaelen had sat next to him on the bed. “It’s got a special magical gift bestowed on it. A witch blessed it. When you are in the direst of need and feel the loneliest, it will bring to your mind a vision of the one you wish most to see. It helped me many a time on my quest. Since your dear grandmother passed, I’ve been able to have some comfort.”
Now as Kaelen looked at the ring, he realized what a unique gift his grandfather had given him. He could see Anna anytime he wanted to. He held the ring in his hand for a while before attempting to fit it onto his finger. While he couldn’t wear it on his ring finger, he was able to get it onto his pinky.
“That’s a nice ring, Kaelen,” Eleanor said as he sat down again. “I don’t remember you having it before.”
“My grandfather gave it to me when I got accepted into Charming Academy,” he replied. “I couldn’t wear it before because it was too big, now it’s almost too small.”
“Well, you have, um, grown recently,” Clarissa said.
They continued chatting until Melantha began gathering the girls. Lucian led Moira back to the group. “Lucian, I really want to talk to you about what happened last winter.”
“Moira, I’m doing the best I can to stay true to my word,” he replied with a strained laugh.
“No, I mean, yes, I understand that. But Lucian, that’s not what I mean, I…” she began, but was interrupted as Melantha began shuffling girls into the carriages.
“You’d best go,” he said. “Write to me about it.”
Exasperated, she snapped, “Boys always make things so complicated.” She then turned on her heel and marched into an open carriage.
“I think I just messed up again, Adrian,” Lucian admitted as they watched the carriages go.
“You sure have a knack for it,” he teased. “Don’t worry, what happened?”
“She was trying to tell me something and I think I took it wrong. I just don’t get girls at all.”
Adrian clapped him on the back. “Do any of us?” he asked as they walked back into the castle.
The next Tuesday, the boys in their fourth year met in the gym after supper to begin their new class. There was a lot of confused chatter. They already had fighting classes, etiquette classes, and their regular classes. What could there possibly be left? And why was this class reserved for midway through the semester rather than beginning at the start of the year? The confusion did not lessen when they saw the row of stationary mannequins lined against one wall. “Are they going to turn us into mannequins too?” one of the boys asked.
“Don’t be dumb. Those are all girl mannequins. We’re probably going to learn how to do some sort of spellbreaking.”
“But we already have a spellbreaking class.”
One hopeful boy thought they’d be learning how to kiss properly.
“Oh yeah, because the fairies are going to teach us how to kiss,” Kaelen whispered, unable to keep the comment to himself. “I mean, really? Why on earth would they need to teach us that? It’s not like kissing can possibly be that hard. You stick your lips together and congratulations; you’ve just kissed.”
George started giggling. “Somehow I think there’s more to kissing than just sticking your lips together. But you’re right; the fairies aren’t going to teach us. I’m pretty sure that’ll come naturally.”
The chatter stopped as Gelasia entered the room followed by Raphael and Honoria who was holding Theodora’s hand. The little toddler fairy looked around at all the boys and tried desperately to hide behind her mother’s skirt. Lucian smiled down at her and waved. Her aqua eyes looked up at him shyly and she gave him a half-smile before ducking behind her mother again.
“Gentlemen,” Gelasia began, “I’m sure you’re all very curious about what you’ll be doing. Before I reveal the intention of the class, let me remind you that it is imperative that each and every one of you attend every time. There’s not much time before you’ll be using what you learn. I can assure you that the ladies will be very disappointed if you do not take this class seriously.
“In this class,” she continued, “you will be learning the art of dancing from Raphael and Honoria. Let me tell you, they are beautiful dancers and if you pay close attention, you’ll be able to sweep your princess off her feet; quite literally in fact.”
The reaction to this news was mixed. Some looked disgusted while a few looked genuinely excited. Most looked as though they’d just been told they were flunking every class. Before the whispering could get out of hand, Gelasia waved her wand. The still mannequins came to life and began walking towards the boys closest to them until each boy had a dancing partner. Kaelen found it vastly unfair that as the biggest person in the room, he had the shortest and most delicate mannequin.
Raphael began, “Now, the first thing you’ll need to learn is proper positioning. You bow to your partner and then take her right hand like so and place your left hand on her waist.” He demonstrated with Honoria. “I will warn you; these mannequins do not take kindly to fresh behavior. Your left hand should be on the young lady’s waist, no lower or higher. Now you try.”
Several boys looked at each other before turning to the mannequins. Kaelen was fairly sure his hands were big enough that even with perfect placement he would be overreaching the appropriate boundaries. Just what would happen if you went too far? He soon heard a loud smacking sound followed by a yelped, “Hey!” He turned to see one of the boys rubbing a sore spot on his cheek. The mannequin had crossed her arms over her chest, her head tilted to an offended angle.
“Oh, she slaps you,” Kaelen muttered. “Terrific.”
“You’re going to have to ask forgiveness and try again, Robert,” Raphael said. “She won’t work with you otherwise and we’ve got another hour and a half before you boys are done.”
There was some groaning and Kaelen turned back to his mannequin. Feeling immensely foolish, he bowed. To his surprise, the mannequin curtsied. He took her delicate hand in his and then gulped as he attempted to place his hand on her tiny waist. “Please don’t slap me,” he begged. The mannequin didn’t move as he gingerly laid his left hand on her waist. “Thank you,” he breathed.
Once everyone was in position, they were given more instruction, this time by Honoria. She explained the steps and the importance of counting. She waved her wand and a slow waltz began. “We’ll demonstrate the steps and then you join us. If you wait too long, your mannequin will begin without you,” she warned. They watched as the couple began the steps. Then slowly, the boys began following suit. It wasn’t long before another smack was heard.
“Hey!” Jacobi cried bitterly, “my hand was where it should have been.”
“You must have stepped on her foot,” Honoria said gently as they came to where he was. “Ladies don’t appreciate being stepped on.”
“I bet Clarissa is more forgiving,” Jacobi muttered before apologizing to the offended mannequin and attempting to pick up the steps again.
By the time their first dancing class was over, most of the boys had crimson spots on their cheeks where their mannequin had s
hown disapproval for wandering hands or clumsy feet. Even George hadn’t been immune to the mannequins’ knack for catching mistakes. Poor Jacobi looked as though he’d been slapped at least a dozen times. “I’m a klutz,” he mumbled as they walked out of the gym.
“You’ll get the hang of it soon enough,” Adrian said.
Surprisingly, Kaelen had not once run the wrong way of his mannequin, a feat that Lucian complimented him on. “I figured you would have had the hardest time,” he said. “After all, your mannequin was half your size. I was afraid you wouldn’t even be able to touch her without getting slapped.”
“I was too,” Kaelen admitted.
“Size doesn’t matter in dancing,” Gelasia said from behind them. “It’s a matter of grace and manner. None of you did terribly.”
“I got slapped fifteen times,” Jacobi said in disbelief. “I was terrible.”
“Nonsense,” Gelasia reassured him. “It’ll come with time. Just remember to count and you’ll do just fine. Besides, you’ve only got to work on being more graceful. Some of those boys need to work on that and their manners.” She smiled and turned to go a different direction as the boys continued up the stairs to their rooms.
“Can you believe that?” he asked when he was sure they were out of earshot. “I think she’s being overly nice.”
“Not really,” Adrian said. “It’s like she said; once you’ve got