brief pause he asked, “Does anyone else want to go for a ride?”
“I’d love to, but I doubt any of the horses would let me,” Kaelen replied. “But if you guys want to go for a ride, go ahead. I’ll stay out here with the dogs. Then you won’t have to worry about taking them with you or taking them to your rooms.”
“I’d like to go too, but I can’t reach the stirrups anymore and there’s just something wrong with getting a boost up at our age,” Adrian admitted with a sheepish grin.
“Are you sure?” Lucian asked. “None of us would mind giving you a boost. Even at seventeen."
“Yeah, I’m sure. You guys go on ahead. I’m sure Kaelen and I will find plenty to occupy ourselves.”
“Alright,” George said. “You guys have fun.” The three boys left Adrian and Kaelen as they walked towards the barn.
“So, did you ask Calypso about the amulet my uncle gave you?” Adrian asked as the others disappeared.
“Yeah, she gave me a book to read,” Kaelen replied with a moan. “Why can’t anyone ever just give us straight answers? Instead they give us clues and books.”
“I guess we’re supposed to try to figure things out on our own. I’d like it if they gave us clear answers, but it doesn’t seem to happen often around here. Is it a short book?”
“Not even close. It’s got to be the longest book I’ve ever seen. I think the title is Gems of Sanalbereth: Their History and Their Uses or something really lame like that. It’s got to be like a thousand pages. All I wanted to know was the story behind turquoise and amber. I didn’t want the world’s anthology of gemstones.”
“Well, maybe you’ll learn something interesting. And, you might be able to just look up the stones you want.”
“I doubt it, but truth be told I haven’t even opened the stupid thing yet,” Kaelen admitted. “I was so disgusted when I saw it that I stuck it in my bag and left it there.”
“I can understand that. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to find any answers unless you crack the book. Figuratively speaking,” Adrian teased.
Kaelen growled, “I’d rather crack it literally, but Calypso blessed it so that I can’t shred it like I did the last book she gave me.”
“Smart,” Adrian said. “Well, you’d best get started.”
With a grimace, Kaelen opened the book and began trying to read. The book had to be the oldest he’d ever encountered. It was hand-written with fancy lettering that Stefanos called illumination.
The gems of Sanalbereth have been a source of mystery and wonder for centuries. The use of gems began in the time before records as fairies tried to discover their purpose…
“Oh boy,” Kaelen grumbled. “This is going to be worse than I thought.” He forced himself to continue reading, though the writing didn’t get any better. If anything it became even more dry and boring. He flipped to the back of the book, hoping to find an index. But there was none to be found. There weren’t even chapter headings for him to look through. Kaelen realized with a sigh that he would have to read the whole book, page by page, in order to find what he was looking for. “I hate her,” he mumbled as he turned to page two.
The morning of the fall meeting, Adrian carefully dressed for the day. It was difficult to do with his hands bandaged up to hide that his fingers were beginning to web. The evening before he had gone to Tallia in hopes that she could help him hide the more obvious aspects of his transformation. Now he had ridiculous glasses to hide his eyes, make-up to make his skin normal, bandaged hands and a numbing solution to keep his tongue from shooting out of his mouth. After a half-hour of fumbling with buttons, he was finally dressed and had his make-up on. The last thing he needed to do was add the numbing solution to his tongue. Carefully following Tallia’s instructions, he spread it toward the back of his mouth. There was a slight tingling sensation as he worked and when he’d finished he looked in the mirror and feeling rather sheepish said, “Tongue be numb.” Instantly, he felt as though his mouth were on fire. His tongue turned a vibrant shade of red-orange and started to swell. “Aaaaargh!” Adrian yelled as he jumped up and down. He pulled open his door and went barreling down the stairs to the infirmary. “Ta-ya, Ta-ya! Ma ton, ma ton!” he shouted as he barged into the room.
“Adrian, what on…good heavens!” Tallia exclaimed as she saw Adrian’s face. “What happened?”
“Ah dun o,” The pain was worsening and his tongue was still swelling.
Tallia was digging through a medicine cabinet. “Oh I know there’s some in here. Ah, here we are!” She grabbed a vial of violet liquid and poured it down his throat. The swelling immediately began to go down. “Are you feeling better?”
Adrian nodded. “Wath it thuppothet to boo that?” he lisped around his numb and still slightly swollen tongue.
“I’ve never seen anyone react like that before,” Tallia said shaking her head. “Are you sure you did exactly as I told you?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, that’s the worst allergic reaction I’ve ever seen. I’m so sorry, Adrian. I never would have given that to you if I had known.”
“It’th okay. How bad do I look?”
She hesitated, “Oh, not too bad.”
Adrian looked in a mirror. “Tallia, my fathe ith pink and my tongue ith orange!”
“I’m really very, very sorry,” she said. “There’s nothing I can do about that.”
“Perfec’,” he mumbled. “Ath if I didn’ already look terrible.”
“It’ll be fine. I’m sure your princess will be more than understanding.”
Adrian sighed and then walked towards the entryway where the others were waiting for him.
“Wow, Adrian, what happened to you?” Jacobi asked.
“I don’ want to talk about it,” Adrian muttered. The princesses started filtering in and Adrian grabbed Lucian by the arms. “You’re tall; hide me,” Adrian begged, pulling Lucian in front of him.
“Nice try,” Lucian said, rolling his eyes and trying to move away.
“Come on, you’re the talletht boy in our clath,” Adrian said pulling him back.
“It wouldn’t matter how tall I was. Allegra would still be able to find you.”
“Thome friend you are,” Adrian mumbled just before watching Allegra give Lucian a hug.
“I hope you start writing again soon, Lucian. I’ve very much missed your letters,” she chided.
“I’ve been busy,” he laughed. “But I’ll try to write more often.”
“Moira hasn’t missed any letters,” She then turned to Adrian. “Oh, Adrian! What happened? You aren’t in trouble are you?”
“Not exthactly,” he said. “I had an allergic reacthion to a medicathion.”
“Oh you poor thing!” She patted his arm. “I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?”
“Pretend you can’t thee me?” he suggested with a mild grin.
She laughed, “Oh Adrian, I still think you’re the handsomest guy here. Except maybe for Lucian; he is my brother after all.”
If he wasn’t pink before, Adrian was then. “Well, thankth Allegra. Thall we go to breakfatht?”
“I’d be delighted,” Allegra replied, taking his arm. “Did the reaction affect your hands too?” she asked.
“Thort of,” Adrian said. “It’th a lon’ thtory.”
Moira caught sight of Adrian as she walked to Lucian. “What’s wrong with Adrian?”
“Allergic reaction,” he replied. “I’m sure he’ll be himself soon.”
“Are you sure that’s all?” she persisted. “He seems different.”
“I’m sure it’s just the reaction.”
“You’re not keeping secrets from me are you?”
Afraid she would catch him in not telling her the whole truth, he asked as teasingly as he could, “Me? Would I keep secrets from you, Moira?”
“You would if you thought that was the best thing for me. Seriously, Lucian; is Adrian alright?”
“Moira, he’ll be fine. I
t’s just a reaction. Tallia’s doing what she can to make it go away. Now, shall we go to breakfast?” he asked, offering her his arm.
“I see the topic is closed. But yes, I will join you for breakfast.” She walked with him into the dining hall and joined with their friends. As the meal progressed, she found herself watching Adrian closely, as though to find something more than just a reaction at work. She was sure that both Adrian and Lucian were keeping something from her, but she couldn’t figure out what it was.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Melantha announcing, “I’m afraid the weather won’t permit our usual festivities. However, I’m sure you’ll enjoy the alternate activity just as well.”
After everyone had finished eating, the group of friends went to the gym. When they arrived in the gym, they found that an elaborate obstacle course had been set up. “Well, this looks interesting,” Kaelen said as they entered. There were ropes hanging from the ceiling, large wooden platforms raised high above the ground, narrow balancing beams, and strange pits that none of the boys could remember having ever been in the gym before. “How do they plan on fixing all this?”
“Fairy magic?” Clarissa suggested.
Achilles walked in front of everyone and began instructing them on what they would be doing. “The first activity today is an obstacle course. Normally I would set this up outside, but with it raining we don’t want to get the ladies sick.”
“Never mind the rest of us,” Jacobi whispered with a grin.
Achilles continued, “At each platform there is a fairy to ask either the prince or the princess a question. If you