the course had another ten points for each part, so all totaled there were two hundred points available. Of those we got one hundred eighty-seven.”
“Not bad,” he said as they entered the dining hall. They saw several of the younger students and a few of their own age group. Allegra and Adrian were sitting together at a table by themselves. “I guess we should go join them.”
They walked to the table where Allegra and Adrian were sitting. Allegra was surprisingly quiet and Adrian was scowling over something. “Is everything alright?” Lucian asked.
“Everything is just fine,” Allegra snapped.
Moira and Lucian looked at each other a moment. He shrugged and they each decided to leave the matter be. “Well, has anyone else emerged?”
“You two are the only ones we know of,” Allegra said. Her voice was still edgy, but at least she wasn’t snapping.
“I guess we’ll just have to wait for everyone else to show up.” Moira was looking at Adrian as though by staring she might get him to talk to her. Instead he turned further away from them.
There was an uncomfortable silence until Leticia and Kaelen showed up, followed soon after by Jacobi and Clarissa. “I think I saw George nearing the exit, but I’m not sure,” Jacobi said as they sat down.
“You did,” Eleanor replied as she and George had a seat. “That was quite the challenge; especially that last question. They certainly made you think didn’t they?”
Adrian scowled even deeper as Allegra retorted, “Well it made some of us think.”
“Oh dear, I seem to have hit a nerve. I’m sorry. Well, how did everyone like the effects of the jungle? That was so real-looking. I very much believed we had somehow wandered out of the school and to an entirely different realm. The snake pit was terrifying.”
“Snake pit?” Leticia asked. “I don’t remember there being a snake pit. There were some very realistic alligators; though I’m sure they were fake.”
“Oh they were real alright,” Kaelen replied ruefully. “If I ever figure out who the wise-guy was who thought of that I’ll strangle him.”
Jacobi laughed. “Somehow I don’t think that would look very good on your report card if you strangle the head of the school. But honestly, I don’t remember having snakes or alligators. Do you, Clarissa?”
“No, I’m sure I would have noticed something like that.”
George looked thoughtful for a moment. He then looked at Lucian. “Did you have snakes or alligators?”
“No,” Lucian replied. “None that I saw anyway.”
“Maybe you’re just going blind,” Kaelen teased.
There was laughter around the table. Even Allegra cracked a smile. Adrian continued to ignore everyone which made the conversation awkward. They were all relieved when Calista stood to announce the day’s winners. “We’ve chosen a winning couple for each age group. The points were based on correctly answering the questions and how well you made it through the maze. If you had to stop or got lost, you lost points. If you hear your names, come see Melantha and me after luncheon and you’ll receive your prize basket. Our first year winners were…”
As she continued to talk Jacobi asked in a whisper, “Alright, how did the rest of you do? We got one sixty-seven.”
“Not surprisingly, Leticia and I only managed one hundred forty-three,” Kaelen replied. “I know we lost points on some of the questions and had to start over.”
“Well, we were at a slight disadvantage.”
“We got one eighty-seven,” Moira said. “Eleanor, how did you and George do?”
Eleanor was spared answering as everyone’s attention returned to Calista who announced, “Our fifth year winners are George and Eleanor with a perfect score. They were the only couple to gain all the points available in any age group.”
“Wow, that’s really impressive,” Clarissa said.
It was difficult to say who flushed more. “We just worked well together, I suppose,” Eleanor said.
The conversation continued between most of the friends. Adrian was still ignoring the group which was frustrating the others. When Calista announced that it was time for the princesses to go, Allegra hugged Lucian and without a word to Adrian followed the rest of the girls out to the carriages. Lucian returned to the dining hall where Adrian was still sulking. “Alright, what is eating you?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Well, like it or not you’re going to have to say something. You’ve been antisocial since the end of the course. Now come on, what’s going on? Did you and Allegra get into an argument?”
“How are you supposed to describe your princess without talking about how beautiful she is, huh?” he asked. Before Lucian could reply the rant continued, “I mean, really? Yeah, Allegra is talented and she’s fun to be around and she’s got a great personality, but she is truly beautiful inside and out. And so when I had to think about it and I tried saying that she was beautiful in mind, Calista said that I couldn’t use the word beautiful. I couldn’t think of anything else, so we had to go back to the part before and work our way back. And there were creepy-crawly things all over the place. Allegra was whimpering that she was scared and I was trying to be encouraging and then that stupid potion wore off. At least, it wore off to the point that I started shooting at flies again and they were everywhere. Allegra asks what’s wrong with me and then gets mad when I tell her that it’s just the reaction because she doesn’t believe me. So I told her she just didn’t know what she was talking about and to mind her own business.”
“What?”
“I know, I know, it was stupid, but what was I supposed to tell her? ‘I’m sorry Allegra; I’m turning into a frog. Yes I know you hate them but you’ll have to kiss me anyway.’ Who’s bright idea was this? I hate being a Prince Charming.”
“Really?” Lucian asked.
Adrian sighed, “No. I’m just so tired of lying to her. I’m tired of lying to Moira. I’m tired of lying to my mother and to Nana and Uncle Sebastian. I’m just so tired of lying in general. Why can’t I just tell them all the truth? Wouldn’t that make it easier? I mean, Allegra could prepare herself, right?”
“I don’t understand why it has to be this way either. But we have to believe that the fairies know what they’re talking about. I’m sure everything will be just fine.”
“Yeah, well, I really flubbed it this time. I don’t know that Allegra will talk to me again for a while. By the time she does, it might be too late,” Adrian admitted.
“I’m sure she’ll forgive you soon enough. She loves you,” Lucian said.
“Whatever.” He walked away towards his room before Lucian could say anything else. No one really understood what he was going through. No one.
Year 5 Chapter 2
Back to Table of Contents
The world was progressing rapidly from fall to winter. A mere two weeks after seeing the princesses, a snowstorm hit. Boys scrambled to the classes in the outer buildings. As Lucian and Kaelen sat in their botany class arranging flowers, Lucian teased, “I’m jealous of you, all that fur.”
“Be careful what you wish for. I’m sure the witches could give you a thick coat too,” Kaelen retorted.
Lucian laughed, “That’s alright; I think I’ll pass. I like myself just the way I am.”
“Yeah, I did too,” Kaelen said; a tinge of regret in his voice.
For a while they didn’t speak. “Ugh, this is terrible,” Lucian complained
“It’s not nearly as bad as the first one I did,” Kaelen assured him. “Maybe try adding a little more greenery there. See? Looks better already.”
“You have a great eye for this.”
“I don’t know. I just like doing arrangements and stuff. It helps me think, like an escape. At any rate it’s better than portraiture.”
Lucian laughed, “How’s that class going for you?”
“Terribly. Can you believe Stefanos is making me do a portrait while wearing a blindfold?” Kaelen muttered. “Even he couldn?
??t create great art without looking at it.”
“Why is he having you blindfolded?” Lucian asked.
“Some fiddle-faddle about painting from the heart the face of my true love,” Kaelen replied.
“Wow, that seems really hard. Do you get to look at it after class ends?”
“No, and that’s the other weird part. As soon as it’s time to clean up for the day, Stefanos covers up the painting before he allows me to take off the blindfold,” Kaelen explained. “And I can’t even sneak a peek while I’m working because he’s got this blindfold magically fused to my face or something. I don’t even know what colors I’m using. For all I know I could be painting a green-skinned, demon-eyed monster.”
They were interrupted by Russett coming to check on them. “How’s it coming boys? Lucian, you’ve got a bit much on that side, why don’t you take off a bloom? It’ll make it a little more balanced. That’s it. Very nicely done, Kaelen. I think this may be one of your best arrangements. Well, I think it’s time for you to dash to the castle before you get much colder.”
“I don’t know,” Lucian said with a smile, “I’d rather stay here than go to dragon fighting.”
“Just smack him upside the head a few times,” he teased.
They laughed and said, “Bye Russett,” The boys left the greenhouse and sprinted through the snow to the castle.
As Lucian went to the arena for his first session of dragon fighting, Kaelen wandered down the hallway to the witches’ classroom for spell breaking with Adrian. Calypso was sitting at