Chapter 51 CHAPTER 51
I woke up to chaos.
Sounds from the kitchen, pans, plates, and the blaze of fire.
I looked around the bed I was on, a bedroom larger than my Momma's entire house.
The sound got louder so I jumped out of the room, my memories slowly trickling back in as I ran down the stone stairs.
Finding the kitchen wasn't difficult, the sounds of unmistakable chaos pulled me in the right direction.
“What's happening?” I whispered as I opened the door slowly.
All of a sudden, the sounds paused, and then one pan fell from the air, shadows disappearing.
And there stood Principal Draco, flour on his beard and shirt, his hand hung in the air, mid… I don't know how he controls his shadows but I could tell that's what he was doing and then a burning fire with three pots arranged on top of it.
“Sorry, I was trying to get breakfast ready before you woke up.”
He blushed, the most heart-warming thing I've ever seen, his eyes avoiding my face.
“That's really thoughtful, thank you.”
“Just wait outside for me, I'll bring it to you soon,” then under his breath, “hopefully I don't burn everything to a crisp.”
A smile broke out on my face as I shut the door and padded away from the kitchen and back upstairs.
The window was calling my name so I went to sit by the couch and table he'd placed right at the perfect spot and I watched the Kingdom with gleaming eyes.
The Principal rescued me.
He's making me breakfast.
Nothing could ruin my joy, not how all of this seems like a weird dream, not the fact that my roommates would be worried about my whereabouts.
But one thing that turned my stomach into a battle zone was the fact that I was supposed to be at the library the entirety of today but then, I never want to leave here either. And I still want to go to training with Master Florian.
“What on earth is wrong with me?”
“Nothing that I can see.”
“Oh,” I turned to see him, his apron tainted with oil and flour, tied securely around his waist and neck. “I didn't hear you coming.”
“What is on your mind?” He asked as he set down the tray before me.
“Nothing.”
“I'm not even going to pressure you to speak to me, I have too much anger in me to stand here and hear you lie to me about what's happening with you.”
“I'm not lying,” I gasped, my heart palpitating.
“Suit yourself,” he grunted and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
A tear fell on the tray but my stomach didn't care about my emotions. I hadn't eaten anything in a while now and this smelled too good for me to leave it.
The spread of steak, banana bread, stew, and fruit juice would have been overwhelming back on earth but with my newfound appetite…
The food disappeared in a few minutes and I cleaned my mouth with the napkin he dropped.
With my heart still heavy, I took the empty plates back to the kitchen but as I began washing them, he appeared by the door.
“Don't bother with that, go and get ready. The King’s delegate is here with his doctor. We need to leave in minutes.”
That was when I looked down to see I wasn't in my clothes.
“Who… who changed me?” I gasped, betrayal in my tone.
How could –
“Eruwan. The uniform is in the wardrobe, the first door on your left. Not the closet.”
“Oh.”
He walked away again, leaving me stunned.
The closet was right by the entrance to the bathroom so I quickly showered, wondering how they routed a bathing pool into here. They made it look like there was water in every part of the mountain.
After getting dressed, I walked back down, my heart beating faster as we walked out, him behind me and Styx walking towards us.
She is a ray of sunshine, and as she nudged my chest, I hugged her, rubbing her head.
“I don't know what you like to eat, I want to bring it for you.”
“Apples. Get on.”
Yep, Mr. Grumpy was back on track.
I was expecting him to put me in front of him as usual but no, he pointed towards the back.
“What?”
“We're going to meet the King's delegates. I don't need rumours flying around unnecessarily.”
“I'll walk then,” I frowned and began heading towards the gate.
“Alira,” he grunted but I was too hurt to respond.
Then he sent his shadows after me, curling their cold hands around my body.
Every other day, I loved it, but right now, it was pissing me off. All my struggles fell on deaf ears, he literally spread my legs apart so I could sit behind him.
And as an act of precaution, he left them on me, holding me straight with the black swirls.
I rolled my eyes but sat still.
Going to the library would definitely have gone better, that much was obvious.
The journey was quick, Styx powering through the Academy grounds like she was being chased.
Then she stopped at the beginning of the Admin building and I was quickly ushered off the Steed and dropped on the ground before the shadows finally left me alone.
It felt lonely all of a sudden, their absence something I never thought I'd miss.
“Come this way,” he led me, not towards his office as I'd thought but where the Scribes worked.
The usually quiet environment was suddenly filled with small chatter, and I saw over fifty of them in the long hall, rushing about, arranging something I guess.
“They're finally here,” a voice announced and I turned towards the stranger, and watched in shock as she hurtled towards me.
The shock intensified as she grabbed me and engulfed me in a hug.
“Huh?”
“Welcome home daughter,” she smiled as she pulled back from my rigid form, “you're home now. I'm Aderam, the King’s sister and he sends me on unofficial errands like this.”
“Um.. hi?”
“Oh she's so cute,” she laughed, grabbing my hand and dragging me towards the center, “I can't wait to pick apart your mind and find out exactly what's been going on in that odd planet!”
“You've been there before?”
“Only once. On another of these unusual quests, but I never got to bring her back so my brother wasn't the happiest person. Stand on top of that, the magic will do the work.”
“What is that?”
“It's a memory stand,” the Principal explained, placing his hand on my shoulder, “it'll help us trace who your parents are.”
“Wait, it'll show you guys everything from my life?”
“I mean it can,” Aderam replied, “but we don't have time for that. I just need to know how you got there. That will help us find out exactly who your parents are. Wouldn't you love that?”
I'm not so sure but then, it's not like I have much of a choice either.