by Melody Rose
Striving for authenticity so that I would not invite suspicion that thoughts of Joan distracted me too much to possibly be with her, I allowed my fingers to trail down to the luscious lips she had graciously offered me. I brushed her lower lip and then gave it a rough but playful pinch. She would have appreciated that gesture, and she’d likely mull over it for the rest of the day. At the very least, that crumb of attention would keep her from pondering over how I had spared Joan, the target of her disdain.
“Perhaps we can revisit this later tonight? For now, be a good girl and change back into the proper attire for your classes,” I confidently ordered her. “I don’t want the other mages getting an eyeful of what’s mine to enjoy.”
I was careful not to say she was actually mine, only an amusement for me. While Lydia had vied for the title as my official companion, I did not want to be tied down by such an arrangement. The casual dynamic that we shared thus far satiated my needs. Really, though, at the moment, all I wanted was for her to get dressed as soon as possible and leave me be.
“As you wish, monsieur. I will make you proud and enhance the reputation of Bouclier by being the shining student it deserves.” She nodded with an earnestness that seemed quite genuine. “And by nightfall, I will debase myself for your pleasure. Only you know how low I can go.”
I winced as I recalled Joan’s earlier comment that I had stooped to low means to get my point across. I hoped that Lydia had not noticed, and luckily, she was already focused on summoning her traditional school robe. Within moments, she wore a garment of the same color as her more risque ensemble, but this covered her modestly.
Once she was finished preparing for class, she cried out fondly, “Adieu, mon bien-aimé! I wish you a pleasant rest of your day, and I hope to ensure your evening is even better.”
She bent over to pull me into a deep kiss that I felt compelled to return and then drew back to wave at me with a wide smile. My willingness to have given her some small token of romance, even if was forced, seemed to boost Lydia’s spirits. With a graceful turn, she sauntered out of my room with an alluring swaying of her hips to emphasize what I would be missing.
When the door was shut, I leaned over and clutched my head, silently celebrating that I was rid of Lydia. I resolved that I would have to make an unprecedented compromise in order to salvage today. While I had never been absent to class, my energy and my will were severely depleted. I only had enough left for some minor spellwork that would leave me out of commission for several hours, if not the rest of the day.
As Joan had already been pressed to her limit, I decided I would curb the disruptions to her day by delivering her broom and Aurelius to her room. Hopefully, when she returned during a break, she would realize that they weren’t locked away in the forbidden garden, perpetually out of reach.
25
Joan
After I finally made it to the top of the terrifying spiral staircase, I felt a rush of relief to see the glowing red portal that led the way out of the dungeon. Even though Theo’s charm made sure I didn’t have wobbly legs, my heart was still pounding like crazy with all Vrag’s echoing shouts. I leaped through the bright exit with all my strength, just wanting to get the Hell out.
With one huge sigh to calm myself down because there was no way I was going to let Theo see how shaken he’d made me, I pulled the scroll with my schedule out of my robe’s pocket and checked what my next class would be. After all, the best way to show him I wasn’t rattled would be to go to class and act like the whole thing never happened. Otherwise, if I left or complained, that prick would think he’d won.
I was glad to see that I would be going to Beginning Wand Techniques because I was fresh out of any broom or familiar. I figured that all I’d have to do is concentrate on holding my wand and maybe throwing out a spell or two, so I felt pretty lucky.
After I memorized the name of my instructor, Professor Kayne, I tucked the scroll back into my pocket and retrieved the map Nathan made for me. Since my head was spinning so much and I was so worn out, I was glad that I had Nathan’s kindness to make up for Theo’s cruelty. I didn’t want to get caught lost in halls or late on top of the trauma I endured in the dungeon. I turned my wrist over to check my chrono-sigil and noticed that the green symbol was entering yellow territory, so I knew I needed to get a move on.
I followed the glowing green footmarks on the map and was happy that it was synched to my anxiety level. It started taking the lead and showing me how to navigate in sets of around five footprints, so I didn’t have to worry about any wrong turns. My frustrations melted away at least a little bit as I walked toward my class without issues.
Curious about how Nathan saw this professor, I looked down at a truly bizarre illustration. Professor Kayne was presented with antlers, spotted cheetah ears, a green snake wrapped around her head like a crown, vertical pupils like a goat, a butterfly perched on her nose, and a mysterious half-smile. I had no idea what to make of that and who to prepare for, but at least she’d prove to be interesting.
I pushed open the door and saw a group of exhausted mages that was way more thinned out than my first class. Maybe some people were still stuck in the garden, struggling to get out. I didn’t really think that Theo would have gone over to let only a few out, so the people who did manage to get out must have been the best spellcasters at Bouclier. That was intimidating when I considered that I’d be in a room with whoever had the most talent. I’d never used a wand in my life, even one from a toy store since I was more interested in an Easy-Bake Oven. At least in my Enchanted Cooking class, I had a basis of knowledge to work from.
A pair of pigtails bobbed excitedly, and I immediately felt more comfortable with this situation. I knew exactly where I was going to sit when I spotted Rebecca waving like a maniac, clearly over-the-moon that we were reunited again. I shuffled quickly over to her and took a seat and smiled warmly. As soon as I was within reach, we threw our arms over each other with perfect timing. After she released me from her tight embrace, she grinned, and the flood of questions washed over me, hitting me with full force.
“Hey! You’re not dead! That’s just great! Is there really an ogre under the dungeon, or did he just take you to the detention cellar?!” She actually seemed to have a morbid fascination with my whole ordeal. Maybe from too much binge-watching of true crime shows. “Do you know when everyone else is going to get out? Is his dad finally going to bring down justice like the hammer of Thor?”
I felt a pinching sensation between my shoulders as I protectively crossed my arms over my chest. As I scanned the room, I noticed that people were gawking at us, eager to overhear the answers to everything that Rebecca had just asked. I didn’t really want to relive my near-death experience, especially because I thought it would spook me before a class that might be incredibly challenging.
“Um… maybe we can catch up about it later, okay? It’s kind of weird to get into it right now.” I brushed off her burning curiosity as casually as I could.
She nodded with enthusiasm, and I respected that she didn’t want to make me uncomfortable. Even though she could be a little nosy and inserted herself into situations, she was actually a good friend. “Yeah, yeah! Of course. Wands can be pretty tricky, so you’ve got the right idea, girl. I’m just so glad you’re okay! And now we have two back-to-back classes with each other, isn’t that sweet?”
“It is pretty awesome!” I confirmed, and then the two of us turned to look ahead and see what was in store for us.
Everyone else mumbled with disappointment, deprived of the juicy details of my torture. They shifted in their seats and ignored us after that, seeing no other point in acknowledging Rebecca if there was nothing to gossip about. We all managed to collect ourselves, ready to pay attention to the class, Our professor must have sensed our willingness to get started because, as if on cue, a petite woman glided into class in an eye-catching multicolored robe.
I really dug her look even though it was really out there. She str
uck me as someone fun who went to music festivals and camping trips, laid-back and lively at the same time. I was confused, though, because she didn’t have any of the interesting features that Nathan had included on the map. She looked like an everyday human with bouncy, black curls, tan skin, and a wide smile that was so white I wondered if she used a bleaching spell.
Even though she didn’t have the whole medley of animal-like traits in her cartoon portrayal, she still had a flair for wild fashion. Earrings made of peacock feathers dangled down to her shoulders, many rings including one that resembled antlers decorated her fingers, a necklace with a snake pendant rested on her sternum, and cheetah print boots peeked out from the hem of her robe. I guessed that Nathan actually did a pretty good job of capturing all that in a tiny picture.
“Greetings, class. A bit smaller than I expected, but that just means we can get really cozy and get to know each other, huh?” Professor Kayne picked up a wand that was as colorful as her robe and resembled fine blown glass. She then flicked her wrist. Suddenly, the dark, velvet curtains of the room disappeared, and the regular windows transformed into stained glass and painted the room with vibrant light, like a prism.
She continued in a lyrical voice, “Today is the first step in a long and exciting journey for all of you here. You’ll learn to shape the world around you according to your will and develop a connection with your wand that will allow you to manifest your dreams. A fine and thrilling premise, isn’t it?”
Professor Kayne raised an eyebrow, and her smile shifted into a sneaky smirk. “And it is, but let’s not put the carriage before the horse. I am sure that many of you have seen mages of the highest order, such as Monsieur Theodore, summon everything to their hearts’ content. It looks as easy as opening a tome, doesn’t it? Well, I invite you to not get too presumptuous. There is plenty of work ahead of you in this craft.”
I fought myself from sneering when she mentioned Theo’s name after what he’d just put me through. Rebecca kicked me lightly under the table to signal that she was with me and that she thought Theo was a jerk too. I had to admit it was pretty hard to listen to Professor Kayne casually sing Theo’s praises when I had witnessed how awful he could be. It was too bad too. I was really starting to warm up to her.
“You have to demonstrate mastery over your wand and compel it to fulfill your commands. However, your wand will take you for a ride if you do not know how to wield it correctly,” Professor Kayne warned. “That being said, you all will be focusing on beginning tactics in this class to ease yourself into such a challenging domain.”
“Les baguettes magiques du début, s'il vous plaît. The beginning magic wands, please,” Professor Kayne uttered clearly and smoothly, snapping her wrist with a straightforward motion. I snickered at how serious she sounded speaking about baguettes and imagined her waving long pieces of bread to summon a nice olive oil and vinaigrette sauce to go with them.
After her spell, we each received a very basic stick that looked exactly the same as what everyone else had. I almost thought the academy staff had just snapped some twigs off of trees because these so-called wands, or “baguettes,” were so lightweight. However, they didn’t have any of the knots or small growths that branches normally had. What we all were provided were boring and ruler-straight without any personal touches, almost as underwhelming as the first potato-sack robe I’d been given when I met Everfour.
Professor Kayne’s eyes widened as though she was offended at my soft laughter. She walked over to me and tilted her head to the side, looking at me with a mix of irritation and confusion. I was already starting to gather that this woman’s mood could change at the drop of a hat.
“Please…” She closed her eyes momentarily. I figured that she was using spellwork to figure out my name, and she was able to achieve that pretty quickly. “... Joan. Would you like to share with the class why you found my incantation so amusing? I understand that these wands aren’t the most attractive, but it is Bouclier tradition to begin with loaners until you’ve earned the privilege to have your very own.”
I cleared my throat, and Rebecca patted my leg to comfort me. I wished that she could have given me a courage charm to handle this situation, but I also didn’t want to throw her under the bus. If Rebecca would have mumbled even a word under her breath, I thought that Professor Kayne may have bitten her head off.
“Well, er… where I’m from… you know… not Lemuria…” I blushed and struggled to find the right words. “Baguettes are these long pieces of bread in, uh, fancy restaurants or farmer’s markets, and… well… it was just a funny picture to imagine us casting spells with those.”
“I see,” Professor Kayne remarked shortly. “A baguette means much the same here, as well, and the reason why a loaner wand is referred to as a baguette magique du début is that it is designed for the soft-willed, students who are immature and unrefined in their ways. You will receive a bâton when you learn to strengthen your discipline. Thank you for making my point clear, first-year.”
At least she hadn’t called me a lamb’s blood.
She stepped away from me and turned her focus to the rest of the class. “Now that we’ve had that little cultural lesson, let us continue on your first task. It is rather simple, and I trust that you will all be able to handle it.”
She raised her finger. “A very short incantation, but one that will require focus to manipulate elements that are polar opposites. I ask you to transform thin air into a rock of your choosing. Should you accomplish this, I will record your points in my ledger today.”
Professor Kayne modeled the incantation for us with a stern voice that clashed with her dancer’s grace. With one sweeping motion, she twisted away from us and extended her colorful wand toward her oak desk.
“Air aux rochers. Air to rocks,” she uttered, and suddenly, the surface of her desk took on the appearance of a stunning mosaic. Hundreds of crystals of every shade materialized and glimmered under the light of the room. I was very impressed by this, and yet my heart dropped because I couldn’t figure out how I’d be able to reshape invisible air into hard, cold rock.
I squirmed uncomfortably in my seat, my throat tightening in anxiety. I felt on top of the world by the end of Professor Graham’s class and the success of my picnic, but I already knew I wouldn’t excel in this class without help. I picked up my wand with a shaking wrist and looked in front of me. My head swam with confusion. How did I focus on the air without being able to see it? Was I supposed to imagine all the air in the room or just a small amount? It was a whole different ball game than fantasizing about my favorite foods.
Distracted with all the possible scenarios, I limply bent my wrist and almost whispered, “Air aux rochers. Air to rocks.”
No such luck. Once I finished my incantation, a bunch of sad lumps of ice popped up onto the table, leaving an awkward puddle of water. Now the whole class could see that I was hopeless when it came to wands.
I didn’t really know where exactly I went wrong. Maybe I wasn’t fully convinced that air could turn into rocks, or maybe I didn’t know how to make the proper connection. When I cooked, I could draw upon memories to bring them to life. Obviously, I could summon ice really easily if anyone had asked me, but that wasn’t a comfort for this class.
I looked shyly around me and noticed that no one else had my problem. Everyone else could easily summon some type of rock, whether it was a collection of pebbles or even a small boulder. I stumbled back into the role of school laughingstock, and my peers seemed to forget any previous accomplishment of mine. A bunch of eye rolls and cruel chuckles were all I was able to inspire as people looked at the pathetic, melting ice cubes.
Horrified by this obvious failure, I spoke out of the side of my mouth to Rebecca. “Hey, this is really a flaming heap of trash. If I can’t actually pull this off, how am I actually going to get ahead in this class? I just don’t know how to figure it out!”
I could feel myself pouting. It was all so embarrassing, and whi
le I wasn’t trying to be valedictorian or anything, but I’d never done this poorly at school before.
“You just have to take control and believe in yourself, as woo-woo as that sounds. Just like Professor Cayne said, you can’t just let your wand kick you around,” Rebecca explained. “You have to show it who is boss and not doubt that you can get it to follow your orders.”
I nodded. That sounded sensible enough. I wrinkled my forehead and tried to make a mean face to show how serious I was, but it was a little hard when Rebecca bit back a laugh at my expression. I imagined screaming at the air that it needed to listen up and turn into rocks as I repeated my incantation.
Even after several trials and every attempt to look super assertive, it was all a lost cause. Instead of summoning ice cubes that were at least close to rocks since they were solid, I began flooding my table’s surface with buckets’ worth of water. It brought even more negative attention to me because I shared the table with many students, and my botched spell started to splash against their creations. Everyone had to jump back to avoid ruining their robes.
“Enough!” Professor Kayne howled and flourished her wand, then directed it at the water-logged desk to put everyone out of their misery. “Séchez ce gâchis! Dry this mess!”
I heaved a sigh of relief, but I was still jittery with the sense that I was in deep trouble. We were all able to take our seats again without having to worry about my very wet and inconvenient mistake.
“While I admire your persistence, Joan,” Professor Kayne’s voice softened, and a maternal concern shone through her hazel eyes, “I will be unable to grant you any points for today’s class. You weren’t able to accomplish the task, but perhaps later in the semester, I will entertain the idea of allowing you to make up for this… less than ideal performance.”