Page 10 of House of Ydril

“Nope, this will be it,” I grin at her. “What was that fight all about?” I ask innocently as I start for the nearest empty table.

For a second, she just keeps standing there, giving me a hesitant look. Then, as if her body is released from some bond, she joins me, taking a seat across from me. “It’s nothing, really. We have this group assignment and we’re fighting about who gets to do what.”

My eyebrows shoot up before I can stop them. A straight-out lie, really? I clear my throat and choose not to acknowledge it. The road I pick is one that’s a bit more winding. “Tell me about it. But at least you’re not being shunned by everyone for being the absolute fucking worst,” I finish with a laugh.

“What do you mean?” she asks, leaning in as a spark of interest shows up in her eyes.

I let out a sigh as I take my runes in my hand and lift them up for her to see. “This is my first contact ever with something like this. And I’ve no idea what I’m doing. And it doesn’t make it any better that the students here have decided I’m untouchable.”

“Untouchable? How so?”

I smile a bit because she’s obviously relaxing. “I guess there aren’t that many people here who’ve been raised by humans.”

“No, I guess not,” she purses her lips, thinking. “But still, that’s fucking stupid that they’re shunning you because of that.”

I don’t say anything straight away. I can feel that the pause is pregnant. I just wait to see if she’s going to confide in me.

And she does. “I know how it is. That situation back there,” she says as she motions at the back of the cafeteria with a guilty look in her eyes, “it wasn’t about the assignment we were given.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. We were divided into groups, but my group doesn’t want me working with them.”

“How come?” I ask, using my gentlest voice.

She opens her mouth and immediately closes it, shaking her head. “I guess they’re intimidated by all this awesomeness,” she says as she gestures at herself. “Who wouldn’t be?”

And it’s obvious she’s not telling the truth, but I decide not to push it. I just give her a chuckle and change the subject.

“Hey, do you know if the Academy keeps records of the stuff that people leave here?”

Nuala thinks for a second. “Not sure, but what do you needthatfor?”

“It’s grasping at straws really.” I hesitate in between bites of the deliciously decadent chocolate cake. “I’ve had some stuff left to me here at the Academy. But they came with no note and there’s nothing there that I could use to identify the person, or people, who left it to me.”

“Hm.” She reaches out her hand and takes a chocolate truffle from my plate. I smile at her, pushing the plate to the middle of the table. “There’s the Archives. Maybe you could ask there. I can come with you if you want.”

For a second, I just look at her, surprised that a single sentence could make me feel this warm around the heart. That it could make all this so much less frustrating. “That would be great!” I finally say. “How about tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow?” She almost chokes on that little bite of chocolate she took. “I don’t think anyone from the faculty will be working tomorrow.”

“Really?” I raise my eyebrows. “How so?”

She just looks at me for a moment. Then her eyes widen and she lifts her palm to her forehead, saying in a hushed voice, “Of courseIwas supposed to tell you.”

“Tell me what?” I demand, my eyebrows pulling down.

“Tomorrow,” she starts, still making a face to convey how sorry she is, “we’re all required to show up for the Selection for the Trials.”

Chapter seven

Thenextmorning,Iwake up with a spring in my step. Sure, I’m about to have some tree decide whether I’m worthy of participating in what everyone just calls the Trials. Nuala told me it’s this tournament spread throughout the school year. And there’s no prizes and the whole thing tends to get out of hand, so much so that students sometimes get killed.

But it’s not like I’d ever be selected for something like that and this just happens to be the first day since I got here that I don’t feel all alone. So as I walk out of the castle, I’m practically skipping.

All Nuala told me was to find the statue of the Frog King and follow the path that runs along the brook until I see the Tree. Normally, I’d probably have a lot of trouble with that. But I just follow the people, thinking if we’re all required to participate, there’s no other place they could be going to.

Of course, I’m right. The little groups of students lead me straight to this enormous tree by the spring, where there’s already a huge crowd. It’s colorful but orderly somehow. It’s only on second glance that I realize it’s because it’s very structured. There’s the Pied Piper to the left of the Tree, towering over other professors, some standing still and some chatting casually. And then there’s the audience that’s made up of, I don’t know, parents? Dignitaries? I’ve been reading like crazy, but looking at them sitting there in their lavish outfits just makes me acutely aware of how little I still know about the Originals’ culture.

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