Page 114 of The Ruler
Softened by his obvious pride, I agreed. “Yes, I would love to.”
The school was spectacular and outshone the vision I’d had when we first came to see it with Boulder and Christina. Back then it had been an old neglected building but now it had sprung back to life.
“Wow,” I said and nodded to Boulder. “You have reason to be proud.”
“There are still some details missing,” he explained and pointed to the solar roof, but I lost my concentration when he went into details. My eyes were fixed on the girl that walked toward me holding Kya’s hand.
“May peace surround you,” I said when she ran the last few meters to meet me with her hands outstretched.
She was tall enough to reach my chest and looked up at me with large brown doe eyes. Her skin color was light brown like Kya’s, and they could have been mother and daughter by their looks. I wondered if that was the reason Kya felt so attached to Raven.
“May peace surround you too,” Raven said in a sweet voice and held my gaze for ten seconds like a good girl.
“I’m delighted to meet you.” I smiled warmly. “My name is Pearl, and I’ve heard so much about you.”
“I’ve heard about you too,” Raven replied and letting go of my left hand she pulled at my right, tugging me with her. “Can I show you something?”
“All right.” I followed her, smiling to Archer and Kya and signaling that I would be right back to talk to them.
On our way to the entrance, I spotted Magni coming out of the woods.
“It’s right in here,” Raven said excitedly and sped up her steps.
Curious to see what she wanted to show me, I followed her inside the school.
“Do you see it?” she asked and let go of my hand to push back her curly black hair, but the unruly strands immediately fell back in her eyes.
The girl needs a hairband,I noted practically, and turned my attention to the room, inspecting the tables, chairs, shelves, and posters on the wall.
“What is it?” I asked, silently approving the clever way the room had been divided into zones with the use of colored rugs. A huge multicolored one was round and a pile of fluffy pillows lay on top. Raven followed my eyes. “That’s the cozy corner.”
“Is that what you wanted to show me?” I asked with a smile.
“Sort of, but not exactly.” She tugged at my hand again before she ran over and lay down. “It’s better if you lie down next to me. You’ll see it then,” she said and waited for me to join her.
We lay shoulder to shoulder and, looking up at the high ceiling of the room, I finally saw what Raven wanted me to see. In beautiful large letters, it said:
A little girl grew up to become a strong woman determined to break down walls and build bridges of friendship in the world.
What challenges will you grow up and help solve?
My eyes continued to the opposite side of the ceiling and I had to crane my neck to see it, as it was written in the opposite direction.
Most Motlanders believe Nmen are monsters.
Most Nmen believe Motlanders are weak and silly.
But you arenotmost!
You’re one of the few who know better.
Are you going to speak up?
“Do you like it?” Raven asked me and turned her head to look at me. Because we were so close, I could see her tongue playing with a wiggly tooth in the back of her mouth, and I couldn’t help notice that she had a small booger in her right nostril.
“I love it,” I said and turned my head back to see it again. “Who painted it?”
“Cina and Kya did, and I helped.”
