“Sir?” Kylie moaned. “Are we not doing Coercion anymore?”
“No,” he growled. “Sit down and shut up. That goes for all of you.”
Tory and I sank back into our seats and my mood took an even darker turn. Spending my evenings in Aer tower with Seth and his friends had already seemed bad enough, but now it looked like it was going to get even worse. Me and Professor Bites-His-Students in a room together. It sounded like the universe was having a really good go at ruining my day. And as I recalled my morning horoscope, I wondered if Professor Orion was a Libra.
AFTER OUR DOUBLE Cardinal Magic class with Professor Asshat, we followed a trailing line of students towards The Orb for lunch. The glimmering golden building was even more breathtaking in the sunlight and I was so caught up in looking at it that I didn't notice the four Heirs standing by the entrance until we were almost on top of them.
Darcy muttered a curse beneath her breath as she spotted them, her fingers curling around my wrist in warning.
I exchanged a loaded glance with her and held my chin high as we drew closer. By some miracle, they didn’t seem to have noticed us and the four of them headed inside before we were forced to pass them.
We merged into a group of excitable juniors who were discussing something called Pitball in loud voices and made our way to the lunch queue unnoticed. I wasn’t going to hide from the Heirs but drawing their attention on purpose seemed like a stupid idea even to me.
“What do you think we should do about the messages from Falling Star?” Darcy asked me as she chewed on her thumbnail.
“I dunno,” I admitted. “It seems like everyone in this place is either threatened by us or wants something from us. And they already dropped us in it with Orion even if their assessment of him was pretty damn funny.”
Darcy snorted a laugh. “I wonder if he really does stink of bourbon?”
“Well you can find out in your private class with him tonight,” I joked and she winced in response.
We made it to a counter where so many meal choices lay waiting for us that I felt like I’d walked into a restaurant instead of a school cafeteria. A sign informed us that we could take anything cold from the display or order hot food for table service.
As I was deciding what kind of meal I’d prefer, a squeal of excitement caught my ear quickly followed by a cry of, “Your majesties! I’ve secured a table for you!”
I began to turn my head but Darcy yanked on my arm, making me duck into the group of juniors again.
“It’s that crazy A.S.S. girl again,” she hissed. “Let’s just grab something and get out of here before the Heirs hear her calling us her queens!”
I snorted a laugh as Darcy grabbed a couple of huge subs for us and let her guide me through the crowd towards the exit.
I paused at a wide refrigerator which seemed to be made out of a huge block of ice and grabbed us a couple of drinks before glancing back into the room. A tall girl with long, brown hair was waving maniacally in our direction and I bit my lip as I ducked outside after my sister.
“The people here are all insane,” Darcy grumbled as she picked a path at random and we began the hunt for somewhere to enjoy our food in peace. “They’re either ecstatic to welcome back their long lost queens or furious at us for coming back to steal some throne.”
“I know. It’s like it never even occurred to them to ask if we want their stupid throne. I mean, the fairytale version of finding out you're a princess is great and all but in reality I imagine there’s a hell of a lot of work involved with running an empire. And we have zero qualifications to take on that role.”
“Yeah. Let the stupid Heirs keep their damn throne,” Darcy agreed. “I just want my magic.”
“And our inheritance,” I added with a grin.
“Yeah, and that. Even more so since Darius burned everything we owned,” she replied darkly and I had to grind my teeth to stop myself from stringing together yet another line of curses about the Ignis House Captain. Darcy had had to listen to over an hour of it last night anyway and calling him any more names wouldn’t bring our cash back.
Darcy handed me the sub she’d snagged for me in The Orb and I swapped it for the bottle of pink lemonade I’d gotten her.
We ate as we walked and I couldn’t help but groan aloud at the amazing flavour combination which danced across my tastebuds. There was cheese and salad and some kind of sauce that was sweet and salty at once. On our meagre income, meals were plain and semi-nourishing. The best food I’d eaten recently was the odd dinner Joey had offered up at the bar. And as much as I’d loved the greasy burger and fries at the time, it really couldn’t hold a candle to this.
“Holy shit, I’d stay here for the food alone,” I moaned as I licked the last of the sauce from my fingers and tipped the delicious lemonade down my throat to follow it.
“It sure puts Pete’s efforts at sausage and mash to shame,” Darcy agreed with a laugh. Our former foster parent had the skills to cook precisely three meals under his belt and the other two were frozen pizzas. If I never ate a sausage again it would be too soon.
Our walk had taken us into an area to the north of the Academy grounds which was marked as ‘Earth Territory’ on our maps. We were surrounded by every shade of green imaginable and stunning flowers blooming in every colour under the sun. The map showed the grounds were divided into four sections, one for each of the Elements and I was beginning to realise that the division was about more than just a name. The entire landscape was moulded by the Element which named it and stepping between them was like moving between different continents.
To our left, a sloping green hill filled with wildflowers curved away from us and I fell still as I spotted a creature swooping from the sky to land on the soft grass.
I grabbed Darcy’s arm, unable to form a word as my lips parted at the sight before me. A whole herd of stunning winged unicorns landed before ambling through the meadow, their coats gleaming in sparkling metallic colours from silver to bronze and gold to pinks, yellows and even green. Their coats were sprinkled with glitter and their long, golden horns caught the sunlight like they were made from polished metal.
“No freaking way,” Darcy breathed.
A small stallion looked up at the sound of her voice and we froze, worried we’d startled him but the beautiful, silver creature simply looked at us curiously.
My lips curved into a smile which grew uncontrollably. I mean, I wasn’t usually a girly girl but this was a goddamn flying unicorn!
I had to stamp down on the squeal of excitement that was bubbling in my chest as the unicorn trotted towards us.
“Omagod,” Darcy gasped as he came to stand directly in front of us.
I tentatively reached out a hand, wondering if the glorious creature would allow me to touch his sparkling coat.
The unicorn’s eyes seemed to glimmer with amusement and he leaned forward so that my fingers swept over his soft nose and into his mane.
Darcy reached out too, running her fingers along the side of his face and down his neck.
The unicorn pressed closer, rubbing the side of his face against my chest and eliciting a laugh from me. He pressed his face against Darcy next and she grinned like a Cheshire Cat as she wrapped her arms around his neck.