“I already know him from our wrestling class. Hello,” Ari said, giving a respectful nod and I remembered him saying how strong Bran was.
“Have a seat with us, Bran.” Griffin said formally.
“We’re a table of misfits but we all get along,” Megan offered, smiling.
“You guys can sit by me!” Jalli was bouncing in her chair as she indicated the two empty seats across from her.
“Thanks, but maybe some other time,” Bran said politely. “I’m actually scheduled for some extra study time with Mr. Barron right after dinner and I think I’m going to be late if I don’t hurry.” He glanced at the huge clock on one grey stone wall of the Dining Hall. Its four quadrants were divided into the four symbols for the Others who attended Nocturne Academy.
There was a green and gold dragon circling around the number 3, a gorgeous flower with silky purple petals and a vivid green stem twined around the 6, a black cat was arching its back at the 9, and at 12, a single glittering drop of ruby red blood hung from the top curve of the 2.
“It was nice to meet you all,” Bran said, nodding at the table in general. He smiled at me. “I’ll see you later, Emma—maybe someplace with better food.”
Then he walked away to go dump his tray.
I frowned as I watched him go. He moved with a surprising, fluid grace that didn’t seem to go with the rest of him at all. In fact, none of him seemed to match his outward skinny, pizza-faced nerd appearance. Not his voice or his scent or his walk or the easy, confident way he carried himself. And what about that talk about the “perversion of Natural Magic” or whatever it was he had said? How strange was that?
What was going on with Bran O’Connor?
I wondered if I would ever find out.
3
We were all settled happily in the Norm Dorm, after an excellent second supper of roast chicken, (thanks to Avery,) when Kaitlyn’s pet chimeling started acting strangely.
First he started whirring around her head.
Normally at night, when we were all winding down, Mr. Seahorse seemed to get as sleepy as we were. He would doze on Kaitlyn’s shoulder, barely moving, his large golden wings fanning the air somnolently. Sometimes he even fell asleep right there and emitted the most adorable tiny, squeaky snores. This usually made us all laugh and he would wake up and chime at us indignantly before promptly closing his large, dark eyes and going back to sleep.
But not tonight. Tonight he was whizzing around Kaitlyn’s head like a whirling dervish, his golden wings flapping so fast they almost seemed to vibrate like a humming bird’s.
“Oh, Mr. Seahorse! What is it? What’s wrong?” Kaitlyn exclaimed, looking at her little pet in concern.
“What’s going on with the little guy?” Avery asked, looking up from where he was stacking our plates neatly in the wooden cupboard where he kept them when we weren’t eating second supper.
“Yeah—what happened to him?” Megan asked anxiously.
“I don’t know!” Kaitlyn wrung her hands in worry. “Oh dear, I don’t know anything about chimelings and Ari’s already gone back to the West Tower for the night!” she said. “Quick, Megan—get Jalli.”
Jalli had already turned in for the night but Megan went to get her. As a resident of the Sky Lands, where the little chimeling had come from, maybe she would know more about what was happening than the rest of us.
“What’s wrong?” She came out rubbing her eyes and yawning sleepily. But the minute she saw Mr. Seahorse whirring around Kaitlyn’s head like a crazy thing, her eyes popped open and she gasped, “By the first Drake—he’s spawning!”
“He’s what? What does that mean?” Kaitlyn demanded, sounding desperate. “Please tell me he’ll be okay, Jalli!”
“I think he will,” Jalli said. “But if the legends are true, we have to get him outside fast.”
“Outside the castle?” I asked doubtfully. Being outside after curfew was a serious offense. If you were caught you could count on suspension at the least—expulsion at the worst.
But now was clearly not the time to worry about breaking the rules.
“Come on,” Megan said quickly. “I know a way.”
At that moment, Saint popped his head out of the boy’s dorm, frowning.
“What is all the commotion?” he wanted to know.
“Oh, Saint—Mr. Seahorse is spawning!” Jalli exclaimed in wide-eyed excitement. “At least I think he is. Come with us to see!”
Saint’s black eyes widened.
“To see a chimeling spawn is considered to be the best of luck,” he remarked. “But…” His face fell. “I cannot go. I fear the presence of my Drake would scare all the spawnlings away.”
“Okay, we’ll be back in a minute,” Megan told him. “At least, I assume we will.”
She looked at Mr. Seahorse doubtfully. The little chimeling was going faster and faster, working himself into a lather, I thought.