“The school must really like its champions,” Clem said with a laugh. “I wonder if Hank had a room like this last year.”
Hank and I had spent a lot of time together during the tour. After I’d beaten him during the first fight of the challenge, he’d tagged along to keep me company and helped me navigate the etiquette that surrounded the tournament. There were a surprising number of political leaders and entertainers who wanted to meet the School’s champion, and Hank had saved me from making a fool of myself a hundred times during the summer.
But in all of our talks, he’d never mentioned any of the perks of this position.
“If he did, he never said anything about it to me.” I shrugged. “Maybe I got it because I went undefeated.”
The pathway spilled out of the forest onto the banks of a small lake. A bridge extended from the shore where the walkway ended all the way out to an island in the center of its dark waters. There was a quaint and cozy cottage perched in the middle of the island, its front porch no more than three yards from the shore. Like the School itself, the little building was a mishmash of styles common and exotic. I’d never seen anything quite like it, from its solid porch to the walls ringed by Roman-style friezes, to the pagoda-like roof.
Clem and I stopped for a moment, just to stare at the thing.
“They gave me a whole house,” I said at last. “What is going on?”
“You know what they say about gift horses,” she said. “Don’t look in their mouths or they’ll bite you.”
Getting bitten was exactly what I was worried about. This could all have been some sort of elaborate trap designed to lure me away from the School of Swords and Serpents. Clem and I had no idea where we really were. If we disappeared, how long would it be before someone noticed?
My Eclipse nature surged to the front of my thoughts, and I had to take a deep cleansing breath to keep from snarling. Clem would certainly freak out if my eyes went black and serpents burst from my core. I had to control myself.
And the urges that came from the darkest part of me.
There was no point in worrying about hidden dangers. If something dangerous popped out of the lake or sprang an ambush on us inside the house, I’d deal with it. I was much stronger than anyone suspected.
Fortunately, no one tried to kill us as we crossed the lake. Enormous Koi fish glided through the water under the bridge, white bodies dappled with patches of red, gold, and black scales. The smallest one we saw was at least five feet long, and the largest had to be triple that size.
“I wonder what they eat,” Clem asked.
“Curious Thunder’s Children,” I said with a wink.
The island was covered with a thick blanket of lush green grass. Tiny flowers the color of the pale blue sky over our heads poked up from the emerald blades in scattered patches. Ladybugs bigger than my fist took to the air on either side of the path as we made our way up to the porch. Their wings stirred up faint breezes, carrying the scent of the lake to my nostrils. It was hard to believe a place like this existed, and even harder to believe it was my home.
At least temporarily.
“Let’s see what we’ve got,” I said and opened the front door with a flourish.
The room inside the door took up the entire width of the cottage and was about ten feet deep. The walls were covered in cream-colored plaster divided by heavy wooden beams that joined the supports of the arched ceiling. Globes of light floated in the air, unconnected to anything we could see, not even a script to power them. They drifted around the room, adding a warm, comfortable light that left few shadows.
Six comfortable-looking easy chairs were arranged in a perfect circle around a low wooden coffee table in the center of the room. There was nothing on the table, but I imagined a coffee or tea set would fit perfectly there. It was a nice space to sit with friends and relax away from the bustle of the school.
An imposing stone fireplace dominated the wall to the right, and a wide picture window took up most of the front wall. A trophy cupboard filled with pictures and memorabilia from past Five Dragons Challenges took up most of the left wall. A quick glance showed me that, yes, there was a picture of me in the cupboard. That was embarrassing.
I glimpsed the kitchen through a doorway on the far wall and motioned for Clem to join me. I’d rather have her with me than staring at the trophy wall. I’d feel like a moron if she thought I’d had anything to do with putting my picture up there.
“Maybe there’s some food in here,” I said.
“Do you ever think about anything else?” Clem asked.
I stopped at the question, and she bumped into my back. I turned around, just inside the kitchen, and leaned my hand against the doorway.
The pink top of Clem’s head was just below my chin. She looked up at me with wide eyes, surprised that I’d suddenly stopped. Her lips were the color of bubble gum, slightly parted to reveal the even white lines of her teeth. Her fading grin lingered in the upturned curls at the corners of her mouth.
I didn’t know why I’d stopped. I just stared down at her, frozen in place.
“Yes,” I said.
She blinked, cleared her throat, and arched her eyebrows quizzically.
“Yes what?” she asked.
“Yeah, I think about other things,” I said.
Before I could embarrass myself any further, I spun on one heel and headed deeper into the kitchen.
I wouldn’t be cooking any award-winning meals in the small space, but it was more than enough
