The corner of his mouth pulled up. “You’re quite welcome. Somehow I knew you’d be the one to find it.” He watched me, maybe waiting for something, but I didn’t know what.
I slipped my upper body between the bowstring and wood and secured it over my chest. “We must leave. While the prince and I searched for the orb we found the corn crop to be completely dead. I suspect with the blood moon that may not be the only food source we lose.”
Firo exchanged a knowing glance with Dain. “If that is so I hope there is enough food to last the season. Of course my family is prepared for such things but not everyone is. The blood moon is no farce.”
Zyacus folded his arms. “What do you know of it?”
Firo curled his finger and inspected his nails as if they’d suddenly become interesting. “Only that more trouble is to come. Congratulations on your prize. Dain and I must be going.” And with that, both of them vanished into the night air.
Zyacus and I didn’t spare any time lingering and made for the academy. With a wave of Zyacus’s hand the double doors pulled open. Neither of us had spoken on the brief walk. I couldn’t stop thinking about Firo. Something about him made my skin crawl. When I mentioned the corn he showed no surprise, nor worry. In fact with his claim that more trouble would come, he had to know more than he let on.
But the main reason he troubled me? I couldn’t get the similarities between him and the Fae man I’d seen months ago out of my head. Perhaps it was paranoia but either way I didn’t trust Firo or his brother Dain. I needed to know more about the Hazelvale family.
Zyacus knocked on the Headmaster’s ornate, heavy wooden door. There’d been few times I’d seen him appear truly troubled. When Senica bit me, and when Aric died then turned. The anxiety permeated from him now and that increased my own. If the ever-confident prince I’d come to know was afraid…
The door swung open and Headmaster Elvbane blinked in surprise. “Good evening, highnesses.” He stepped aside and waved us in. “What do I owe this pleasure?”
“A few things,” Zyacus said.
I took a seat in front of his desk, Zyacus went to the other and we waited for the Headmaster. I had a few questions before we discussed our original reason for coming here.
Elvbane sat and leaned forward against his desk. “Please, speak freely.”
“Why did you have the princes and myself fight the trolls on day one? I’ve noticed since there haven’t been any matches against them. Did it have something to do with Firo Hazelvale?”
The Headmaster sat back in his chair and folded his hands on his abdomen. “This is why you two have come to me when it’s nearly curfew?”
“Answer the question,” Zyacus demanded.
Elvbane twisted his mouth then sat erect. “It was a request from him and a few others. I knew the three of you could handle it and it provided a generous donation to the academy in exchange.” His eyes fell to an ink bottle on his desk. “His family can be quite persuasive.”
I didn’t like that the Hazelvales somehow overruled what the queens and kings had put into place here. I could almost guarantee my mother knew nothing of the event. “More so than mine?”
Squirming in his chair, he cleared his throat. “Certainly not, your highness.”
“What did he offer you?” Zyacus asked. “To put all three royal children in that danger for entertainment is a risky move.”
Elvbane starred in between us, his eyes unfocused, blinking several times.
I gave Zyacus a questioning glance. What is wrong with the Headmaster? “Did he threaten you?”
His eyes jerked to mine. “Oh no. Nothing like that. He was just very persuasive.”
“Yes,” Zyacus drawled, sounding annoyed. “You said that. How?”
“It’s strange,” he said slowly. “I can’t remember now. But the three of you are fine and everything turned out well. The academy is funded for several years to come.”
With the way he acted I didn’t know if he were fit to handle a food shortage let alone lead this academy. Was he under the influence of some sort of magic?
Without another word Zyacus stood. “That is all, Headmaster. Thank you for your time.”
When the door closed to his office Zyacus pulled me into a darkened alcove. The wing of a pixie statue dug into my back as we crammed in. “Clearly something isn’t right with him. We need to find out what the Hazelvales are up to.”
“Definitely.” I agreed. “We also need to find out if the dying crops are a blight singular to here or if it’s everywhere.”
With a slow nod he said, “I have a feeling I know the answer to that but I’ll find out for Hesstia. You check with Delhoon.”
Zyacus walked me to the girls’ dorms and left me with a chaste kiss. One that would normally leave me wanting more but worry gnawed in my gut. That night I tossed and turned and when I dreamed it was of pointed eared men leading my fellow students in chains through a portal to another world.
∞∞∞
Before I even had to ask about the state of things outside the academy, my grandparents called me into their office. Word spread rapidly through the kingdoms and every plant-based source of food everywhere had died overnight. My papa assured me all would be well. “There have been famines before and we survived,” he’d said. The unusually light pallor to his skin told me a different story.
I had trouble focusing during classes. Even though the professors had tried to keep the news quiet, everyone knew. But classes and training had to go on. If my vision was right, and it always was, we’d have to fight the Fae or become slaves. We had to be ready.
A week went by before I noticed the abundance of
