Page 24 of By the Orchid and the Owl
We’d claimed the same bunk, her on bottom and me on top, and after we’d located our luggage in a pile of other bags in the corner of the bunkroom, we’d ventured to the bathing chamber together with fresh nightgowns from home.
The bath had been bliss, even though it had felt… less private than my tub back home, that was for sure. A dozen clawed bathtubs lined the wall of the chamber, each with a half-moon rack and skimpy curtains half-heartedly shrouding each space. Emelle and I had bathed side by side, talking through our curtains, then retired to bed earlier than anyone else.
I couldn’t even remember the others coming to bed, I’d slept so deeply.
Now, the birds out our bunkroom windows were chirping at everyone to wake up. It was strange, to hear those chirps but also hear the translation in my head:“Wake up, the sun’s out, wake up!”I spared them a last glance as Emelle and I trailed downstairs after the others, both of us already dressed in new outfits for our first day of classes.
“I overheard someone sayingourdownstairs connects with the guys’ downstairs,” Emelle said as we reached the bottom of the steps and faced a rounded corridor with three separate doors.
The women in front of us pushed open the middle one, and we followed them, coming out into a massive hall filled with circular tables.
Emelle was right. Both boys and girls of the Whisperer sector mingled, which meant… I glanced up at the ceiling. Boulevard Bascite must be right above our heads.
We made our way to the queue trailing from an open, widespread kitchen window, where a kindly-looking cook was handing out platters of mouth-watering breakfast. Steaming eggs, golden toast, and a medley of berries, from the looks of it.
“I’m starving,” I moaned. When Emelle gave me a cockeyed look, I added, “I’ve been pretty nervous up until this point, so I haven’t eaten much for the past few days.”
True, of course. But Emelle couldn’t know that my nerves had skyrocketed beyond the normal scope of inductee butterflies. She couldn’t know, either, that I’d fallen asleep with my mind churning with images of Coen and Jagaros.
The Mind Manipulator and the tiger.
Both of whom had saved me in different ways.
After we’d finally accepted our platters of breakfast from the house cook, we were just scanning the room for an empty table when a familiar voice yelled out, “Hey! It’s the girl who thinks I’m a teacher!”
I jumped, almost dumping my food, and found Rodhi grinning at me at a nearby table, surrounded by a group of friends.
“What are you doing just standing there? Get your ass over here, darling!”
Right. He had no idea who I was beyond our initial meeting in the courtyard, since Coen had erased his most recent memory of me.
Leading Emelle over to him, I said, “I don’t think you’re a teachernow. I just didn’t get a good look at your lack of facial hair before.”
Rodhi laughed like before, stroking his smooth chin. “My old man didn’t grow a beard until he was thirty-five, so I’m waiting for—”
“—yourstudto kick in?”Stupid, I chided myself when his face fell a bit.Why did I have to go and ruin his joke just because I knew what he was going to say?
But then Rodhi’s boyish face split into his widest grin yet.
“Oh, I’m going to like you, I think. What’s your name, by the way? And yours?” he asked Emelle.
Once we’d introduced ourselves—again—Rodhi burst into the story of his own Branding, how he’d been the very last one to be called up (which explained why I didn’t remember him during the ceremony), and how a flock of toucans had bombarded him with bugs and slugs as a welcome gift.
“Fascinating,” Emelle whispered after he’d jumped up to go hail another group of his friends strolling into the dining hall. “I’ve never seen someone so… lively.”
I opened my mouth to respond when a sultry voice pierced the din of the hall.
“I’m just so glad we were granted the same magic, sis.” It was Jenia, once again with the bronze-skinned beauty named Dazmine. But this time, both of them were talking to the princess of our house, that sharp-chinned brunette with the parakeet on her shoulder. I could have sworn they had strayed near our table on purpose. And…
Sis. I tried not to let my head swing back and forth between Jenia and the house princess. They didn’t look alike upon first glance, but when both pairs of gray-slitted eyes glanced my way, I caught the resemblance in their expressions.
Sisters. Great.
Jenia’s older sister shrugged. “The Whisperer magic must really like our blood.”
Emelle and I stayed silent, pretending to be unengaged, until the trio moved away toward the kitchen window to grab their own breakfasts.
One of the young women at the table with us spoke up. “Don’t worry aboutPrincessKimber. She’s way more interested in the mirror than the orchid and the owl.”
