How things have changed.
“How do you open the door?” I ask.
“With my paws.” Her tone of voice makes it seem like this should be obvious. I always thought she had an attitude, I never realized how right I was until now.
“Okay then,” Doug says as he crooks an elbow for me to take. I accept it and leave the cat to her own devices. Although, I suspect she will probably find a sunny corner and sleep for quite a while before she actually does anything.
We leave the safety of my suite and head out into the world outside. The academy is massive with so many corridors and different buildings.
“There is a map on your tablet,” Doug says after going through yet another door. “The layout of the grounds is a circle so even if you miss what you’re looking for, if you keep going you’ll still get there.”
“A circle?”
“Yep. The inner-circle is the classrooms and common areas. The outer ring is all the private rooms and suites. The teachers also have their residences in the outer ring.”
His explanation actually helps a lot. It gives me something to work with. I also really like the idea of everything being a circle. If I get lost, I can just keep going around in circles until I find what I’m looking for.
We finally reach the dining room. Opulent doesn’t even begin to describe it. Chandeliers hang over each and every table—which can seat eight people. Down the middle is the biggest buffet I have ever seen. Waiters zip around the room, serving the students, and taking empty plates.
Doug leads me to a table with only two spaces free. He pulls my chair out for me. “Take a seat and a waiter will be over in a minute.”
I assume the waiter will bring the plate so I can go to the buffet, there doesn’t seem to be any plates sitting around the place for self-service.
The six people at the table all watch me as I sit and thank Doug. I’m relieved when he takes the seat next to me.
“This is—” he starts and I interrupt before he can use my title.
“Paige,” I say quickly. “I’m Paige. It’s nice to meet you all. Today is my first official day here.”
He introduces the others and I know I’m going to forget their names. There is only one other female and the rest are all males.
A waiter dressed in a three-piece black suit comes over with a tablet in his hands. “Your Majesty, may I take your order for breakfast?”
I’m immediately confused. “I just need a plate, I can get my own food, but thank you.”
“It is my honor to serve you,” he replies.
“I really can do it myself.” My face starts to burn as more eyes turn to look at me. I really don’t want to make a scene but I don’t want to be fawned over either. I’ve managed to get my own food all this time, I’m certainly not going to get injured in a buffet.
The waiter blinks at me. His gaze goes to Doug in a ‘help me’ kind of fashion. More people have stopped eating to watch.
“I’ll just have toast and eggs, please,” I say quickly. Maybe I’ll have to have a private word with the waiter later on or get Doug to explain the system when we don’t have so many spectators.
The waiter thankfully leaves and returns with toast and three different kinds of eggs. “You weren’t specific,” he says as he places the laden plate in front of me.
“Right, my bad,” I concede.
Conversations restart around the table. Doug quickly joins in and talks about the upcoming soccer match. I tune out as the discussion swirls around me.
The guy on my opposite side doesn’t join in either. His hair is the color of caramel and so thick I think I could lose a hand in it. He’s wearing the same uniform as the other boys—white shirt and black pants—but he seems to wear it with attitude. His check tie is askew and his collar is up at the back. I don’t know if he’s just messy or if it’s on purpose.
I hope it’s on purpose because it is hot.
I attempt to strike up a conversation. “The food is really nice here.”
“Yeah.”
“Do you play soccer too?” I cringe at my own attempts but he’s not really giving me much to work with.
“Yeah,” he replies.
Okay then. Challenge accepted. “Which position do you play?”
“I’m the captain. And center back.”
I open my mouth to say something but the girl across the table beats me to it. She winks at the guy. “Hey, Brad, I’m excited about tonight. Pick me up at six?”
“Yeah,” he replies. But…she actually gets a smile. So Brad is a man of few words but will actually show emotion for the right person.
Got it.
He’s still hot at hell, though.
The girl gets up and leaves and most of the others trail away too. Fitting in at this place is going to be a little trickier than I thought it would be.
“Are you ready for class?” Doug asks. His plate is empty, meanwhile, mine is still half-full. There is no way I can fit in any more.
“I think so,” I reply.
We leave the table and Doug helps me navigate around another puzzle maze to get to my first class of the day. It feels like I’m back in high school again—albeit with much better surroundings and nicer people.
My first subject is history and I learn a lot about what the Fae went through in the past. I can’t help but still think of it all as just something made up to tell to children. It’s going to take a long time for it all to feel real.
The day whizzes past so quickly that it leaves my head feeling like it’s been stuffed full of cotton wool. There is so much to learn and everyone else has had so much more time than me to take it all in.
One painfully obvious thing is that there aren’t many changelings that attend the academy. How can I possibly remember everything and rule them in the future if I’ve only been living in the human world?
I have to wonder if everyone else is thinking the same thing. Maybe they won’t even accept me as a ruler because of my upbringing.
I guess that’s a problem for another day. Right now, my biggest issue is how on earth I’m going to get through the mountain of homework I have been piled high with.
After the last class, I stand outside the classroom and try to get my tablet to bring up the interactive map so I can find my way back.
All the corridors look the same after a while. I have no idea whether I need to turn left or right. It shouldn’t matter when the whole building is circular but I don’t want to carry my heavy books any farther than I have to either.
“Your Majesty?” The male voice makes me jump. I hadn’t heard anyone approaching. I spin around and come face to face with a whole lot of gorgeous.
He smiles and he’s so tall I have to look up just to catch a glimpse of him. He has beautiful, flawless brown skin, with a huge smile. His curly black hair is like a neat mane around the top of his head and I love it.
His best feature by far is his dark eyes. The brown is like liquid chocolate that I would happily dive right into. He’s also staring at me, waiting for an answer.
“Please, call me Paige.”
He bows. I’m never going to get used to people doing that to me. “And you may call me Reuben. How was your first day?”
I guess everybody knows I just arrived. Was there a memo or something? I would have liked to have my presence here downplayed so I didn’t keep getting all these people bowing at me.