“I told Aislinn what you said about Randall being an idiot,” Diana explains nonchalantly.
Jarod blanches and swallows hard. Diana doesn’t seem to notice this as she tears a wing off the rapidly disappearing carcass in front of her, her hands and lips slick with chicken fat. Apparently, complete tactlessness isn’t a Lupine trait. It’s a Diana trait.
“That wasn’t really something I wanted repeated,” Jarod tells his sister, his voice weak.
“Why?” asks Diana. “She should know this. Before she does this awful wandfasting thing.”
“He’s not an idiot,” Aislinn says as she stares at her plate, sounding hurt and as if she’s trying to convince herself that the sentence is true.
“I’m sorry, Aislinn,” Jarod apologizes, his voice low and kind. “I didn’t mean to offend you. I...I think highly of you and would not think most men were good enough for you.”
Diana snorts. “That’s because most Gardnerian men are fools.”
Jarod tries to ignore his sister, his eyes focused on my Gardnerian friend. “Aislinn,” he says, his voice sincere, “I really am sorry.”
She looks away from him, her face strained.
“Sit down, Jarod.” I invite him with a sigh. “Join us. It’s all water under the bridge.”
“Thank you,” he says. He sets his meat-laden plate down and ventures a worried look in Aislinn’s direction. She picks absently at her muffin, eyes on her plate, her expression vacant.
Jarod picks up a knife and fork and begins to cut his chicken into neat little bites.
Diana stops eating and stares at him, incredulous. “Since when do you use utensils?” she asks, a note of accusation in her voice.
“Since we’ve been living in Verpacia,” he shoots back. “Unlike you, I’m trying to fit in here.”
Diana shrugs and gives the meat her full attention once more. “Suit yourself.”
Jarod turns back to Aislinn. “Is it still all right if we meet later?”
Aislinn frowns at her muffin. “Yes, Jarod,” she agrees, her voice tentative.
“Perhaps at nineteenth hour? I’ll meet you in the archives?”
Aislinn nods at her plate, still not looking at him.
“Okay, then,” Jarod says. He ventures a small smile in her direction, then goes back to cutting his chicken into tiny pieces.
CHAPTER SIX
Jarod
Later that evening I sit at my desk, alone except for the slumbering chickens, staring at a list of metal powders recently given to me by Professor Hawkkyn.
I’m passing Metallurgie now instead of barely passing, my Snake Elf professor turned into an unlikely ally, making me suddenly wonder if I’ve been told nothing but lies about his kind.
A few weeks ago Professor Hawkkyn called me aside, curious and thrown by my newly casual attire.
“You’re dressed like a Kelt,” he observed flatly as if I was plotting some dark scheme, the silvery glinting of his star eyes distracting me.
I straightened and held his silvered gaze. “Professor Kristian told me my clothes were made by Urisk slaves, so I decided not to wear them anymore.” I shrugged defensively. “Anyway, these are more comfortable.”
He stared at me for a long moment, and I was suddenly struck by how beautiful he is, each flat scale reflecting a kaleidoscope of stunning greens. “You know Jules Kristian?” he asked.
“Yes,” I replied, then knit my brow in question. “You...as well?”
Professor Hawkkyn broke into a dazzling, incredulous smile, his teeth snow white in contrast to his deep green scales. “Jules is...a good friend.” He considered me for another long moment, then spit out a short laugh, shook his head and expeditiously went back to correcting papers. “I rescind your second assignment, Elloren Gardner,” he said without looking up. “Just complete the first section.” He paused from his corrections, gave me a long, appraising look, then pulled a paper out from one of his folders and handed it to me.
I glanced at the list of metal powders as I took it from him, confused. “Are these...what we’re going to test the chelating agents on?”
He narrowed his star eyes at me. “No. It’s a list of metal powders that block ice magic. I thought that might be of some interest to you.”
I gaped at the list then at him, dark delight and overwhelming gratitude bubbling up. “I...I never knew about this. Does it really work?”
“Wand magic’s not the only power,” he replied in a low voice, his teeth set in another dazzling, dangerous grin.
*
I stare at the list in the quiet of my room, thinking of all the ways that I can now make myself impervious to Fallon’s low-level, yet still-constant bullying.
I’m interrupted by a tentative knock at my door.
Setting down my pen, I get up and open the door to find Aislinn, her eyes red and puffy.
“Aislinn, what’s the matter?” I ask, surprised.
“I—I need to talk to you,” she stammers.
I let her in and close the door behind us. She plops down onto my bed, her arms clasped protectively around herself, and begins to sob.
I sit down and put a comforting hand on her heaving back. “Aislinn, what’s wrong?”
“Jarod kissed me!” she blurts out, her tone deeply anguished.
My eyes fly open in surprise. I know how much Aislinn dislikes kissing.
“Did he force you?” I ask, a protective edge rearing up, along with strident disbelief that Jarod could be capable of such a thing.
“No,” she says, shaking her head. “No. It just...happened.”
Relief washes over me. “Then why are you so upset?”
“Because...I...” She doubles over as if in pain. I try to calm her down by shushing her and rubbing her back. She turns to me, her face soaked with tears. “I liked it!”
I blink at her, baffled. “That’s why you’re crying?”
“No,” she sobs, her voice stuffy. “That’s a lie. I didn’t just like it. I loved it. We kissed for over an hour,” she chokes out. “It was like heaven. I never knew. I’ve never felt that way before! I thought it was all made up. All those silly romantic ideas. I thought no one ever really felt that way. Oh, Elloren, my life is ruined!”
I shake my head vehemently. “It’s not ruined—”
“How can I ever be happy with Randall now? Now that I know what it’s like with Jarod? Why can’t Jarod be a Gardnerian? He’s Lupine, Elloren! Do you know what my family would do to me if they knew I’d spent the last hour kissing a Lupine? They’d disown me! I’d never see my mother again! My sisters! My nieces and nephews! I’d be all alone! I’m going to hell, Elloren! I’m an abomination!”
“You are not going to hell. You don’t really believe Jarod is evil, do you?”
“No!” she cries. “I just... My whole world is upside down. I should never have taken that class with him. Oh, Elloren, what am I going to do?”
“What happened,” I ask, “after he kissed you?” Ancient One, this is a complicated mess.
“I started crying,” she sobs. “And I ran away.”
I let out a long breath, dismayed. “Oh. Poor Jarod.”
That only makes her cry harder.
“What if your parents actually met him?” I venture, grasping for some hope. “Remember how we were scared of Jarod and Diana? Maybe if they saw how nice he is...”
“You don’t understand! You have no idea how strict they are! My father is Gardneria’s ambassador to the Lupines. He hates them. He has all sorts of...ideas about them!” She shakes her head vehemently. “I can’t be around Jarod anymore. I’ll just stay as far away from him as I possibly can.” Her head falls into her hands, her slender body racked with violent sobbing.
A knock at my door pulls my attention away. I get up and open the door to find Jarod standing in the hallway, not in tears, but still looking distraught.
“I need to talk to Aislinn,” he says.
I step out into the hallway and close the door. “I don’t think she wants to talk to you right now.”
“Can I talk to you, then?” he asks, his brow deeply furrowed. “She probably told you what happened.”
“She did. Jarod, she can’t be with a Lupine. She’d be disowned.”
“I’m in love with her, Elloren.”