Professor Harlow’s room has been completely transformed overnight. It looks like the deck of what I assume is a pirate ship. Where the Evil Queen’s desk once stood is now a helm with a wooden ship’s wheel, and nearby, sails and ropes ascend to the ceiling. The floor beneath my feet is made of wooden planks that are being swabbed by a pirate. Another pirate is dusting a large, wooden serpent statue that I recognize from the bow of Blackbeard’s ship. He must have moved it into his new classroom, right behind the mock ship’s wheel.
At the far end of the classroom, or deck, are our old desks and the mer-folk tanks, which are now decorated with sea creatures and netting. The only thing I recognize is Miri’s mirror hanging on a door to nowhere. The room used to be so dark you could barely see your quill, but now the walls beyond the ship’s deck are enchanted to look like a sea. It’s calm and the sun is shining, but in the distance I can see storm clouds rolling in.
“Crew!” Blackbeard says to the class as Jocelyn and I stand next to him. “We will start our first lesson with a duel between…” Blackbeard scratches his beard. “Poppets, what are yer names again?”
“Gilly,” I say, and the class erupts in cheers. The mer-folk do backflips in their tanks, and the pixies and fairies shoot off mini-fireworks even though they’re technically not allowed. Ollie gives me a loud wolf whistle. Wow. Maybe this hero stuff has its benefits.
“And ye, love?” Blackbeard motions to my opponent.
“Jocelyn,” she says, and you could hear a pin drop.
“Ye rules of dueling arrgh simple.” Blackbeard walks to the edge of the ship to grab two swords from a bucket. I feel my stomach drop. The sheen of the blade, the clinking noise the two swords make when he hits them together… Those babies are real! A pixie in the first row starts to whimper.
“Sir!” Maxine waves her arms wildly. “Are those real? Isn’t that dangerous?”
Blackbeard laughs. “Of course they’re real!” He uses one sword to slice a sail line, which falls on a mer-folk tank. “But don’t worry, dearie. Madame Cleo bewitched these beauties so that they can cut everything but people. See?” He uses the sword to nick his own arm and everyone in the room screams. But when he removes his sword, the only thing sliced is his jacket. I breathe a sigh of relief.
“But gettin’ cut in battle isn’t what ye have to fear, me buckaroos.” Blackbeard points to his noggin. “Fear is what ye make of it. If losing is all ye fear, then ye will fight to the death to win!” His voice booms. “If ye battle for another reason—anger, resentment, love—ye have much more to lose, don’t ye?” He points to Jocelyn and me with the blade. “What is sending ye into battle this morn?”
Who knew a pirate would make much more sense than an evil queen? Why do I always fight with Jocelyn? I look at her and she stares back at me, her eyes dark as coal. It’s because I don’t trust villains. Sure, I may sort of be one for my thieving, but that’s nothing compared to what she’s done. Jocelyn is an evil bully, and I don’t like her.
Miri’s mirror begins to glow, washing the makeshift pirate ship in a blue that mimics the reflection of the ocean. “Professor Blackbeard?” Miri’s voice comes into the room. “Headmistress Flora would like to have a word in the hall. It’s urgent.”
Blackbeard removes his hat. “Aargh! Fine.” He looks at us. “Ye behave. I’ll be out thar.”
As soon as he leaves, the room erupts in conversations. Jocelyn moves to the plank at one end of the ship, while I attempt to pen a note to my sister Anna. She’s still mad at me for being stuck at FTRS, but I’m hoping eventually she’ll send me a Pegasus Post back. I sit down to write and am surprised when a group of students mobs me.
“You’ve got to beat Jocelyn,” says a goblin boy. “We can’t stand her.” The others nod. “But you’ll win! Anyone who went after Alva twice has to.”
“Pummel the witch!” someone shouts. It’s Ronald Gertrude, this weaselly kid who follows Ollie around. With a pale, pudgy face, eyes like slits, and greasy hair always slicked back in a ponytail, he looks like one of Ella’s coachmen who are always pushing villagers off the carriage when it is parked in the square. Rumor has it Ronald is in FTRS for stealing Pegasi, and Maxine heard he’s banned from our stables for teasing the animals. I ignore him.
“Jocelyn is no match for you,” says a sprite with bright-blue hair. This is the same girl who ran from Jocelyn just a few weeks ago during detention. “No one beats a hero!”
There’s that word again. Hero. I could get used to that.
“My mom said I could order a pair of your father’s glass slippers,” says an RLW with a pink bow on her head. “All the princesses have them, but your father can’t keep up with orders. Could you, um, maybe put in a call for me?”
“My father says your father is being invited to all the village parties because of how you helped when Alva attacked the school,” says a pixie who lands on my shoulder. “Everyone wants to hang out with the Cobblers now.”
I smile to myself, thinking of my family being in demand instead of shunned for a change. I wonder if the attention makes Anna happy. Maybe all the village goodwill will make her finally forgive me.