“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
Adelaide stopped on the bottom step. “I know it’s been harder on Theodore than he lets on. Don’t tell him I told you. He’s … well, I’m sure you know.” She grabbed my wrist and pulled me along, stopping outside the dining hall doors. “When we go in there I’m about to break like fifty rules.”
“Why?” I asked and raised a brow.
“The Committee told me to stay away from you, not to be your friend; I’m not going to listen.”
“Why do they want you to stay away from me?” I asked, a bit miffed.
“In their words? ‘It may cause a conflict of interest for Theodore if you are to befriend Mara. He needs to protect her not you. Stay away from the girl, Adelaide, we’re warning you. Do not defy us’,” she said in a mocking, nasally voice.
“Conflict of interest? How would you and I being friends cause a conflict?” I pointed to her and then to me to further drive home my point.
“Theodore is your protector. He’s to protect you and you alone. No one else matters. If something bad were to happen and let’s say we’re together—” she pointed to me and her “—his job would be to save you, not me. They don’t want him to be in the position where he might choose otherwise.”
“Oh.” I was stunned. I hadn’t thought about that. So much of this still didn’t make sense to me; I couldn’t really wrap my head around Theo being my protector and having to keep me safe because I didn’t understand why I was so special.
I still felt like plain old Mara.
Not an enchanter.
And certainly not chosen.
“But don’t worry—” she laced her arm through mine “—I don’t follow rules. I know we’re going to be best friends.” She patted my hand. “And Theodore will protect you if it comes to it. The Committee will just have to get over it.”
“No … no … he …”
She stopped once more. “He knows his job, Mara. His job is to protect you. Remember that and don’t be too hard on him. After all, I know he’s a pain in the ass.” She cackled and pushed the double doors open.
There weren’t many people in the dining hall but they ceased their activities and stared blatantly at us.
Adelaide narrowed her blue eyes. “Haven’t you dopes ever seen two beautiful women before? Jeesh.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder dramatically and led me to a mostly empty table. I slid onto the bench seat. The table was heavy and wooden with intricate carvings of flowers and vines on the sides.
“So,” I began, looking around, “does the food magically appear?”
Adelaide snorted. “No, you grab a plate and go to the buffet.” She pointed to the elaborate spread of food in the back of the room.
“Oh.”
She laughed. “Come on, they have every food imaginable. There are people here from all over the world so there’s quite the variety. It keeps things interesting for those of us who live here all the time.”
I followed her to the buffet of steaming breakfast foods. I grabbed a plate that looked like it cost more than my house and shoveled some scrambled eggs and toast onto it. Adelaide grabbed a waffle and drenched it in syrup. She began eating it on the way to the table.
“Very ladylike Ade,” said someone. I turned to find Theo behind us. His lip ring sparkled from the light cast by the chandeliers above us.
“Shut up, Theo,” she sneered in a way only a sibling can.
“Don’t call me that.” He pointed at his sister. He sneered the words but I could see the love in his eyes for his little sister. “Didn’t they tell you to stay away from Mara?” he questioned, eyeing his sister with—it looked like pride.
“Yes,” she answered, “but as you know, I never listen.”
“No, you don’t,” Theo agreed with a chuckle. He turned and piled eggs, bacon, toast, and several other things that I didn’t recognize onto his plate. “Lead the way.” He motioned with his arm for us to pick a table.
“Theodore,” sighed Adelaide dramatically, “can’t us girls sit on our own? We’ll be on our best behavior.” She batted her eyelashes.
“No,” he replied sternly. “My job is to protect Mara.”
“Can’t you protect her from over there?” She pointed to a table across the room.
“No.” Theo’s tone was final.
“Ugh, fine. Sit with us. When we start talking about tampons, cover your ears.” She led us back to the table she had originally picked.
“Ew.” Theo wrinkled his nose like the idea of tampons was totally repulsive.
Boys.
Adelaide sat down, and I sat across from her. Theo sat beside me.
Adelaide looked at her older brother, a bit of waffle dangling off her fork as it hovered near her mouth. “You’re really going to sit here, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” he said, unfazed.
Adelaide rolled her eyes. It must run in the family. She turned her attention to me and asked, “We should be learning together since we’re the same age. I’ll be eighteen in a month.”
“When does this learning start?” I asked, feeling my nerves bubble inside me.
“A week,” Adelaide replied, gliding a bite of waffle around in the syrup.
“A week?” I repeated, stunned. “But I’m not eighteen yet—and you won’t be, either.”
“They spend some time reviewing our origins and the histories. It’s usually a refresher for most, but for you, it’ll be your first time hearing them.”
“So, it’s like being in school then?”
“Sort of.” Theo bit off a piece of bacon and chewed. “Think of it maybe more as getting certified for a job.”
“Like an electrician?” I questioned, my brows furrowed.
He snapped his fingers together. “Exactly.”
Adelaide rolled her eyes. “Except a lot more fun—I mean, we get to use magic; how cool is that?”
“Actually, I guess it’s more like getting tutored,” Theo mused, his finger tapping against his lip. “It’s not like an actual school—I mean there are some out there certainly, but when you’re living in a safe house you learn here. A lot of the people here can’t risk leaving.”
“Are they like me then? Chosen?”
“Not most of them. Some are children of exiled enchanters—those that either chose to turn their backs and go to The Iniquitous or were killed in battle—so it’s safer for them here. Unlike the human world, enchanters aren’t thought of as adults until they’re twenty.”
“I feel like all these people will think I’m so stupid,” I mumbled, looking around the room.
I spotted a few kids my age, several adults, and even some children.
There weren’t a lot of people living here, at least not in this room, but it was still enough to see my complete and utter humiliation once the time came to learn. I hadn’t grown up knowing what I was and I doubted I’d be good at this whole enchanter thing. I’m sure I’d be the laughing stock of this place in no time.