Chapter 27:                                           Plants and powder

Lee was watching the scene in front of her intently. Cori was travelling between Sam's room and her own, carrying sick looking plants to her cousin's room, and coming back with healthy and wonderful looking plants, which she carried back into her room. Sam was leaning against the wall with a sour look on her face. When Cori carried an extremely exhausted looking plant, Sam winced and let out a little whimper.

Lee shook her head in surprise and wonder. "Cori, may I ask what you are actually doing?"
Cori interrupted her activity and smiled. "Oh, I'm only exchanging the plants. When they are in my room, they have the tendency to become sick. But when they are around Sam, they grow like crazy. That's why we exchange them from time to time. This way the plants regain their strength in her room, and when they have regenerated enough, they come back to me."

Sam glared at her cousin with narrowed eyes, obviously displeased with her actions. "We? You are the one who decided this. My poor plants. I don't know what you are doing to them, but they are not the same after you have them in your hands. What are you doing to them? Reading your damned novels aloud? Why do you insist on having them in your room?"

Cori smiled again. "The room looks more lovely when there is something alive in it."

Sam frowned. "Which you try successfully to kill. You are constantly decimating my number of plants. Don't think I didn't notice that some of them never come back from you. Wouldn't you prefer a painting of a plant? That would be much easier for both of us, and my plants could live without you putting them in constant trauma."

Cori simply shrugged and continued her activity. "Whatever." When she returned from her room again, she was carrying a pot, without a plant in it.

As soon as she passed Sam, her cousin lowered her head and stared intently at the pot. "Where. Is. The. Plant?"

"Oh, I think it's already in hibernation. But the bulb is still fine."

"Cori, it is AUTUMN. I really doubt that an indoor plant suddenly decides to go into hibernation when it's autumn. What have you done to it?"

Cori scratched her head and murmured something inaudible.

Sam growled, took the pot out of her cousin's hands, returned to her room and, after shooting a last death glare at her cousin, slammed the door behind her.

Cori only shrugged and returned to her own room.

Lee was standing in the middle of the hall, shaking her head in disbelief. It was her third day at palace, and there was one thing she could say: Nothing was like she expected it to be. She didn't mean this in a negative way. Strange would be the right word. But somehow … she liked it. The early training was horrible. Lee winced automatically when she thought of it. Her backside hurt like hell. Sam had explained to her that you remember things easier when it hurts. "Wrong move, pain, no repetition", had been her exact words. 'But that doesn't seem to work as easy as she told me it would. Not when it comes to me. But at least I'm not the only one with bruises.' Lee giggled at the thought of some of the boys who had dared to stare more on Bery's chest than into her eyes. The girl had developed very fast during the summer, and was a bit sensible about it. They were so fixed on their view, that they didn't see it coming. Bery's knee could be a very painful weapon. Lee went towards her sponsor's room, grinning the whole time. It would be lunch soon, and she wanted to know what Sam had planned for today. Before knocking, she looked amusingly towards the sisters' rooms. Nobody would ever expect that Sam was the one responsible for the little 'accidents' that were happening to the triplets lately. Only Lee knew it, and she was proud of being considered trustworthy. When she entered the room she immediately noticed the change of atmosphere in there. Half of the plants in there were now sick looking. Before that everything inside here had been in perfect health and beauty. Lee had to admit that she was more than fascinated by Sam's room. The plants, the crystals, the whole atmosphere … she couldn't point a finger on it, but she felt … safe in it. Like home, although her home had never looked like that.

Sam was sitting on her bed; the soil filled pot on her lap. On her shoulder Ti was watching the pot as intently as her owner was. Sam was murmuring something inaudible. She seemed to be angry and worried at the same time. Suddenly there was a flash of green light.

Lee blinked. She knew she was the only one who saw this. She had already been told that mages needed to practise to be able to see magic. But in her case it was different. She was born with this skill. She was used to seeing more than everybody else sees, and she kept quiet about that. She even loved it, because it made her world rich with colours hardly anybody could see. And in Sam's room there was a constant moss green glow, surrounding plants, crystals and their owner.

Lee cleared her throat to get her sponsor's attention. The heads of both mouse and human jerked up, looking at her. Lee smiled shyly. "Is everything fine with you?"

Sam looked silently at her, then at the pot, then back to Lee and sighed. "Depends on what you call 'fine'. But except the urge to kill my cousin … yeah, I'm fine." She shrugged and looked again down to the pot, shaking her head in disbelief.

Lee grinned relieved. 'She isn't mad anymore. Good.'

Sam got up finally and put the pot with the other plants. She inspected them attentively, murmuring silently. She interrupted her inspection to point with one finger towards the table. "Look at that package. It might interest you." Then she continued to touch and comfort every plant in the room. Ti was always on her shoulder, watching.

Lee walked to the table and found an open package lying on it. In it there were several little paper-bags with strange names written on them. And a little box with pralines in it. She lifted one of the paper-bags and opened it carefully. There was powder in it. Lee frowned. "What is this."

"Read the description."

Lee looked around and noticed a letter lying next to the package. She put the bag back and took the letter. While reading it her eyes became large. "That's … mean. Do you really want to do this to them?" She looked at Sam.

Her sponsor turned her head slowly, a predatory gleam in her eyes and an evil smirk on her face. "I have already done it. You will see the consequences soon. At lunch time, I think."

Lee gulped. "I see. Really, I never want to be your enemy. That's much too dangerous."

She heard her sponsor chuckling.

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The pages were entering the dining hall, hungry. It had been a hard training day and everybody felt nearly starved. Especially the older boys, who seemed to be able to eat more than their weight themselves.

Cori looked at Lachran's plate and shook her head. "This is unbelievable. How on the goddess sake can you eat that much without feeling sick? And I was worried about my eating tendencies." She turned at her right side only to have a look at the strange tower Milan had made out of his food in order to get more on his plate. She blinked in surprise. "Is this a kind of art I don't understand, or do you simply have to much time to think about food. How have you been able to transport this without dropping half of it? I wonder who is the worst of all of you."

At this moment Quentin took his place next to Lachran, opposite to Milan, hearing her last words. He knew what she was complaining about, mainly because she did it every day since they arrived. His plate was filled as high as the others' and he got an idea. "Hey guys!"

The others turned their heads towards him.

"How about an eating competition."

Lachran blinked. "In what way?"

"Listen. As soon as we are allowed to eat we dig in as fast as possible, and whoever finishes first, wins. Got it?"

Milan and Lachran exchanged a look and shrugged. "Fine."

Cori glared at the boys around her. "You can't be serious? I won't sit around and watch you acting like pigs. You are supposed to be nobles, future knights. That means you are supposed to have manners. What you're doing is disgusting."

Milan grinned at her. "Oh! So you won't be the judge?"

"Pardon?"

"We need somebody who declares the winner."

Cori looked from one boy to the other. After some minutes she shrugged. "Fine, I'm the judge then."

The boys grinned and prepared themselves for their fight, shooting glares at each other as if they were dangerous enemies.

Cori shook her head. 'Things like that are never mentioned in my books. Are all men that childish, or am I in the wrong company.' Suddenly she felt somebody sitting down next to her. She turned around to see Sam and, opposite to her, Lee. She let out a relieved sigh. "Finally! Normal people."

Sam frowned and looked at her. "Huh?"

"The boys are driving me crazy."

"I told you not to read too much of your novels…"

Cori blushed. "Not THAT kind of crazy. Have you looked at their plates lately? It's enough to bury somebody underneath it."

Sam shrugged. "Maybe they are hungry."

Cori glared at her. "There is a difference between hunger and gear. These guys really want to make a competition out of it."

"Yeah. And Cori is the judge." Lachran interfered.

Sam looked at her cousin and lifted one eyebrow.

Cori blushed again and decided not to say anything more.

After a while, the whole group had taken seats at the huge table, and they got the permission to eat. Everybody watched in astonishment how the three competitors swallowed the huge amount of food in a matter of minutes. After declaring Milan the winner, the rest started to eat their food.

Suddenly Bery frowned. "Hey, what's wrong with you Danny?"

The girl's eyes were huge, her face deep red and her hands grasped her throat. Her breath had increased and she tried to say something. "W…"

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So, THAT is mean. What happened to Danny? I know it. You will have to wait. He, he…. I'm bad.

It's been so long since I've created a cliffy. I thought it was time for a new one. How did you like the chapter? The story is more funny than dark at the moment. Hmm … I think I have to change that. We will see.

Sorry, but this time, no meanings of names. I first have to research which of them I haven't already explained. When I've made up a list, you'll get them. If a new character comes in, I'll give you the meaning.