So there's this thing called chemistry, and it really sucks.
Mulan led Merida and Eilonwy on a mad charge through the school. They dodged students, hid from teachers, took all manner of "shortcuts" though dusty hallways, almost tripped over each other, and finally ending up at the bottom of a winding staircase. They stopped to catch their breath and stood there for a moment in silence.
Merida spotted a woman in a dark skirt and sharply pressed blouse, with her hair in a tight bun. "Er, Mulan, that's a teacher, isn't she?"
Mulan glanced over her shoulder. "It sure is. Quick! Up the stairs."
The three girls took the winding stairs three at a time until they were safely around the corner and out of sight. But there was no time to rest. Even, measured footsteps sounded on the stairs behind them.
"Your Highnesses! A princess does not run like a village girl on an errand."
Merida, Mulan, and Eilonwy charged up the stairs.
"Och no! A princess runs like the wind!" shouted Merida, half-breathlessly, against her better judgment.
A heavy oaken door was at the top of the stairs, and the teacher would be coming around the corner at any moment. They pushed and pulled it, but it was stuck.
"I don't understand! Dallben keeps his door open always!" gasped Eilonwy.
They pushed, and pushed, and pushed at the door, pausing only to pound it. Merida kicked it a few times for good measure. Just as the edge of the matron's skirt was visible around the corner, the door swung open and the three students were swept in by a gust of wind. The door slammed shut.
They lay gasping on the floor for a few minutes. Before Merida had even caught her breath, Mulan was on her feet and offered Merida a hand. The heir of DunBroch sat up, feeling a bit dizzy from the excitement.
They were in a round stone chamber. In the center was a pit filled with fire, and a cauldron hung over it on a tripod. Princesses sat in pairs at tables arranged in a circle around the fire, busily writing. A very old man wearing buttercup yellow robes was stirring the cauldron and eyeing the students. He very slowly turned around to face the three late princesses.
"You may sit at a desk, unless you suddenly find the floor very comfortable. Eilonwy, I will speak to after class. Mulan, Mushu went out to look for you."
"Thank you, Dallben Lao-shi."
He humphed. "Don't thank me, child. You'd better buy some chili peppers for Mushu when he returns."
As Eilonwy and Mulan took two empty seats across from each other in the circle, Dallben regarded Merida. "By what are you called, princess?"
Merida stood up and brushed herself off. "I am Merida, first born of the Clan DunBroch, daughter of King Fergus and Queen Elinor." She said it as grandly as she could, given that she had only recently been sprawled on the floor.
"Merida, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. As Mulan no doubt has revealed, I am Master Dallben, Instructor in the Arts of Magic. We were not expecting you, but you may join Tiana and Charlotte at their table." He nodded at a pair of princesses sitting at a table nearest the door.
Merida caught herself staring. One of the girls was outlandishly dressed in a slim coral dress with rose pink gloves and an extremely large hat. She shared a table with the darkest-skinned girl Merida had ever seen! They both smiled encouragingly and drew up a chair for Merida. The one in the coral said something indistinct rather rapidly and loudly, with many giggles. The quieter girl shook her head. "If you carry on like that Charlotte, she ain't gon' understand you." Ah, then the reasonable one must be Tiana.
"Oh. I'm sorry." She giggled again.
Merida nodded slowly and sat down.
"So. Where. Are. You. From?" Charlotte spoke slowly and a little too loudly.
Merida blinked at her, but before she had a chance to reply, Dallben cut in. "Now then princesses, you can chitchat when you're old." He then launched into a demonstration, a make-something-explode one (which was of course what Mulan was most interested in), and all the princesses began busily taking notes.
With the appropriate words and elements, the contents of the cauldron exploded, scattering sparks in a ring around it. Dallben nodded at Mulan. "Does that make it clear?"
"Quite." Mulan said, scrubbing at a spot of soot that had landed on her paper.