When Eleni finally entered the Green Library, all of the boys had already arrived and seated themselves comfortably.

Schuylar and Warren were sharing a couch, an empty chair next to them. Schuylar was pestering Warren, begging him to reconsider their prank on Master Radzimierz, and Warren was trying to evade his pleas. Perci, Herne, and Varick each had individual armchairs, and were discussing something in quiet whispers. Devin and Simon were actually doing their homework, or rather Devin was tutoring and Simon was listening. Devin had taken up a chair and the much larger Simon was kneeling next to his chair, furiously copying down Devin's words.

Judging by the eclectic arrangement of the chairs, Eleni quickly deduced that the pages had commandeered every chair in the library for their own use and rearranged them to fit their needs. She hoped this wasn't a normal occurrence for them and pitied the servants who had to fix the room later.

"About time," shouted Schuylar, quickly making his way towards Eleni. A foot away from the girl and his arms outstretched to hug her, Schuylar found a small, booted foot an inch away from his stomach. Frozen in place, he stared at the tiny redhead, as did the rest of the boys.

As for Eleni, she had done that little feat without meaning to. Her nerves frayed by Alex, she let her previous training from the Islands show, and instantly regretted it. "I'm sorry," she murmured in a shamed voice. Her head bowed in penitence, Eleni didn't know what to say. Until she felt Schuylar give her a bear hug. "Get off," she mumbled indignantly, shame forgotten. She told him before to never touch her!

"No chance," was his only reply as he dragged the smaller page to the chair next to the couch. Once free of his clutches, Schuylar was once again assaulted by Eleni's foot, but this time the kick connected with his shin. Yowling in pain, he retaliated by tickling her. :This will show you to attack me,

The other pages were dumbfounded by the spectacle. Astonished by the lack of decorum, Herne decided to break up the ridiculous moment. Unfortunately, Schuylar turned out to be just as ticklish as his captive, and a free-for-all wrestling match ensued. Somehow, all of the gathered pages, save Perci and Varick, had become involved in the playful fight. Until Percival saw fit to break up the tussle.

"All right, lads, enough is enough." No one bothered to listen. Resorting to his last offensive tactic to end things quickly, Perci unleashed his gift on the younger pages.

A pale yellow flame surrounded the pages, its heat growing in intensity until they stopped fussing. The three first year pages were clueless as to where the fire had come from, but the older pages knew. And Herne was not glad to have Perci ruining his fun, giving him a look fit for a petulant child.

"Stop being a spoilsport, Perci. These things are hot!"

"Can I trust you to act your age?" Perci had no intention of letting them out of his impromptu furnace until they could behave like knights-in-training. "Well," he pressed.

Sweltering from the heat, the pages started to call out to Perci, swearing to agree to all of his demands. He ignored their cries, he was intent on have Herne behave, because he was the oldest and should have known better.

"Fine," he conceded. "If I promise to behave myself, will you stop being a killjoy?"

The flaming circle instantly receded from the pages, only to remake its cage around Herne. No one argued with the older page and obviously powerful mage. Quietly taking their seats, the initial commotion that started the horseplay long gone from their minds.

Herne was not quiet, however. He continued to make ignoble noises and grumbled obscenities under his breath. At least, until Perci gave him a look that could cripple even the proudest of noble lords.

"Now that Sir Senseless has been subdued," he said as he sat back down. "Can we get down to business?" At Simon's bright eyes and Schuylar's hard set mouth, Perci clarified, "Our homework, boys. Whatever mischoef you're going to concoct, leave me out of it. I'll not be going before Paidrag because of your nonsense."

None of the boys complained and set to do their work. Some of the pages studied individually, only there to help their friends who found a certain subject challenging. Others, like Simon, were there because they really needed the help. Apparently, mathematics were not his specialty, nor was literature or history. Eleni found it surprising that he had no problem asking Devin for help, it seemed that the pair was well matched.

This only made her wonder all the more about her fail first attempt with her first sponsor. Where Warren and Simon were patient, kind, and fun-loving, Alex had been abtruse and grim. Had it been her fault that Alex acted that way? The others had insisted that he was just rotten, but he had helped her find the library when she needed help. What there something wrong with her? Her mind wandered, constantly coming up with different scenarios of what could have made her situation with Alex better.

"Myles?"

"Huh," was her artful reply.

Schuylar had apparently been speaking to her for quite some time. "Are you all right? You've been staring at that problem for the past ten minutes. Need any help?"

Spurning her desolate thoughts, she looked to Schuylar and nodded. "The third problem is a little difficult for me." It was a lie, but she had decided to make the best of this situation, to put behind her Alexander of Tirragen. These boys found her agreeable, at least to some degree, and that was all that mattered.

Another bell passed before all of the pages had finished their work. Or rather, until Simon had been tutored by everyone present and finally finished. And he was hard pressed to finish, as Perci had insisted that he had to finish his homework, and have it check over by Varick, before he could plan his escapade.

Once everyone had finished Perci collected his papers and walked out of the Library with a simple "Good night". The others remained, although Schuylar only stayed in an effort to convince the others to leave Master Radzimierz. No one would listen, least of all Eleni.

"Schuylar," she bellowed, stunning the boys with her ferocity. Ignoring the tiny blush of embarassment on her cheeks, she continued in a normal tone, "He's a clown. You cannot honestly say that he knew what he was doing."

"I agree," chirped up Devin. "He reminds me of my Aunt Mallory. And believe me, I want to get him before he starts waving a silk handkerchief in front of my face." He finished hi dramatic little speech by crossing his arms and pouting like a child who had been denied a sweet.

The older boys just had to laugh at Devin's pout. The boy didn't know how close to the truth he he was. Master Radzimierz was notorious for hiding his "lovely" orchid-dyed hanky until the second week of studies. He felt that it kept the pages on there toes to see new "marvels" every now and then. And they told the first years pages the truth.

The results were comical. Eleni paled, except for two fuchsia spots on her cheeks. Devin lost all color and curled his knees up to his chest. He just couldn't live through four years of the faux blonde dandy. Schuylar did not share his year-mates' reactions.

"I happen to like purple."

The pages who were not incapacitated by shock promptly pushed Schuylar out of the library and banned him from the meeting. They liked him, but if he was going to spoil their plans, he would have to wait outside until they were done. Schuylar did not go without a fight, but the older pages were stronger and he was clearly outnumbered.

It took them all of twenty minutes to finalize their idea. A handful of them would distract Master Radzimierz at the end of the lesson, while Herne, Devin, and one more page would sneak off to the fop's chambers. Once there, the third page would act as a sentinel, and Herne and Devin sniff out the beauty elixir Master Radzimierz used to bleach his hair. Herne would change the properties of the elixir with his gift.

All they had left to do was decide on a color. They all decided on absurd shades, but could not come to an agreement.

Herne was the first to voice his choice, and quite adamantly, too. "Purple! I've had that silly kerchief waved under my nose for years! If he finds it so fascinating, he won't mind have his hair that color."

While the suggestion was met with chuckles all around, Devin had another proposition. "Why not red?" At the simmering look he received from Eleni, he clarified, "Not like your hair, Myles. I meant flaming red, like a torch. He wants the attention, right?"

Varick didn't think it impressive enough. "How about-"

"Green," Eleni interrupted. She had been silent during the color disagreement, and had preferred to study the room they were in. "It's only fitting that we dye his hair a color that matches the room were we came up with the idea." And green will make him look like the weed he is, she added to herself.

Not put off at all by the interruption, Varick quickly agreed, and the others followed suit. Eleni was right after all, green would serve as an honorable homage to their new hangout.

When they filed out of the room at the end of their planning, they had not expected Schuylar to still be there waiting for them. They hadn't expecting his consistent badgering, either. But they scheming pages were silent, never giving away a hint of the spectacular plot.

Hope you guys enjoyed this one. Life has been kind of hectic and this became an outlet. Comments of any sort would be greatly appreciated. I'm trying to develop most of the characters, instead of making them filler for the plot. Tell me what YOU think! Keep on the lookout for the next chapter!