For everyone who has read, reviewed, and/or added the story! I keep this steamroller going for you.
"And that concludes my summary of the survey of magical historical recordings in Galla. Any questions?"
If Eleni had ever doubted the possibility of dying of boredom, she now believed it completely possible. Numair Salmalin had spent the last week as a guest lecturer in all of their academic lessons, regaling them with all of the intricacies of his recent expedition in Galla.
Schuylar was fascinated, Eleni not as much. There were moments when it seemed as if the old Eleni and Schuylar were at odds again, ready to gouge each others eyes out. If Eleni had to listen to one more recitation of Master Salmalin's lectures, she was going to throw herself off the outer battlements. He was making her go mad! In fact, since the moment she had met the man, she had found him to be nothing but peculiar and unaware of everything around him.
It didn't help matters that he was Master Radzimierz's own personal idol. He had received news months ago that Master Salmalin would be returning to Corus soon, and so had thrown himself into 'research'. It helped to explain his lack of concern for anything else throughout the year. One of his 'experiments' had caused the explosion, and Master Salmalin's adjustments to the experiment had caused the second explosion.
"I have a question, Master Salmalin." Eleni couldn't even gather the energy to glare at her eager friend. For the eighth time that day, she regretted that swords were not allowed in the classrooms.
I'm going to skewer Schuylar one day, she thought mercilessly.
Knowing that the gangly man would derail more than enough times in his explanations, Eleni nestled her head on her arms and tried her best to look alert. The last page that had fallen asleep during one of Master Salmalin's lectures had gotten his tunic set on fire. Eleni had no wish to be turned into kindling.
As her minded floated off, her eyes roamed the room. Only a handful of pages genuinely cared about what the mage had to say, but he didn't seem to notice the waning interest. He didn't seem to notice much at all in Eleni's opinion.
When they were finally released, and then only by the good graces of the palace bell, Eleni bolted from her chair. She didn't get far before she was called back.
"Myles," Master Salmalin called out. "Please, do stay for a moment." It wasn't as if she had much of a say in the matter. The mage had spelled her to the spot she stood, unable to move a muscle. When she didn't walk over to him, he finally looked up. "Oh, dear," he mumbled. "I do apologize, my boy. You see…"
He continued to babble on, already forgetting Eleni and her problem. Had it been possible, she would have reminded him, but the spell had stilled all of her, even her mouth. Eleni was frozen until he remembered. Praying began to look like a useful option at the moment.
"But, oh, I've done it again!"
Finally, she thought, more than a little irritated.
Free of the spell, Eleni stretched out her aching muscles. She had been stuck in rather uncomfortable pose for more than five minutes, waiting the whole for Master Salmalin to remember her. She really hoped that he would get to the point soon.
"You wanted something from me, Master Salmalin?" Trying to be respectful, Eleni readied herself for what was sure to be a scattered and one-sided conversation. "I'm afraid that I have homework to get to."
"Right, of course!" He seemed so keen to begin, but never actually did. Eleni saw herself standing there for the entire evening. She couldn't afford to be rude, but she was losing patience quickly. "Now," he finally began. "I was asked by your grandmother to educate you a bit on crows."
Eleni tilted her head to the side in confusion. Crows? There wasn't much more that she could learn about them, seeing that she was half crow and could shapeshift into one at will.
"Err, sir, I'm afraid tha-"
"I know already, of course, about the particulars of what Alanna meant, but I wouldn't mind getting more information from you, and…"
Once more, Eleni's eyes glazed over as they had for the last week. There was just something about Master Salmalin's voice that slowly lulled her to sleep. No matter what she tried, it was always the same. Although, Eleni had to admit that she never made much of an effort to listen.
"And my wife will be helping as well."
"I beg your pardon?" She hadn't caught much of the speech, even when she had tried to pay attention. "I still don't understand."
"There you are!"
Veralidaine Salmalin had a way of finding her husband whenever he got into trouble. She also had a way of rescuing people from his long-winded and elaborate explanations. Her pretty greys eyes were laughing at the familiar situation. At least someone found it funny, because Eleni was out of patience.
"Mistress Salmalin, if you could tell me whatever it is that you and Master Salmalin want, I would be more than happy to help." Anything to get me away from this moron! No wonder Radzimierz thinks he's brilliant, he's worse than him. He's making me lose my mind!
"Just Daine will be fine, Myles. And as for what we want, Alanna asked us to help you get acquainted with the world outside of the palace." Daine was also gifted with the ability to simply state what would take her husband an eulogy to say.
"Begging your pardon, Mi- Daine, but I've already been down to the city and the Royal Forest is not new to me either."
"But have you seen it all and what lies beyond?" she asked gently. "From the sky?"
That caught her attention. Eleni knew that with the warm weather coming, Lokejo would let her out again, but there were limits to how far she could go. If she was being escorted beyond the walls and the city, then Lokejo could not complain about safety and other trivialities. There was only one problem stopping her.
Whenever Eleni transformed, her clothes were left behind. There would be no hiding her true shape from these two. Well, maybe she could hide the truth from Master Salmalin, but his wife was much more observant. It would be too much of a risk to take.
It hurt her to sya it, but Eleni had to reject the offer. It was yet another luxury that she had to forfeit. This charade was becoming less enjoyable as time passed. There were more and more things that she had to give up in order to keep up the pretense of being a boy.
"I'm afraid that I'll have to decline your kind offer, Daine."
Without an expalination, Eleni briskly walked away from the baffled pair. Alanna had told them that Myles would have loved the freedom that such an opportunity would have presented. Perhaps she had been mistaken.
Lokejo knew better than to question his charge when she stormed into her room. He'd borne witness to such temper tantrums in the past and knew that it was simply better to wait them out. His nestling was alike a passing storm. Sometimes it was just best to bunker down and buckle down. There was no changing her mind once it was made up.
For days Lokejo watched her eyes dim, and then he would hear her sigh in despair. Although he guessed that it had something to do with her winter confinement, he had already guessed that ther was another underlying cause for the melancholy. His little girl might have been moody, but she wasn't unreasonable.
Eleni wished every day that she could find the courage to walk up to Padraig and confess. Instantly, she shot down those dreams. There were many things that Lord Padraig was, but accepting was not one of them. The realization of her initial mistake embittered her, and it showed.
Her sour disposition had been enough of a warning to the other to stay away. Only Schuylar and Kyle remained at her side, although, it was only through sheer stupidity and stubbornness. Alex stayed as well, of course, but for a different reason. Having spent half of his training tolerating Pier's poor temper, Myles' momentary sulking was only a minor annoyance to him. The others called them mad and left them to their fates. Eleni was grateful to her older and wiser friends, and wished that they could impart some wisdom on her more mulish companions.
As if wishing has gotten me anything so far, she though sullenly. It hasn't fixed any of my problems and it won't.
Fate proved her wrong as the weather warmed. Lokejo was grateful to the gods that the spring had come so swiftly. He was getting tired of the chick's angry grumbling. Even he was tiring of the girl's dwindling temper. More than happy to do so, he gave his permission for her to leave the stone structure for the skies above.
Free to return to cool air of Tortall, Eleni took wing on the last morning of March. Not even bothering to circle over the palace, she heading north for the forest. She needed to think, away from well meaning busybodies.
In her haste to leave the prison, she left her window opened and never noticed the pair of eyes that watched her.
That's right Pirate's Swoop, fly away. Fly right into my line of sight, bitch. Soon enough, Pirate's Swoop, I'll have your little body bleeding in front of me.
Any guesses as to who the person was? Huh? I'm so happy that I finally got to this point. Yay! As always, reviews inspire me to work faster and to come up with new material.