Love lines
Page 18
“Yeah, I have already figured that much out.”
Evan and I went through the east gate of the campus and headed for the place where the preparations for the festival were held. Even from the distance it was clear that something big was built there. I didn’t realize that the curved contours of the construction were actually future full-blown flower petals, which would form the arena of this year. The highest petals were occupied with seats for the spectators, so as to give the impression that everyone was looking inside of the flower.
“Looks pretty good,” Evan admitted approvingly. “I wonder what they have come up with for the final performance.”
“Who usually prepares a final show?”
“I’m not sure about this year, because every time it’s a new faculty. Sometimes several departments and students cooperate, but only if some special guests whom they want to impress are present at the Festival.”
“Evan! Eileen!” Darcy called us from the neighboring area. “Come here!” she waved her hand.
We passed some sitting areas and stopped next to her.
“What do you think?” she asked, pointing to the still unfinished arena.
“That will be great,” I said. “I can imagine how beautiful Embry’s show of petals will look here.”
“Have you seen their show?” asked Darcy in surprise.
“Actually, nobody knows what the other faculty prepares for the festival,” whispered Evan.
“Oh, I did not know that! Couldn’t you have at least warned me?” I hissed, while Darcy was explaining something to other students.
“Sorry, I forgot,” he smiled innocently.
“So what were you saying about the show of Embry?” Darcy asked again.
“Um… nothing. Maybe it wasn’t even a show. I just attended one of their classes,” I replied digging still smiling Evan in the ribs.
“Okay. So here's what you need to do,” Darcy started to explain.
“See you later,” said Evan, leaving us alone.
When Amanda told me yesterday about Darcy’s favor I had no idea just how much I would have liked taking part in all this. Basically, I was helping her most of the time. Together we added some more petals to those, which were already done and covered the very arena with a bright red velvet carpet. Darcy explained that all the performances look better on a red background, so this attribute of the festival remained the same from year to year. Flower petals were green, yellow and orange. All of them were covered with special gold dust, so that they would glitter with different shades under sunlight or artificial light. If I didn’t know that no magic was used to create that beauty, I would decide that it was just impossible to build with hands.
So the day passed pretty peacefully. I got back to my room almost at eleven. To my surprise, Amanda wasn’t there alone, but in the company of Evan and Christian. They were discussing something, but as soon as I entered, the conversation immediately stopped.
“What's going on here?” I asked suspiciously.
“Nothing,” said Evan. “We were talking about today's trip to the dungeon.”
“It’s an understatement! I think many dungeons look better than the one we were in today,” I said, coming to my bed.
“How was your day?” asked Christian, getting seated beside me on the bed.
“It was great! If the preparations are any indication of what is to come, I can’t begin to imagine what will happen at the festival itself,” I said enthusiastically.
“It's always very beautiful,” agreed Christian.
“Have you been practicing today? Is everything all right?” I asked him.
“Yes, everything’s fine.”
They exchanged strange glances with Evan.
“Look, is it only me, or are you hiding something from me?” I asked. “Is it about your power, Christian? It became weaker again, right?”
From the rush of excited feelings, which passed to me, I assumed that my assumption was correct.
“Do you need my help? Or is it that you just don’t want to ask me for it?”
“Eileen, it’s not about that.”
“Then what it is about?” I asked a little louder than usual.
“I don’t want you to take risks. The image you helped me to create in the class was just a small part of what I will be showing at the Festival. It will take a lot of energy. I’m worried about you. I can’t allow you to risk losing so much power. Even if my presence will give it back, you shouldn’t help me. I'll do it myself.”
“And if you fail?” I asked worried.
“I won’t,” said Christian.
“He practiced a lot, Eileen. He knows how to save maximum energy for the show,” Evan assured. “You don’t have to worry about that.”
“Do you really think so, or is it just that you want to protect me from participating in this?”
“You still cannot participate at all in the show, Eileen,” Amanda said. “Applications for the festival were sent a few months before the event, and Christian was declared alone. Besides, nobody would allow you to participate, since you are not eighteen yet.”
“So I wouldn’t be able to help you, even if it was necessary?” I looked at Christian.
He silently embraced me nodding to me his response.
Great! I had no choice.
All the days became monotonous. In the morning I had lessons with Evan, in the afternoon - preparing for the Festival, and in the evening, if I managed not to pass out after barely crossing the threshold of my room, our group would get together and talk a little bit. Nobody succeeded in finding out anything new, everyone was too busy with their own schedules.
Fortunately, my nightmares stopped. Now I always dreamed of something good: my childhood memories, birthdays, Grandma. Christian’s medallion was always on my neck. It gave me strength and confidence. I didn’t know how exactly it worked, but the warmth and sense of security that were in me in Christian’s presence, were also in his gift.
Unfortunately, I didn’t see him often. Evan said that he was still training hard before the show. So I missed him very much. Thanks to him, now my room was like a greenhouse of Embry. Every morning, I found a new bouquet of flowers on my bedside table. Each of them was a silent message, such as heathers - a symbol of protection and fulfillment of dreams, hibiscus - a symbol of delicate beauty and love, or crocus - a symbol of joy. Whatever flowers the bouquets were composed of, there was always azalea - meaning “take care of yourself”. Evan gave me this flower, when he first showed me what it meant to possess the power of magic.
He and Amanda were still trying to figure out their relationship. While she was carefully ignoring his presence, Evan tried to do all his best to attract her attention, which infuriated her even more. I didn’t know how long they were going to entertain us with their constant disputes, but I personally felt that Amanda's patience would come to the end soon and then that would be no fun for any of us. I didn’t dare to speak with Evan about this subject. Christian also was on the sidelines and didn’t interfere.
One night, coming back early after the meeting with Darcy, I decided to go to Christian. The door of his room was open, so after knocking I didn’t wait for an answer and entered. To my surprise, Amanda and Evan were there too. Along with Patrick and Amelia Fairey… She noticed me first.
“Eileen!” she smiled genuinely.
They all turned in my direction and, judging by the expression on their faces, I was the one who they weren’t expecting to see.
“You're early today,” Christian said, coming up to me.
“Yes, everything is almost ready, so Darcy let me go earlier. What are you all doing here?”
“My wife and I came to say goodbye. We decided to go home for a few days before the Festival,” said Patrick.
“Well, and I was just looking for Amanda, so I decided to come here,” with a grin, said Evan. Amanda, in turn, gave him a very unfriendly look.
“Right,” I said still watching them suspiciously.
/> “Is everything all right? You're upset about something,” noted Christian.
“No, it’s okay. Just wasn’t expecting to find so many people here.”
“We’d better go,” said Amelia. “We need to pack some more things before leaving. See you later, guys.”
“Good-bye,” answered every one of us.
Once they were gone, I immediately asked:
“Can someone finally tell me what the hell is going on here?”
All three looked at each other.
“Nothing, Eileen,” calmly replied Evan.
“Stop playing the fool! I'm going to study at the faculty of Fairey, so don’t forget that I can feel when something is wrong. Christian?” I shot him a warning glance.
He looked at me apologetically.
“Eileen, the fact is that our parents have come up with... A plan of how to find Nora and that’s why they are going to Norfield.”
I looked curiously at each of them present.
“And you were going to hide it from me?”
“It didn’t make sense to tell you since we were not sure that it would be successful,” Amanda explained.
“Okay. So what are they up to?”
All three looked at each other again.
“Do not even think that any of you are leaving this room until you tell me everything!” I said, sitting on the couch and crossing my arms.
Evan sighed.
“Well, Amelia wants to meet with Rebecca and ask her to make an appointment with Nora. She wants to ask her the meaning of some of the lines on her palm. If the meeting is really successful, Patrick will contact the Keepers so that they could find out who Nora really is.”
“So you’re saying that Amelia would go to this meeting alone? What if Nora wants to cause her harm?” I wondered.
“She won’t actually go there alone,” said Evan. “Only with supervision.”
“And who will look after her? Nora may be hereditary Wizardy, so Amelia should be accompanied by at least one powerful magician!”
Evan didn’t answer.
“Oh, no… no, no, no! You're not going to be that person, right?” I asked, staring at him.
“Eileen, Evan can stand up for himself,” said Christian. “Besides, he is a hereditary Wizardy too, and my father would be on the alert in case. Together they will manage.”
“Are you guys insane?! Haven’t you heard what Darcy said? Nora uses a very powerful spell in her elixirs, what just a few people are capable of! And you think you will stop her alone?”
“I'm certainly glad you're so worried about me, Eileen,” smiling, said Evan, “but do not underestimate me.”
“Eileen, you really don’t know what he’s capable of,” admitted Christian.
“I can’t believe that you have agreed to this,” I shook my head disapprovingly. “Why do you think that Rebecca will give her address? Maybe Nora left Norfield a long time ago.”
“We will know it for sure tonight,” said Evan. “That's why I'm still here, so as not to cause any suspicions to my leaving. We don’t know if someone watches us in Dever. But if Amelia really succeeds to arrange a meeting, I'll go there tomorrow morning, acting as if I am going to Gloster and if all goes well, come back in the evening.”
“If? You said if?” I asked in disbelief. “Man, now I’m definitely sure that you are crazy,” I rolled my eyes.
“Listen, Eileen, you really don’t have to worry about it,” said Evan, sitting next to me. “I'm sure everything will go well. The most important thing now - is to wait for a call and hear Patrick's confirmation of the appointed meeting.”
“The Festival is going to be held the day after tomorrow. What will happen if you don’t have time to go back?” I asked.
“Not at any price will I miss it!” he replied with his usual ease.
“Since we are going to have at least three hours waiting for the call maybe we should go down to the dining room and have some snacks?” Amanda suggested.
“Personally I think that sounds good,” Evan replied, standing up. “Good idea, dear,” he said, smiling broadly at Amanda.
“If you don’t make him shut up, no one will go to Norfield!” she hissed angrily in response. “I will kill him with my bare hands!”
“Don’t be a scratch-cat, babe,” with a cute smile, Evan said. “I know you are still crazy about me.”
Before I could blink Evan was already running away quickly, jumping through a few steps of the staircase at the same time, followed by angry Amanda, who was screaming on the way, that she wouldn’t leave him alive. The spectacle was just great! Christian and I couldn’t stop laughing.
“They will never stop fighting,” he said, hardly stopping between laughing.
“I think you are right,” I said, wiping away tears caused by the laughter.
When we came to the dining room, still chuckling over our fugitives, they were sitting at one of the tables. Amanda was screaming angrily something to Evan, while hitting him on the shoulder. He pretended to be badly hurt, but he couldn’t stop her, still unable to hold back his own laughter.
“Christian, your sister will be the death of me!” he complained, when we sat down next to him at the table.
“You asked for it yourself,” Christian replied.
“I’m your best friend!” Evan exclaimed indignantly.
“Amanda, that’s enough!” I said stopping her. “He will still need his arms and shoulders, especially tomorrow.”
“Don’t you even dare to talk to me again!” shouted my friend, beating Evan for the last time. “I swear, if you say another word to me, I won’t stop with my fists, Evan!”
He pretended as if closing his mouth and throwing the key away. Then moved closer to Christian and away from his evil sister.
“What are we going to have for dinner?” he asked.
“Only tea with milk,” I replied.
“We all need to eat better,” said Christian. “We don’t know how much time we have to spend on our feet. And you, Eileen, too.”
“Okay, then choose something yourself,” I said. They went with Evan to take some food, leaving Amanda and me alone.
“You seem to have completely forgotten what I’ve told you before,” I started. “The more you react to his jokes, the more he will continue to rile you up.”
“I just can’t stand it anymore! It seems to me that soon I'll hate him wildly!”
“Just don’t pay any attention to him,” again I repeated.
“Easier said than done! He wasn’t having so much fun with you!”
“Not true! He was, actually, but I wasn’t running after him with fists.”
“Okay, I shouldn’t have used my fists. It was just too much. But believe me, it was the least of what I really wanted to do to him at that moment.”
“Probably, Evan was smart enough when he decided to run away from you,” I chuckled.
“And you are supporting him!”
“Come on, Amanda! I'm just kidding,” I laughed.
“What a joy life is with so many jokers around!” she hissed.
“You would be bored without us,” I suggested.
“Ha, ha, ha,” she grimaced in response.
Evan and Christian came back with the trays. Evan gave me mine and Christian handed Amanda hers.
“I'm afraid even to touch her food,” Evan whispered.
“Hi, Amanda!” said a guy, sitting on a chair next to her.
“Hi, Lucas!” she replied. “Guys, this is Lucas Stanton - my group mate.”
“Jared’s son?” Evan asked.
“Aha,” the young man replied. “Amanda, I wanted to ask... Have you already decided who you will go to the ball after the Festival with? If not, we could go together…” he suggested shyly.
“Hmm... I didn’t even know that there would be a ball,” Amanda said. “But since you asked, of course, I would love to go with you.”
My friend's cheeks blushed at the same time.
“Great! We
can decide later where to meet,” said Lucas, rising. “See you later!”
“See you!” Amanda said. It was clear that his invitation was a complete surprise, but she was definitely pleased. And that was understandable. Lucas was handsome. He had blond curly hair that looked so sexy with his light-green eyes. Judging by their color, Lucas was a descendant of two combined founding families.
“Who are his parents?” I asked my friends.
“His father is a hereditary Fairey, although he has a different name. Jared now is one of Wizardy’s teachers. And his mother is Evangeline Meridin.”
“How do they determine at what department children of mixed families will study?” I wondered, chewing a piece of hamburger.
“As a rule, they have the abilities of both parents, but some of them are better developed. Not everyone is as talented as you are,” Evan said to me. “They have to sacrifice one power for another. Although anyone can choose the faculty, where he will study his weaker ability too, but in this case, the training will be more difficult. And the initial stronger power will lose its significance.”
“Lucas is very smart,” Amanda pointed. “He can read auras better than anyone else in our group.”
“How do you know him so well?” Evan asked stiffly. It was evident that her new acquaintance hadn’t pleased him very much.
“I know him quite well. Since we have many classes together,” Amanda responded as if nothing had happened. On her part, it was obvious that she was flattered by Evan’s discontent. He was clearly jealous.
“Lucas is a good guy,” suddenly said Christian, surprising us all with his awareness. “I helped him look around here, when he first arrived to Dever a few weeks ago.”
It sounded as if Christian had just approved his sister’s relationship with such a good guy. Evan definitely didn’t like it, but Christian was too busy with the content of his tray to notice anything around him.
After having dinner, we returned to Christian’s room. Later we were joined by Darcy. Despite her fatigue, she agreed to stay and wait with us for some news.
Patrick called at almost midnight.
“Yes,” said Christian, answering the call. “So soon? Okay, we'll try to have everything ready.”