Page 31 of Under Restless Skies

Celine’s face pales. “But I need to finish.”

The messenger blinks, unmoved. “Failure to comply with the king’s summons will result in heavy penalties. Return your supplies and head to the auditorium. No time to change, so you’ll use the servants’ entrance.”

He turns around and leaves. Celine glances at the remaining dusty window, her eyes wide, her hands trembling.

“Perhaps we could hurry,” I suggest.

She shakes her head. “No. We’d better go.”

“I’m not giving up.” As fast as I can, I finish the current window, then go to the final one and wipe the cloth a few times.

I jump down the ladder and wink at Celine. “They said clean, right? Not perfectly clean.”

We grab the brooms, buckets, and cloths and rush to the supply room, where we return everything. After that, we descend more and more stairs. She’s still rattled, though.

I turn to her. “You think they might expel you? But we finished.”

“With the king summoning everyone… I hope they won’t mind.” She gives me a tight smile, still looking worried.

Perhaps that’s how she usually looks, and I’m reading too much into her expression.

I consider then that I have never seen our king, and don’t even know what he looks like, as he hasn’t made a public appearance since I came to Dracolius City.

“Does he usually do that?” I ask. “Call everyone in the academy?”

“I don’t think so. It’s the first time since I became a recruit.”

“You think it’s something bad?” I can’t imagine what it would be. If it was an attack, we’d be hearing bells.

She pauses, her face pensive. “War, maybe. They would send most of us.”

“To the Kingdom of the Riders?”

“I think so.”

I recall sailing away from the swarm of dragons and can’t imagine we’d ever be successful on the other side of the wall. “How?”

“I don’t know. We wouldn’t glide or sail there, so I’m assuming foot troops.”

That would be a suicide mission, unless… “Would Auranius help?”

“Maybe. It’s not something we prepared for or informed. We were just told that it could be a possibility.”

“If you were expelled, would you be spared?”

She looks down with the same despondent expression she had when I first saw her. “I don’t have much to go back to. I prefer it here.”

“Hopefully it will be fine.”

She nods, her lips tight. For my part, as much as I’m worried for Celine and anxious about the news we’re about to receive, I’m also excited. I never imagined I would see the king.

Then I remember I’m a cleaning lady who might never truly belong to the Sky Academy, and my brief excitement wanes. But some of it remains. I’d never get to see the king while burrowed in the kitchen of the Grease & Spice.

We come to a large atrium leading to golden doors, but a guard sees us and gestures to a narrow staircase, which we climb. It leads to a hall lined with doors with signs saying guards, housekeeping, staff, and, finally, cleaning crew.

We enter through that last door and come to a balcony overlooking the auditorium, with a metal grate either to protect us or to prevent us from throwing things.

A few people in gray uniforms stand before us, but the floor is slanted, so that I can look downstairs and see an aisle surrounded by long benches with Sky Academy officers and sentinels, followed by recruits. A dais stands at the front, with three large chairs, all empty, protected by a line of guards separating it from the audience, and two guards on each side. A door behind the chairs must be the one through which the king will enter.