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Corri rubbed her pointy chin. “I believe you got the wrong room, Mistress.”
“It’s not the wrong room. It’s my room! I’ve been living here since year one!”
“Do you want me to find your room?”
I rubbed my aching temples. “Do what you will, I don’t care. I just want to wash, eat, and sleep. Is that too much to ask for? I’ll just go to Paz’s or GC’s.”
“No need! I found it.” She flew off my shoulder. “Follow me.”
I bumped into the floating bags as I rushed out of the dorm, cursed under my breath, and followed Corri toward the corridor of the elite. We went past Pazuzu’s room, then GC’s. She didn’t stop. She guided me to the spiral staircase, then up another flight of stairs. I’d never been there before, and I knew other students had no business there either, since there were no dorms in the attic. At least, I’d always thought it was an attic.
“Here it is.” She pointed at a tall oak door that was beautifully embellished with golden leaf models, then snapped her fingers and made a key appear out of thin air. I hurried to catch it. “Your new room. I hear the maids brought all your stuff here while you were out.”
“This can’t be,” I whispered. I looked around and couldn’t believe my eyes. Why had I never thought of going up the last flight of stairs to explore what I’d believed was the attic of the north tower? Oh, because I was always too busy running from my bullies and hiding in my room. That made sense.
The corridor here was well-lit, the floor was covered in a soft, red and gold carpet, and there were paintings on the walls, depicting all kinds of mythical beasts. A silvery unicorn here, a mighty sphinx there, three mermaids dancing in the depths of the ocean… There was only one door I could see so far, and it was mine. Allegedly. I looked at the key in my hand and shrugged. Might as well give it a try.
The door opened to reveal what looked… not like a room, not like an apartment, but like a bloody palace! Okay, like one floor of a palace. I stepped inside, and Corri followed me with the floating bags in tow. With a flick of her wrist, she finally set them down on the floor.
“Oh my God! Corri, this can’t be my room.”
“I believe it is. You know, I might be here with you, but my ears are super sensitive. I can hear conversations happening at the opposite end of the building. Believe me, this is your new room. Two maids are just talking about it. Headmaster Colin asked them to prepare it for you this morning.”
“And the key?”
“I grabbed it from one of the maids.” She wiggled her short fingers at me, beaming. “Magic.”
“You’re one hell of a pickpocket.”
“You said it, not me.”
I walked around the room, touching the armchairs, the long, velvety sofa, nudging the big floor pillows with my toe. The living room was huge. There was an open space kitchen that was way bigger than what GC and Paz had, two bathrooms, one bedroom with a humongous four-poster, and an office that also served as a personal library. The shelves were already stocked with various books. Seriously?! Who thought I needed that much space? Headmaster Colin? No. Valentine Morningstar. I knew he was behind this.
I walked to the coffee table, where a red envelope was waiting for me. Inside, a simple paper with one line written on it.
You deserve better than my old room.
Dad
Dad. He’d signed himself Dad. Wasn’t it just lovely?
“You wanted to take a shower?” Corri flappity-flapped her hyperactive wings into the master bathroom. “How about a hot bath?”
I moaned at the thought of hot water enveloping me whole, the scented bubbles soothing my sore muscles. I followed her into the bathroom but couldn’t get father than the doorframe. I stood there, shocked and awed at the same time. Marble from floor to ceiling. The tub was round and large, positioned right in the middle of the room. It was so tall that it was accessible via three stone steps. The taps seemed to be made of pure gold, which was so over the top that I didn’t even know what to think, let alone how to react. There were two sinks on one of the walls, with huge mirrors around them. In fact, that wall was covered in mirrors almost entirely. There was a fancy toilet, too, along with a bidet, but frankly, if I was going to live here, I was pretty sure I wanted to use the other bathroom for my other needs. This one was just not made for peeing and pooping. Hell no!
“So, should I run you a bath? Or… do you want dinner first?” Corri was flying around, all nervous and fidgety. If too much time passed without me asking her to do something, she started panicking.
“I can run my own bath,” I whispered, still in a daze. All my bath products, bath salts, and essential oils were there. “Go see what’s for dinner.”
“Oh, but I can’t possibly let you…” She flapped her wings faster and harder, flying around the tub like a nervy, buzzy nuisance. If she was going to stick around, then oh my God, she needed to chill! “Here, I’ll help.” She launched her tiny body at the two gold taps and opened them both. The hot and cold water hit the bottom of the tub with a splashing sound. She looked at the water with sheer dread in her eyes. “This will take forever! It won’t do! I can…”
I let out an exasperated sigh. “Corri, it’s fine! I don’t care. Please go and see what’s for dinner. I’ll just call my mom while the tub fills.”
She nodded quickly and rushed out of the bathroom. I sat down on the edge of the tub and pulled out my phone. Since I’d visited my parents before the beginning of the school year, I’d stayed in touch with my mom via texts and short calls. After the day I’d had, I needed to talk to someone normal, someone who could tether me back down to reality. She answered on the second ring. Five minutes into the conversation, and I found myself telling her about classes, my friends, and how everything was starting to look up for me. The urge to tell her the truth was killing me. She couldn’t offer me the comfort I needed if she didn’t know about Morningstar, about my fat bank account and even fatter vault, about Corri and how my life had changed in a matter of hours. If not minutes. But I couldn’t tell her.
“So, what’s wrong, baby? You say everything is great, but you don’t sound happy.”
I sighed. “I don’t know. I should be happy. I don’t feel like myself… My life has changed so much and so fast, and even though it kind of sucked before the Academy, I sometimes miss those times. Everything was so much simpler then. I knew what to do, I knew who I was and where I stood.”
