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“It’s my mom. I have to take this. Get me a muffin?” I pushed to stand up and headed for the quiet far side of the field where I could express myself without being overheard. A copse of trees stood nearby, and I stepped just past the tree line as I hit answer.
“Hi, Mom.”
“Endy, we just got all your messages, What’s wrong? Are you all right?” Her words tumbled over one another, concern weighing heavy in them.
“I’m fine, but…Mom, is there something you want to tell me about why I am attending here? Any family secrets you can think of that you and Dad forgot to share?”
Her breath whooshed out. I waited. “Baby, we couldn’t tell you when you were little. If you’d claimed to be a fairy, you’d have been bullied like crazy, and we weren’t involved in that world anyway.”
I was reeling. Seeing this stuff here and having my mother sayoh yeah, we’re fairies, no worrieswere two different things. “Mom, why?” That question held everything. Why were they not involved in the world? Why did they send me into it blind?
“Honey, we left because there were some political issues, but the only reason we were allowed to leave in peace, with our new baby, was to promise to send you to Sciathain when you were old enough. And not to tell you about fairy in advance. It was for your protection.”
“And now? Is there something I need protection from now?”
“We don’t know, but Titania has promised to keep an eye on you and make sure you’re okay. If they see any big problems, we’re coming to get you. There is a lot to tell you now that you’re there and know the truth.”
How encouraging.
“Look, I have class in a few minutes. I just want to know, do you have wings, you and Dad?”
“Of course, sweetie. So do you.”
Click.
Chapter Seventeen
“In case everyone doesn’t know, I’m Tadg and this is Literature, Fairy Literature, that is.”
Someone cleared their throat. “Is that what we’re calling it now?”
The class laughed and I joined in even though I had no clue what they meant.
“Yes. It’s still literature, regardless of the sultry, intimate nature of most of the stories. Now, are we going to be able to talk like grown-ups about this, or do I just need to take a nap on my desk and tell Titania that all of you have a firm grasp of the stories?”
“Firm grasp is right,” the same guy said, getting a roar out of the class again.
“Nap it is.” Tadg turned around. He was dressed in an outfit that reminded me of Bain. He had on a gray button-down with a navy-blue vest on top. But instead of dress pants, he was wearing dark-washed jeans.
His black-rimmed glasses were swoon-worthy.
“Not all of us know the stories,” I blurted and immediately regretted it. The entirety of the class turned to look at me, even Bain who sat two rows over and one up. His stare bored into me, and there was a new darkness to his otherwise-light eyes.
“Thank you for reminding me, Endymion,” Tadg said, giving me a friendly wink. “Well, I guess that decides it. We all could use a refresher, I’m sure.”
The class seemed pleased that I’d spoken up, all except Bain and Nissa, who should’ve been named Hissa from the looks she was stabbing me with every time I saw her.
As Tadg went through some of the more basic stories, I got the idea that these fairy stories weren’t so detailed or graphic as the rest of the students had made them out to be. Yeah, female fairies were being mated on rocks in the middle of a river, and one story had a fairy who gave up her royalty to be with a forbidden mate.
But there wasn’t anything sultry. I would rate them PG-13 at most.
“Come on, Tadg, get to the good stuff.”
“Okay, okay. Name a story, and I will tell it.”
Everyone got uncomfortable all of a sudden. But it was Bain who finally spoke up. “What about the story of Khashmeria?”
Tadg looked at Bain and nodded. “Excellent choice.”
