She pointed to the door. The plaque now read plainly:Refuse room. Do not enter.
That’s what I got for trusting a bully in magic school. “Thank you,” I told her, and I really meant it. “What’s your name?”
“Fortunada, Your Highness. From Bagobos.” She made a quick curtsy.
“Beautiful name. Also, just call me MJ. How did you know who I was?”
She blushed. “Everyone knows who you are. It’s all anyone can talk about—how the princess has returned. Where’s your first class? I can help you get there, if you’d like.”
Even though I knew, I looked down at the parchment to double-check. Maybe that had been changed somehow, too. “History of Biringan, room 421.” Still the same. A small relief.
“Oh, Professor Borromeo. I had her. She’s really nice. It’s down this way.”
I followed Fortunada through the halls. “I like your bracelet,” I said. It was gold, with luminescent pearls and sparkling diamonds. Didn’t really match with her understated vibe, though.
“Thank you.” She touched it. “It belonged to my grandmother.”
That explained it. “It’s beautiful.”
“It was a gift from her brother,” Fortunada said, almost as an aside. She pointed to a door in front of us. “Here it is.”
On the complete opposite end from where I’d been sent, of course. “See you around,” I told her. “And thanks for saving me.”
She waved her hand shyly and hurried away, her hair falling back over her face.
Class had already begun. I felt bad because that meant Fortunada was late for hers, too. Hopefully I didn’t get her in trouble or anything.
“Princess, we were getting worried about you,” Professor Borromeo said as I walked into the room. “Please, have a seat.” She held her hand out at the empty desks. There weren’t many other students—maybe half a dozen. The desks were large and sturdy, made of the same shiny, knotted wood as so many other things around the school, and the chairs were big and comfortable.
As I sat, I looked to my right and saw the girl who sent me to the refuse room. Lady Oscura herself. She smirked at me ever so slightly.
“Coronation plans delay you this morning? I’m sure it’s well under way by now, with so little time to spare,” Professor Borromeo said.
Lady Oscura squirmed in her seat and looked away. I could’ve ratted her out. Instead, I said, “Yes, I’m so sorry to keep you waiting. It won’t happen again.”
“Quite all right.” There was a book the size of an old dictionary on the desk in front of her. She flipped it open and said, “Now that we’re all here, we can begin. Please open your texts to page one.”
I watched everyone pull a book from a shelf under their desk. I reached under my own and found a deckle-edged, brown leathertome with gold-foiled letters embossed on the front:biringan: a history.
Lady Oscura leaned into the girl next to her. “Of course we have to review for her,” she whispered. “We all know this already.”
Professor Borromeo began reading from the intro: “Nobody knows exactly when the fairy realms were founded, but we know it predates the human world by at least several hundred thousand years...” I knew all that, along with the fact that Biringan was only one of the fairy realms. There were others—Avalon, of course, as well as Valhalla, Narnia, the Grey Havens, and Jade Mountain, just to name a few.
I shouldn’t have tuned out the lecture, but I couldn’t help it. I figured I could always read the book later. At the moment I was too distracted by Lady Oscura and her attempted prank. Too angry, really. The entire class I thought of ways to get back at her. I could prank her back, but I didn’t know enough about this world yet to pull that off. I could confront her. Or I could pretend nothing ever happened. That one didn’t sound too appealing when all I wanted was to get back at her, but it would probably annoy her the most, since a reaction was exactly what she wanted.
I got my chance the next hour when I arrived at room 1123 for Pagkahari at Paggalang (Royal Etiquette and Governance), this time with some directions assistance from Professor Borromeo.
Lady Oscura was sitting right up front alongside a tall, impossibly handsome boy in matching Court of Sigbin regalia. She had her hands clasped delicately in her lap, back straight against the chair, her perfection on display for all to see. I caught her companion’s eye as I walked to an empty desk, though I quickly looked away.
“Do you smell something?” she asked him. She’d obviously been waiting for that moment.
“No, actually, I don’t,” he responded.
Lady Oscura tried to look at me discreetly without turning her head, as if I wouldn’t notice. “Are you sure?” she pressed. “It’s something... earthy. Almost like... trash?”
“Quite sure,” he said. He raised an eyebrow. “Why?”
She crossed her arms. Her foot began to tap. On the inside, I was laughing. Her little scheme to embarrass me was falling flat.
