***
I zoned outthrough the rest of my classes. Just before lunch, Professor Rosas, the tiny, seemingly timid Hayop at Halaman instructor from the Court of Lambana, was droning on and on about the various types of noxious vegetation in each region, dependent on environment, and which have gone extinct over time—or, in the case of poisonous ones, been purposely eradicated. I was supposed to be taking notes, but once again, my mind was wandering.
Who would want to kill my father, and why? The most obvious answer was to take the throne, though that still brought me right back to who. I didn’t know enough about the politics of the courts to even come up with a suspect.
I had to find that note the maids were talking about.
“Before I let you go, children, remember the next test will cover the past four sections of the text, from page 206 through 808.”
My head snapped up. A test, covering six hundred pages? Everyone around me stood to leave. I raised my hand.
Professor Rosas looked at me. “Yes, Princess?”
“May I get an extension for the test?”
Her answer surprised me. “Why would you?”
I thought it was obvious. “Well, I wasn’t even here when most of that was covered.”
“And yet your coronation will not be delayed, will it? If you’re to take on such responsibility, I recommend you do whatever it takes to prove you’re prepared. You must know the land if you are to rule it, yes?” She smiled at me over her glasses.
I was beginning to understand that the Court of Lambana only seemed passive on the surface. I smiled back. “Of course,” I said. I’ll just add that to the list. Reading, studying, coronation plans, figure out what happened to my father, oh, and find my elusive magic, which I may not even have. Sure. No problem.
***
“I’ll help youwith Rosas,” Nix promised at lunch. “I was one of her star students, even though she gave me a hard time when I first got here, too. She just has high expectations.”
I tapped my finger against the table. “Can I ask you something?” I hoped it wasn’t a sensitive issue.
“Anything.”
“Do you... do you have a talent? Ayo asked me what mine is, and...”
“Oh, my magic? I think I can make even the most wilted flowers bloom. And once I healed a dying bird.” She shrugged. “Not really sure yet how it works. I just know I can do it.”
“Cool,” I said, feeling worse. I wished I hadn’t asked. No wonder Professor Rosas liked her so much.
“Why, what’s yours?” She looked at me, read something in my expression, and changed course. “If you don’t know how to control it yet, don’t worry. I figured mine out by accident. Lots of people need practice.”
I didn’t believe that, but I appreciated her attempt at making me feel better. I was tempted to tell her the truth. That I probably didn’t have one at all. But what if she told someone? Not maliciously, but she did have trouble censoring herself.
“Once, when I was a kid, this house plant was dying, and I felt sorry for it. That’s it—I just felt sorry for it. And by the next day, it was thriving. Like, it wasn’t drooping, it wasn’t browning, it even looked like it had grown overnight. I thought it was just the sunshine coming in the window. I mean, it is always sunny in San Diego...”
San Diego, California. Something from that last morning I was home came back to me. I sat up straight and leaned forward. “Wait a minute—I heard about you. You’re the missing girl.” The news article.Phoenix Xing was last seen leaving school a year ago...
“Heh. Yep, that’s me,” Nix said uneasily. “Heh.” She picked at one of the gaping seams of her robe.
“No way! But if your parents brought you here, why were you reported missing—”
“I don’t know,” she cut in. “That is weird.” She flipped open her agenda book. “Hey, when’s the coronation again? I get an invite to the Coronation Eve Ball, right?”
Strange. She was touchy about the subject, but I let it go. I didn’t want to push, since I barely knew her and wanted to keep my one friend.
“Of course,” I told her. Agenda book... that reminded me, Ihad a big-deal council meeting coming up. Tomorrow? Or the next day? Maybe if I actually used mine instead of forgetting it every day, I would feel more organized. Nix always seemed to be on top of everything.
“What about Amador and Lucas? Are they going, too?”
I shrugged. “I’m sure they’re invited. Her parents are from the highest-ranking house in the Court of Sigbin and everything.”
