A man around his fifties, with raven hair and long hooded shaped eyes, ending in sharp angles, smiled. He wore a red and golden robe with parts of his pants sticking at the bottom. A pair of comfortable slippers hugged his feet.
He left out his hand, and I shook it.
“Welcome to Dragonia, princess.” He had a slight accent.
“Elena, please,” I said, and he nodded.
“This is Constance. She is the doctor on the premises,” Micha said, and I turned around and faced the tall and skinny woman with her abnormal gray eyes. She was like Ben. A Swallow Annex.
The doctor touched my hand with her warm one. Her smile was friendly and her oval face looked nearly porcelain. I struggled to look away from her.
“Follow me,” Master Longwei said, and I picked up my bag and put the strap over my shoulder. “If you told me earlier she was coming, I would’ve made a different sleeping arrangement for her.”
“Oh, believe me, she isn’t your typical princess, Master Longwei. She doesn’t mind.”
“I got that. Helmut spoke to me, made it clear.”
Made what clear?
“Yeah, I think it’s stupid, but hey, what do I know.”
We walked on the cobblestone and came face to face with the hulking castle rising on the horizon. The dark gray stone walls looked weathered. A sixteen-century ambience hung around the castle. Three towers soared into the sky and connected the main building. A zillion arch windows stacked in rows around two of the towers. The third tower had ivy crawling up the walls.
The academy definitely looked elite, the kind that probably had board members. My eyes scanned everywhere, trying to take in the beauty, and they locked onto a giant gate that we entered. The metal vines curling around the beams moved. Metal flowers blossomed, and I narrowed my eyes. They were definitely metal. I still couldn’t believe that we were in the air, or how we stayed up in the air. My father did that?
We entered the academy and walked past a reception that had dimmed lights lighting up the place. It was vacant, as it was still early in the morning.
We hurried down a long passage. The narrowed hall held that old dusty smell often found in basements. A golden statue of a dragon with its head bowed stood sentry at the end of the passage.
We walked into a spacious lobby, with two sets of staircases leading to what I assumed were separate wings of the castle. Paintings of beasts and armored statues covered the wall.
We ran up the staircase to the left and came to a sudden stop in front of a wooden door. A woman embracing a dragon engraved on it. He pushed it open and another set of stairs waited on the other side of the door.
We walked up one set, and four doors stood around us. He opened a door that walked down a hallway. More room doors on both sides of the wall passed us. It reminded me of a hotel corridor, but had a castle feel to it.
He unlocked the one door, and it was so dark. A small lantern in his hand lit up the way. There were three students in beds and he took me to the open bed.
I put down my bags and followed Micha back out. We had training.
“She is not resting?”
“She can rest as much as she wants after Saturday,” Micha answered.
“Poor soul.”
I suppressed my laughter. She handed her bag to Master Longwei.
“You still remember where my office is. Just find me afterward. I’ll be waiting,” he said and bowed.
Micha bowed back. I felt like bowing too, but she grabbed my arm before I could and I flew behind her down the hallway again, back the way we came.
“This place is enormous,” I said as Micha pushed the one door open.
“You will get familiarized with it during the next three days. It’s why I told your dad that it’s crucial to let you come.”
“Thanks for that, he is paranoid.”
“I saw that too.” We skidded down the steps and finally ran down the stairs that led to the lobby. I scanned the statues and paintings again. I really like this place a lot.
