Chapter Six

Ian

Tuesday morning, Ian rolled out of bed and smacked the stupid alarm clock as hard as he could.

Greg sat up. “I hate that damn thing.”

Once he and Greg were both dressed and semi-awake, they headed down the stairs and out the front door of the dorm. Students were shuffling along the sidewalk and yawning. A few morning people were having quiet conversations. Ian preferred not to talk until after he’d eaten. Most Reds felt that way.

Once he was seated in the dining hall, after he’d inhaled toast, eggs, and a plate full of bacon he felt much better. That’s when he noticed something.

He glanced around to make sure he wasn’t imagining it. “Where are all the Greens?”

Greg glanced up from his orange juice. “What?”

“Greens.” Ian pointed around the dining hall where there was a suspicious absence of the dark-skinned, dark-haired Dragons.

“Huh?” Greg scratched his head and blinked. “Maybe they had some sort of Clan meeting.”

Clan meetings were rare. “What for?”

“You never know,” Greg said. “Maybe one of them created something new or did some super smart thing they all needed to know about.”

There were no Greens in Proper Decorum, either. Before Mrs. Silvertrap could start her lecture, Ian raised his hand. “Where are the Green students?”

Mrs. Silvertrap paused and then said, “Why do you ask?”

Several students laughed. Mrs. Silvertrap wasn’t known for her sense of humor. He didn’t think she was being sarcastic, so he replied, “An entire Clan is missing. Shouldn’t we be concerned…or at least curious?”

“A Green Clan meeting was called. They’ll be back in class soon.”

She didn’t make it sound like there was a problem, so things must be okay. If that were true, why did he feel uneasy? He checked the other students. Most were pretending nothing was wrong. Sara and surprisingly, Ferrin, seemed concerned.

On the way to Economics, Ian fell into step with the two Blues. “Any idea what’s going on?”

“No,” Sara said.

“Clan meetings are called for extreme situations. It could be extreme good, like a scientific breakthrough or extreme bad, like someone broke a law and was arrested,” Ferrin replied.

“And you know this how?” Ian asked.

“Because I read court cases and biographies instead of ridiculous fiction.”

Just when he thought Ferrin might not be an ass.

Ian dropped back to walk with Greg and shared what Ferrin had said.

“You worry too much,” Greg said. “I bet you twenty bucks they’re waiting for us in Econ.”

When they walked into Mr. Clayton’s room, Greg smacked Ian on the shoulder. “See, I was right.”

“You were.” The Greens were there. They were huddled around Mr. Clayton’s desk, talking excitedly.

Ian approached Einstein. “What’s going on?”

Einstein grinned like a child with a new toy. “There was a major breakthrough in Quintessential medicine. A medic was able to increase the rate of healing using intermittently timed waves of Quintessence instead of a steady stream.”

He had no idea what that meant and any explanation Einstein gave probably wouldn’t clear up the situation. “I’m glad you guys were gone for a good reason.”

“You were worried about us?”

Ian nodded.

“On behalf of my Clan, thank you,” Einstein said.

Ian headed back to his seat next to Greg and waited for his friend to ask him to share what he’d learned. Apparently he didn’t care. Sometimes he envied Greg’s laid-back attitude. Sometimes he found it annoying.

“If everyone will have a seat,” Mr. Clayton said. “I will fill you in on our recent breakthrough.” Once everyone was at a desk, Mr. Clayton said, “In the simplest terms, medics have found a more effective way to heal Dragons. It’s something our Clan has been working toward for several years. Based on this breakthrough, I’m sure more Greens will want to become medics, which will bring greater stability to our society as a whole. That segues nicely into today’s assignment. I want you to write a five paragraph essay detailing what career options you’d like to pursue, keeping in mind the Directorate will have to approve of your college field of study and your eventual employment.”

Julie raised her hand. “Why does the Directorate have to approve a Green being a medic?”

Mr. Clayton straightened a stack of papers on his desk. “The Directorate has the final say on all employment. You know that. Now get to work on your essays. They’re due at the end of class. Please place them in the blue inbox on my desk.”

Everyone rushed to open their book bags and grab their notebooks and then all you could hear was the sound of pens scratching on paper. Did that mean everyone knew what they wanted to do for the rest of their lives or they just wanted to finish the assignment as quickly as possible? Ian wrote about working as a sparring partner or a personal trainer and how he hoped to own his own gym one day. The Directorate wouldn’t have a problem with that, would they?

…

Sara

Sara pondered the question Mr. Clayton had asked. What in the hell am I supposed to write? As a Blue female she wouldn’t have a career. Should she write about what she’d do if she were allowed to have one? Probably not a good idea on the off chance Ferrin might read it. So where did that leave her? Maybe she should write about what hobbies she’d pursue after marriage. Maybe she could be on the board of the library, so she could be around books. Or, she could join the Women’s League and help with…wait…what did they do? Her mother had mentioned that they funded Suzettes and other projects men might not find important. They were somehow involved with setting up new boutiques in Dragon’s Bluff, but she had no idea how it worked.

She gripped her pen tighter. Nothing like a stupid assignment to make you feel like a second-class citizen, which was ironic, since her family was at the top of the Blue hierarchy, due to their accumulated wealth and her father’s position as Speaker for the Directorate. If she’d been a male she could do whatever she wanted… She’d be slated to join the Directorate.

And there was her idea… She wanted to be the first female member of the Directorate and that’s exactly what she planned to write. Blues were supposed to be ambitious, after all. Having ovaries didn’t stop those traits from flowing through her veins. She scratched out an argument about why she should be allowed on the Directorate based on qualities Blues held dear: loyalty and ambition. When she was finished, she read over her paper, checking for any grammatical errors. If she was going to argue her case, she wanted to do it flawlessly.

The rest of her classes flowed by in their normal, somewhat boring manner. At dinner Ferrin asked her the question she’d been hoping he’d ask all day.

“So what did you write for Mr. Clayton this morning?”

This was going to be fun. “I wrote the truth. I want to be the first female on the Directorate.”

Ferrin froze for a second, and then set his fork down on his tray. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.” She took a bite of her salad.

“That’s absurd.” He kept his tone conversational, but the twitch in his jaw muscle told another story.

“Why?” She picked up a roll and buttered it like nothing was wrong. Anyone looking their way would think they were having polite dinner conversation.

“If you want to be involved in politics, join the Women’s League.”

“That’s not the same.”

Ferrin leaned closer. “Did you even stop to think about how this would reflect on me?”

It was her turn to be confused. “What?”

He leaned closer and spoke in a quiet voice. “You’re going to be my wife. Your goals should be to raise our children and join the Women’s League. Any other answer is disrespectful to Blues and to me.”

“Wow.” She spoke in an equally quiet voice because she was not going to be the one to lose her temper in public again. “You really do think the entire world revolves around you.”

“No,” Ferrin said. “I understand our society and my place in it. You need to understand yours.”

Frozen flames rose up inside her. She took a deep breath and focused on not blasting him out of the chair. When she was able to speak, she said, “Dinner has been lovely. I’m going to the library. Don’t follow me.” She stood like nothing was wrong and exited the dining hall. The desire to run nearly overwhelmed her but rather than giving in to that improper reaction, she shifted and launched herself into the sky.

It was a beautiful evening. Other Dragons were flying so her desire to do so wouldn’t be interpreted as strange. She used her wing muscles to fly high up above the buildings and then held her position treading air with her wings until she had her bearings. The library was off to her right. She wasn’t ready to come down yet, so she tucked her wings and dove downward before arcing up and looping around. She loved flying. Up here nothing mattered. No one told her how to behave or what she could do with her life. Up here, she was free.

What would happen if she left? If she didn’t come back? She could just fly off, right? She could…but her parents would track her down and make her come back. She could hear her mother saying her actions reflected on the Sinclair name. And that made a hell of a lot more sense than Ferrin and his ego.

She flew in a few lazy loops above the buildings and then landed on the front walk of the library where she shifted back to human form.

“That was some fancy flying,” a male voice said.

She turned to see Ian walking up behind her. “Thank you. It was therapeutic.”

“Bet I’d need only one guess about who ticked you off.”

“You’d be correct. I told him not to follow me here, so we’ll see if he listens.”

He walked forward, opened the door for her, and gave her a genuine smile. “If he shows up, you can hide behind me again.”

Butterflies flitted around in her chest. “Thanks.” She would love to take him up on that offer, Ferrin or no Ferrin. And that thought was wrong. They could never be more than friends. She entered the library and he fell into step beside her, so she attempted to make friend-type conversation. “Are you here for more adventure books?”

“Yes,” he said. “Have you read the one about the Quintessence-sucking vampires?”

“Just started it. There’s no way that actually happened. Right?”

“I hope not.”

Together they went up the stairs to the fiction section, making small talk. See. She could do this. Being around Ian was so easy and comfortable. Just a nice, comfortable, good-smelling friend. Why couldn’t she be contracted to marry someone like him?

When they reached the section where the paperbacks were, she attempted to browse through them but her brain kept telling her to lean closer to Ian and she couldn’t concentrate on what the books were about, so she picked a few at random. Ian grabbed some books, too. Now what? She didn’t want to leave him, so she said, “I’m not ready to go back to my dorm room. Do you want to find a place to sit and read?”

Ian paused for a second and then nodded. “Sure. I think there’s a study area with couches back past the stairwell door.”

She followed him while she replayed her strange request. How weird had that sounded? Did friends ask friends to read with them? Probably not. She could’ve stayed and read by herself. He probably thought she was mental.

When they reached the study area, there was a couch and one chair. The chair was already occupied by Helani, the Orange Dragon. She glanced up and nodded at them in greeting before going back to her book.

So she and Ian would share the couch, no big deal…except it was more like a love seat. She sat on the right side and when he sat on the left side his shoulder was a few inches from hers. No big deal. Nope. Just two friends sitting on a small couch reading books in front of a classmate.

Determined to act like this wasn’t strange, she chose a book and started reading. The book opened with two Dragons from warring Clans declaring their forbidden love for each other. Nope. Not the book she needed right now. She reached for the next book in her pile, which opened during a battle. There, that was better.

…

Ian

Ian pretended to read while he tried to figure out what was going on. He was sure Sara didn’t want to spend time with him. She probably didn’t want to be alone and she definitely didn’t want to be with Ferrin. She probably just thought of him as a friend…which was a good thing, right? So this was no big deal. When they’d been looking through the bookshelves he’d leaned closer and smelled something sweet and fruity. Why did she smell like fruit? It wasn’t a bad smell but it was different than she’d smelled before.

Wait a minute. Friends did not smell friends. He was pretty sure about that. Thank God Helani was here. That made it seem less weird. Just people reading books, in close proximity, for no special reason.

He heard a book close and he looked up to see Helani packing her book bag. “Are you leaving?” he asked.

She nodded. “Have a nice night.”

“You, too,” he replied.

Helani headed for the stairs. The chair was open, so he should probably relocate, but how could he do that without making this awkward, or more awkward. He glanced at Sara. She appeared to be completely absorbed in her book. He was worrying about nothing, and then she looked up at him with those bright blue eyes. Damn it. I’m toast.

“Everything all right?” she asked.

“I’m not sure.” Wait. Why had he said that? “I mean. Yeah. Everything is fine.”

“My life is a train wreck, so don’t feel like you have to say you’re okay if you’re not. If you want to talk about something I’m happy to listen.”

Before he even thought about it, he said. “Why do you smell like fruit?”

She opened her mouth and then laughed. “It’s raspberry shampoo.”

“Oh.” His face heated and he knew his cheeks were red. “I noticed when we were looking for books.”

“I buy it at Bath and Beauty in Dragon’s Bluff.”

He cringed. “That’s a total girl store.”

“Yes, it is.” She sighed. “I love it but most Blues think it’s not good enough.”

“Present company excluded, most Blues are kind of snotty.”

“You’re not wrong.” She closed her book, set it on her lap, and leaned toward him. “My life would be much easier if I were like the rest of my Clan.”

“I’m glad you’re not.” Crap. He really needed to shut up.

She tilted her head to the side and studied him. “Did you ever wish your life was different?”

“Different how?”

“Like these books.” She patted the one in her lap. “What would you do if you were free to do whatever you wanted?”

The answer was obvious. He reached out and touched the lock of hair hanging down on the side of her face. She didn’t protest or move away. “I’m not sure I should answer that question.”

…

Sara

His warm fingers brushed across her cheek and the entire world was reduced to the look of longing in his deep green eyes. She forgot how to breathe as time seemed to stretch out. He leaned closer and what was he going to do? He wasn’t going to kiss her. That was ridiculous. No matter how much she wanted him to. Against her better judgment, she leaned in, and he closed the distance between them, brushing his lips across hers. Warmth blossomed in her chest and the jumbled pieces of her life seemed to slide into place. This. This was what she wanted. It was natural to reach out and place her hand on his chest. His heart beat just as hard as hers, and he radiated warmth.

When he pulled away, she wasn’t sure what to say. Before she could come up with anything they heard the sound of a door opening and people talking in low voices. Ian jumped to his feet and was seated in the chair by the time the two girls, both Green females, came into the lounge area.

One Green said, “We normally study here.”

The other Green said, “We could go someplace else.”

“No need,” Sara said. “We were just leaving.”

“We?” the first Green looked back and forth between Ian and Sara.

“Class project for Mr. Clayton.” Ian stood and smiled at them like nothing was wrong.

“Thank you for leaving,” the second Green said.

Sara gathered her books and nodded at them as she headed for the stairwell. Ian followed. Once they reached the second floor landing she paused and turned to him. “Do you think they believed us?”

“They don’t have great imaginations, so I think it’s fine.”

“Julie would analyze the entire situation.”

They were too exposed in the stairwell. They needed someplace private to finish whatever this was. He reached for the doorknob. “Let’s find someplace quiet.”

The second floor of the library had multiple areas for studying, and most of them were long tables out in the open. That wouldn’t work. Ian turned down an aisle and kept walking until they reached an office door. He knocked on the door. When no one answered, he turned the knob and they went in. The room held a desk and a blackboard. The desk was covered with dust.

“I don’t think anyone uses this office,” he said and then he pulled her close and pressed his mouth against hers and nothing else mattered. Heat flowed between them. Everything about this felt right, like she was meant to be in his arms. Like she belonged with him. When the kiss ended, he pressed his forehead against hers.

Neither of them said anything. “What are you thinking?” Ian asked.

So many things were zinging around in her brain. She went with the first thought that came to mind. “I wish we lived in one of those books.”

“Me too.”

But they didn’t live in some adventure story. There were real consequences, legal consequences for their actions. She backed up a step. “Ian, we have to be careful. If anyone saw us… If anyone found out—”

Ian backed away from her so quickly she felt disoriented. “Let’s forget this ever happened.”

“What?” That isn’t what I want. How could he want that? “Why?”

“I wouldn’t want to embarrass you in front of your Clan.” Anger bled through his words.

She whacked him on the arm. “I’m not embarrassed, I’m terrified. My father…Ferrin’s family… They’d have you thrown in jail or worse.”

“Oh.” He looked down at the floor as he spoke. “I thought maybe—”

“You thought wrong.”

He reached for her and pulled her into a hug. “Sorry…with my temper, I jumped to the wrong conclusion. You’re so…amazing.”

She laughed and then sniffled. “This is insane.”

“It’s a good kind of insane.” Ian brushed his lips across hers, featherlight, like she was some sort of treasure. “Not that I want to, but we need to leave. It’s almost curfew. If anyone asks, we found books and read. I sat in the chair and you were on the couch. We wanted peace and quiet. When the Greens came, we left and went our separate ways.”

“Okay.” She needed to pull herself together. Closing her eyes, she willed her tear ducts to behave. She could do this. She was an ice princess. Sort of. “Let’s go.”

They exited the office. Just for show, Ian grabbed a book about martial arts he saw on a shelf as they walked past it. “Plausible deniability.”

When they reached the front desk, Miss Enid checked them out quickly. “Straight back to your dorms. Curfew is in twenty minutes.” She handed Sara her books but didn’t release them. “Have you been crying?”

“Blame the authors,” Sara said.

Miss Enid nodded. “I understand. Some of those books should come with warnings like: Keep tissues nearby.

“They should,” Sara agreed.

On the walk back to the dorms they passed a couple of students. Ian glanced at his watch. “I hate to leave you but I’d better jog if I’m going to make it.”

“Go.” Sara watched him run off and quickened her pace. She entered the dorm and headed up to her room. She could hear her phone ringing from the hallway. She let herself in and dashed to the phone. “Hello?”

“Where have you been?” Her mother’s voice came through the line and she was less than pleased.

“I was reading at the library. Is everything all right?”

“No. It’s not all right. Mr. Clayton called us about your essay.”

Son of a—“Why would he do that?”

“Your answer was inappropriate as a Blue female and disloyal to Ferrin.”

Seriously? “I thought you’d be happy that I had the ambition to carry on our family’s legacy in the Directorate.”

Her mom paused. “While I admire your goals, they are unbecoming to your station as a Blue female.”

“Are you telling me you never wanted more?”

“I may have, but even then I channeled my feelings appropriately and you need to do the same. This was a huge misstep. You will learn from the error of your ways and you won’t do anything like this again. Do you understand me? You’re lucky I’m the one handling this situation and not your father.” And then she hung up.

Sara stared at the receiver and then slammed it down. It rang immediately, startling her and making her jump backward. She grabbed it and took a breath before saying, “Hello?”

“Where have you been?” Oh, goody. It’s Ferrin.

“At the library.”

“Why?”

“Because I wanted to read in peace.”

“We need to talk about your essay.”

“No. We don’t. Mr. Clayton called my mom and she already told me what a disappointment I am so I’m done for tonight. Goodbye.” She hung up and then stood staring at the phone, expecting Ferrin to call her back. When he didn’t, she decided it was time for pajamas and bed. Hopefully, when she woke up, the world would make more sense.