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My brother had always been a stubborn guy. It shouldn’t have taken me two hours to kick him out of my place. He refused to leave until he went over how to apply the healing salve to my bruises twenty times. He knew I knew how. I used it often enough.
He only got moving when I reminded him that I was the chairman of the academy and I had no problem kicking him off my property. When I gave him my own version of our mother’s Vervain Neutral Staredown, he realized I was very serious. I wanted space.
The moment the door clicked shut, I ran around my apartment, getting ready to head out. I had made it a habit of going for a walk every night, checking the perimeter, seeing how the guards were faring. Basically, I walked around like I owned the place and stuck my nose into things I didn’t need to.
Then in the morning, I got to listen to Zen grumble about me not believing in him.
I did the same tonight after changing into a black blouse and a black skirt that had suspenders already attached to them. After pulling on my black boots and a black beanie over my white hair, I opened the door, ready to disappear into the darkness. Instead, I nearly ran into Rophan.
“What are you doing?” I asked. “Aren’t you supposed to be sleeping?”
It was three in the morning.
“I knew you were sneaking out,” he growled. “Why the hell are you dressed like you’re about to rob someone.
“I dare you to say that again, but this time, don’t sound like a dad.”
Not responding, he settled for glaring at me. I sighed, wondering when I’d get to see the smiling, laughing version of him again. I liked that version a lot more, but I was beginning to understand that seeing him was a rare moment, maybe even rarer than seeing a pterippi. There were only two known herds left of those winged horses left in the world as far as anyone knew and they stayed away from humans, hidden behind their own magic to remain unseen.
Rophan stalked me as I left my apartment and walked through the residential area of the campus, headed toward the outskirts. He didn’t say anything, and I was content with letting the silent nightlife wrap around me. Nights like these made me feel like everything was okay with the world. There was a blanket of peace that wrapped around everything.
“Do you hear that?” I whispered.
“What?” Rophan’s voice was just as soft as my own.
“Exactly. Nothing. But it isn’t nothing. It’s the symphony of the night.” I stopped walking and closed my eyes, just listening. The crickets sang to each other as the males tried to attract mates. There were wolves off in the distance, howling to the night sky. Night birds did their nocturnal calls through the darkness. Everything melded together into a perfect harmony only found in the wild. The longer I listened, the louder the sounds became.
Wanting to join in and add my own voice, I hummed and began walking again. My magic trickled around me, on the lookout for abnormalities. The grass rustled under my feet, but I couldn’t hear Rophan. If I didn’t know he was determined to stalk me, I’d have never known he was there with how quiet he walked.
We were probably halfway through my routine when I caved and said, “It’s still hard to believe that this is happening.”
“The school?”
I nodded. “The school, the kids coming, the people all gathering together to do this.” I turned to Rophan. “This all started because of a dream.” I shook my head. “Not even my dream. I stole it, but I know now that it was for the best. This dream didn’t need to be buried.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“No, I guess you wouldn’t. Did you know this was never where I saw myself?”
That threw him off. I chuckled. “I didn’t want to open a school and watch over a bunch of kiddies. I prefer being one myself.”
“I noticed,” he said.
I laughed. “It’s easier that way. The world is full of dreams, Rophan. So many dreams: some big, some small, and many of them never realized. This was one dream I couldn’t let go of.”
“Why?”
Sighing, I said, “Isn’t that the big question? Why? I guess for me, it was more of why not? What was stopping me? What else did I have to do? The world needed an academy, and I was in the position to do it, so I did.”
He didn’t respond. Thinking he had nothing to add to our invigorating conversation, I kept walking.
“I’ve been unfair to you.” His words were a soft whisper through the darkness that beckoned me to move closer to him.
I didn’t expect what he said or how he said it. For the softness of his words to reach down into my soul and comfort me. He had managed to completely throw me off.
Needing to say something, I settled for, “Yes, you have. Extremely unfair. I’m nearly heartbroken.”
He snorted, understanding that I was just blowing smoke. “My sister was homeschooled for the longest time. That came to a stop when our father died, but I couldn’t send her to a human school.” His lip curled into a disgusted sneer. “Not while the Unveiling was going on. I didn’t want to risk losing her. She’s the only family I have left. Then you opened this school, and the first thing she told me was that she wanted to come here and learn how to help people.”
“She wants peace?”
“She wants peace,” Rophan said.
I mulled that over as I began walking again, making my way around the last apartment building before it opened into a large field. On the other side of the field were large trees that stood tall and shrouded completely in the night, creating an illusion of a black wall. “Liliac is a strong, bright-eyed girl,” I whispered, not wanting to disrupt the night. “I saw it the moment I saw her picture. I didn’t even need to think about it. She was an automatic yes for being accepted here.”
“My dad and I fought hard to protect her from the ugly in the world.”
It all clicked into place. “And now she’s realizing there really are bigger, badder monsters under the bed and in the closet?”
“Yes.”
“You still raised her right.”
“What makes you think that?”
“Because she’s coming here, she wants to help create change. She isn’t trying to hide in her home, holding tight onto her stuffie. She’s braving this big mean world for the good.”
Rophan didn’t respond until we crossed the field and walked along the border for a few minutes. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” I grinned. “She still hasn’t met me.”
He groaned as I laughed.
For the rest of the walk, I continued to tease him, and he actually took it well, instead of getting all defensive or grumpy about it. Three times. That was how many more times I got him to smile at me. My stomach fluttered each time too.
By the time we finished, I was exhausted and ready for bed. Rophan looked like he could go for days.
“Thanks for escorting me,” I said as we stood on our porch, his door next to mine.
“Let me know when you go, and I’ll come,” he said.
“What if you’re sleeping?”
“I won’t be.”
I smiled and pulled on my big girl panties as I leaned forward, grabbed his shirt and yanked him toward me. I placed a quick kiss on his cheek and stepped back with a grin.
He blinked a few times, his mouth partially open.
“Next time,” I said with a challenge, “it’ll be on your lips.”
The porch light made it easier to see the red that flushed his cheeks. He grumbled something underneath his breath and brushed by me, going inside his apartment.
I laughed and went into my own home, still grinning like a maniac.
That was a great night.
