measurements and then design and make you the perfect dress for each occasion.”
“I will!” Poppy exclaims. I finish my food as Professor Nordvik uses her magic, and it’s quite interesting to watch. The professor stands very still as lines of shadows escape her hands at her sides and wrap around Poppy from her neck to her waist before disappearing.
“All done. With your complexion, I have a perfect idea in mind,” the professor claims, and Poppy looks so happy as she runs to her seat. After drinking the rest of my coffee, I take Poppy’s space, and the professor does the same to measure me.
She hums to herself, her eyes making clear calculations. “You are quite beautiful and elegant for your height. I am excited to see a dress on you.”
“Thanks,” I manage to sarcastically mutter, and Poppy glares at me.
“My sister isn’t a fan of dressing up like I am,” Poppy explains. “But I personally think she would look pretty in dresses.”
“Dresses are hard to fight in and get in the way, that’s my issue,” I tell them both.
“We all have our likes and dislikes,” the professor agrees. “Now, I must take my leave, and I have a message for you both. The second test begins at midnight tonight, and to enter, you simply have to go to the top floor of the lift. One at a time. Until then, you are not allowed to leave your room.”
“A little cryptic, huh?’ I ask, even when I feel Poppy’s eyes on me about the whole going on our own, and the professor smiles.
“There are seventy-two students, and the queen does not want more than fifty left by the end of the first week,” she tells me. “I do hope you two survive until the end.”
“So do we,” Poppy sourly replies but calms herself somehow. “Thank you so much.”
“Anytime,” Professor Nordvik replies with a little sadness in her eyes and heads back to the lift. I wait until she has stepped in and the door closes before relaxing a little bit.
“I have a clue about the next test,” I explain to her. “When you’re alone, look for the mirror that shows you nothing but the truth.”
“Where did you hear that?” she questions, and I don’t answer her, pushing my stool back in. I go to pick up my empty plate, but it is gone, and I look over to see Sword is already running the tap over it and filling the washing bowl up with soapy water.
“We might be stuck in here, but we aren’t wasting the day. Get ready, and in half an hour, we are training you how to fight, as it seems the next test we are doing alone.”
“Awesome!” she replies, and I try not to smile in a creepy way at her. She is so fucked if she thinks anything about training is awesome. I’m going to kick this girl into fighting shape and make sure she can handle herself like her father should have done. If I ever have kids, they are going to know how to defend themselves. I wish my mother and uncle had taught me how to fight rather than filling my head with fae songs and hiding me for eight years with no explanation as to why. I remember my uncle and mother arguing about training me to fight, and my mother would have none of it, wanting to keep me innocent. My uncle tried to teach me a few times how to defend myself, but it was hard to sneak away from my mother.
Swallowing down the grief, I get to work pushing the sofas out of the way and making room. When I look back, Mossy is grinning at Poppy and making a funny face with two oranges. Maybe I might have found a little family, and I’m going to make sure she doesn’t die.
“If I don’t make it back from this,” Poppy states, waiting for the lift to come up with me, “I want you to tell my family it wasn’t their fault. Tell them to look after you as you need family, Dae.”
“I’ve had family, and they are gone now,” I tell her, clearing my throat as the doors slide open to the empty lift. “Get your butt in there and be the badass I know you can be, Poppy.”
She nervously smiles at me, most likely for my benefit, and steps into the lift. The doors swing shut, and it goes up.
“Poppy has powerful magic, I can sense it. She