Chatoyant College Book 9: Sundered

Chapter 135: Derwen

Corrie watched Belinda go happily. She felt like she'd really made an improvement in the world, making a bargain with Mardalan so they got all their friends back and getting the faeries some musical education to boot. Of course, now she should probably do some homework, but she had time yet. "Want to stop by and visit Ever on our way back?" she asked Edie.

"Sure, sounds great," said Edie. "Professor Lal, you want to come along?"

"That's quite all right," said the professor. "I have my own work to do. I'll see you in the morning, Corrie."

"Good night, Professor Lal," said Corrie. They split up as they walked back to campus, Professor Lal heading for the academic buildings in the middle of campus and Corrie and Edie going straight for Gilkey.

Once on the third floor, they found Ever's room and knocked on the door. She had a different room now than she had when she'd first started the semester; there had been some roommate shuffling after the first couple of weeks, when it became clear that some people just weren't getting along with each other, so now Ever was in a triple that had been effectively a two-person room for most of the semester. Corrie hoped the people who had lived there all semester weren't too upset about it. She wasn't sure what the story was.

After a moment, Ever opened the door and grinned at them. "Hi, guys! Come on in!"

"Thanks, Ever," Corrie said, walking in with Edie right behind her. The room was surprisingly neat for a college dorm; only the space around one bed was a mess, but it was a contained mess. "We just wanted to come say hi and see how you were doing."

Ever looked around quickly before closing the door. "It's Sarah now, remember? But you guys can call me Derwen in private. That's my real name—well, the real name I use."

"Sarah?" asked Edie. "Are you taking over Siffyd's identity, then?"

Ever shook her head, frowning slightly, and led them to one of the neater beds, where they all sat down. "She never really had a campus identity—she wasn't a student, she just worked at the library. If she'd been a student, I probably would have taken over her dorm. But I will be Sarah who works at the library, at least for the rest of the semester. Dawn has promised to show me the ropes."

"Oh, that will be cool," said Corrie. "It's nice that you guys get to work together. So the library will think you're the same person who's been working there? You don't really look like her. Or do you have a different glamour now?" Ever—Derwen, Corrie reminded herself—no longer had the oak-leaf tattoo on her chest that she'd had before, and her hair was green instead of blue, but she still looked pretty much like herself. She'd looked the same without her glamour, or at least Corrie had assumed it was without glamour, when she was in the woods.

"Sort of," said Derwen. "People will think I'm the same Sarah at the library, even though I look different. It's a more subtle form of glamour. Lal set it up for me, since I'm not really good enough to do it myself."

"What about classes and stuff?" Edie asked. "You haven't been in them all semester, so will you have trouble with the final exams?"

"Just about every part of the college is getting a different story about me, actually," said Derwen. "The library thinks I've been there all semester. My roommates think I transferred in here during the shuffle and have been here most of the time, but that I'm really neat and out a lot so they don't see me much." She grinned and wrinkled her nose. "Being neat is hard, but I do like to be a student to try on different identities, sort of. And as far as the school administration and classes are concerned, I'm not even here yet. I'm a transfer student who'll be starting next semester. Lal got me signed up for classes that weren't quite full and I'll be in your magic class, Edie."

"Oh, good," said Edie. "I was afraid I wouldn't know anyone there. Do you really need to take magic class?"

"Need to? No, but I want to. And it'll be different because the teacher is a human, so I might actually learn some things."

"Well, if you need help with the alibi of being out all the time, you're welcome to come over our dorm room anytime," said Corrie. "You know where it is, right?"

"Fifth floor? I actually don't think I've ever been there," said Derwen.

Corrie stood up. "Then let's give you the tour! And by give you the tour, I mean point out to you where all our friends live on the fifth floor. Come on."

Derwen laughed and stood up. "All right. That sounds good. Don't you guys have homework?"

"I don't have as much as usual this week, actually," said Edie, joining them as they walked out the door. "Because of exams coming up. I just have papers to write, and I'm mostly done with those already."

"Overachiever," said Corrie. "I just figure I'll get everything done this weekend."