The Dragoneer Manual

Chapter 26 - Rooftop

Once they'd gotten their sandwiches, Jay had refused to sit in the cafeteria, which he said would be too boring. Instead, he asked Rory to follow him to a secret spot. Together, they took the stairs up to the professors' quarters, being careful not to be seen, and then Jay led her through a rusted door, which Rory was surprised still opened, since it looked half embedded in the wall. The door led to a long column of stairs, which smelled damp and moldy, and looked like it had rotted over the years.

"Are you taking me somewhere to kill me?" Rory asked.

Jay smirked and bounded up the stairs. It was a long, winding climb upwards, and the stairway wasn't well lit, but Rory quite enjoyed following Jay up ahead of her. She stared at his soft-looking black hair from behind, which had grown down to the nape of his neck since she'd first seen him at the meeting point. She felt an urge to reach out and touch it, but immediately quashed the feeling, blushing to herself.

There were various landings with doors to the left and right, but Jay ignored them, continuing upward. Rory wasn't sure how long they'd been climbing when all of a sudden the stairs ended, and Jay pushed open the door. Sunlight poured in and Rory had to squint her eyes, which had grown accustomed to the dark stairwell. She followed Jay outside, and when her eyes adjusted, she realized they were on the roof of the castle. She gasped and looked at Jay, who was smiling pridefully.

"Right? I told you this is better than the cafeteria," he said.

Rory walked to the edge of the roof and looked down, amazed at how high up they were. From this height, students walking around the dormitory, and practicing in the training grounds, looked tiny.

"Dragon's-eye view," Jay said, his lips curled up slightly at the edges.

"How did you find this place?" Rory asked, incredulous.

Jay waved his hand casually and sat down, unwrapping his sandwich.

"Oh, I can't even remember. I used to get up to all sorts of mischief around the academy when I was a kid. There's lots of secret places, since it's such an old castle. There are even catacombs here, although they're probably not the best place to eat lunch."

Rory took a seat next to him, a nice breeze blowing in her hair.

"So you grew up in the academy, but your mother is from Earthland. How did that happen?"

Jay glared at her with annoyance, chewing his sandwich. He swallowed loudly.

"I thought I told you I don't talk about my life before Dragoneer Academy."

"You did. But I'm still asking."

"Well I'm not answering."

"How do you know Isla Maige?"

Jay stopped chewing and looked at her with surprise.

"Who told you about that?"

"Teak."

He rolled his eyes.

"Of course."

He didn't go on, but Rory continued to probe, her curiosity too strong to quell.

"Come on. Why won't you tell me? Did you used to date or something?"

Jay scrunched his nose up in disgust.

"Uh, no. Jeeze. Why would you say that?"

"I don't know. She's a beautiful girl. And a good swordsman. I figured if you know her, you might have thought about it at some point."

Jay shook his head slowly.

"Isla Maige and I are very different people. And besides, it would be like dating my step-sister or something."