The Children of When (Complete)

Chapter 6: The Fey Academy

The room Raff was shown into at the Fey Academy had a cluttered, lived-in feel, as if whoever owned it valued comfort above prestige. The three soft leather armchairs pulled up in front of the desk looked both comfortable and inviting, and Raff intended to take up the invitation as soon as he'd finished exploring the room. Displayed on the wall behind the desk were paintings depicting the lush green forests and rugged mountain ranges he'd glimpsed on the way to the Fey Academy.

Not that he'd had much of a chance to take it all in. He'd had to almost run to keep up with the ugly little creature who'd been waiting for him outside the portal. Not only had the creature been ugly, he'd also had about as much personality as a dead fish. Raff had tried to ask him questions about where he was, where they were going, and what it was like. After all, wasn't that just the normal stuff anyone would ask if they stepped out of a portal and discovered they were in a totally different world?

Admittedly, the creature had introduced himself in a rare moment of helpfulness. His name was Funder, and apparently he was something called a coblynau. From then on, he'd shaken his head and held his hand up in front of his face every time Raff opened his mouth.

When Raff first stepped out of the portal, Funder had prattled on in his gravelly voice, obviously used to fending off the questions of new arrivals. "Welcome to Florisia. You will have many questions I'm sure, but they will need to wait until we arrive at the Fey Academy. Madame Persimmons, the headmistress of the school, will explain everything when you meet her."

Funder had not spoken another word until they'd arrived at the door to this room, at which time he had informed Raff that Madame Persimmons would arrive shortly and had abruptly turned and left.

Shaking his head at the memory, Raff ran his hand along the spines of the old, worn books encased in the bookshelf that ran down the entire length of the right side of the room. He'd never seen so many books! He read the faded writing on a few: Fairy Types and Affiliated Gifts, Elven Lore, Mages and Witches, and lots more written in a language he'd never seen before. This was getting weird. Why would the bookshelves be full of fairy-tale type books? He chuckled, as he looked up to find the bookshelf ran all the way to the ceiling, wondering how anyone even reached the top ones.

But it was the view from the floor to ceiling windows to his left that drew his attention. They provided a spectacular panorama of a lush green meadow, sprinkled with yellow and white flowers nestled against the trunks of the randomly placed shade trees. And grazing in the meadow were the most magnificent horses he'd ever seen. He was still gazing out the window in awe when he heard the door behind him open.

He turned eagerly towards the door, ready to greet Madame Persimmons. Instead, a girl was being ushered into the office by a creature who bore a strong resemblance to Funder. The creature repeated the same garbled words he'd been left with and then the door closed, leaving the poor girl standing in the room looking lost. She looked so nervous; he thought she might throw up.

"Hey there, I'm Raff," he called. He swept his hand towards the three lounge chairs. "Might as well come and join me. Something tells me we're going to have to wait for whoever belongs in chair number three."

"Hello, I'm Belle," she said softly, crossing the room towards where Raff and the chairs waited. "Is this your first day too?"

"Sure is. I only arrived from Naissance about an hour ago."

Belle looked at him oddly, frowning in confusion. "That's weird, I'm from Naissance too, and I thought I knew everyone from my village. How come we've never met?"

Raff shrugged. "No idea. Yet another mystery I guess. I'll add it to the list of questions I have for this Madame Persimmons, if she ever gets here."