Fear, love... and betrayal; that's what I feel about my new life.
It's a life I never asked for, at least not like that.
I certainly dreamed of adventure, of escaping from my ordinary life, but nothing prepared me for what would happen when my norma...
"We have two lives; and the second begins when we realize we only have one." Confucius
Once the lesson with Zach is over, he guides me inside toward a large room where everyone is gathered. My senses tingle as soon as I catch a whiff of the thousands of sweet scents.
"I think you'll love the Academy's cafeteria, Lou. Before leaving you with the others, I just wanted to tell you how very happy I am that you're here."
"I'm glad that you're here too."
He has no idea how sincerely I mean that. Zach smiles at me with his superbly white teeth and leaves me with his usual bow.
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I look around for Flicka but I needn't search for long. She is at the other end of the room and waving her arms, jumping frantically and yelling my name...not in the least embarrassing! While I walk over to her, I can hear a few people whispering...
"Is that the little Tarzan-girl?"
"What a shame that she was raised by humans...and with such an incredible gift."
"I hope she doesn't choose me."
So, it seems that everyone has formed an opinion about me, but none of them are favorable. I'm under the impression that we're back in high school, but even then I didn't attract attention the way I am now. Actually, nobody in high school ever noticed me at all.
"Let them talk, they're just jealous of your gifts," says the now familiar voice.
Am I hallucinating, or did Lord Black just try to comfort me?
I don't have time to respond because suddenly Flicka is there, grabbing me and pulling me down beside her on a comfortable looking sofa.
"So, how was your training session with Zach? Is he a good teacher?"
"Yes, really good! It seems that I'm a good candidate for hand to hand combat."
"Oh, really? So you did some body on body with his did you? Be careful with that, you know how dangerous that is, Lou."
"Don't worry, I'm not an idiot."
"That remains to be seen," responds Black.
I knew that his real self could not be far below the surface... as if he could be anything but a pretentious monster.
"Come on, let's get rested up for this afternoon!"
She takes me by the arm, steering me toward the line of enchanters all waiting in front of a huge buffet. I pick a few items, a still-steaming chocolate croissant, a piece of cheesecake and a small mountain of homemade donuts, the whole thing covered with a thick chocolate sauce.
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