fakes in shining armor // k.s.

chapter seven

After two hours of sword-fighting, "Blair" was sore. From her throbbing forehead to her cramping wings to her possibly sprained big toe, "Blair" was ready to just collapse into bed and sleep.

But even after hours of poking at dummies with swords, there was more work!

"Blair" had no clue knight school could be so difficult. Then again, she should have guessed.

The Phoenix Squad retreated to a restaurant right after practice. It was in the woods of Astoria, right near the school and castle. It was called "The Tasty Trunk", and it was inside of — you guessed it — a tree trunk.

"Blair" slumped in as Prudence spoke cheerily. "The food here is amazing," she announced as she led everyone in. "Seriously, Blair, you'll love it."

They approached a table in the middle of the room. Other knight school students were there already, sitting with their respective squads and eating lunch.

"Blair" remembered that she was starving. She had barely touched dinner the night before and skipped breakfast. She sat herself down in the seat next to "Ciara".

"Watch this," Prudence said from the head of the table. She turned her head towards a bearded, somewhat scary looking man. "Five vanilla floats, please!"

The man nodded and made five barrel glasses float over to the five, with purple sparkles around the drinks. "Blair"'s floated in the air and landed right in her hand. She took a casual sip, not wanting to look hungry.

Prudence just stared at her. "Isn't that cool?" she asked "Blair".

"Uh, yeah, it is," "Blair" lied. It really wasn't. Being a magical being, "Blair" saw that everyday back in Nayilam. Heck, she could do that herself. But she couldn't reveal that she wasn't really from Astoria, where not every restaurant was magic-run, unlike Nayilam.

"How are you liking Knight School so far, Blair?" "Ciara" asked, making sure to emphasize "Blair"'s new name.

"It's difficult," "Blair" admitted. She rubbed her back, right in between her wings. She remembered that Marius had touched that spot so tenderly once. She blinked the memory away and continued to try to get the knot out of her back.

"So if you're a fairy, how'd you get into Knight School?" Warwick asked. He leaned across the table, turning towards "Ciara" and "Blair".

"She's part Dragon Blood, remember?" "Ciara" answered for "Blair".

"Right," Warwick replied. "I forgot, sorry."

When Warwick turned away, "Blair" flashed "Ciara" a grateful smile.

It was silent for a moment before Warwick spoke again. "Did you guys hear about Nayilam?" he asked.

"Ciara" shot "Blair" a nervous look, and "Blair" sat up attentively at the sound of her kingdom.

"Yeah," Arc responded. He was sitting right across from "Blair", and right next to Warwick. "Poor Nayilamians."

"What's even worse is that all their royalty is gone," Prudence piped up. "Can you believe that? At your subjects' time of need, you just leave? Just like that?"

"Blair" frowned at that. "Um, I'm sorry, but sometimes, your safety has to be a concern too. And maybe the royals there didn't have a choice but to leave?"

"But isn't it their duty to protect their people?" Prudence asked, looking unfazed.

"Blair"'s fists clenched in habit. "Look, sometimes, you just have to get out of your kingdom when a violent person has taken over, okay?" she said, very defensively and very loudly. People looked and stared at her. "Blair" noticed she was standing. She took a deep breath and sat back down, now feeling guilty.