Chapter One hundred three – Paws for Reflection

They had to wind their way around a surprising number of students, as well as several more adults Pandy didn’t recognize. She would have assumed that they were teachers or staff members she simply hadn’t seen yet, except that most of them were dressed in perfectly fitted clothes made of fine fabrics, the ladies’ skirts filling a hall that often held as much as three or four students walking abreast.

By the time they reached the door leading out to the stables, Pandy was desperately curious who these people were, and why they were there, but the children barely spoke, and even Matilda seemed to make herself small every time they had to edge around adults who spoke amongst themselves with quiet intensity. In fact, Matilda seemed to be only half the girl she usually was, with nothing brash or bold about her at all. Even her glossy curls were limp.

Outside, it wasn’t much better, and Pandy could see that most of the benches in the common area between the stables and the gardens were occupied, or even overfilled. Ladies holding parasols walked slowly down the winding paths, while gentlemen gathered near the practice grounds, talking and occasionally showing off a swing of an invisible sword, just like Thaniel liked to do. The children ignored all of these, going straight to the stables, where they paused in front of Misty’s stall, giving the portly pony slices of bruised apples as they discussed what to do next.

“Got’seeBrook?” Abbington asked the others in his Small Group, the bright blue eyes behind his glasses sliding toward Suzanne and Matilda.

“Do you think we should?” Geraldine asked, giving the two older girls an embarrassed and somewhat apologetic look.

“Is it all right?” Thaniel said. “I mean, it would be a lot quieter.”

And why are there so many people here? Pandy wanted to shout, but she was a rabbit, and rabbits didn’t talk. Matilda looked down at her, though, almost as if she was puzzled by something.

“I should probably go back,” the blonde girl said reluctantly, holding Pandy out to Thaniel. “If my father decides… If we have to leave, he won’t be happy if he can’t find me.”

Suzanne laid a hand on her friend’s arm, and the two of them exchanged a glance before she said, “Then I’ll come with you.”

Matilda shook her head as Thaniel accepted Pandy back into his arms. “I’ll send you a letter, if I need to. And you know Mother will always be happy to see you if you wish to visit.” Mother, but not Father, Pandy noted.

Suzanne chewed her lip, but nodded reluctant understanding. “I’ll see you at dinner, then. I’m sure!” She forced a smile that looked odd on her thin face, which always seemed to hold at least a hint of sadness.

Matilda looked down, shaking out her skirts so a few pieces of white fur flew up into the air. When she met their eyes again, hers held the usual defiant glare. “Well, I guess I’ll see you all then, since you do insist upon sitting with us. Do try not to get into any more trouble.” She whirled on her heel and stomped back out of the stable, head held high even as she acknowledged the greetings of a few of the other children. Matilda really was surprisingly popular for such a stubborn and contrary person.

Suzanne watched her go with a worried expression that prompted Geraldine to lay a hand on her sleeve and say, “Come with us. We want to show you something.”

This worked as intended, distracting Suzanne so the young Dark mage focused on the others again. Eleanor gave Misty the last chunk of apple that had been hidden in the pockets Suzanne must have sewn into the princess’s skirt, and Abbington took the lead, heading for the very back corner of the stable, away from even the few people who had decided to visit the stable while they were here for whatever-it-was they were here for.

Brook wasn’t in the stall, but this time the blankets Abbington must sleep in weren’t rolled up or put away, which prompted Suzanne to stop, staring. “Someone lives here? In the stable?” She looked around. She had to know by now which room belonged to the girls, and that Thaniel and Isidor were roommates, which left Abbington.

The boy’s tanned cheeks flushed, and he ducked his head. “Don’mind’t. Couldahadaroom, b’tBrookwouldab’n’lone. Naworth’t.”

Suzanne was clearly trying to puzzle through this when Thaniel said, “I wouldn’t have taken a room without Bunny, either.” He hugged Pandy closer to him. “It’s not fair that Brook can’t go inside.”

Abbington shrugged. “Needs’awater. Wo’n’tbehappyin.” He gave a lopsided grin. “Mightbeab’tcoldinnawinner, butwec’nhannleit.”

That was a lot, but it brought up something Pandy hadn’t considered. What would Abbington do in the winter? Though surely they didn’t let the stable get too cold, since the horses still had to stay warm.

Eleanor gave a little laugh, as if Abbington had made a joke, but Suzanne looked as confused as ever. So Geraldine ducked out of the opening in the stable wall, which was now covered by a blanket that was draped across the hole and nailed in place. Suzanne’s eyes grew huge, and Thaniel gave her a gentle push as Eleanor and Abbington also used the unofficial exit.

Soon, they all stood in the peaceful pasture, with the sun glittering across the pond, which seemed none the worse for Pandy’s misadventure the week before. Brook was happily nuzzling Abbington, while the two younger girls stroked her wet sides, ignoring the way their sleeves grew dark with water.

Suzanne’s mouth formed an ‘o’ of astonishment, but she didn’t say anything or try to approach the capybara until Abbington looked up and motioned her closer. “Shedoesn’bite. Na’muchanywho.” He smiled to show that this was a joke, and Brook looked up, no more agitated than any other time Pandy had seen her, which was not at all.

“Can I?” Suzanne whispered, holding out her hand. She grimaced, as if prepared to be chomped, but Brook just sniffed her palm, determined that she had no capy-approved food items, and trotted off back to her pond, where she flopped down in a muddy hole.

Suzanne stared after her, then down at her hand, which now held a slightly greenish coating of dampness that was probably better not to think about too hard, and smiled. Quietly, she murmured, “You all are… I don’t know…” then shook her head and sniffled softly.

“Come on!” Thaniel said, grabbing hold of Suzanne’s sticky hand and tugging her toward the large tree that overhung the pond. There, he pushed aside some bushes and revealed a wooden box, which he opened. Inside was a slightly dirty blanket, which he shook out and spread on the ground, dirty side down. Eleanor and Geraldine immediately settled onto this, motioning for Suzanne to join them.

Thaniel had had to put Pandy down in order to do all of this, and now she, too, made her way over to the blanket, sprawling in a particularly sunny spot right next to Suzanne. She wasn’t tired, of course, but her mind was exhausted, and she just laid there, watching the almost hypnotic scrawl of messages climbing across her vision.

+1 Corruption Point for entering Dark Aura I

+1 Corruption Point for entering Dark Aura I

…

All around her, she could hear the children laughing and talking, but she had tuned out the words. Periodically, Suzanne, Thaniel, or one of the others would stroke their fingers through her sun-warmed fur, but she felt liquid, unable to do more than twitch an ear. Eventually, she even let her eyes close, seeing movement only as shadows across the pink of her lids.

Until, of course, a quiet conversation began right next to her. Its very nature, hushed as it was, drew Pandy out of her reverie. Her eyes slitted, allowing her to see that Suzanne and Eleanor were the only two still on the blanket with her. Thaniel, Geraldine, and Abbington were playing some game that required a great deal of running around and throwing something that looked like a balled-up sock, while Isidor sat beneath the tree, reading. Miss Cupcakes was stalking a particularly menacing leaf, and Lord Winston had abandoned his dignity for once and was attempting to snatch the sock from the air as it flew past his nose.

“Do you think her father will really take her out of school?” Eleanor was asking softly, not looking at her companion.

Suzanne shook her head, also pretending she wasn’t holding a conversation as she watched the hectic chase. “No. It’s too important that Tilly ‘form connections’. He knows they’re only barely a noble house, and if he wants to climb the social ladder, she has to marry up. He’s just trying to show the nobles that he’s just as worried as they are.”

Eleanor looked down. She was holding a little yellow wildflower, and she absently began to pluck its petals as she said, “I can’t help but feel responsible. Since-”

Suzanne gingerly touched the back of Eleanor’s hand, and when the princess didn’t pull away, the older girl took the smaller hand in her own. “It’s not your fault. Not any more than…than me being a Dark mage is mine. Those are things that happened to us, and now we just have to deal with them.” She started to take her hand back, but Eleanor dropped the sad little flower and refused to let Suzanne’s fingers go. Gone was the pretense that they weren’t talking, and the princess stared up at Suzanne with a painfully vulnerable expression.

“Even if the chancellor gets in trouble, and everyone else keeps their children home, is it still all right for me to stay?” Eleanor asked. “If I wasn’t here, this never would have happened. I should have stayed home with my tutors and…and waited to go to Condor, or just never come at all!”

Suzanne frowned, and Pandy could tell that she felt uncomfortable, but she didn’t back down, or try to fob off the younger girl with a flippant response. “I think bad people are going to do bad things, no matter what,” she said finally. “We can’t live our lives based on fear.”

She glanced toward the others, then lowered her voice even further and said, “Every year, my mother begs me to stay home. She knows…what it’s like here. But I don’t want to hide. I want everyone to know that just being a Dark mage isn’t bad. But if they never even meet one, and all they know are the stories about how frightening we are, they’ll never learn better. So I come, and thank goodness I have Tilly, because I’m really not sure I could do it alone.”

Pandy wished she had even a few seconds of Shifting Faces left, because she desperately wanted to give both girls enormous hugs. Suzanne was so much braver than Pandy had given her credit for. She didn’t have to go to school, but actually chose to do so? And then she still pushed people like Thaniel away for what she thought was their own good, rather than clinging to any bit of kindness shown to her?

Eleanor seemed to feel the same, because her fingers tightened on Suzanne’s, and she edged closer to the other girl, eyes shining. “You don’t have to,” the princess said. “I’m your friend, too. And Thaniel and Bing and Izzy.” She released Suzanne’s fingers, suddenly looking awkward. Gently, Eleanor stroked Pandy’s back.

Suzanne gave the most honest smile Pandy had ever seen on her face, and threw her arms around the princess. “I’m your friend, too. Me and Tilly. And we’re terribly glad you’re here.” She looked up as frustrated shrieks announced the fact the sock had gotten lodged in the tree, then added, “All of you,” with something that might have been a grin.

Eleanor nodded and Suzanne released her, but the two girls continued to lean against each other, absently stroking Pandy as Thaniel, then Geraldine attempted to climb the tree after their makeshift toy. At last, Isidor got up with an exaggerated sigh and grabbed hold of the lowest branch, pulling himself up with easy grace. He quickly retrieved the soggy brown ball of cloth and threw it back down, at which point Lord Winston gave a joyful bark and grabbed hold of it, racing off into the tall grass. Thaniel, Geraldine, and Abbington took off in hot pursuit.

Pandy let her eyes drift closed again, soothed by the gentle fingers brushing her fur, listening to happy laughter, simply enjoying the beautiful summer day with friends.