The Glass Harmonica (Custos Trilogy, Book 1)

Chapter Fourteen-Robert

            Inspecting my dried and calloused hands from this past week of training, my gaze follows down the palm lines on my steady muscular hands.  They swirl and twist into different patterns and directions.  My circular fingerprints stick out as a blaring flashing light the longer I stare at them.  How can hands like these contain such power?

            I've been only training for a week but can already conjure up a tornado the size of a baseball.  Every night and the a few hours during the weekend, I would go and practice with Lydia who is vicious and unrelenting in my training.  The sharp scars embedding in my palm is a testament to her tenacity.  I barely even get to see Lexie like I hope to since hearing that our destinies are intertwined.  She avoids the rest of us at school like the plague completely skipping even lunch. 

            All I have heard about Lexie and her training is through the lips of Lionel and the others.  Even though I seem to be advancing seamlessly, she doesn't seem to be making any progress.  Where I'm a manipulator, I hear that she is a seer, someone with the ability to see the future.  The others talk about her not being able to have visions like the very first time.  There is a huge part of me that is especially curious to know what visions she had.

            I finally look up from my distorted palm and stare straight at where Lexie would sit minutes after the final bell for class to begin.  Almost a half an hour ago the class was empty of people but now most seats where filled with only ten more minutes until the lesson.  I arrived early hoping to catch Lexie and ask about these visions.  I should have known that despite what the world hurls at us, she will always almost be late.  There was a time a week ago when I swear she was here before even me...

            Peter and James enter the room giving me a strange look before taking their seats.  Ever since my sudden outbreak last week, it seems that most people have become wary of me instead of vying for my attention.  I like it.  A lot.  It's refreshing as I get a chance to get to know the mystics at lunch and have friends that don't care that I'm next in the royal line.  I secretly smile about this fact as time ticks molasses instead of a constant pace. 

            The three female mystics enter together giving me smiles and a simple wave of their hands.  Well at least Susan and Galia clearly did.  Iris simply nods her head forward with an icy expression. 

            Following shortly behind them, Natalie enters the room.  I have to do a double take to make sure I actually see her.  She enters naturally fitting into the crowd of my classmates.  My gaze follows her as she looks straight up at me.  A playful smile curls on her red painted lips before taking a seat a few places away. 

            Since the last time I saw her, I haven't seen any hide of her since.  I questioned around the estate about her to other royal workers but everyone told me the same thing.  She has gone and quit her job.  Even one brave night, I quickly dodged into that club again and another bartender said that she never showed up to another shift.  What is wrong with this girl?

            As if responding to my thought, she gracefully turns he head in my direction.  Her eyes contain a hostile danger and her smile is confection sweet about to give indigestion.  She looks away and pulls out a book for the lesson.  Ever since this course stated almost a semester ago, she has never been in this class.  I can't help but gulp with pure eeriness.

            The startling bell erupts like a welcoming chime of life and pulls me away from the strange mystery devouring my thoughts.  Professor Maddox stands before us.  Just before she opens her lips, Lexie rushes quickly into the classroom without looking at me or the others.  This earns a melancholic shake of head from the Professor.