The Seventh Secret

Chapter 24: The Fourth Secret

By the time Poppy, Nevyn, and Dlav reached Salvatore's office, Rhiassa had already retired to the back room. Salvatore said to them, "Well, you should be resting, but I have a guest here, so you can have the couch until you get your dorms."

"We've rested enough," said Poppy. "Now can we see the rest of the school?"

"After what you children did in the dungeon, I'm surprised to see you all still alive," said Salvatore.

"What did you expect?" said Poppy. "You can't live in my city and not know how to do some simple spells, you know."

"Indeed," said Salvatore, knowing that he would have to talk to Poppy soon about her using magic. "Anyhow, since you announced yourselves so spectacularly to the world early this morning, we will try a different plan. Tomorrow, you'll see the haunts where the witches once lived. There, you will meet Rhiassa and learn about her clan's history."

"Who is she?" Poppy cried out.

"Rhiassa is the leader of the witch clan that once lived here," said Salvatore. "She is very wise, yet very cruel. I would advise you now to show her the respect that she deserves."

"You mean, we have to be nice to her?" said Nevyn.

"Yes, you have to be nice to her," said Salvatore. "Despite what you may think you know about witches, I can safely assure you that she won't harm you in any way. Not unless you cross her, though I wouldn't advocate it for safety reasons."

Just then, Rhiassa Greer walked into the room. The children tensed as they stared at her; none of them (save for Dlav) had seen a witch before, and the stories they heard about witches were mostly false.

She said, "Salvatore, I believe we agreed that you would find me when the children came."

"You had to rest," Salvatore replied in kind. "You were exhausted after leaving your home and coming here. I refused to disturb your slumber just for this."

"You do realize that I should meet the new guardians," said Rhiassa. "We've already made the mistake of not introducing me to the last guardians, and that's not something I want to repeat."

"No, it will do us no good to repeat the past," said Salvatore.

"Good," said Rhiassa. To the children, she said, "I see that you children are the guardians, are you not?"

"They are," said Salvatore.

"Indeed," said Rhiassa. "And their names are..."

Poppy hesitated, knowing that the witches Kyler and Rista had warned her to never use the name "Rhiassa", as they feared that something bad would happen to Rhiassa if Poppy were to give out her true name.

Luckily, Nevyn solved that problem for her by saying, "I'm Nevyn Meler and this is Poppy Twilight."

"I see," said Rhiassa. "But that's not the name the school gave her, isn't it?"

"No," said Poppy with a strange look on her face. "The school named me Rhiassa."

"Indeed," Rhiassa hissed. "I should have foreseen this. Skefan didn't stop them, did he?"

"No," said Salvatore.

"I see," Rhiassa snarled. "I wasn't informed that the school took my name and gave it to a human girl. But I bet my students did something about that, or did they?"

"They have," said Salvatore, "and Danid didn't approve of their deed. Did they tell you about that?"

"I'll be the judge of that," said Rhiassa. "Now tell me this and don't lie: why did the school name her Rhiassa?"