All The Kinds Of Love

•10•

The entrance hall was just as Uma had created. It was almost the same as when Hester and Anadil had been students, except for some subtle changes.

The theme now seemed to be black and green rather than black and red, perhaps a nod to Rafal's brief reign, and it didn't smell quite as bad.

It gave the impression of "Evil" rather than "evil and unhygenic," and Hester and Anadil both wondered whether some of this might have been down to Sophie.

They passed the Portrait Column, where they saw their own faces in gilded frames.

Hester of Ravenswood, Leader, The Tale of Sophie and Agatha

Anadil of Bloodbrook, Leader, The Tale of Sophie and Agatha

And a bit further down...

Dot of Nottingham, Henchman, The Tale of Sophie and Agatha

"Hey, look, it's, uh- Dot!" Dot exclaimed, remembering just in time she was supposed to be hiding her identity.

Anadil and Hester rolled her eyes in unison.

"New students!" A nymph with grey skin and black sparkling hair appeared in the entrance hall, papers in hand.

"You must be Regan, Deidre, and Kalavela!" They grinned.

Hester noted, much to her annoyance, the order in which they were introduced.

"Here are your schedules!" The nymph handed them each a piece of paper.

"Regan, Kalavela, you'll be in Malice 34 with Zita of Crossmaw. Deidre, Mischief 52 with Makara of Thicket Tumble and Sienna of Ooty." The nymph smiled again.

"I assumed we would all share a room." Dot said, trying to keep the nervousness out of her voice.

"No." The nymph shrugged. "You're not."

"Thank the Storian." Anadil muttered. "She looks like she's gonna cry, for Pen's sake."

Hester snorted, and Dot shot them a look.

"Well, you'd best be off to your rooms." The nymph shooed them. "I'm Elvara, by the way, Forest Group 4."

Hester and Anadil climbed the familiar spiral staircase of Malice Tower and snorted at the faded graffiti still lingering on the walls.

It felt strange stopping on the third floor and even stranger opening the door to Room 34 to find a dormitory similar, but not identical to, the one they'd had previously.

For one thing, there was a girl on one of the beds.

She was reading A Simple Guide to Mogrification but looked up when they came in.

She had beautiful dark skin and black braids with green ends. Her moss-green eyes flashed with annoyance as she acknowledged Hester and Anadil.

"And here I was thinking I'd have this room all to myself." She sighed. Her voice had a rough edge to it.

"Yeah, well, we can't have everything, sunshine." Hester snapped sarcastically.

Zita folded her arms. She was wearing a short sleeved shirt and was obviously very muscular.

"And you are?"

"Kalavela." Hester said, crossing her arms in a subconscious mirror of Zita's pose.

"And the blondie?"

"Regan of Netherwood." Anadil snapped. "I prefer not to be defined by my hair colour it it's all the same to you."

"You look like a budget version of fucking Sophie." Zita snorted.

"Yeah, well, you look like you were dropped one too many times as a child, so let's see how that goes." Anadil shot back.

"Plus, your name sounds like 'zit'." Hester added.

Zita rolled her eyes.

"How'd you even know my name?"

"The sparkly nymph told us." Anadil snorted. "Who cares? Move your stuff off the beds."

Zita rolled her eyes again and began to reluctantly clear the room so Hester and Anadil could inhabit it.

"I'll have this bed." Anadil pointed to the one closest to the window.

Her crow hopped onto the windowsill as if to reiterate her point.

"Nice birdie." Zita scoffed. "Is that your special talent?"

In response, the 'birdie' flew at Zita and ripped her shirt with its claws before landing on her head and... leaving a certain mark.

"Ew!" Zita exclaimed as the crow flew, cawing triumphantly, back to Anadil's shoulder.

"Bird's smarter than you are." Anadil remarked as Zita rushed out of the room, presumably heading to the nearest sink.

Hester and Anadil collapsed into cackles.

"Priceless!" Hester exclaimed.

"I'm going to enjoy this term!" Anadil grinned.

"I still can't believe I have to pretend to be your henchman." Hester mock-grumbled.

"You'll get used to it." Anadil patter her shoulder. "I mean, I am smarter and scarier and meaner and better than you in every way, so it shouldn't be too hard."

Hester tackled her, and they landed on the floor. They rolled around for about a minute, playfighting, until they heard footsteps outside the door and returned to sitting on their beds.

Zita entered, her hair wet. She hadn't quite managed to get all the poo out, but she'd done a reasonably good job.

"Oh, hi, Zit." Hester waved. "Back so soon?"

"Shut it." Zita grumbled. "Listen, I think we got off on the wrong leg, or foot, or whatever. I think it would be better if we didn't make enemies of each other, given that we have to share a room."

Hester and Anadil exchanged a look.

"I mean, I do have the upper hand here because you're new and don't know anyone, or how this place works, and haven't had all the lessons."

Hester said cryptically, "We know more than you think." just as Anadil quipped, "We're fast learners."

"Well, anyway, do you want a truce or not?" Zita demanded.

"If you really want." Hester shrugged.

"I mean, I can see why you wouldn't want us as your enemies." Anadil smirked.

"Great." Zita let the shadow of a smile pass onto her face.

"Oh, but Zita?"

"Yeah?"

"We are not a coven. Ok?"