Riddle Of The Owl - YA Fantasy

Chapter Four

"Yes, sir."

"And you have to do this five times?"

"Five different essays, sir."

"My God."

"And what subjects are required to enter, Miss Alleria?"

Alleria drew in a deep breath. "The five sciences; alchemy, astronomy, mathematics, electronics and biology. The four humanities; philosophy, philology, the arts and music. And the two studies of society, law and economics."

Alleria's audience for a moment was shocked into silence. Finally, someone whistled, an unexpectedly crude sound in the midst of polite frocks.

"Well, that's... isn't that every single subject in existence?"

"No," Alleria replied, "that doesn't include artisan studies like carpentry and pottery, or education, or studies of the occult, the arcane and the demon world."

"What a frightening child..." someone Alleria couldn't see whispered loud enough for her to hear. It was followed by an orchestra of cricket-like whispers that she wished only to ignore.

"...This is what the Bureaucracy has come to..."

"...Seems like some kind of sick joke..."

"...No wonder the Calendrical Algorithm always fails..."

Alleria lowered her eyes and looked at the white tablecloth. When she lifted them again, her mind was wandering elsewhere and even she couldn't follow her own fluttering thoughts. Maybe she was in Granny Na's cottage. Maybe by the pond. Maybe in the village square. Maybe at the house of one of her friends. Maybe in her room, with her books, reading to the light of her desk lamp into the night. It wasn't that she disliked people, or that she found them difficult - that's what everyone thought but it wasn't the truth.

It was people who found her difficult, and because of that, they all became the same, one creature with many heads. Every single one of them eternally boring to her with their flat homogeneity and their repetitive conversation. Every question that was asked met an appropriate answer that evening, several courses of food were served and eaten, or at least nibbled upon. For dessert, everyone was moved into the lounge, to sip sherry and eat apple pies.

"How bored are you from one to ten?" a voice whispered in her ear.

"Approximately ten thousand, one hundred and ten, squared," Alleria answered automatically without noticing who she was talking with.

"Behind that tapestry there's a hidden door, in three minutes I'm going to leave it open. Make sure no one is watching you and slip outside."

Alleria angled her head to look behind her but no one was there. She couldn't see Willum anywhere and wondered if it had been him who had spoken. It may have sounded like him, although she couldn't be sure because he had been whispering. She waited where she was for a moment longer. Leaving the party in this way couldn't be wise, but just the thought of being away from all this scrutiny was relieving.

Therefore, the decision cemented in her mind.

Everyone had had their share of talking with her - now they contented themselves with talking about her. Whether she was in the room or not was of no importance. She began edging towards the tapestry, marvelling over how invisible she was. Like air, non-existent, so unimportant now that the entertainment had been exhausted.

She quickly slipped behind the tapestry and plunged into a small dark opening in the wall. A door was shut when she was inside by an invisible hand in the darkness. "Who's there?" she breathed.