Changed

How Odd

When we got back to the castle, I went straight to my bedroom. It was high noon and I thought that the glass walls would magnify the light and set something on fire, but thankfully it didn't happen. So, I just lay on my bed until Clari came for me around lunch time.

The plaque for the Dream Root had said that it can be used to enter other peoples dreams. How is that even possible? Do you just put a leaf from the Dream Root into someone's food or do you only need to have a wand made from Dream Root in order to interfere with someone else's dream? I would have to look it up sometime...

After lunch, Professor Marda called me into his office so that we could talk about some things, I guess. As soon as I was there, I noticed that he was extremely pale and that the pencil in his hands was shaking uncontrollably. I sat down in the wooden chair across from his desk and asked, "Are you okay, Professor? You seem nervous."

"I'm fine. I was only curious about a couple things. How did your wand preparation go?" He exhaled, his body easing.

"Good. My wand will be made from Dream Root, I connected with a Night Bird, and this special fairy dust apparently likes me. So I guess you could say the wand preparation itself went pretty good." I decided to leave out the part where someone had tried to mug us and how I had nearly peed myself when the man grabbed me.

"That's fantastic," Professor Marda paused before continuing with what he was about to say. I could tell from his posture that he was nervous about the question. He pretended to be sorting through the paperwork on his desk but I saw that his eyes were trained on me, rarely glancing at the papers. "Where was Prince Jem taking you and why were you even with him?"

I was taken back. So those owls really did move, I thought. Exhaling, I explained. "I left breakfast to use the bathroom. I didn't know where I was going so I stopped by a room to ask one of the teachers and he just started yelling at me. As I was leaving, I ran into Jem- er, Prince Jem," I corrected myself so that he didn't think Jem and I were on a first name basis with one another. Though, if you ask me, we were on more than a first name basis since he had a nickname for me. We were on a nickname basis. Yes. But, I couldn't tell him that, so I just corrected myself. "He knew what had happened because of his... ability. Then Jem claimed he knew why the teacher reacted the way he did and led me into a storage closet. Jem--"

"On this floor?"

I nodded. "Jem showed me the portrait of Queen Talia and told me about how the Seelie fae were so upset that they declared to have the holiday renamed. Then he explained that his parents only agreed to change the name because they had nothing to do with her appearance. He also said that his parents couldn't stand to be in the presence of a Seelie fae, let alone keep one in captivity." I twiddled my thumbs and left out the part about Jem and I being against the desk.

"And you believed him?"

"He may be from another kingdom but that doesn't mean he lies. Besides, it's easy to tell when someone is lying to you." I shrugged as I tried to defend Jem.

"Yes. I see what you mean. I just find it odd that you trust someone who taunts you and looks into your mind. So, what are the signs you watched for to see if he was lying or not?" Professor Marda leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.

"His eyes. They didn't look me straight in the eye. So he was recalling the story. He didn't stare to make sure that I believed him. His hands weren't sweaty or looking for something to fiddle with. Jem stayed in the same spot, his jaw wasn't clenched, nothing. Um..." I tried to recall more signs. "His lips--"

"You just happened to notice the lips on his gorgeous face?" Professor Marda teased... I think. Some part of me thought he was actually angry with me. But, he had no right to be. I didn't do anything wrong. Just because Jem is his enemy, doesn't mean he has to be mine, as well. I guess he had a perfect reason to be since he threatened to kill me and my friends but... I couldn't think of him in any other way than good.