CHAPTER 11

I wasn’t sure if he was happy about that or not, because as soon as he turned fully around, four girls walked in, all of them older than me still and a few of them were very pretty. But all of them wore yellow shirts.

“A Seelie?” One of them seemed to stop in her tracks, looking around. “In Botany?”

I spread my hands and replied, “I helped my parents raise Cindry trees. I love plants.”

“That takes some dedication.” Instructor Sadick grumbled, “Your folks singers?”

I nodded and he clapped, surprising all of us. “Sorry, I just get so excited when I meet plant singers. What they can do with plants in their own way is just the pinnacle of what botany is and could be.”

“You aren’t a plant singer yourself, are you?” One of the other girls asked, but when I looked at them all again, I couldn’t tell who was speaking.

“No, my father tried to teach me, but my voice waivers when I try to sing to them and the plants hate that.”

Instructor Sadick tilted his head, his features still covered by shadow, “So then, why come here to this class?”

“Well, just because I can’t sing to them doesn’t mean that I don’t like plants.” I shrugged. “I thought this would be something that would remind me of home enough to keep me from becoming something I didn’t want to be.”

The other girls stepped over closer to me and one of them stared at me hard, her eyes glowing a muted violet, and then she smiled, “You aren’t Seelie by blood.”

I frowned, How did she know? “No, I’m not. I was conscripted by a captain because I have certain talents.”

“So he’s a Seelie by force?” One of the others moved closer to me and stared at me as well. “We can work with that.”

“A Middling Elf, here?” the other girl who had spoken first grinned at me. “How exciting.”

“Exotic even.” The violet-eyed one smiled and reached out her hand. “I’m Coventry.”

The elven girl named Coventry had blonde hair so dark it looked like spun gold and dried hay at the same time, her eyes a deep purple color I had never seen before and her smile was pointed with teeth that looked serrated. She was a pretty girl, but she looked like she was more likely to eat me that anything else.

She spoke on, pointing to the girls with her, “These are my friends, Bruth, Nori, and Lolth.”

Bruth was a larger girl, her cheeks a little more filled out, with a rosy completion on them, but with her curled brown hair and bright blue eyes, she was cute. Her smile was tense but she looked like a nice girl.

Nori was a jet-black haired beauty with dark eyes and a pale complexion that made her hair look almost darker than it should have. She wasn’t the type to smile but even without it, she was a beautiful girl.

All of them smiled at me and as their names were spoken, they either made some kind of motion with a hand or gave me a nod. Lolth winked at me, and I blushed.

Lolth’s skin was as dark as Nori’s hair, and her eyes were a deep crimson color, almost like blood, her smile was as alluring as her eyes and the way she stared at me made me think she was hungry, even if she I was almost as big as her.

“Ladies, seeing as though we Unseelie outnumber our younger friend here, how about we treat the boy with some respect, hmm? He’s not used to how forward we can be.” They nodded and he just smirked, “Well, how about you tell us your name now?”

“I’m Saemus, and yes, I am a Middling elf.” I was still blushing when they giggled. “Uhm. Is there anything else I’m supposed to say? Where are the other students?”

“I only have five students rostered for this class.” Instructor Sadick shrugged, “Most students don’t realize in their first year how important botany and the study of plants in your surroundings can be. That said, the normal boring coursework that happens in your other classes, ain’t gonna happen in here. So while the books I give you will be good to study and help you learn—I prefer the hands on sort of learning.”

“Me too.” Lolth stared right at me and I blushed even more furiously.

The other girls giggled and Instructor Sadick just shook his head, “I can see we have our troublemaker already. I’ll not be leaving you and Saemus alone for any amount of time. You’re likely to try and devour him.”

Coventry, Bruth and Nori snickered and rolled their eyes, Nori look up at the instructor, “Instructor? Why can’t we see your face?”

He snorted and laughed, before waving his hands, “I was wondering who the brave one would be.” He pulled up a stool and sat on it before pointing to himself, “This, is what you call and Aelder Curse, old magic. When I was younger and in my more ornery years, I made a name for myself by seducing the other court and luring their strongest away from them to use for ourselves. See, Seelie or Unseelie doesn’t matter. You can defect and be accepted by the other side it just takes some getting used to and a little bit of a change magically. Well, I was found out one day and then the ruler of the Seelie themself cursed me with this. So, now my good looks and magical charm can’t be used to harm their people.”

He looked at me, “No harm from you, little man, so I have not a single hard feeling toward you. I know your story. And you’re not an enemy to our court.”

I blinked at him, “Thank you.”

He clapped and stood, “Now!” Looking around at all of us he pointed to the desks we sat at. “In the cubby beneath your desk you will find your books. Don’t touch them, miss Nori, they’re strictly forbidden in this class; I want you to take them with you to your rooms and read them occasionally.”

He motioned to the board behind him where he had drawn two plants, “What are those?”

“Muttroot and Bunks Hood.” I answered without raising my hand.

He pointed at me, “Don’t get too informal with your other instructors like this boy, but here it’s alright—especially if you’re correct. Someone else tell me about what they do?”

Lolth raised her hand and said, “The former is a muscle relaxer and sensation dampener, while the later extends the effects of plants it is mixed with.”

“Excellent!” Instructor Sadick smacked the table and stood up before pacing to the board and writing the effects of both herbs beside them. Then he drew arrows from them both to a portion in the middle of the board below them. “What third plant do we add to this concoction to make it so that you aren’t getting the full dose of all the ill effects of the Muttroot, meaning complete and total lack of motor function?”

He stared at all of us and I was uncertain as to what he meant, but he clarified, “Say we have someone who is currently wounded by a sword in the middle of a battle and we need to deaden the pain so that we can move on. What other ingredient could we add to this concoction to keep them from screaming bloody murder every time they use the leg to escape?”

I blinked, that was a highly specific suggestion. The only one I really knew was for headaches.

“Rachnea Bellum?” Nori tried with her hand aloft.

“Explain your thoughts on it.” Instructor Sadick ordered.

“That plant works almost like a spiderweb and lessons the effects of something.” Nori explained, biting her lip as she thought. “If you were to line the wounds with it, then mix some in with the Muttroot and Bunks Hood it should keep it from traveling too far too fast. It would eventually need to be reapplied or cleaned out, but it could work.”

“It could!” Sadick nodded and held a finger up, but the Rachnea Bellum’s minor negation also only works for what it touches and if it stays dry. Introducing blood to the mix with make it a goopy mess and also will take the empowered muttroot concoction into the body. I like were you went with it, it was a clever try. Keep up the good thinking.”

He looked around at us all, “Anyone?”

I frowned and raised my hand, “This works more for headaches, but maybe you could try Dryad Spore?”

“Please explain?”

“Dryad Spore sticks the effect basically wherever you apply it.” I scratched my head, trying to remember what else I knew of the herb. “It doesn’t have any ill effects and grows almost everywhere because dryads wander all over the Middling Forest.”

“Excellent!” Sadick roared, surprising us all. He pointed to me, “That was exactly what I was looking for for this particular brew, but you’re wrong about the ill effects. If you were to consume it, it would turn your skin brown. I don’t know about you, I would prefer to not look like a tree for a week, thank you very much.”

The girls glanced at me and smiled, Lolth whispering, “Good work, Saemus.”

I had a feeling I was going to like this class.

**

Xanile and I both had lunch together, discussing our classes since we hadn’t really spoken since earlier in the morning and her classes had been as uneventful as mine. Though her class for magical beasts was intense, she had it when I had Botany so we could have lunch together.

“So is it a large class?” I asked her after swallowing my food.

“Full of junior and senior students who don’t care that I am there one way or the other.” She took a sip of her water and glanced at me. “How about your class?”

“There are five of us.” I smiled at her distaste. “The girls are very nice. All of them are very helpful too.”

“All of them are girls?” Her eyes seemed sharper somehow as she stared at me.

“Yes.” I blinked at her and looked over at the Unseelie side of the mess hall to the yellow-topped table where I found them closer to our side. All of them must have felt me glancing their way as they turned as one and saw me, waved and went back to chatting with each other. “That was them.”

A sense of cold swept over my shoulder as Xanile’s voice managed icily, “I see.”

I shrugged, “They’re very nice.”

“You said that already.” She growled and stared at me. “Did it not occur to you that all of them are attractive?”

“No?” I lied, sensing something was wrong. Young as I was, I had seen this sort of thing with my father once. It had been a terrible week for both of us. “Why should it matter if all of my classmates in one class that I go to once a week are attractive? There are men and women here who outshine me in every conceivable way. What, are none of your classmates attractive?”

She blushed and looked away as the bell rang to warn us that the next class would start soon. “Come on, we should go to our next classes.”

“What is your’s?” She looked at her schedule after I asked and I told her, “Mine is weapons.”

“Same, let’s go.” She grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the room as Lolth stood and grinned my way.

This is going to be a very difficult to navigate portion of academy life, isn’t it? I wondered to myself as I was forced out of the room.