LITMIR.BIZ

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was all she could do not to shout with joy. Tamani!

      Laurel walked down a few flights of stairs and took a slightly longer route so she could walk through a rounded, glass hallway lined with flowers in every colour of the rainbow. They were beautiful. In the beginning that was all Laurel saw in them – gorgeous colours stretching out in brilliant sheets all across the Academy grounds. But they were more than decoration; they were the tools of the Fall faeries. She knew them now, after almost a week of studying, and named them, instinctively, in her head. The blue delphinium and red ranunculus, yellow freesia and calla lilies, speckled anthurium, and her newest favourite – cymbidium orchids with their soft white petals and dark pink centres. She let her fingers brush the tropical orchids as she passed, reciting automatically its common uses in her head. Cures poisoning from yellow flowers, temporarily blocks photosynthesis, phosphoresces when mixed correctly with sorrel.

      She had very little context for the lists of facts in her head, but thanks to her “note cards” – which she wryly admitted the Spring faerie had cut more neatly than she would have – they were memorised.

      Leaving the flowery hall, Laurel hurried to the staircase, practically skipping down the steps. She spotted Tamani leaning against a wall near the front entrance and somehow managed not to shriek his name and run to him. Barely.

      Instead of the loose shirts and breeches that she was so accustomed to, he was wearing a sleek tunic over black trousers. His hair was combed back carefully, and his face looked different without the tousled strands decorating it. As she raised her arms to hug him, a small halting motion of Tamani’s hand stopped her. She stood, confused; then he smiled and bent slightly at the waist, his head inclined in the same gesture of deference the Spring staff insisted on using. “Pleasure to see you, Laurel.” He gestured towards the door. “Shall we?”

      She looked at him strangely for a moment, but when he flicked his head towards the exit again, she set her jaw and walked out the Academy doors. They headed down the front path that, instead of being straight like most neighbourhood walks at home, meandered through patches of flowers and greenery. And, unfortunately, other Fall students. She could feel their gazes following her, and even though most tried to hide their spying behind their books, some gawked openly.

      It was a long, silent walk and Laurel kept sneaking glances back at Tamani, who persisted in walking two steps behind her. She could see a mischievous grin playing at the corners of his mouth, but he said nothing. Once they crossed through the gates he stopped her with a soft hand on her back and inclined his head towards a long line of tall bushes. She walked towards them and as soon as the Academy was blocked from her view by the pokey green stems, strong arms lifted her off her feet and spun her around.

      “I have missed you so much,” Tamani said, the grin she loved restored to his face.

      Laurel wrapped her arms around him and held on for a long time. He was a reminder of her life outside the Academy, an anchor to her own world. The place she still called home. It was strange to realise that, over the course of a few short days, her most direct link to Avalon had now become her strongest tie to human life.

      And, of course, he was himself. There was plenty to be said for that, too.

      “Sorry about all that,” he said. “The Academy is very particular about protocol between Spring and Fall faeries and I would hate for you to get in trouble. Well, I guess it’s more likely I’d get in trouble, but regardless…let’s avoid trouble.”

      “If we have to.” Laurel grinned and reached both hands up into his hair, mussing it until it fell into its usually chunky strands. She grabbed his hands, exhilarated to be in friendly, familiar company again. “I’m so glad you came. I thought I’d go crazy if I had to spend another night studying.”

      Tamani sobered. “It’s hard work, I’m sure, but it’s important.”

      She looked down at her bare feet, speckled with dark soil. “It’s not that important.”

      “It is. You have no idea how much we use all the things the Fall faeries make.”

      “But I can’t really do anything at all! I haven’t even started classroom work yet.” She sighed and shook her head. “I just don’t know how much I can learn in less than two months.”

      “Couldn’t you come back…from time to time?”

      “I guess so.” Laurel looked up again. “If I’m invited.”

      “Oh, you’ll be…invited.” Tamani grinned as he said it, as though he found the word inherently amusing. “Trust me.”

      His eyes met hers, and Laurel felt hypnotised. After a nervous moment she turned away and started walking. “So where are we going?” she asked, trying to cover her awkwardness.

      “Going?”

      “Jamison said you would take me sightseeing. I only get a few hours.”

      Tamani seemed completely unprepared for this conversation. “I’m not sure he meant—”

      “I have been doing nothing but memorising plants for…” Laurel paused. “Six. Straight. Days. I want to see Avalon!”

      A mischievous grin lit Tamani’s face and he nodded. “Very well, then. Where would you like to go?”

      “I – I wouldn’t have any idea.” Laurel turned to him. “What’s the best place in Avalon?”

      He took a breath, then hesitated. After another moment he said, “Do you want to do something with other fae or just the two of us?”

      Laurel gazed down the hill. Part of her just wanted to be with Tamani, but she scarcely trusted herself to spend that long alone with him. “Can’t we do some of both?”

      Tamani grinned. “Sure. Why don’t we—”

      She placed one index finger against his lips. “No, don’t tell me, let’s just go.”

      In response, Tamani pointed down the hill and said, “Lead on.”

      A little shiver of excitement passed through her as the Academy grew smaller and smaller behind them. They passed the high stone walls that enclosed the gate and soon their path diverged into roads that wound through an occasional building – but these roads weren’t paved. Instead, they were made of the same soft, black, nutrient-rich soil that covered the path from the gateway to the Academy. The soil cooled Laurel’s bare feet and energised her steps. It was ten times better than any other walk she’d ever taken.

      The farther they got from the Academy, the more crowded the streets became. They entered some kind of open-air fair with hundreds of faeries congregating in doorways, browsing in facade-fronted shops and milling about kiosks hung with sparkling wares. Everything was rainbow-hued and vivid and it took Laurel a few seconds to realise that the bright, multicoloured flashes she saw weaving through the crowds were the blossoms of the Summer faeries. One faerie passed close in front of her, carrying some kind of stringed instrument and sporting a stunning blossom that resembled a tropical flower. It was bright red streaked with a sunshiny yellow and had about ten broad petals that ended in sharp angles like the purpurea Laurel had studied only yesterday. But it was enormous! The lower petals floated just inches above the ground while the top petals arched over her head like an enormous crown.

      Good thing I’m not a Summer faerie, Laurel thought, recalling the work she had put into concealing her own seasonal blossom less than a year ago. That thing would never have fit under a shirt.

      Everywhere she looked she saw more of the vibrant, tropical-looking blossoms, in seemingly infinite variety. The Summer faeries were dressed differently too. They wore clothes of the same light, shimmery fabric that Laurel and all her classmates wore, only cut longer and more loosely with ruffles and tassels and other adornments that, fluttered in the air or trains that swept the ground behind them. Showy, Laurel decided. Like their blossoms.

      She looked back to make sure she hadn’t lost Tamani, but he was still there, two steps behind her

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