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  Dub. Just the person she wanted to talk to. She sent him a message about Belle's room, asking him to speak with Madame Persimmons. And then another one saying she needed to speak to him in the morning, if possible. He stepped away from the tree, waved, and performed a flourishing bow. Sighing, she climbed back into bed. She liked having Dub on her side.

  Chapter Ten

  - The Plan -

  Raff kicked at a random leaf blowing across the pathway. He so did not want to sit in a classroom and listen to some boring old codger talk about the history of Florisia. He was way more interested in finding out about his Gifts, and hanging out with the horses.

  Belle and Leah walked in front of him, obviously discussing 'girl stuff', if all the whispering and giggling was anything to go by. He really needed to find some other guys to hang out with. Not that he didn't like Belle and Leah, but being girls, he doubted they would be into the same things he liked.

  To be honest, girls were a complete mystery to him. Growing up in a household full of males, the only girls he’d met were at school – and they were all totally weird. Although, so far Leah and Belle seemed cool enough.

  He groaned as his stomach grumbled, moving up to walk between the girls. He needed food…now! "Can't you two move any faster? I'm starving!"

  Leah laughed and nudged him. "How can you possibly be hungry after the amount you ate last night?"

  Belle grinned and nudged him from the other side. "Yeah, I kept thinking you'd explode if you ate one more mouthful."

  Raff frowned as the usual embarrassing heat rose up his neck. "Well I'm glad you both found watching me eat so entertaining." The sight of them both blushing as badly as him made him feel much better.

  Belle's eyes took on a far-away look. "That was a spectacular dinner though. I've never seen so much food in one place."

  Raff smiled and nodded. "Yeah, it was pretty impressive." Poor kid probably hasn't seen that much food in her entire life. His eyes met Leah's and he knew she shared his thoughts.

  Memories of the previous night’s feast made Raff’s stomach growl again. Sick of their dawdling pace, he moved off ahead of them. "Well, at this rate, breakfast will be over before we even get there. I am so not missing out."

  The smell of bacon, sausages, pancakes, and maple syrup invaded Raff's nostrils before he even stepped into the dining room. He strolled past long tables of students shovelling food into their mouths and chatting noisily. The food tables sat at the far end of the room, in front of the floor to ceiling windows overlooking the meadow, loaded up with a selection of every breakfast food imaginable. As well as the food he'd smelled from the doorway, Raff's mouth watered at the eggs, beans, potato cakes and an assortment of breads on offer. He picked up a plate and started piling on the food, as Leah and Belle joined him, snickering at his enthusiasm.

  Heading for the area they learned the previous night was for first-year students, Raff tried not to stare at the guy with one pointed and one normal ear sitting opposite them.

  Catching Raff's eyes, the guy grinned, shrugging and touching his pointy ear self-consciously. "Yeah, weird huh? I'm hoping the other one changes soon, so people can stop pretending not to stare. I'm Jack, by the way."

  "Hey, I'm Raff, and this is Leah and Belle. How long you been here?"

  "Just over a week," Jack said. "Pretty cool place eh?"

  "Well, we only got here yesterday, so we haven't seen much yet."

  "Yeah, I thought I saw you guys looking a bit lost at dinner last night." Jack chuckled, looking at Leah and smiling. Leah blushed, and smiled back, before dropping her eyes.

  Raff's stomach did a flippy-floppy thing. Whoa… had the shared smile between Jack and Leah really caused the weird sensation?

  Don't be an idiot. She’s just a girl. Besides, who cares if she smiles at another guy?

  But it had annoyed him anyway. He attacked his sausage with his knife and fork, suddenly feeling like the sun had disappeared behind a cloud. As he lifted his fork to his mouth, he noticed Belle wearing a knowing grin.

  Oh great! Stabbing the sausage on his plate with more force than necessary, he stuffed the food into his mouth grumpily, trying to ignore the fact that everything suddenly tasted like sawdust.

  * * *

  Raff's foul mood continued as they headed toward the classrooms, located in the same building as Madame Persimmons' office. Wanting to check out the older kids' dorms, they walked down the path on the other side of the lake.

  Raff flinched when Leah stopped and grabbed his arm. "Hey, there's Dub," she said, pointing to where the ugly little man lounged on the grass. "I'll be right back. I need to talk to him."

  Raff watched her as she ran to speak to the coblynau, scratching his head and trying to work out why she had this effect on him.

  "Bit of a crush, eh Raff?" Belle whispered beside him.

  Raff's face burned as he spun toward her, ready to give her a piece of his mind. He stopped, surprised by the look on her face. Instead of the gloating nastiness he expected, her genuine concern surprised him.

  "It's okay, I'm not going to tell anyone. But I thought you should know, I think she likes you too." Belle smiled at his astonished reaction.

  "What…? How…? Did she say something?" Yeah good one Raff. Denial would have been a good idea. He shrugged, unable to stop his eyes flicking back to where Leah chatted with Dub.

  "Nope. Just an observation," Belle said, her eyes on Leah as well.

  And then Leah looked up at them and waved them over. "Dub has been telling me some amazing stuff about secret amulets and ancient prophecies. He thinks I might have a piece of some missing amulet, so he reckons I should go visit this old crone who lives in the forest, on the other side of the meadow. Apparently, she knows all about this kind of thing. What do you think? Would you guys be interested in coming with us?"

  Raff grinned. "Absolutely, I'm in! When do we go? I'm definitely up for ditching history class!"

  "No, we need to wait until tonight, after everyone's in bed. We're not really supposed to go into the forest, but I need to find out about this amulet thing."

  Raff’s heartbeat sped up. "Woohoo... a stealth mission. Even better."

  Belle shook her head and smiled. "Of course we'll come Leah. As if we'd let you go off and do this on your own."

  Leah smiled at them both, and turned back to Dub. "See, I told you they'd want to come."

  "Fine, fine. Well, I'll be at the same tree as last night. Ten o'clock. Don't be late!" Turning, he walked off without another word.

  Raff chuckled. "Not big on conversation these coblynaus, are they?"

  Wait… What tree from last night? What wasn’t Leah telling them? He was about to ask her to explain, when Belle jumped in.

  "And we are going to be late for class if we don't hurry.” Raff groaned, his excitement evaporating at the thought of a boring history lesson. Fine, but after class, he would be asking Leah for an explanation. She and Dub seemed way too cosy for having only spoken once.

  Chapter Eleven

  - Meeting the Horses -

  Mr Kafoops' history lesson turned out to be every bit as boring as they'd feared, although Belle was surprised she only had to nudge Raff once when he started snoring. The three friends had all chosen Equestrian Studies for their elective, and Belle almost squealed when Mr Kafoops informed them the classes started that afternoon.

  After a quick lunch - much to Raff's disgust, who was busy stuffing food in his pockets as they left - they headed to their rooms to change. Belle's eyes fell on the riding outfit laid out neatly on Leah's bed as soon as they entered the room. A snug-fitting pair of beige pants and a white shirt lay underneath a pair of gorgeous black leather boots. Her face fell when she glanced down at her own mattress. Nothing! Dropping down onto her bed, she tried to hide her disappointment, but Leah had already noticed

  "Stay right there," Leah said as she dashed out the door. She returned within seconds, wearing a huge grin. "I think you'd better come with me."r />
  Belle sighed, pushed herself up off the mattress and followed her out the door. Leah swept open the door to Belle's room with a flourish, indicating with her head for Belle to look inside.

  Dreading finding her beautiful new riding clothes in her hovel, she froze at the entrance to her new room, tears welling up in her eyes. The room overflowed with gorgeous stuffed animals and trinkets, just like Leah's, with clothes bursting out of the cupboard, the room was a virtual wonderland. On the bed, on top of the beautiful butterfly covered quilt, lay a riding outfit identical to Leah's.

  "How...?" Belle turned to Leah and hugged her. "You did this?"

  Leah's face gave her away. "I just made sure the right people knew about a situation that needed fixing."

  "I'll never be able to thank you enough." Belle wandered around the room in a daze. "I can't believe it!"

  "Wow, I'm impressed." Raff stood in the doorway, looking good in his snug-fitting beige riding pants and white shirt, his black boots fitted to the knee. Belle smiled, her eyes swivelling to check Leah's reaction, only to find her friend blushing, ducking her head and pretending to straighten the stuffed animals on the bed.

  Raff shuffled his feet. "Nice room Belle. But seriously, are you two ever gonna get dressed? We don’t wanna miss out on choosing the best horses."

  "Well I can't exactly get changed with you two standing there! So move it." Belle shooed them both out of her room... her beautiful room, she corrected herself, and pulled on her new clothes as fast as she could.

  But she kept being distracted by new treasures she didn't notice when she first entered. Like the exquisite crystal horse figurine on the shelf, and the small rug on the floor beside the bed matching her butterfly quilt.

  She wanted to sit and stare at all her new and amazing possessions, but she knew Leah and Raff would be waiting, and she wouldn't miss picking her horse for the world. She pulled on her boots, amazed at how well everything fit, and raced out the door.

  She found Leah and Raff waiting in the corridor, throwing awkward looks at each other when they thought the other wasn't looking. Honestly, they were hopeless. "Come on, let's go," she laughed, linking arms with each of them and almost skipping out the door.

  * * *

  Belle was so excited she could hardly breathe, as they walked up to where Mr Trotter stood at the top of the meadow waiting for them.

  "Ah, here you are. Raff, Belle and Leah right?" They nodded. "Well, you three are the only newbies to sign up for Equestrian Studies this week. I'm Mr Trotter, and I'm very pleased you chose to come and meet our beautiful horses. I'd like you to spend the next ten minutes wandering around the meadow and talking to some of the horses. I don't know if anyone's told you, but the horses here at Fey Academy aren't just normal horses... they have wings. So... not only will you need to learn to ride your horse on the ground, you'll also be learning how to stay aboard while flying. I'll call you back when the time is up and we'll see if we can match you up with the right horse. Choose wisely, and enjoy yourselves!" He smiled and shooed them away.

  Belle couldn't help noticing Leah and Raff took off in opposite directions; Leah towards a pretty brown horse with a white streak down his face and Raff towards a big shaggy grey. She sighed, hoping the awkwardness between them wouldn't last. It was exhausting just watching them.

  Belle wandered down the meadow in a state of shock. Flying horses? Unbelievable. She scanned the array of horses as she walked, her heart sinking that none of them was black. But then, she didn't really expect to find the horse from her dreams here... did she?

  She squinted toward the end of the meadow at the vibration of thundering hooves under her feet. Holding her breath, she watched wide eyed as two more horses raced up the meadow, one pure white and the other as black as night. The white one wheeled off toward Leah, while the black continued straight toward her. No way... it couldn't be...

  The magnificent creature from her drawing slowed to a walk as he came closer, his intense black eyes fixed on hers. Belle froze, mesmerised by his presence as she took in his flaring nostrils and laboured breathing. He nudged her gently, as if inviting her to say hello, and she smiled, snapping out of her reverie.

  Beyond understanding, or even caring, where he came from, or how he was here, she reached out, tentatively rubbing his velvety nose. His whickered greeting dissolved the last of her nerves, and Belle giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him.

  She wanted to cry at the sound of Mr Trotter's voice calling them back. What if she wasn't allowed to choose this horse? Sighing, she unwrapped her arms from around the horse's neck, and turned toward where Mr Trotter waited. But she'd only taken two steps, when she felt a nudge on the back of her neck. Turning back, she was surprised to find the black horse following her, trying to feign innocence of the crime of nudging her.

  She laughed, rubbing her hand along his soft neck. "Okay, I suppose you can come too," she said against his nose, and they walked back together.

  Excited to talk to her friends about what happened, she noticed Leah walking toward them with the white horse beside her. Belle bit back a laugh as the shaggy grey nudged Raff forward every couple of steps, with Raff turning around each time telling him to 'quit it.'

  Mr Trotter wore a perplexed frown, scratching his head like Raff did when he was thinking. He cleared his throat, eyed the three of them and shook his head. "Well, now I've seen everything! It seems it won't be necessary for me to help you choose a horse. Instead, the horses have chosen you."

  He turned to Leah first. "We call this beautiful lady Solange, which means 'the solitary one'. As far as I know, she is the only Pegasus crossed with a Unicorn born in the last five hundred years. She never comes to the meadow on choosing day, so I can only assume she was waiting for the right person, which it appears is you, Leah. " Solange whickered as he finished speaking, as if she agreed with everything Mr Trotter said.

  "And Raff, I believe you and Rogue will prove to be perfectly matched. Rogue is a Greyneth, which means he is both swift and strong, and will certainly keep you on your toes. He doesn't suffer fools, rejecting a few of the students who thought to ride him. I'm sure your time together will be... challenging."

  "Finally, Belle. I've not seen Midnight in many years. I heard he returned to the Forever Forest, where most of the Adonians originated. Yet here he is, and clearly attached to you. I'm overjoyed to see him back at Fey Academy. He will definitely take care of you."

  "Right then. I'll leave you to get acquainted with your new friends. Don't forget to change before dinner; riding attire is not considered suitable for the dining room. Your first riding lesson is on Sunday, which should be interesting to say the least. Oh, and it would probably be best if you didn't mention today's... ahem... unusual events to anyone else. You each chose the horse you wanted, and that's the end of it." He shook his head one last time, shrugged and turned to walk back to the school buildings.

  Belle, Leah and Raff all started to talk at once. They laughed, agreeing with Belle's suggestion they sit and tell their stories one at a time. Belle threw her arms around Midnight and hugged him. Thank you, she whispered into his ear, giggling when he nodded his head up and down as if he understood.

  Chapter Twelve

  - Zolinda -

  Leah chewed on her lip, plagued by regret and worry about the fast approaching night-time rendezvous with Dub. Sure, the plan had sounded like a good idea that morning, when they discussed it in the full light of day. But gazing out the window into the dark, she wasn't so sure. What if they got caught? She didn't even know what the punishment was at Fey Academy for breaking the rules. She never asked, not planning to break any.

  Glancing at her new friends out of the corner of her eye, she wished she could at least look as calm as they appeared. Belle sat on the floor, calmly reading one of the handbooks by torchlight, while Raff reclined under the window, playing with his pocket-knife, no doubt lost in thoughts of excitement and adventure. Leah sighed, determined to
bury her fears, and checked her watch - five minutes before ten.

  "Are you guys sure you want to do this?" Leah asked, for the third time.

  "Yes!" Belle and Raff said at the same time, looking at Leah, before turning to each other and rolling their eyes.

  "O-kay. I guess we're really going then." Leah laughed, the tension draining away. She just needed to stop feeling guilty for dragging them into this, and focus on the relief they wanted to come with her.

  Raff jumped up to open the window, putting his finger to his lips as he stepped out. Leah urged Belle to go next, and then, squaring her shoulders, followed them into the darkness.

  Huddling together outside the window, the dim light from the waning moon casting eerie shadows all around them, Leah could just make out the tree where Dub had been last night. Relief washed over her as a shadow moved - Dub. Had she really been worried he might not show up?

  "Follow me, and keep down," Raff whispered, before taking off across the meadow toward the tree. Belle squeezed Leah's shoulder and smiled, before taking off after him. Okay, too late for second thoughts now. Leah sucked in a deep breath and dashed after them, only releasing it with a loud whoosh as she reached the tree.

  "About time," Dub grumbled. "We haven't got all night you know!" He nodded, turned and moved off toward the forest at the end of the meadow.

  Leah hurried to catch up to the coblynau, glancing at Dub as they walked upright across the meadow. “Shouldn't we be a little less obvious?"

  "Look back, and tell me what you see?" Dub replied, neither turning nor slowing down as he spoke.

  She gasped when she peeked back over her shoulder, surprised to find only the faintest outline of the school buildings.

  "The place is in total darkness," Dub said. "I didn't even see you guys come out the window. Only knew you were coming from the noise you made running up to the tree."