oleander [DISCONTINUED]

2.5: THE ALUMNI BANQUET

FEBRUARY 19 - 10 AM

Odette sits at her desk, signing some documents on an iPad and talking on the phone.

"Yes, yes, I understand. . . I'm signing them right now." She glances up as Saul steps into the room. "He's just stepped in. . . Yes, thank you. . . 7 o'clock. We'll be there." She sets the phone on the landline as he sits in the chair across her desk.

"Business?"

"Something like that. Just keep your temper until I finish."

He rolls his eyes a little. "Scout's honor."

"It was Rosalind. I know we have our doubts about her because of last semester, but she worked Luna into pardoning you. It's more of a formality than anything else, but it means you can move freely in Solaria. And Sky can return to Alfea if he wants."

"Really? Luna did that?"

"Rosalind will be announcing it at the Alumni Banquet tonight. We've been invited. It'll be a good show of strength for us. For Linphea. But, Andreas will be there. If you don't-"

"I'll go. I want to show him that he hasn't won."

5 PM

Odette stands in the courtyard, isolated from the alums. She was an outsider, but Rosalind invited her so they had to play nice.

"Odette!"

She turns to see the woman approaching her with one of Musa's friends. "Rosalind. And this is Bloom, right?"

"Yeah," the ginger says sheepishly, "that's me. How did you, uh, how did you know that?"

"Musa and Terra transferred to my school Dragonstone. And, the second fairy to transform in a thousand years? I did my research."

"Right. How are they, by the way?"

"Flourishing. They're glad to help with the Burned One experiments. And Musa is learning to accept her magic instead of just pushing it away."

"Bloom is the Dragon Flame," Rosalind boasts.