The School for Good and Evil: Return of the School Masters (fanfic)

Chapter 21

Katrina lay on the floor, staring at the stars. Jubilee had thrown a fit, trashing her monument to Tedros and practically tearing the bottom bunk to shreds. Then she made Katrina clean every inch of it and recreate the shrine so that she might "meditate" on how to woo him away from her roommate. A lot of effort and hormones with no result except looking more foolish and jealous than she already was. Somehow making Katrina sleep on the floor improved her attempts at sleep. Trysh tried to sneak her up the wire framework, but she didn't mind. For once, everything was going right.

Ted was the perfect gentleman, more soft spoken than when they first met. Probably an after effect from when she turned down his charms last time. She was most impressed by how honest and kind he was, how he held her hand and told her she was the best princess in the school. He might as well have asked her to the snow ball; invitations had gone out before the trial and girls were panicking over who would ask them. One thing was certain, she was high on Tedros II's list.

Katrina got up quietly and sat at the window sill. The crescent moon shone brightly amongst the array of stars. The School Masters' tower, her brothers' tower, nearly touched the sky. The Blue Forest seemed to glow under the moonlight. Could things get better than this moment?

A figure ran from the tunnels of Good into the Blue Forest. A dark cloak enveloped them, but she caught sight of a light blue sweater. Her heart leaped. Katrina grabbed her cloak from the corner and prepared a parachute spell she'd found in an old book. She jumped out the window, finger glowing as her cloak puffed out and she descended.

Jokingly, she suggested to Tedros that they run away into the Blue Forest after curfew. Well, he took it as a joke. Katrina was quite serious. Girls in Tenmire used to talk about the unsupervised fun they had with their boyfriends after bed. Katrina had been lucky just to say hi to a boy. Now she had a prince and so far, no brothers.

She landed by that fateful tower, but no one came out to see her. No surprise; they slept like rocks. Tying her cloak around her, she searched for Tedros.

His cloak floated on the breeze, headed toward the gates. Little odd, but privacy is privacy.

Katrina ran after him. She ducked through the gates before they closed and raced to catch up. Not very smart to leave her behind. Of course, he seemed nervous about such an affair, saying his mom would kill him then ground him. She found it pretty funny, grounding a corpse. Ted laughed with her but with less heart.

He climbed down a rock ledge next to a waterfall, the gentle rush filling the quiet night. Katrina nearly screamed from pure excitement. She recognized the river from Lilac and Garth's story. If this was a romantic journey through all her favorite stories, Ted was outdoing himself.

Arms tingling from joy, she grabbed onto the rock face and swung down beside the cascade of water. Her pleasure lessened a bit as her arms shook from effort. A glance down was the final straw. She clung to the cliff, a squeak of terror escaping her lips.

The rocks tumbled. Her handholds broke free. Katrina fell, reaching for anything. "Ted!"

She landed in muscular arms, but her savior didn't account for the momentum. He fell back and she collapsed onto his chest. She smiled up at her prince. The air grew cold.

August sat up slightly, amber eyes locked on her. "What are you doing out here? It's past curfew."

Katrina shoved herself off of him. "Me! What about you? You're supposed to be Tedros."

He cocked his head. "He's asleep. Dreaming about you most likely." He stood and brushed off his sweater and slacks. "Go back to your tower, Katrina. Have a lovely night." He turned to walk away.