She was ranting, but he appeared dumbfounded. Running a hand through his hair, he defended himself quietly, trying not to draw any more attention than they were already. “Look. My job is to keep the students at The Green Dragon in line so they don’t get in trouble. I’ve been treating you like I treat any one of them.”
She glowered, but it made a little bit of sense. Still, she retorted, “Well I’m waiting until tomorrow to do this exam thing. I don’t even know that I want to join your little academy.”
He contemplated the sky as if he was silently asking for patience. “Please don’t call it a little academy in front of the examiners. Also, if you pass the examinations, you’ll get a pass to the library.” He had now resorted to bribery...and she admitted it was actually pretty tempting. She really wanted to rub her pass in that guy Lucas’ face. Though how he knew she wanted to visit the library was a mystery, until she reflected on it some more and realized he was the boss of The Green Dragon. The real question was, how much of their conversations were Jessica and Kaylee reporting to him? Either way, she supposed she did want that library pass sooner than later.
“Fine.” She grudgingly gave in, and he nodded gratefully, turning to walk again, glancing back every few seconds to make sure she was still tottering behind him. Surprise, surprise, he led her to the huge government building in Priom Square. Going inside, he greeted the dude at the desk and led her to the left. The dude was appraising her curiously, and she nodded politely to him.
They walked into a brightly lit room that seemed more like the fancy teacher’s lounges she’d seen in a couple of anime. She caught the tail end of what one of them was saying, “...finally here. We’ve been waiting over an hour…”
She glared at Raphael. She wasn’t about to explain herself. He greeted them first, having seen her look and seemingly wanting to cut off her normal caustic remarks. “Stephen, Eric, Jarom, this is Jade, the healer we were searching for. Sorry we’re late, I forgot to tell her that I’d made an appointment first thing this morning.” He was taking the blame for it, and rightfully so. However, due to the disdainful looks the three of them were giving both her and Raphael, she had a sinking feeling. Apparently Raphael wasn’t as high on the food chain as she thought. He also appeared a little younger than these guys, who appeared to be somewhere around their thirties.
“So this is the little healer? I can see why they called her a zombie…” The guy on the far right was the first to speak. With short brown hair, middling brown eyes, and a barely concealed body that felt like he’d escaped from Gladiator to support the massive amount of weapons openly displayed about his person atop his dark green tunic, she supposed if anyone was going to call her little, he was qualified. Still, she wasn’t happy about it.
She stepped forward, staring them down as she said simply, “I’m the healer, yes. Call me a zombie one more time, and I’ll shove my fist in your mouth.” Of course, that only happened in her head. Gritting her teeth, she managed to stop herself from spitting it out--barely. Raphael seemed worried at how she was going to respond too, but she wasn’t stupid. While she’d been pushing her boundaries with the people around her to see how far they stretched, messing with the upper echelons of society when she currently had no backing probably wasn’t the smartest idea ever, especially when they were huge and heavily armed.
Instead, she smiled sweetly. If you can’t beat them, and these guys looked like they could pretty much take anyone else she had seen so far in a fight, make them your underlings. She’d much rather be on good terms with the upper echelon of society so that she didn’t have to fend for herself. She was pretty sure she’d be fine, but why struggle pointlessly when they wanted to give her resources? Also, the library. She needed them so she could access the library. So she fought down her impulse to butt heads with them and smiled sweetly. “I’m Jade. It’s lovely to meet you.” She bobbed a small awkward curtsey.
Her smile and whole glossing-over-the-insult thing was a little outside their expectations, making it clear they’d expected or perhaps even wanted her to blow up so they could put her in her place. Concentrating, she moved slowly so that the motion would be smooth and glided over towards them, head held high. She took a seat primly, smiling serenely. I am as calm as a glassy lake. Nothing you throw at me will cause any ripples.
“I realize you’re probably very busy, so shall we get started? What information do you need from me?” Raphael was gawking a little bit, and Jade sent him a look, trying to tell him to get his act together and not ruin her moment.
He seemed to compose himself and muttered, “I’ll just wait outside.” He quickly made his escape, afraid that if he stayed, he was going to either blurt out something he shouldn’t or ruin whatever she was cooking up in her traveler's brain.
After he’d left, the three returned their gazes to her, sitting down as well. They seemed slightly impressed by the regal poise and bearing she was exuding. In all honesty, she was just trying to mimic how Lady Catherine had held herself. She was a detestable woman, but she had poise down if you ignored the indications that she perpetually had something rotten under her nose.
“Very well.” Seeming to just go with it, the middle one, she thought it was Eric, pulled out a sheet of paper that… Well, it was basically an exact replica of her profile, just not filled out. She pondered telling him she could fill it out herself, then realized she’d never written with a quill before, so that could wait until after she wasn’t trying to impress them. After all, better scores equaled better treatment in her mind. That’s always how it seemed to be in books. Only, there were a few more lines than she had in her profile. “What’s your last name?” He dipped the quill into the inkwell and beautifully wrote ‘Jade’ at the top of the paper, pausing for her input.
The middle guy resembled the more studious type, but that was mostly based on the fact that his muscles weren’t bulging out like the bodybuilder next to him. He had short curly brown hair, hazel eyes that brimmed with curiosity, and a smirk that showed off boyish dimples. His clothing was more formal, and less ‘I’m ready for a fight.’ Still, the muscles she could see as he moved were well-defined, if not bulky. No weaklings wanted at Dracona! That didn’t exactly bode super well for her. Still, she smiled politely and answered.
“It’s Winward. W-I-N-W-A-R-D.” She watched him finish penning her name beautifully. Apparently she was going to have to learn calligraphy. Her chicken scratch from lack of practice was probably not going to cut it here.
“And where are you from?”
She smiled serenely again. “Earth.”
She thought it was the gladiator Jarom who asked in curiosity, “As in, the ground? Are you trying to be funny?”
She inclined her head, her eyes glinting. She spoke quietly as she dropped a bomb on them, “As in, the world I’m from. I’m a traveler.”
Chapter Eleven – Interview
Their expressions were a classic mix of confusion, disbelief, and curiosity. Stephen, or at least he was the one she’d labeled Stephen in her head… She should probably make sure she figured out which one was which sooner than later, so she didn’t get them fixed in her mind as the wrong thing… Anyway, probably Stephen seemed a little quicker on the uptake. With a healthy dose of skepticism in his voice, he asked, “So, the reason we hadn’t heard of you until yesterday…”