the weeds into Kaelen’s hand. He then ran past him to the castle.
By November, Lucian had given up on Rusty truly becoming a hunter. He was smart and aimed to please, but still could not follow commands. While he understood sound signals, he had yet to master silent commands. As their hunting final loomed closer, Lucian was sure he would fail. The class period before the final, Lucian approached Diana. “I just don’t know if Rusty can do this. Is there any other way to have this final?”
“I’m sorry, Lucian, but you know our rules. The final must be equal for everyone. Rusty will just have to do his best,” replied Diana.
Looking at the ground, Lucian asked, “What if his best isn’t good enough?”
“You’ll be put on academic probation. We’ll monitor your progress and if we see no improvement with one full school year, you’ll be given a failing grade and then you’ll leave Charming Academy.” Then she smiled and tipped Lucian’s chin so he was looking up at her, “Keep your chin up. Rusty has made great improvement and I don’t expect perfection; especially not from a puppy.”
Lucian nodded and walked away. As much as he wanted to be at home, he did not want to fail. It simply wasn’t an option. Not to mention his father would never believe him if he said he’d flunked out because of hunting. He would laugh and think it was a joke.
The day of the final dawned cold with a light blanket of snow covering the ground. “How do they keep that garden going?” Adrian asked as they walked past the witches’ hovel with Rusty and Clover.
“They bless it every night,” Lucian replied, looking at the garden. The sunflowers he had planted were blooming. There were now ten sunflowers lining the hovel’s wall as well as a few wildflowers he had found. He had been going to the boys Kaelen talked into going into the garden and asking for the plants they pulled so he could replant them.
Lucian and Adrian stopped short as a heart-stopping scream pierced the air. They turned back to the garden where the young, red-headed witch was standing in the garden shrieking, “Where’s my silver hazel?”
“What are you screaming about, Lucretia?” another witch asked, appearing out of nowhere. She appeared older than Lucretia with long black hair that was pulled back from her face by a silver tiara decorated with five stones. The center stone was white and to the left were a ruby and sapphire while the right side held an amethyst and emerald.
Lucretia turned, her hair dancing about her head like a flame in a fireplace while her eyes burned vermillion. “Someone has stolen my silver hazel. I can’t make the potion Tallia needs for the hospital without it; as you well know, Althea.”
“Now, dear, calm down,” Althea said, “I’m sure no one would steal your herbs. Some of our plants have turned up in the oddest places lately. Poor Maeve, as close to the Change as she is; I’m sure she’s simply been misplacing them.”
“But Maeve didn’t plant this, I did,” Lucretia argued, though her curly hair had settled about her shoulders and her eyes cooled to a warm chestnut.
“Let’s look about. I’m sure it will turn up.”
“Is there a problem, Althea?” Calista asked. Lucian hadn’t seen her leave the castle as intent as he was watching Lucretia and Althea. He had half-wanted to show the witches where the silver hazel was. He had replanted it after it had been plucked by one of the other boys. However, that would have meant admitting to having been in their garden and who knew what hot-tempered Lucretia might have done to him. He may have found himself finishing school as a newt.
“No Calista,” she replied, interrupting his thoughts, “we’ve merely misplaced a plant.”
“Let’s go,” Lucian whispered as the conversation continued. “We’re going to be late for our final.”
The boys ran with their dogs to the clearing where hunting was held. Phillipa was there with their horses. There were also several older boys. Lucian and Adrian exchanged glances but said nothing as they gathered with the other boys their age. Soon Diana said, “Gentlemen, today as you are all aware, is the winter final for hunting and horsemanship. These finals are all about teamwork; being a team with your horse as well as being a team with your hound. You will be given two hours to complete the final. You are required to demonstrate silent commands with your hound, flush out a flock of birds as well as catch one land animal. Phillipa will give you her instructions, but before she does, understand that your success now will greatly impact your supper tomorrow.”
Phillipa started speaking before Lucian had long to consider how embarrassing this was going to be. Getting the ground animal shouldn’t be too hard; he had really good aim. Finding a bird would be harder since Rusty was so easily distracted. “Your final,” she said, interrupting his thoughts, “will consist of an obstacle course you’ll have to go through on horseback. First years, we have not yet trained your horses for hunting, so you will need to dismount and then use your signal to call your horse back to you. Second years, I expect you to hunt from the saddle.”
“Your two hours begin now. Good luck,” Diana said.
Lucian pulled Zephyr to a nearby stump, Rusty close at his heels. “Please don’t embarrass me,” he whispered to Rusty before stepping on the stump and mounting his horse. He watched as older boys gave their hounds silent directions and went off into the forest. With a last silent plea for help, Lucian pointed and clicked his tongue. Zephyr took off on a brisk walk and Rusty ambled along beside him instead of going left as directed. This was not going to go well.
An hour into the final, Lucian was one of the few left out in the course. He’d about given up on accomplishing anything for the hunting final. He’d already completed the obstacle course. Zephyr was now waiting by a tree enjoying the last shoots of fall grass. Lucian’s only comfort was that he would at least pass his horsemanship final. Suddenly, Rusty started creeping towards a bush, nose to the ground. He turned and looked at Lucian before beginning to bay. A flock of birds flew into the air and Lucian wasted no time in grabbing his bow and arrows. Soon he had a nice pile set up to take. “Good boy,” he said, patting Rusty’s head. He then scooped up the birds into his hunting bag and followed Rusty through some underbrush leading to a small thicket. Rusty barked and a couple of rabbits leapt from their burrow. It wasn’t long before Lucian had added them to his bag. He tried to call Rusty back by swiping his hand past his leg, but Rusty didn’t come. Lucian sighed and slapped his leg. Rusty immediately came over. He then whistled the three-note sign he’d taught Zephyr. Soon Zephyr was trotting to him. He mounted and was soon back with Phillipa and Diana.
“And you thought you’d fail,” Diana smiled, handing him a slip of paper.
Phillipa took Zephyr’s reins. “Don’t worry about cleanup; I’ll be taking care of that. You did well.”
Lucian simply beamed at them before walking over to Adrian. “Open it and tell me how you did,” Adrian said.
Smiling, Lucian opened the folded paper and read aloud:
Excellent work with Zephyr. You’ve shown great improvement. Continue working on teamwork; at times Zephyr took control. Be firm. Phillipa
Great work with Rusty, continue working silent commands. More practice will help you both. As always, you are an excellent shot. You never missed. I’m very pleased with your progress. Diana
“Well, that’s good; what are your marks?” Adrian asked.
“I don’t know.” He scanned the page and at the bottom found a grading scale and his grades. It read:
Grade Scale
E – exceeds expectations
A – above average
P – proficient
I – improving
F – failing
Grades
Horsemanship
Teamwork with horse I
Riding Ability A
Overall P
Hunting
Silent Commands I
Teamwork with hound A
Ethics E
Bowmanship E
Overall A
“You got an E for bowmanship? That’s
better than Kaelen got. Trust me, he’s been bragging about having bested the rest of us by getting an A. But you beat him!”
“That would be called beginner’s luck,” Kaelen sneered. “Or rather, a mistake. Everyone knows Lucian’s dog is worthless. Lucian probably just waited around for someone else’s dog to be successful and shot their catch.”
“Listen you no-good, arrogant jerk,” Lucian snapped. “I’ll have you know that I’ve been hunting since I was five. Just because you can’t accept that I’m better than you at something is no reason for you to attack my honor. Rusty proved himself today to be just as capable as any dog here. Your attitude is going to cause you to fail. You’ll be just like the no-good coward that failed my mother, a failure.” With that, Lucian swiped his hand past his thigh. Instantly, Rusty was at his side and the two walked toward the castle for fencing.
Several boys watched them leave. “Diana, was that Rusty?” a prince asked.
Diana, though angry that Lucian had left without permission, smiled as she replied, “Yes, Elijah, that was Rusty.” She turned her attention to the two classes and after announcing some recognition for the older boys stated, “The final is over. You may now go to your next class. First years to fencing, second years to language arts. Hunting will continue in the tower as an ethics/theory course until March. We will occasionally work with your hounds as well. Now off you go.”
Following the other boys, Adrian walked back into the castle for fencing. As soon