“So the sword is now with him?” I wanted to know, and she lifted up her shoulders, not knowing the answer to my question.
Sammy took a big sip of her Coke. “I hope it still exists.”
“Exists? You mean he's going to destroy it?” I asked, and she nodded solemnly. I suddenly remembered I knew all of this. Cheng had told me about it during our first History lesson.
“With the sword out of the way, there's no stopping him if he manages to break out of Etan. He'll destroy the wall and Paegeia with it.” George took a couple of gulps from his can, and I noticed his hand was shaking slightly.
My throat tightened as he said the word“destroy” and I struggled to swallow.
“Relax, Elena, they'll find whoever took it,” Becky said and squeezed my arm reassuringly.
I waited for Lucian, wishing he would come back. It felt like hours before he plunged down on the pillow next to me.
He gave me a quick kiss on my temple while wrapping his arms tightly around my shoulders. “They stole it somewhere between midnight and four a.m.yesterday. The Council didn't want to say anything, because they thought they would’ve retrieved it by now. If they don't find it soon,we're going to be in serious shit. They believe that Goran has found a way to break out of Etan, but won’t do it until the sword's destroyed.” He spoke in a trembling voice.
“So what, the Council’s really searching for it?” Becky asked.
“My dad and Arianna's have sent out a small search party.”
“We just have to wait?” I sounded skeptical, just like Becky.
“It's the only thing that we can do, Elena.”
“If they destroy that sword, Lucian─”
“Shhh, don't think like that. It won't happen. Master Longwei is with the Viden now to draw up the groups that will guard the school. We'll have to be on watch for seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day. Not that it will take that long, I hope.”
“Until it's found? Are they crazy?”
“Don't worry, Elena, you won't be alone.”
For some reason that didn't make me feel safe. I wanted a better plan.
“You're safe here, you won't be alone,” he said again as if I didn't hear him the first time.
“Will we be together?”
He shrugged. “We don't know which team we'll be divided into. That decision is left up to the Viden.”
I jumped from my pillow. “They're relying on a woman that sucks everything out of her thumb?” It angered me that everyone thought so highly of what she had to say.
“Calm down, Elena.” Lucian got up too and gave me another hug. “It's going to be fine. I promise nobody will hurt you.”
I sighedI’d never felt so scared in my entire life, and believe me, I had been through some pretty frightening things with Dad, always running away from place to place.
I struggled to fall asleep that night, tossing and turning before finally dozing off around three a.m.
* * *
A dozen or so white sheets were tacked on the announcement board the following morning. Students stormed to the wall in a wave. All the students of Dragonia would be divided into five groups, with two on a team, and about forty teams in a group, if not more. Lucian's explanation was thorough. There had to be guards at all the main entry points of Dragonia, as well as around the school. It sounded scary thinking that we had to watch for any kind of danger. This wasn't really my cup of tea. With my luck, I would end up with someone like Tabitha, who would flee at every sound.
One girl glared at me as she stormed off in the direction of the main building. I didn't pay attention to her until a couple of other girls did the same. Some even started to point in my direction. For the love of blueberries, what now?
I was about to ask Lucian if I was imagining things, but he saw it already.
“What's going on?”
“I don't know. I'll go find out,” he said, and ran to the wall. He came back after fifteen minutes.
“Sammy, you're with Dean and in Lionel's group,” he said.
She pulled her mouth in a snarl and started to complain about being in Lionel's group.
“Becky, you and George are in mine.” He didn't say anything about me.
“I'm not in yours!” I asked.
“Calm down. You'll be fine. You're in Blake's group.”
“With who, Lucian?”
He looked away.
“Lucian, with who?”
“You're with Blake.”
We were all speechless for a couple of seconds as we digested this new information.
“She's with Blake?” Becky asked skeptically.
“I can't be with him in a group!”
“Elena, it's not going to help to protest. The Viden makes the decisions. You're wasting your time if you think Master Longwei is going to listen to you.”