Rachel rested up all of Sunday as much as one could with all the thoughts tumbling around in her head. Ultimately, she decided to see Reginald again before telling George and James that she was a fairy. After considering what George said his father the duke would do, she felt that she was no longer in danger from Gerais’ governing body, if anything she would need their help in keeping her safe from the mischievous acts of Gerais’ enemy countries while she is a student at Canastra Academy. If there was a chance that she could hide the truth up until graduation, then she would because it would be the safest option for everyone close to her. But she would be a fool to believe that hiding a secret for that long would work and when the secret was revealed it would leave all those she cared about in more danger if they weren’t prepared.

Monday morning, Rachel who was preparing herself to find Reginald while eating breakfast in the eatery found that he had already been looking for her. Nathan who had already been in the eatery since early morning found her and let her know. She was there earlier than usual trying to make extra time to see Reginald. Before Rachel had even finished her food, she took what was easy to carry and headed towards his office. She didn’t really want to go into his office since that was where the men’s lockers were, and it was awkward going in there the last time and it would still be awkward this time. Luckily, he met her in the hallway seemingly predicting that she would show up early today to meet him. She had an hour for whatever discussion they were going to have before her class started, but she feared that he had something lengthy planned.

“Good morning, Rachel,” Reginald said smiling. He never smiled like this and it made Rachel guarded. She instinctively looked behind him for people that might be there to take her away.

“Good morning, Reginald. Why do you look happy?” Rachel asked worriedly.

“Well, the duke is here. He traveled early this morning to see you, well the fairy that appeared suddenly last Friday,” Reginald said.

Rachel’s eyes widened and then closed for a second, as she readied her response, “I have to meet with him, don’t I?”

“Yes.”

“Is George in there right now?” Rachel asked while pointing to the room Reginald was standing just outside of.

“No, he’s still at practice with everyone else.”

“Okay. I want to tell George and James, who I am before anyone else does. Would that be possible?”

“Yes, if you do it before the day ends.”

“Okay, I’ll meet the duke,” Rachel said, shuddering at what might happen in the room.

Reginald opened the door for her, and she walked into a room with a handsomely dressed older gentlemen and five of his knights. Rachel was scared that Reginald had not been telling the truth and she was walking into a room that also contained George and James, but when she realized they were not in the room she relaxed quite a bit.

“Rachel Barlow please meet Duke James Langston.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Rachel said unwavering and with a bow.

“Rachel is a fairy from Tetrades, Duke Langston. She is studying in the Agricultural Arts program,” Reginald said quick and short to not take up any more time than necessary for the duke.

“Rachel, I heard from my fairy Reader that a ceremony was officiated here on Friday when none of my fairies were close enough to the academy to have officiated it. This is how I found out that you existed. I can understand why you would want to hide your identity in a foreign country. But we will have to work together from now on. I may not be the only person who has access to a fairy Reader and thus knows of your existence, so in exchange for protection would you be the academy’s fairy?” Duke Langston spoke with care in hopes of roping in this young fairy to help him record his dukedom’s history and truth.

“Only on two conditions,” Rachel said with determinism. “One when you leave here please don’t tell George who the fairy is, until after the day's end. Two wherever George and James go for tournaments, outings related to the Military Arts, or even to war, I shall be allowed to accompany them there.”

“I accept your terms. But I must say that I am surprised that you are concerned with George. How do you know him?” Duke Langston asked with almost a smile.

“George was the first person to help me out when I was in trouble and he has since then become a great friend. I am indebted to him for all he has done for me. And to that end, I am willing to risk my life in any war that he may participate in to record its outcomes and to make his efforts more meaningful. There is also one more thing I should tell you if you have time,” Rachel said indicating that it was a serious matter.

“Rachel, you are a very strong-willed person. I am most glad that George has made friends with you. Please tell me what else you must say.”

“Although I have yet to research more about this ability, in summary, I can experience what everyone that I have connected with during a ceremony is doing. I have not perfected this technique as it only happened Friday, during my first officiation, but in my limited knowledge, this would have expansive military applications,” Rachel said without much explanation.

Reginald was wondering what Rachel was going to say and he had forgotten all about her ability while focusing on the duke’s visit. But she was right if Rachel could see through each participant in a war, she could tell them what was going on in real-time. This ability could single-handedly win all the wars for Gerais. Rachel was taking a risk letting Duke Langston know about her ability. If he were to tell the king about this himself, she might have to leave the academy or return home.

“I understand. You seemed to have thought about this for a very long time.”

Rachel nodded. She had. She spent all of Sunday thinking everything through.

“Since I have become indebted to your son, I felt that I should be as useful to him as is possible. It would kill me to see him or James die in another unrecorded war. If I can prevent that with my abilities as a fairy, I will. But my loyalty ends with your son. I’ll have to leave if the king wants me elsewhere,” she said as carefully as one could when speaking with someone with power.

“I understand. I have no problem keeping secrets, besides the north can handle themselves fine. They don’t need any of my fairies to protect their people,” Duke Langston said almost with a laugh. “Then if there is nothing else to discuss, we will continue with our discussions and you may go on your way. Rest assured, I’ll talk to George after you have given him notice. Till we meet again, Rachel.”

Rachel bowed to the duke before turning to leave. The duke waved her goodbye and she left alone turning to wave to Reginald before closing the door to the room. Rachel turned to see if anyone else was around. The coast was clear, and she could hear the shouts outside from the Military Arts students working on their routines. As soon as her class was over Rachel was going to have to find a way to contact George and James. It was probably going to be hard considering the huge crowds they tend to draw. After drawing in a large breath to control her heart rate and steel her resolve Rachel walked off to her class mentally prepared for what she had to do.