Rachel was surprised at how quaint the house was when they made it inside. It was only two stories and was about the size of the eatery at the academy. The interior of the house looked well used but not recently used and the walls were covered in maroon wallpaper with a floral pearl damask pattern. Everything was lit gently by candlelight. George, James, and Rachel were guided by a butler to the dining room where a large table with a red tablecloth was barely visible underneath the multitude of dishes eloquently scattered across the table. The duke was sitting furthest from the entrance to the dining room. He hid his happiness from seeing his son again and motioned for them to take a seat. George took the seat across from his father, James the seat to George’s right hand, and Rachel the seat next to James. The knights were seated three to the right of the duke and two to his left.

The duke began eating as soon as everyone had taken their seat, and everyone else followed suit. Rachel was too anxious to eat but took a few bites of everything to keep busy. Once everyone had eaten some the duke began the awaited conversation.

“How is the food Rachel? Is it good?”

“Yes, it is good,” Rachel replied, glad she didn’t have to try to eat anymore.

“Rachel, could you tell me the reason why you are at the academy again?”

“My mother sent me here. It is supposed to be custom that the well-known fairies of Tetrades send their children off to other countries to officiate their first ceremonies there. And that is why I am here, I think. I have yet to receive a letter from my mother since coming here so I hope to be able to confirm this. I have realized that this seems confusing, especially if a well-known family were to send their child to a country that could be dangerous. But I have no other explanation for why my family would send me here.”

“That would be fine for you to do, please let me know if you find out anything different.”

“Yes, Duke Langston.”

“George, James has Rachel told you, what I know?”

“Yes, father,” George replied with little emotion.

“We have discussed it before your arrival and have decided to have her tag along with you and James. Therefore, you must make sure if she misses any meeting that you are to search for her and if she does go missing you inform me as soon as possible. Do you understand?”

“Yes, father.”

“We will be at the academy tomorrow morning with the principal to announce that you are a fairy. If you would like you can sleep here and arrive with us tomorrow. I can also have something prepared for you to wear.”

“I think I’ll have to take you up on that offer, as I don’t have another set of clothes with me. And being escorted this late by George and James would stir up rumors.”

“Good, now do you have any questions for me?”

“Yes, could you ask or have your Reader determine if there are or were fairies that can see the information from events they officiate? I would ask my mother in a letter but sending a letter with this information doesn’t seem safe and I don’t know if I trust her yet.”

“Yes, when I return, I’ll do that.”

“Thank you. George or James do you have any questions?” Rachel asked. James shook his head no with a fork still in his mouth.

“Yes, I do. Will we be able to move Rachel to a suite near ours at the academy? She’ll start drawing attention.”

“Yes, that is a good idea, George.”

“Does this mean someone will have to watch me at all times?” Rachel asked.

“Not, during class and lunch, but we’ll have to get Nathan and Tina to help out if you do go missing during those times. And you will have to either watch our practices or be escorted to your room from class, till dinner.”

“That sounds alright with me. Also, I don’t know about the dukedom, but if I am going to control the information during an officiation, I’ll need more practice, so if there are small events that you need to be officiated, like a birthday, or a funeral that George and James are also going to attend let me know. During these events, I would like to know what is recorded down. Because it could be that I influence what the magic records, by either causing it to focus on what I focus on thereby ignoring everything else, or it omits what I focus on leaving everything else.”

“About that last part, when I realized that another fairy, you, had officiated the tournament on Friday, the Reader noticed that the record was different from the usual tournaments. It had more information. I am assuming you don’t know but records are very vague. They don’t carry much information except things like the time and day of the event and outcome, who participated. But this record had the emotions of the participants, and information about what George was experiencing.”

Rachel went a little white realizing what the duke had read.

“Did your Reader read all the records?”

“He did, I found some interesting information,” the duke said trying to hide his smile.

“Okay, yes, I couldn’t control the information, but was able to attach myself to George. He was the calmest of the tournament participants and I knew him. And while officiating the tournament, I experienced everything from George’s point of view and that must have been what your Reader found.”

Rachel glanced at George who was a little astonished but was able to smile back. She knew he didn’t realize yet, what he had told James about liking her during the tournament. Knowing how intelligent George and James were one or both of them were going to realize it. She hoped that it wouldn’t cause any issues. Personally, with her life becoming more and more complicated she felt it wouldn’t be proper to entertain a relationship with George. But he had a special place in her heart from returning her missing book to getting her through the crowd and sticking with her as a fairy. When Rachel’s eyes returned to the duke, she knew he knew about the exchange, but it seemed like the duke was hard-set on letting George manage his affairs without any interference.

“I don’t have much to add, so if you are all done with dinner, the butler will show you to your rooms, and Rachel we’ll bring up the clothes for you to try.”

“Thank you, for having us Duke Langston,” Rachel replied before leaving with George and James.

Their rooms were all next to each other. Rachel set her purse down in her room and walked over to George’s room. It was still too early to go to sleep and she wanted to clear somethings with him. She knocked on his door and he opened it and upon seeing her let her in.

“Do you need something?”

“I need to tell you something. About the tournament. Something that I heard you tell James when I was focused on you while officiating.”

That jogged George’s memory. He was a bit embarrassed, but not upset about it.

“Oh, I see, so you know that I like you.”

“Yes, I tried to pretend that I didn’t hear you say it, but since it seems that it was recorded, I thought you should know that your father knows. I’m sorry. Should I have told you sooner?”

“No, it’s fine. I just want you to know that you being a fairy hasn’t changed how I feel.”

“I understand. I think under other circumstances we could see each other, but as it is I don’t even know for sure why my family sent me here and if they’ll force me to go back. For now, let’s just get to know one another better,” Rachel said softly smiling at George. He nodded his head in agreement. He didn’t quite smile, but something told Rachel that he wasn’t going to give up.

“I’ll go back to my room. Sorry to disturb you and I’ll see you in the morning. Good night,” Rachel said.

“Good night, Rachel,” George said boldly.

Rachel returned to her room finding three dresses that the butler or a maid seemed to have laid out on her bed. They were all beautifully adorned with intricate lace and unfortunately bright in color. Rachel, of course out of the yellow, orange, and blue-green dresses, chose the blue-green one, as it was the darkest. She tried it on and took it off as soon as she noticed it fit well. After freshening up in the bathroom, Rachel was amazed at how easily she found herself falling asleep. These days it was rare for her to return to her room with energy left.