Extrait

Chapter 3

The chancellor escorted me to a room in the western building called ‘the bunker,’ where transfer students stayed before they were assigned to a room in the residential wing. The room was clean and sparsely furnished with a bed and a nightstand. It was much better than an alleyway.

"Sleep, child," the chancellor said. "You’ll be safe here. We shall provide more suitable accommodation tomorrow." The door closed behind her with a gentle click.

I stretched out on the bed and stared at the ceiling for the next two hours, my mind whirring. I’d left all my belongings behind. Even my toothbrush. Although I didn’t own much, it was still unsettling to leave behind everything I owned in the world. It would take more than a pair of blue sneakers to make me comfortable here.

When I finally succumbed to sleep, I dreamed of feathers falling from the sky. I didn't know whether they belonged to Icarus or the chancellor's cloak. They drifted to earth like snowflakes, soft and beautiful. I stood on the ground below and watched them dance in the air around me.

The next morning, a knock on the door woke me abruptly. "You awake in there?" an unfamiliar voice shouted.

I bolted upright. "Who's asking?"

"Are you decent? The chancellor says you have no nightclothes, so you either slept in the buff or in the clothes you arrived in. Before I open this door, I’d like to know which it is.”

I stared at the closed door. "I don't sleep naked."

“Good.” The door opened to reveal a stout woman with rosy cheeks. "Nothing wrong with sleeping in the buff, mind you. It's our natural state, after all. I only wanted fair warning.” She examined me closely. "My name’s Hazel Hazeldine,” she said. “I’m Chancellor Tilkin’s secretary. Her right hand, if you fancy those sorts of metaphors. She sent me to fetch you for breakfast."

"Hazel Hazeldine?" I repeated. Who would do that to a child?