"Really?" Lady Zula gasped. "How?" Ms. Boswell smirked so hard Ariana was sure that her face was going to cramp up. "This cow wanted to s.h.a.g my man by using her young face, nice baps and fancy words." Ms. Boswell hissed as she bared her fangs, eyes sparkling with complete victory. "Who is your man?" Lady Zula asked politely. "Gregory Drake!" Ms. Boswell exclaimed with pride as she straightened her back and puffed out her chest. "The bloke even proposed to me last night, gobsmacked me to the moon and back with his romantic gesture." Ms. Boswell announced as she brought up her left hand and angled it in a way so that Lady Zula and Ariana could see the ma.s.sive rock on her left ring finger. She gave it a gentle sway as if taughting Ariana as a stupid grin spread across Ms. Boswell"s face. Ariana"s jaw dropped to the floor as she eyed the princess cut diamond on a modest gold band. While Lady Zula looked at Ms. Boswell as if she was the dirt in between her toes then turned to Ariana. "Sweetie, we will need to talk to your daddy about his crude jokes. They"re starting to get lame." Lady Zula said just loud enough so that the people in the library could jump to their own conclusions. Ms. Boswell froze in place as she looked at the woman who spoke. Ariana closed her mouth then gave a beaming smile at Lady Zula. "Yes mother!" Ariana proclaimed with so much love and affection that her heart ache practically flew away with her words. "M-M-M-Miss Drake?" Ms. Boswell stuttered as she paled a ghostly white.
"Yes?" Lady Zula asked as she tilted her head to the right, eyes sparkling with innocence as she batted her lashes. "I-I-I-I-I-I." Ms. Boswell continued to stutter as she tried to put her hand back down. Lady Zula held out her own hand and looked at Ms. Boswell with a cheerful smile. "Can I please have my family"s property back?" Lady Zula asked as sweetly as humanly possible. Ms. Boswell shrank back instantly. "I-I-I-I-I lied... steams, I enchanted,... to look, ring." Ms. Boswell admitted in an incomplete sentence as she pulled the fancy ring off her ring finger. In a flash, it changed into a twisted a simple flower ring, using the steam of the flower as the band.
"Hmm. I will be sending you an invoice for the mental stress you caused me, then one for my daughter and then I will speak with Mr. Drake. If he says he"s suffered because of your inconsiderate actions, well I can"t guarantee what may happen." Lady Zula said courtly before she started walking away. Ms. Boswell practically fainted and Ariana had to hold in her laughter as she chased after her mother. "There"s something you"re not telling me?" Ariana sang in a gentle voice as she stepped beside her mother."Of course! That"s why I brought you here." Lady Zula admitted as she walked further to the back of the library.
"What are we doing here?" Ariana asked as she watched her mother grab a royal purple book from the bookshelf. It had fancy, golden numbers indicating a specific time frame. "You deserve an explanation." Lady Zula said gently as she cradled the book in her left arm. Ariana quietly followed her mother to a table in a corner. Lady Zula placed the book gingerly on to the table and then pulled out a chair before sitting herself down. Lady Zula stared out into the room and waited. "Mom?" Ariana called out with a concerned tone. Lady Zula sighed as she cradled her head on her left hand while her elbow was on the table.
"Your father is late." Lady Zula said with an overly dramatic pout. Ariana paled as her hair stood on end. "I thought that was a joke I made up!" Ariana whispered as loudly as she dared. Lady Zula gave Ariana a smirk as her eyes flashed with mischief. "It"s a good joke." Lady Zula replied. "Then why are we waiting for him?" Ariana asked as the colour started to creep back to her cheeks. "He"s supposed to bring medicine for your cheeks." Lady Zula replied with a flat "duh" tone. "Wait, why would he be doing that?" Ariana asked as she leaned in closer to her mother. "Did you ever question his att.i.tude towards you? I mean, you are a smart girl you should have seen some sort of discrepancies?" Lady Zula asked with a small chuckle.
"No. Not really." Ariana replied with a small head shake "Gregory hates me and openly shows it." Ariana continued as she moved back into her seat. "Really? Not one little thing that made you doubt his feelings towards you?" Lady Zula asked as she raised a delicate eyebrow. Ariana furrowed her brows close together as she seriously thought about Gregory"s att.i.tude towards her. Gregory was a brute, he openly hated her and she couldn"t see anything good about him... But then again. Ariana"s jaw dropped. "N-o-o-o!" Ariana said as she exhaled air from her lungs, completely shocked. "Oh so he did. I thought he would be a little bit more discrete with his actions." Lady Zula stated bluntly before she let a sigh escape her lips. All of a sudden Ariana started to reflect on every little action Gregory had done, nothing was making sense. He hated her but took care of her. He said mean things but his actions were kind. What was going on?
"He"s taking too long." Lady Zula said as she pursed her lips. "Um, if he"s looking for Mrs. Dabney from the infirmary... He won"t find her easily. Davita." Ariana said and a stream of green light swirled from her green earring and Davita materialized in front of Ariana and Lady Zula. "Yes?" Davita asked as she blinked her black, beady eyes. "Can you find Gregory and let him know that the Dabney"s had their baby this morning and that Roselyn won"t be able to help." Ariana said before Davita rushed out from the library.
"Well since your father is useless let"s start with a little story." Lady Zula said as she pushed the book towards Ariana. In the center of the book was the Academy"s emblem in gold. Underneath was the same chunk of years that was on the spine of the book. Ariana cracked open the book cautiously as her mother watched her with smiling eyes. "Oh wow! It"s a year book." Ariana exclaimed as she saw the first couple of pages filled with students walking up the winding path.