The art competition was back inside the castle in a large, blue-marble room off to the side. The very first person Rose saw inside was Havi, and of course, she headed straight over to her princess.
Havi stood beside the most impressive sculpture Rose had ever seen in her entire life. It was the same sculpture she had seen slowly being worked on in Professor Nigel's classroom for the past year—and it was moved elsewhere a little over a month ago as it neared the end.
A stampede of life-sized horses of varying kinds were carved in a shiny black stone. The details and care put into it were so lifelike that if Rose didn't know any better, she would accuse the artist of turning actual horses into stone. What really set it apart, however, were the colors that rippled across them when a drop of—of some kind of liquid fell from a rainbow bubble above them.
Unable to resist examining it further, Rose approached the sculpture and asked Havi, "What are those things falling on them? Is that supposed to happen?"
Havi smiled warmly at Rose. "It's bubbled magic. The stone is called obsaydee, and it lights up in different colors when magic comes in direct contact with it."
"Wow. It's so pretty."
"Thank you."
Rose turned her head sharply to look at Havi in surprise. "Did you make this?"
"I did," Havi said proudly, turning her nose up and flipping her hair over her shoulder. "I based them off of my own horses."
"You have horses?"
"Yes. I like to do shows over the summer," Havi answered. "All my horses are excellent."
"Wow," Rose breathed out. "So what are their names?"
Havi pointed to the one on the far right. It was a good bit shorter than the other ones with a barrel-like body. "That's Murrmurr, he's very quiet. Hardly makes a noise, really." Then pointed to the one next to him, a massive one with long hair. "That's Ole, and the one next to him is Dae," she gestured towards a mirror image one. "And then we have Marsh, and finally, Mellow."
"They really look impressive," Rose said, genuinely meaning it. "I've been watching your work in Professor Nigel's class all year. I really thought it was the most impressive thing there."
Havi patted the top of Rose's head affectionately. "You're sweet to say that. If you want to visit me over the summer, I'll properly introduce you. You'll have to be gentle around them, though, since they're blind."
"All of them?"
"Oh yes. My family collects blind horses. Humans don't typically want a blind horse, so they're always happy to give them away to us. These five were born blind, but my mother has a lot of horses who became blind."
"Why do you—why do you collect blind horses?" Rose inquired, genuinely surprised. "I would have thought they'd be harder to work with."
"Because I live in Under Rome," Havi said, as if that explained everything. "They wouldn't be able to see anyway, might as well be blind.��
"Oh," came Rose, wondering what kind of place Under Rome was. Havi insisted they all admired the other artworks, and their small group continued along.
The next thing the quartet saw was a massive oil painting that towered above them. Looking at the picture immediately filled Rose with a sense of wonder and fantasy. A breathtakingly gorgeous crystal castle floated above wispy clouds and reflected the light of a colorful sunset. The way the colors bounced off one another and the overall sheer beauty of the piece captivated the young dragon.
How can anyone paint like that? She thought in disbelief.
Of course, that wasn't the only oil painting.
Beside it was another one made by a different student portraying a completely epic battle between an assortment of creatures Rose didn't recognize—she assumed they were Neheburs, though—and for split second, it would almost seem like it was moving.
The two artists were talking quietly to one another. One of them being an older Chasm kingmate—he drew the castle—and the other being a young Chasm kingmate—she drew the battleground.
Rose wanted to stop and admire the paintings, but Chester guided them over toward his queen: Maysa Nol June.
The only thing Rose saw beside her was a glass bubble filled with moving light, and a drawn green circle on the ground around her.
However, as soon as the quartet crossed over the threshold of the circle, magical music filled their ears. An orchestra of harmonious music sang to them with such tender sweetness that Rose instantly knew no human could ever have created such music. It was beyond words, a truly indescribable experience to listen to.
Maysa gave them a tight smile, pale blue eyes looking them over. She flipped her long, straight white hair over her shoulder and said, "It's about time you showed up to support your queen, Chester."
"I was showing them the clubs," Chester defended.
"Mm-hmm. Well?"
"It's very pleasant," Chester praised her.
"It's really beautiful," Rose said, entirely meaning it. She still preferred Havi's sculpture to the music, but she could privately admit it was likely due to her own fondness for Havi. "How did you make this?"
"Music comes naturally to skavians," Maysa dismissed. "Well, except thunderbirds. They always believe the louder the better."
"Skavian?" Rose repeated.
"Yes, like Elder Maylanna," Maysa said with a sniff, holding her head high. "Skavians are what you might call weather birds. Each of us have a certain affinity for some kind of weather. I'm a blizzard and gale, also like Elder Maylanna."
"You can make blizzards?" Rose asked excitedly, wondering what it would be like to fly in a blizzard.
"Easily," Maysa said with a smirk.
"Do you wanna come flying with us?" Rose offered. "Lanna makes the best thunderstorms."
"She certainly makes loud ones," Maysa responded. "You've only experienced her storms, I take it?"
At Rose's nod, Maysa tutted. "That will have to be remedied. I suppose I'll have to join you on your next outing."
Chester bit his cheek. "You sure that's a good idea, Maysa? Lanna might try to sit on you again."
"Let her try, I was invited."
Suddenly getting the feeling that she shouldn't have done so, Rose hesitantly asked, "D-do you and Lanna not get along?"
"We're cousins, so we get along fine," Maysa snapped just as Chester said, "They bicker like sisters."
"We do not bicker," Maysa immediately disagreed, folding her arms over her chest and glaring at her kingmate. The pale-skinned girl was flushed with annoyance.
Chester ignored her scowl and turned to Rose to say, "They're the only skavians this generation, so they get a little competitive sometimes, but they mean well. I guess a couple years ago, they both tried to out-storm one another, though, and it made for an interesting spring."
"We don't compete," Maysa insisted. "We were merely demonstrating our impressive abilities."
"W-well then, I hope to see your, um, impressive blizzard some time," Rose settled on, sensing Maysa's growing irritation. She reflexively brushed down her skirt from her anxious fidgeting.
Maysa flipped her hair again. "I'll make sure you do. Head along, little children. Make sure you don't just stuff your face with junk food."
The quartet exited the circle, the music vanishing as they did so. They wandered around the art exhibition a little longer—there were eleven students participating in all—and admired the truly wonderful creations. As they were leaving, Professor Yūei kindly asked them to vote on which one was their favorite.
Unlike the other three tournaments, there were two winners for Maylanna's. One who would receive the actual award by the judges, and the other a "fan favorite."
Rose loyally chose Havi, with Keinan and Chester choosing Maysa. Mortem didn't say who he voted for.
After shuffling back outside, Rose asked, "Where to next?"
"Thatcher's tournament doesn't happen until dark," Chester said. "So we have at least another four hours. My brother said students normally hang out with clubs they want to join next year during this time. Wanna do that?"
Rose scratched her cheek as she thought about it. "Um, well then… actually, I think I'd like to talk to Doctor Basileus about starting a potion club, or something."
"Want us to go with you?" Keinan offered.
"I think I'll be okay. You guys should check out the arcanist club, that's what you wanna join, right?"
Both boys nodded at that and the friends parted ways. Mortem didn't mention where he was going, though, simply walking off. Rose headed back inside the castle, making her way to Doctor Basileus's office at a lackadaisical pace.
The castle really had brightened up considerably during the festival. Life bloomed inside Gardenia once again, filling the castle with its vibrant colors. It was a great relief to the young dragon, and she hoped things would finally settle down now that everyone seemed to be in such a good mood.
Doctor Basileus was in his office, at his desk, and waving his magic into something Rose couldn't identify. Mists of gold rolled off his hands as he gracefully plucked at strands of magic in the air and twisted them into some kind of stick.
Rose stood at the door of the office, transfixed at the pretty display. He must have smelled her, though, since he turned his head back to grin at her.
"Afternoon, Miss Rose. How may I help you?"
"Um, Doctor Basileus?"
"Yes, Miss Rose?"
"Do you—I mean—um…" Rose shifted nervously, scratching her right cheek. "How did you become a potions master?"
"I trained under Elder Sylvania for two and a half centuries," Doctor Basileus answered promptly. "After graduating, I worked alongside her as a colleague for over a thousand years."
"T-two and a half centuries?" Rose repeated, her voice cracking. That was—that was more than twenty times longer than she'd ever been alive.
But dragons lived for thousands of years. What's a couple of centuries matter? But wait—if dragons lived for thousands of years, then how long was Rose going to live? A thousand years was a lot of time.
Do dragons get wrinkles?
Rose licked her lips. "Do you—I mean—Doctor Basileus, I want to be a potions master."
Doctor Basileus turned to face Rose fully. His golden eyes gleamed with warmth and he smiled slowly at her. "Miss Rose, are you asking what I think you're asking?"
"M-maybe?"
"Mn. Are you wanting to be my apprentice? I won't go easy on you, cute little dragon purr or not."
Rose let out a giggle at that. Her dragon purr was pretty cute. "I'd like to be your apprentice."
"Then welcome to the very exclusive, grueling, and downright occasionally cruel potions club," Doctor Basileus said with a jovial tone. "White and Green magic are the most essential parts of a potions master, but your White Magic will be impossible to reach as long as your magic is still suppressed. For the first few decades, we'll focus on your Green, but I expect you to keep your Blue and Red up to snuff."
Doctor Basileus waved his hand towards his bookshelf, and gold mist grabbed at one of the larger tomes. It floated over towards Rose. "You'll need to have this memorized. The sooner you have that taken care of, the better."
The worn tome was heavy and bigger than Rose's entire upper body. She struggled to hold it. "H-how long is this thing?"
"Five thousand, three hundred, and twenty-two pages," Doctor Basileus responded eloquently. "It's written in multiple languages—almost all dead by now—so you'll need get yourself a pair of lingual-glasses."
Rose wheezed. "F-five… thousand…"
Doctor Basileus's smile stretched. "Yep. I had it memorized within a year. I'm curious how you'll fair."
Ah. That's… that's a challenge. Do I accept?
Rose didn't even hesitate.
"I'll have it memorized by this time next year," Rose declared, raising her chin.
"That's the spirit! So, how about we pick up where we left off last time?"
...🌹...
"Oh dear," Doctor Basileus said with a sigh, looking out the window.
Rose followed his gaze and to her utter surprise, she found that the moon was fairly high up in the sky. A quick glance at the old-fashioned clock on his desk told her it was well past ten o'clock.
"I'm afraid I've kept you too long, Miss Rose. You've missed Elder Thatcher's tournament."
Rose only felt mild disappointment, as she had honestly been having too much fun brewing potions. She didn't even notice how much time had flown by, or that she skipped dinner.
Doctor Basileus rubbed his chin. "The feast will almost be over by now, I bet. Are you okay to have dinner here, Miss Rose?"
"I'd love to," Rose said enthusiastically. "I had a lot of fun."
Doctor Basileus smiled at her and reached over to rub the top of her head. "It was delightful to have such a competent assistant."
Rose gasped, looking up at Doctor Basileus with utter delight. "Really?!"
"Of course. It's not every day I see someone so enthusiastic about potions," Doctor Basileus said easily. "But it is a long and difficult thing to learn. Are you prepared to dedicate so much time to it?"
"Yes!" Rose insisted excitedly.
The charming doctor chuckled. "Keep up that enthusiasm, Miss Rose. You may very well lose it when I give you your first lesson. Mortem insists I can be a, ah, bully."
"He thinks everyone is that," Rose wisely pointed out.
"Very true," he agreed amicably.