The Unclaimed (University of the Gods Trilogy Book 1) (3 page)

Cassandra felt like there was more to that story but Pandora interrupted them by asking why the ceremony wouldn’t start now that everyone was here. Cassandra estimated that there were now about fifty Unclaimed in the room and about ten times as many Claimed.

“Should have started by now”, Charlie said and as if on cue, the teachers started filing in and conversation was halted for a while.

The first teacher to come in was Florence Nightingale, the famous nurse, who was in charge of teaching healing, herbology and potions. Summer whispered that she would study with her and Cassandra thought that this somehow fit perfectly. Next in were William Shakespeare and Jane Austen who headed the department of history, languages and literature. Both were rumored to be direct descendants of the Muses; some even said they were Muses themselves.

William Shakespeare was dressed in red tights and a white long sleeved shirt with a ridiculously high collar that went up to his ears and framed a smallish, chinless face that was barely covered by a lovingly tended goatee. His small eyes looked around with conceited pride and he made a series of complicated movements that in the end turned out to be a bow and then pranced on to the seat next to Ms. Nightingale who was looking at him with barely disguised displeasure.

Jane Austen, a middle-aged spinster who was wearing a white dress with small flowers on it that was a little too youthful for her and bound up tightly above her waist, was holding on to a small leather book as if it could save her. But then she gave such a warm smile that Cassandra felt herself automatically smile back. Jane Austen then curtsied quickly, rushed to William Shakespeare’s side and hid her face behind the book.

“Jane Austen”, Pandora whispered in awe. “She’s so cool.”

Then she actually got up and cheered. But Pandora’s outburst was nothing compared to the little boy’s excitement when he saw a wiry old man come on stage who was wearing some kind of a toga and who eventually took to the podium and started to fumble around with the microphone.

Cassandra, pretending to be confused, asked who the old man was and Jim looked at her like she was quite possibly on the verge of being dangerously stupid.

“And how exactly did you manage to get admitted to this university?” he asked incredulously. “That’s Icarus, of course, master of the sciences and quite possibly the only one between heaven and earth who might be more intelligent than I am.”

Cassandra watched the old man who was still trying to get the microphone to work with a raised eyebrow.

“Wasn’t he the one who flew too close to the sun?” she asked but then fell silent when her teachers came in and she suddenly felt a wave of excitement wash over her as well.

First in was Hippolyta, the epic Amazon warrior queen who looked regal and battle-worn at the same time and with her came Ajax the Great, a bulk of a man, made of pure muscles and with a dangerous intelligence gleaming in his eyes. Behind them came Ariadne, a slightly greyish person who held herself very straight. They all stood waving for a moment before they sat down. Behind them, several other, not quite so famous members of the university staff came in and the only one missing now was the dean of the university. Cassandra stretched herself as far as decency allowed but he was nowhere to be seen.

Now the teachers’ seats were all filled and they could be seen chatting and starting in on the wine and refreshments. The whole right side of the podium was still empty but when Cassandra asked Charlie who else would come up on stage with the teachers, Charlie shrugged, telling her that he didn’t have the faintest idea.

Remembering her vision of getting hurt, Cassandra took a look around for the guys that would match the description of the ones she had seen smashing her into a wall and decided that it would probably be one of the sons of Hephaestus. They were big and strong, each one of them, but why they should attack her in the first place was still beyond her. But she would find out soon enough. Even if she left that minute and decided to hide in her room, it would be no good. Her visions had a way of coming true no matter what she did.

Just when the old man in the toga started to blow on the microphone and was about to say something, the door at the entrance opened again and a procession of seven Claimed marched in. They were striding through the center aisle, ignoring the commotion they caused.

Leading the group was a tall, slender beauty. Her long blond hair flowed down her perfectly arched back in one elegant cascade and her white and gold dress clung tightly to her flawless body. Right behind her were two boys that towered over her and diminished the rest of the room. One was wrapped in a bear hide and carrying a hammer in his right hand, the other had a wolf hide over his shoulder and was carrying a golden spear. When the second one turned to sneer at the crowd, Summer made a kind of choking noise but Cassandra was too busy watching what was going on in front of her to check on her.

There were four more Claimed walking behind them. One was almost as beautiful as the girl in front and she was walking hand in hand with a boy who looked like his hair was ablaze. Beside them was a boy who looked like his feet weren’t quite touching the ground and there was a slight, greyish girl trailing behind them who looked at first like she didn’t quite belong.

They stopped in front of the stage as if waiting for something to happen. Icarus, who didn’t seem to know what to do, kept shooting glances at the side door beside the stage as if hoping that someone might magically appear and help him through his predicament, but no one did.

The girl at the front finally put him out of his misery by curtseying slightly without lowering her eyes and then simply going up on stage. The girl waited until everyone was seated around her and then took a survey of the room. Cassandra wondered why they had left an empty space to her right but she couldn’t finish the thought because she suddenly felt a wave of pure rage directed towards them. It was over in a moment, but Cassandra had the distinct feeling that this had something to do with the glittery object in Pandora’s room. However, Pandora was too preoccupied with Summer who was quite clearly having a panic attack.

“We need to get her out”, Cassandra said when she saw Summer’s pale and sweaty face and Charlie, who had been staring at the Claimed, quickly recovered and instead of answering, swiftly took Summer’s other arm and helped Cassandra lead the girl towards the back. By the time they got her out, Summer was breathing in short, hacked breaths and was clinging desperately at Charlie’s arm.

They found a bathroom. It was every bit as opulent as the rest of the palace with its marble sinks, golden spouts, the snow white towels, the vials full of nice smelling liquids and soaps, the powder in little bowls and the big golden mirrors on the wall. Cassandra dragged Summer to a sink and let cold water run over her hands.

“Breathe, Summer”, she said soothingly. “Just breathe. In and out. No one is here to hurt you. We are your friends, ok? Just concentrate on my voice and you’ll be fine.”

Summer still had a look of utter panic in her eyes so Cassandra continued to stroke her back and talk to her in a low gentle murmur. Eventually Summer’s breathing returned to normal and some color returned to her cheeks. Pandora, who had been standing beside them the whole time, offered to take her home so that Charlie and Cassandra could quietly return to their seats.

It seemed they hadn’t missed much. Icarus was in the middle of giving a speech about the long, fascinating history of the university which would have sent most students into a kind of stupor but there was still whispering and pointing towards the row of Claimed that had taken the stage just when Charlie and her had left the room with the others. Apparently, no one knew who they were, not even Icarus.

“There are two of them now”, Charlie whispered and Cassandra nodded.

The girl with the ice-cold eyes had been joined by a boy that looked almost exactly like her.

“They’re twins”, Cassandra said and found she had a hard time not staring at the boy.

He had a perfect face with finely chiseled features, pronounced cheekbones, a strong nose and beautiful wavy blond hair. Unlike his sister, he had warm, turquoise eyes that seemed to burn directly into your soul. She found herself wishing to touch his face to see whether he was real.

“Now you know how we feel when she looks at us”, Charlie murmured and patted her hand.

But Cassandra had already redirected her gaze to the boy standing behind him like he was protecting the beautiful golden boy. The boy she had met at the top of the stairs wasn’t wearing his silver sword any more but Cassandra guessed that he would still be able to defend himself well enough without it. She also realized that he was taller than he had first looked. She was appraising the strength of his muscles, the way he held himself and found herself wondering whether she would stand a chance against him. She guessed she would find out soon. He looked like he had enrolled for pretty much the same classes she had.

As if he felt her stare, he did a quick sweep of the room and when their eyes met once again, he frowned. This time his gaze lingered a millisecond longer on her, then he concentrated on something else. Cassandra felt anger rise in her but what had she expected? That he would recognize her strength across the room? Challenge her now of all times? That was ridiculous and she knew it. Still, his fast dismissal stung.

Finally there seemed to be an end to Icarus’s history lesson and when he said “Thank you for your time”, he was greeted by polite applause. He pressed his thin lips together, then asked the dean to take the stage. The dean, it turned out, was the jolly old guy drinking wine and nodding off beside the other teachers. Cassandra felt disappointed. Somehow she had imagined him to be, well, more impressive. The dean needed a nudge from Hippolyta and a little help from Ajax before he could stand up and get to the microphone. He still managed to stumble over his long black robe on his way there and swayed a bit, looking lost until Icarus coughed audibly and the dean seemed to remember where he was. He belched loudly, broke into a hacking cough before he straightened himself and suddenly said “Welcome!” in a booming voice that seemed to fill the whole room. In an instant, everybody was awake again, listening.

“Welcome”, he said again and then bowed to the row beside him. “Welcome Alexander, son of Zeus. Welcome Arissa, daughter of Zeus.”

Cassandra gripped her chair in surprise while everyone else in the room was frozen with shock at the revelation.

“I thought there were no more of them”, Cassandra murmured at Charlie and Charlie, who looked like he had seen a ghost, shook his head.

“It’s impossible”, he said but apparently it was not.

The boy called Alexander inclined his head and smiled towards them while his sister simply gave a short, derisive nod.

“The gods have really blessed us this year”, the dean continued, still waiting for people in the room to realize what he had just said. “We also welcome Beatrix, daughter of Aphrodite, who really does her mother credit.”

The beautiful girl giggled and waved and her boyfriend looked at her admiringly.

“Sol, burning as bright as his father Apollo, please try not to incinerate the palace with your hair”, the dean said and Sol ruffled his hair but was good-natured enough to laugh along with the rest. “Wolf, son of Ares and Bear, son of Hephaestus – be welcome, too. And if you were wondering – those really are their names.”

His laugh came deep from his belly and resonated through the room.

“And of course we have River, son of Poseidon, and sweet Mia, daughter of Hestia, who we welcome with all our heart”, he continued and bowed to the boy who had seemed to float on air and the mousy girl who blushed so bright red, you could see it all the way in the last row. “And last but not least we welcome Ben. Son of Hades.”

Finally, the reality of his words hit home. Quietly at first but then continuing to grow in volume, the crowd began to clap, then to cheer and finally to stand up and go crazy. Cassandra, who felt it hard to believe that there were true demigods among them, remained seated along with the other Unclaimed who apparently saw no reason for joy in that revelation either.

The dean held up his hands and after some time the room quieted down enough for him to continue speaking.

“My name is Heracles, as you well know”, the big man at the podium boomed and suddenly looked much younger and stronger and it wasn’t so hard to imagine that he had once been a fearless fighter and had been called the greatest hero of all time.

He opened his arms as if he wanted to take them all in.

“But I want to welcome all of you here, new arrivals as well as those who have been here before”, he continued and placed his right hand on his heart. “This is our university. We are all here to learn.”

Cheers again and Heracles, smiling, waited until the room had quieted down.

“Serve and Protect”, he said and seemed to look at everyone in the room individually. “That is our motto and you should attempt to live up to it, every minute of every day. You were chosen to come here. All of you have special talents. Some of you will be healers, some of you scholars looking into the secrets of the universe. Some of you will be craftsmen and scientists working on the mightiest weapons. But most of you will be trained to become Protectors.”

A loud cheer rose up again.

“Once you are finished with your training, we will send you out into the world. And you will protect and serve humankind. Because that is why we are here on this earth. This is our destiny.”