I was staring up at the ceiling and listening to my Metallica record. I was already in uniform and stalling. I didn't want to go to the council meeting. It would be my first time seeing any of them since Mom's visit and I didn't want to go. Not that I ever really wanted to go to any of these meetings but still. This time was different.

I closed my eyes and counted to five slowly. The song ended and I sat up slowly. Time to face different music.

I stepped outside the door to quiet. Suspicious. But hopefully it just meant the others had things to do outside of the Tower. Celica was at Chaser practice, but I had no idea what the others were doing.

As long as it didn't give me paperwork, I didn't care.

I sighed. I had bigger and more immediate things to worry about.

(*********)

The meeting room was the same as always. Only of half the others when I arrived. Set, Horus, Anubis and Maat were there.

"Hello," I greeted the room Mostly Set, since he was my favorite. Not that it was stiff competition.

"Serafina, good morning!" Set's usual optimism was an appreciated bit of normalcy.

I debated on how good this morning was internally. But I wasn't opening that can of worms, by saying those doubts.

I could feel Horus staring at me. I focused on not looking at him.

It was going to be a long day.

Set glanced between me and where Horus and Anubis were sitting. Maybe it would be fine. He only seemed a little nervous. And considering that it was Set, a little nervous was probably nothing to worry about.

The others arrived and I tried my best to seem invisible. Not easy in a room of nine people, but I was allowed to try.

It didn't work. Horus tapped the space next to him, the opposite side from Anubis. Set gave me a panicked look.

"The most important thing we need to address today is the upcoming advanced class tests and we're going to help administer them," Horus began the meeting.

I held in a groan. Advanced tests again. Was there no escaping this stuff?

"What about those of use who're taking them?" Gale Maat asked.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"That's a matter we have to discuss. If any of you intend to take them, then I'm going to need you to write the list down. Anubis can you start and pass it around the room for me?"

Technically we were all supposed to be equals, but Horus was unofficially our leader since he was the only fifth-year amongst us. The way he talked made me wonder if fifth-years even had to bother. Then again, I doubted I would take Advanced classes during my last semester either.

Anubis respected him and following along with whatever he wanted seemed to be the best way to avoid any more conflict with both of them.

Less conflict was a victory in and of itself. I just had to get through a few more meetings then I would have a very earned and desperately break from all of this.

The page reached me last. Which was good because that meant I could just follow the format the others had used. Slowly I wrote down my name followed by the one advanced test I was taking. My penmanship varied from okay to first grade hieroglyphics. This was not the time for the latter.

Once I was done I passed the paper over towards Horus and Anubis. A terrible balance of it being in their reach while staying as far away as possible. Even with sitting next to Horus.

Neither of them said anything. Which was a mercy and a curse in its own way. How else was I supposed to know if I was doing any of this right? But I also didn't want to hear whatever rude or snide remarks Anubis had to say without any professors around to buffer.

I had no idea what Gorgon had or hadn't said to her, but I also wasn't sure what made her hate me so much in the first place. And who could possibly know how those two things interacted. People are complicated like that.

I just had to keep my head down a little bit longer. You could do this Serafina. Just keep breathing.

Horus looked over the list, I couldn't see any surprise on his face. I could live with that.

The rest of the meeting passed without issue.

But that didn't mean the meeting ended the same way.

"Stewart, before you leave, I would like to speak with you for a moment. Just us two."

That statement sent alarms in my entire body. I wanted to run. If he wasn't someone I would see again I might have.

"Sure." Which is the opposite of what I wanted to say, but Celica would probably be mad at me if she heard that I ran from the council room because Horus asked to talk.

I comforted myself with the fact that he wasn't allowed to do anything, not even issue a challenge for a duel, on account of him having his true color.

If you could count on a Kelpie for one thing, it was following rules.

I stood in front of him and tried to hide how awkward and worried I felt.

"This past week I've had a lot to think about," he said it and I had no idea where he was going or what he wanted so I stayed quiet. "Abou you specifically. I'm not so prideful that I can't admit I perhaps misjudged you."

What?

"This is my final year here. I had everything planned and I've never taken too well to disruptions. And I worked very hard to get this position whereas you seemed to stumble blindly into this without a care in the world."

I blinked at him while trying to process. Was he…apologizing? Did I pass out in the middle of the meeting? "Horus…" I had to swallow to gather my courage, whatever scraps of it I had, "I think we both had a misunderstanding. How about we both start fresh? Hi, I'm Serafina Stewart. Dragon Tower Representative. I didn't ask for this, and I didn't know what I'm doing. But my Tower is counting on me and my only goal is to not let them down. I'm terrible at arguing and conflict and generally will go with whatever if it has no affect on my Towermates. It's nice to meet you."

I held out my hand for him to shake. I was really feeling the height difference between us. It was easy to ignore when we were sitting, but it felt like he looming over me.

He looked between my hand and my face. Maybe he was looking for insincerity or deception. Maybe he was calculating how beneath him I was.

"I'm Vidar Horus. Kelpie Representative. I intend to put my Tower's interests first and foremost. Stay out of the way and I'm willing to let sleeping alligators be."

He actually shook my hand. Once. And I'm fairly sure it was just as awkward for him as it was for me. Because we both backed away at nearly the exact same

Not the version of the phrase I was used to, but I'd take it. Peace was always a win.

I felt a little bit lighter as I left the room. It wasn't much, but there was a sliver of hope that it was going to be okay. Just had to get through this year and then I would try and pass this off on literally anyone else.

It would depend on who I was most annoyed with at the end of the year.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.