“What do you like on a pizza?” I asked before turning back to the guard.
“Cheese is fine,” she replied.
The guard held a grin. “A cheese pizza to share?” he asked me.
“Yes, please, thank you,” I answered, and he nodded before he closed the door.
“You know where the Princess is?” I asked her as I sat back down.
“Oh yes, Lasinda booked out the entire afternoon for Selene. No one else could get a booking,” Heidi told me.
“And Lasinda is a dressmaker?” I asked.
“No, she’s a stylist, far more than a dressmaker. She designs all the best gowns and suits for the most talked about occasions. She doesn’t make the garments herself; she has a team for that. If she was producing the final product by her own hand, she’d never be able to provide the services she does to the upper classes,” she explained.
“She will design the Princess’s dress for the summer ball?” I asked her.
“Yes, Selene has left her dress so late, no doubt due to her last-minute decision to return to the Academy this term and having to coordinate her wear with Lord Halvorsen. It was likely difficult to arrange their schedules.”
“She’s with him now?” I asked, unable to hide my surprise.
“Yes. Percy, you must do a better job at schooling your features. Selene is very lax with you, but Lord Halvorsen is another beast altogether. I’ve heard things…” she trailed off.
“What do you mean? What do you know?” I asked her.
“I have Orion in my Commanding an Estate class. I get bored, and I see if I can dip into thoughts, there is plenty of time to try. He’s an odd fellow. Very angry. But from his thoughts, Lord Halvorsen has the real temper, fuelled by shame. From what I hear, that temper was released yesterday. If not for Selene, you would have been collateral damage,” she told me, setting her pen down and placing all her attention on me.
“What does that have to do with my features?” I asked her. I knew the Halvorsen brothers were angry with each other.
“It means don’t make it so obvious you despise him. It’s already apparent that you’re Selene’s favourite toy, and people like Halvorsen are easily jealous and threatened. Don’t be antagonistic. Selene might not always be by your side,” she said.
I swallowed, an unsettling feeling forming in my stomach.
“My face is antagonistic?” I asked.
She laughed, her hand reaching out to cover mine.
“The fact she openly values you is provoking to many, Percy,” she told me. “Anyway, the question at the end of chapter three, what is yawning, and rapid heartbeat a sign of?” she asked me, changing the subject. “I thought we were learning to treat broken bones and bleeds. What does yawning have to do with anything?”
“Do you pay any attention during class?” I asked her.
“I find it difficult to sit still for so long; my mind wanders,” she told me.
“Yawning and rapid heartbeat are signs of shock,” I told her and answered her questions, explaining what shock was and how to treat it in an emergency.
“I may not pay attention, but you do,” she joked.
We worked together and ate pizza for a few hours. I found studying with Heidi helpful; she ensured that we never studied for too long without a break, and helping her catch up with what she had ignored during class was helpful for my understanding.
The guard opened the door, and I stood as Selene entered.
“Percy, you have company,” she said, removing her shoes as she walked toward me, bending to kiss me on the mouth.
“Cough, cough, will I get to join in or…?” Heidi asked, giggling from her seat. Selene ended our kiss, her hands remaining on my waist.
“Heidi. I see the two of you have been studying and eating pizza,” she greeted Heidi turning her attention to me at the end of her sentence. “Pizza again, pet?” she asked, her tone slightly reprimanding.
“I like it,” I replied.