Blue Dragon

said. ‘Sometimes it’s better if they don’t know who you are for the first few weeks.I mean, they know you’re there, they see you wandering around, but they don’t connect the stories with you .’
    ‘My plain appearance,’ I said, understanding. ‘They’ve heard stories of the Dark Lady, and they expect me to be about two metres tall, raven-haired and spitting fire, not short, plain and scruffy.’
    ‘Exactly,’ Leo said. Scott appeared astonished.
    ‘You’re really clever sometimes, Leo,’ I said. ‘Good lesson for them: nothing on the Mountain is ever as it seems.’
    Leo made a soft sound of amusement.
    ‘I want to meet his roommate,’ I said. ‘Can you get him?’
    ‘Tymen!’ Leo yelled without moving. ‘Come on in.’
    Tymen tapped on the door and came in, carefully closing the door behind him. He was similar in appearance to Scott; they could almost be brothers. Both were tall, angular, and bony, with the gangly limbs that signalled some growing still to do. Both were fair with sandy blond hair. Scott was younger, probably only seventeen, while Tymen could have been nineteen or twenty.
    I rose. ‘Sit, Tymen.’
    Tymen sat in my chair. Scott went rigid and Tymen sagged.
    ‘Do you know who I am?’ I said kindly.
    Tymen shook his head, his blue eyes wide.
    ‘This is the Dark Lady herself, Tymen,’ Leo said in a low growl. ‘Watch yourself.’
    Tymen shot to his feet and fell to one knee, saluting. ‘My Lady.’ He rose and studied me closely, then offered me his seat.
    ‘Sit,’ I said. ‘I’ll stand.’
    ‘Do as she says,’ Leo said when he saw Tymen hesitate.
    I leaned against the wall. ‘Young Scott here has aproblem with you, Tymen. He thinks you’re going to rape him in the middle of the night.’
    Leo made another soft sound of amusement. Scott’s scowl became defiant. But Tymen sagged again. He was obviously accustomed to it.
    ‘Please find me alternative quarters, ma’am, sir,’ Tymen said softly. ‘I have no wish to offend anyone with my presence. I know some people have issues with people like me. I thought…’ His voice trailed off and then he pulled himself together. ‘I thought the environment would be more accepting here, after talking to both Gold and Master Leo. I spoke too soon.’ He glanced desperately up at me. ‘Please don’t throw me out, ma’am, I want this more than anything. I’ll keep my head down and my mouth shut, I promise.’
    Scott glared at Tymen with contempt.
    ‘Did you have a boyfriend back home?’ I said kindly.
    Scott looked horrified.
    Tymen sighed. ‘I had a lot of friends. Nobody special; I think I’m too young. But I gave up a lot to come. Please don’t throw me out.’
    ‘Hold out your hand.’
    Tymen didn’t hesitate, and I took his hand and examined him carefully. ‘Hand-to-hand?’
    ‘Just as brilliant,’ Leo said. ‘These two could be brothers.’
    I suddenly knew with a certainty that left me breathless that one day they would be like brothers. The shock of the feeling nearly knocked me off my feet.
    ‘Are you okay, Emma?’ Leo said softly, seeing my reaction.
    I dropped Tymen’s hand and pulled myself together. ‘Two of the Masters you have already met and spent time with are gay, Scott. I won’t tell you which two, because you said you can pick them.’
    Scott’s mouth dropped open.
    ‘You haven’t had much contact with many of the staff of the Mountain, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to work it out. One of them can’t really be said to be gay because he’s not human, despite the fact that right now he’s dating another guy. But the other one,’ I said, carefully not looking at Leo, ‘is one hundred per cent pure flaming fairy queen, right the way through.’
    Scott’s eyes were very wide, but he still hadn’t put it together and didn’t look at Leo. I saw Leo’s reaction out of the corner of my eye and nearly lost it. Tymen made a small choking sound but I couldn’t see his face.
    ‘If you have a problem with learning from a Master whose private life is absolutely none of your goddamn business anyway, say so now,’ I said. ‘If you have a problem sharing with Tymen, tell me right now and I’ll throw you out.’ I leaned forward to speak intensely to him. ‘We will not have discrimination on our Mountain. We take the best; it doesn’t matter where they come from or what they are. Some of the students are perfected demons. Many of them aren’t even human . The Dark Lord himself