Sword Mountain by Nancy Yi Fan

Author:Nancy Yi Fan
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

You can rarely get what you really want; you can easily get what you don’t want.

—FROM THE BOOK OF HERESY

15

OWL PHILOSOPHIES

Tranglarhad placed the black cap of the tutor upon his round head and felt empowered. Though the inch of office space he’d been given was windowless and cold and, he deduced from the mothball smell, once a closet, he was elated to find that he already claimed a bit of space, no matter how small, on the mountaintop. He took off his sunglasses. No candle or lamp had been provided, but he was quite at ease in the dark.

“First lesson,” the owl intoned, rocking back and forth on his toes. Gathering his instruments of instruction, he crossed the hall to the classroom.

As evening grew late, eaglets began to fill the room, some grumbling, others wide-eyed at the sight of the owl. Tranglarhad noticed a princess among the students.

“Your name?” he said to her as she went by.

“I’m Dandelion,” she said.

“Should we sit in the order of our status?” one eaglet asked hopefully, interrupting Tranglarhad’s train of thought.

“Sit wherever you like,” said Tranglarhad, turning back to the class. “You cannot hide from me.”

There was a general shifting as birds crisscrossed the room. Dandelion had been sitting in the front row, a few spaces from Cloud-wing, and she stayed put so she could have a good look at the tutor. But Olga rushed forward and claimed the seat next to Dandelion. She smoothed her feathers, a permanent smile on her face, as she continually flicked her eyes toward Cloud-wing.

On the blackboard, the teacher had scrawled:

Mr. Δ

“My name is Mr. Tranglarhad,” he said. “I am your new tutor, and I have a viewpoint different from all teachers who have set talon in this castle. I do not see you in terms of rank, status, class, or gender. I see you all equal—” Tranglarhad pronounced grandly at the hopeful faces. Dandelion couldn’t believe her ears at first; Olga’s claw drifted to her half acorn.

“Equally stupid!” He allowed an adequate pause for the effect to sink in. “Now, as to whether this is true or not, it is up to you to show me. There shall be challenging opportunities, I’m sure.”

Cloud-wing glanced at Dandelion and Olga. His expression seemed to say, “What do you think of him?” Olga blinked, bewildered, but Dandelion gave a defiant shrug.

The door flew open. Pudding huffed and puffed, leaning against the door frame, his eyes bulging in terror as he caught sight of the owl, swiveling his head a hundred and eighty degrees to glare at him.

“You know what it means to be tardy?” said Tranglarhad. Silence fell across the classroom.

“Tarty?” said Pudding. “Eating too many tarts, becoming bloated, and oversleeping?” Nervous laughter came from the eaglets; they’d never seen Pudding frightened before. He touched his four acorn pins to reassure himself of his rank. He hazarded a step toward a perch among the eaglets, but Tranglarhad cried, “Stop! Pouldington, is it? Stand here and listen. What did Simplicio do to a bird who was ten minutes late?” Tranglarhad’s gaze swept over Dandelion to Olga.

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