"What's wrong?" Albína asks when I look at her with a mix of relief and confusion. We're sitting across from each other eating, quietly on Lenox's rooftop. I'm not hungry but if I don't eat she'll give me a hard time about it, so I play with my food and occasionally take a bite.

"I'm not sure." My conversation with Matban Tadin replays in my head. It left me feeling bad, but I don't understand why. He didn't ask anything inappropriate, though the Dathid question was weird. It was just a talk between two acquaintances trying to be nice to each other. So why do I feel like I've done something wrong?

"I met Matban Tadin," I say, wanting to judge her reaction.

"Oh, I heard." She places her elbow on the table and rests her chin in her hand. "What's he like?"

Short is the first word that comes to mind. It's a mean word, but I've decided I don't like him. "He seems nice enough."

"I know his husband Wymon. Very handsome." She's grinning from ear-to-ear. She obviously really likes him. I'm not going to get any answers from her.

"Is Matban a title or his name?" That's a safe enough question.

"It's his title. He's second to Ceržent Solara."

"Whoever that is."

She smiles at me. I change the subject. I had a weird conversation with a weird guy. I need to get over it. "I saw my mother today."

"How wonderful! Tell me all about it."

I don't understand why seeing my mother makes me so sad. It should've made me ecstatic. "I'm sorry, I can't. Not yet."

She pats my hand. "I understand. I'm happy for you."

I wish I understood. I've missed out on something important. I never knew my parents. I always told myself that it wasn't important. Lots of people don't have parents and they're just fine. But it's not fine. Something fantastic should've been in my life, but it was taken away before I ever knew what it was. Now that I've had a tiny glimpse of what my life would've been like with a beautiful woman smiling down on me with love shining in her eyes, I want it back. I want it more than anything I've ever wanted.

After lunch, she takes my mind off my troubles by filling me in on the castle gossip while escorting me to the far end of the keep. It works only because I'm tired of being depressed and not because I care for gossip about people I don't know.

This side of the castle is deserted and quiet. Albína's voice reverberates down the empty corridors until she suddenly stops both her mouth and her feet at the only door in the hall.

"I can't go any farther, but you need to go in," she whispers. "Master Sarpedon is waiting for you."

"Who is Master Sarpedon and why is he waiting for me?" I whisper back.

"I'm not allowed to tell you. It'll be all right. He's another of your teachers."

Why are we whispering? Just a second ago, Albína was practically shouting. And we're the only people on this side of the castle. I don't want to meet this new teacher. I already met one today, and one a day is plenty. Plus, it's disconcerting that Albína has to wait outside.

I don't say anything to her as I obediently walk through the door. It's a small foyer that's well lit by two torches hanging on the wall. There's no one in the little room, but there's another door a few feet in front of me. In the center of this other door is a life-sized skull and crossbones that reminds me of a pirate flag. If Master Sarpedon is a pirate, then shouldn't he be called Captain Sarpedon?

The skull door is locked. I knock. The skull makes a clicking sound as the crossbones separate and the mouth slowly opens. It's meant to be scary, but it's cheap funhouse stuff.

I take a deep breath to alleviate some of the pressure building behind my eyes. Why can't I just meet this guy and have Albína next to me and not have to go through whatever this stupid show is about?

A loud scream makes me jump. The skull is growing out from the door. Its eyes are burning red and it's chanting loudly. I stop breathing. My feet freeze in place. I hope by not moving it won't notice me. When the skull keeps creeping forward, I leap back to the door I just came through, but it's locked and won't budge. I'm trapped with the evil skull breathing down my neck and malevolently chanting at me.

"This isn't funny!" I pound on the door. "Open the door! Albína, open the door!" I'm screaming at the top of my lungs, and the skull is so loud I know Albína can hear us. Why doesn't she answer?

Then it stops, and the silence is like a presence. I press myself against the door, trying the knob again, but it's still locked. The room is eerily silent. I'm afraid to breathe. The quiet is worse the than the cacophony. I don't know what the skull is doing. It could be right behind me.

I slowly turn my body to face it, but I keep my hand on the knob, willing it to twist and free me. The skull is back to being the benign funhouse door I thought it was. I take an unsteady breath. The skull doesn't move, so I take a few more. I'm panting and sweating, and pressed so hard against the door my back hurts. I want to scream for help, but I don't want to wake the skull up again.

I refuse to faint because the skull will eat me if I hit the ground. My guts seize and my heart stops when the knob on the skull door turns. Not again. I don't know how to fight a door. I brace for the worst as the skull door slowly creaks open. I almost collapse when a tall man peeks his head out.

"Well, the door didn't kill you, so I guess you're a Knight," he says, as he swings the door open.

My head swims when I see the man's impossibly triangular face, a shape that's emphasized by the small pointy beard on his chin and his large flat nose. The sharp angles of his face are softened by the shock of thick curly hair on his head that only slightly covers his pointy ears and small circular horns. He's wearing the jacket and frilly shirt of the elves, but his bottom half is a goat's.

I press my back so hard against the exit door that I'm surprised I'm not passing through it.

The man's piercing gold eyes scan my horrified face. "You are a Knight, yes?"

I don't move, I don't speak and I don't breathe. My vision blurs as I stare at his furry legs and hooves. I wobble, but steady myself before I hit the ground.

"Ah, you've never seen a satyr before."

I shake my head and regret it when the world blurs with the movement.

The man smiles; somehow he thinks this is funny. "Well, you've got nothing to worry about." He crosses his small goat legs and leans against the doorframe. "We satyrs are a fun lot. Most find us rather charming, and I promise, you've got nothing to fear."

"Are you Master Sarpedon?" I whisper in a shaky voice. I wish Jonah were here to witness my bravery. I can't believe I got those words out.

The man snorts. "Well, that's a first. No one has ever accused me of that before." He chuckles to himself. "My name's Gurador. Master Sarpedon is waiting for you inside. I assure you, I'm much better looking and a lot more entertaining."

Gurador moves aside and gestures for me to come in. I don't want to leave my door. I don't want to go any further into the funhouse. I can see the disappointment in Gurador's eyes. I'm here to be a Knight and save the world, but I can't even walk through a doorway.

I wobble past the satyr trying to keep as much distance as I can from the scary skull door.

"Once inside there will be no talking," Gurador whispers as I pass.

I'm in a horror movie. I want Jonah with me. Everything is better and safer when he's around. Gurador is directly in front of me, holding a torch that is the only light in the narrow hall. The flickering flame is casting eerie, moving shadows across the intricately carved passageway. I'm definitely in one of Auntie's late-night horror movie marathons.

The only good part is that the elves have taken great pains to make every inch of Cromsmead visually interesting. Whenever I'm scared or unsure, I can always go to the happy painter place in my mind. Now is no different. The intricately carved, gruesomely distorted figures covering every inch of the walls and ceiling take me away from this haunted house. Even as I follow the satanic creature down a dark hall with his torch light flashing images of bloody battles and the dismembered bodies of horrifying monsters, I can't help but wonder who carved these exquisite images.

When the passage ends at a plain black curtain, I'm disappointed with the person who decorated this place. A simple curtain at the end of such an exquisite hallway is just offensive. I'm glad when Gurador pulls the ugly drape away.

He steps aside and motions for me to go into the room. I take a deep breath, force my feet to move, and enter a massive oval-shaped room that resembles a theater. Two enormous chandeliers hang from the ceiling, and the torches scattered about make it almost cheery. The reason this place reminds me of old movies is because everything is black and white. The walls and ceiling of the hallway I came from were black. The floor has a continuous black-and-white checkered pattern with a complicated mosaic around the edges.

The long sides of the oval-shaped room have rows of black leather seating that are staggered so that everyone has the best view of the center floor. In front of the seats are white stone arches with more of the gruesome faces carved at the top. On the floor where the arches open are stone balustrades that separate the seating from the center area. The only color in the room comes from the embroidered flags hanging on each column. Every one of them is different.

I stop a considerable distance away from the strange figure sitting on the floor in front of the stage in the center. The creature is wearing a red robe and has its hood pulled low, so I can't see its face. However, I can see long slender hands covered in bright red gloves that don't match the red of its robe. Around the figure's seated posture is the edge of a scarlet pillow the same color as the gloves. I look around for another pillow for me, but there isn't one. I let out a sigh. I didn't want to sit with it anyway.

Whatever that fiendish creature is, it looks threatening just sitting there, and I can't even see its face. Gurador gives me a shove, but my feet are welded to the floor.

"Come here, child," the thing on the floor whispers. It's male, with a strange accent that adds S's where they aren't needed, making it difficult to understand. Especially because its voice reverberates, almost like two people are talking at the same time.

My knees are shaking. My feet melt to the floor. I shake my head even though he can't see me.

"Come here. I have been waiting for you. You have nothing to fear."

Meet him and leave. I ball my shaking fingers into fists to hide them and shut my brain off. I charge forward until I'm in front of Master Sarpedon.

Sometimes when I sit on the floor, my body sways a bit, but he's a statue. His hands have been raised in prayer since I entered. They've got to be tired. I stand before him in awkward silence for so long that my fear disappears and is replaced by annoyance. It's like some game is being played, but I don't know the rules.

"So, are you going to say anything? Do I need to do something?"

"Sit," he commands slowly in his strange accent.

I sit cross-legged on the floor in front of him. From this angle, I can see his face. What I thought were red gloves are actually his hands. They're bright red with a faint gold diamond pattern traveling down the backs of them, and on each finger is a stubby gold claw at the tip.

The cushion he's sitting on is the same shade of red but with a larger diamond pattern. It could be part of his body. Is he sitting on it or is it wrapped around him somehow? I study it for long enough to realize I'm being rude, so I snap my head up to look at his face.

I'm braced for the worst, but I'm pleased to see a kind, gentle face. It's scarlet like the rest of him, with ancient reptilian eyes. Two ridges follow the path of his slender gray eyebrows. He has a nose similar to Jonah's, in that he really doesn't have one. It protrudes from his face and has two small slits in front for air to pass, but it doesn't go back in like a normal nose. Below the small airway is a long, thin gray mustache that hangs down to the upper part of his chest.

Under the mustache is a large mouth that's stuck in a permanent smile. The chin is a distinct end to his face and has a thin long beard in equal length to his mustache. I've seen similar features on a creature on Earth, but I can't place it.

"Satisfaction in harmony be upon you, Sir Agatha. I am pleased to meet you. I am Grand Master Sarpedon. I will be instructing you in the ways of the Knight."

His speech is excruciatingly slow. I give him a wave and mumble, "Hi."

"Are you afraid of serpents?"

That's a strange question. Why would he open with that? I answer my question when my blood turns cold, and the room blurs for a second. He's a snake. A huge snake. My eyes practically bulge out of my head as I stare down at the pillow, which is actually his tail and has to be at least ten feet long.

He's a snake.

And I'm dinner.