And when he finally did, he was sad to leave the whale, so he began to sculpt muscles and tendons and tissues over the bones out of materials he found in the sea during their sea breathing lessons. It was his own secret project, and it was amazing to watch the whale take shape as he layered it. One day maybe he’d try to give it a mosaic exterior like Jim’s.

Claire Morning, Henry Haluki, and Carina Holiday became the lead researchers and chemists, experimenting with all kinds of serums made from plants they found in the jungle. Henry practiced his magical stitches on various fruits and vegetables that he found in the giant kitchen pantry, and Carina began to work hard on a concoction that would ease pain—and not cause a person to vomit incessantly. Sean became a willing volunteer for Carina, who administered the medicine whenever she thought she’d improved on it. They had varied results, including one rather explosive multicolored vomit rainbow that the team oohed and aahed over, and even Sean was impressed once it stopped. He decided to keep a vial of that version in case he ever needed it for a practical joke.

The interest in spell making began to bloom after Artiméans saw the success of the spells Alex, Meghan, Samheed, and Lani had created. After a while, Florence had to limit the number of presentations to one per week, per student. And then, after numerous crazy spells were presented that seemed unlikely to assist Artimé in battle, Florence had to establish a committee of students who would decide if a spell was useful, like the jabbing violin bow spell, or unnecessarily dangerous like the guillotine spell, or merely frivolous and fun, like the pink hair spell. There were definitely a few students who were gifted in this area of spell creation, while most of the others found it to be a passing craze and soon went on to find something different that they could be fabulous at.

Quill’s national holiday, the day of the Purge, came again. A new crop of Unwanted thirteen-year-olds arrived at Artimé’s gates. Alex, the girrinos, and all the other Unwanteds welcomed them. And for the first time, but certainly not the last, Alex declared that Artimé would hold a masquerade ball the following week to celebrate.

All the seasoned Unwanteds spent the day of the masquerade in preparation, some opting to create magical masks that would change color and shape depending on the mood of the owner, and others choosing to fashion more elaborate, less flashy masks to be worn in a traditional manner. Mr. Appleblossom, of course, was the coordinator and producer of the event, and he was having a most delightful time planning the gala, which would be complete with musical numbers by his students—and of course, the lounge band.

The mood and timbre of Artimé was as high and rich as it had ever been, and the Unwanteds looked forward to a most amazing evening indeed.

Masquerade

Alex opted for a simple pirate eye patch as his mask, which wouldn’t clash with his brightly colored robe. He sat at his dressing table combing his hair and trimming the ends of it with a magical finger scissors he created on the spot for such an occasion. He wanted his hair to

look nice and fresh, as it had grown into long waves by now. He shaved the soft dark fuzz above his upper lip because he thought it made his skin look like it was smudged with dirt, and then he checked his chin and found a few stiffer black hairs there to shave as well, which seemed like quite an accomplishment. “I wonder if I should keep these whiskers and give them to Simber in case he ever learns how to use a seek spell,” he mused, straightening his tie and jacket underneath the robe. “It seems I grew them my very own self. Very creative of you, Stowe.” He grinned to himself in the mirror and patted his pocket, where Simber’s stone dewclaw remained. He was in a chipper mood tonight.

He had the benefit of spying on his side. He could look out the giant window at the end of the hall to watch the decorations go up, and when the time came to meet Sky on the balcony, he had the good fortune to be able to see her standing there without her seeing him until he emerged.

She stood in front of the secret hallway, one hand resting on the banister. She wore a burnt-orange gown covered in multicolored sequins. Attached to a stick in her other hand was her mask—a butterfly shape with plumes of orange and purple feathers. She looked in the direction of the staircase, not smiling or frowning, just gazing at the flurry of students as she waited for Alex. Her hair looked glossy and smoother than usual, somehow enhancing both the dark under layer of her hair and the bright natural highlights that had grown even more distinct after so much swimming and training. It jetted down to rest below her collarbone.

Alex liked that Sky didn’t try to cover up her scars around her neck, and he admired her profile for a moment in secret. He watched her face light up as Samheed and Lani joined her at the railing.

“You look stunning,” Lani said. “What a great idea to match your eyes to your dress. I wish I’d thought of that.”

Samheed rested his hand on Lani’s shoulder and glanced down the secret hallway, startling only slightly when he saw Alex standing there. Sam grinned and Alex grinned back. “Busted,” he mouthed. Samheed nodded and turned his attention back to the girls as Alex came bustling out of the hallway, pretending to straighten his robe, as if he hadn’t been there all the time.

“Fabulous. Gorgeous. Divine,” Alex said, mimicking a voice that Mr. Appleblossom often used when playing the part of a wealthy nobleman. His eyes lingered on Sky. “You look amazing,” he said.

She grinned. “You look . . . like . . . some weird, psychedelic pirate. A cute one,” she added.