• tab Throughout the day Felitia endured almost constant persecution. A blend of enduring teasing from the students and scolding from the teachers almost drove her into insanity. She tried to convince herself that it would all clear up in a few days, after she had settled in, that it was just because she was unfamiliar with everyone that they were giving her a rough time. But it never worked. The fact that her mother suffered from depression sickness and that Felitia never knew her father gave everyone, even herself, the perfect reason for thinking she was abnormal.
    tab The end of the school day had arrived and the time had drawn nigh for her to report to Remsum’s office for her detention. Walking briskly down the corridor she noticed Jared loitering by the door, again fiddling with something in his pocket.
    tab “Hey,” he mumbled glumly as she approached. Felitia answered with a quiet ‘hm’. She clutched her books close to her chest and leant from one foot to the other impatiently. She bit her lip nervously and shifted her eyes rapidly around the corridor, occasionally glancing at the tall figure leaning against the wall. The door to the office jerked open suddenly and Remsum strode out dauntingly and superior.
    tab “I’m surprised Jared. You actually showed up on time today. And Miss Rosewood, I’m sure you’ll thoroughly enjoy you first detention,” he sneered, his gruff voice thick with sarcasm. Felitia lowered her head not wanting to seem rebellious. She wanted to get away from him as soon as possible.
    tab “Hm, you know what’s funny? You’re probably the first student in the history of the Academy to receive a detention on their first day. . Not even this incompetent wreck managed to achieve that.” Remsum pointed critically at the boy. Jared sniffed, annoyed and Felitia could see him narrow his eyes. “And you just so happen to be living up and beyond the appalling reputation of the nutcase you call a mother,”
    tab You’ll wish you never said that! That was the final straw. No one had ever said something like that directly in her face. She raised her head, eyes burning with anger, and clenched her hands tighter around her books. Her lips twitched into a bitter expression and her breathing quickened. She stared directly into the teachers cold, unforgiving eyes. She didn’t even try to control her anger, Remsum deserved to see her dark side. She could be very scary when she was angry. It was lucky her childhood fantasy of being a Warlock was unreal otherwise it could have gotten very messy right then and there.
    tab “In the world of the upper class, lack of control over strong emotions is viewed as a sign of weakness,” he declared.
    tab That’s a load of rubbish! Emotions make us stronger; provoking a need for justice and helping us make decisions. Who are you to say that you bloody hypocrite!
    tab “Now, I’d like to see you make an effort to do that,” he said patronisingly. Felitia lowered her head again and took a long breath through her nose. She relaxed her grip on her books revealing crumple marks on the covers.“That’s better. Keep the seriousness up and I may be able to deem you adequate to rule your province.” he said as if she were a stupid little infant.

    tab Jared felt sorry for her. She was being persecuted even worse that he was. He could tell she wouldn’t last long on her own in this miserable place.
    tab Maybe, since we both seem to be sharing similar problems, I should ask her if we could hang out. She’s awfully pretty and she’s got quite a personality, I can see it showing already.
    tab “Now, let’s get your punishments over and done with and I hope you both learn from your mistakes. I think you would find it rather tedious spending your free time in detentions, hm?”
    tab “Yes, Sir,” they both mumbled.
    tab “Right, today you will be mucking the stables. Jared you know the way. Take Miss Rosewood here to the stables and get her some work clothes. I don’t want either of you to come back until I can se my face in the cobbles. If you miss out on dinner then so be it. Now hop to it!” Remsum ordered aggressively.

    tab Jared held out a hand in the direction their route would take them. He started walking then stuffed his hands in his pockets. He was obviously a little nervous; Felitia sensed it.
    tab Surely mucking the stables can’t be that bad. Maybe he’s afraid of horses. She couldn’t help expressing a small smile. But that smile faded when she saw the size of the stables. They were huge. There must be over thirty horses. It’ll take us hours to finish all that!
    tab They got changed into more suitable clothes for the occasion. Felitia had dumped her books in her dorm and was now walking arms folded toward the task ahead. She wore a bitter expression; she was still angry with Remsum about insulting her and her mother.

    tab Jared noticed her anger. She reminded him of himself a few months ago. It was his anger that had got him into unforgivable trouble that had basically ruined his life at the Academy forever. In some ways it was because he had nobody to look out for him, nobody to stop him doing something dangerously stupid. He wouldn’t let that happen to this girl. She would need him one day.
    tab They got to work. Felitia was swearing under her breath as she shifted the soiled hay into a wheelbarrow with a pitchfork. Jared foolishly thought this may be the right moment to start a conversation.
    tab “Something bothering you?” he asked.
    tab “You don’t say,” she replied sarcastically. “It’s that b*****d Remsum!” She violently kicked a wood pail and sent the water spilling out all over the floor. She groaned, picked the pail up and went to refill it from the pump outside.
    tab Jared looked very surprised.
    tab Well she’s certainly got spirit.
    tab “Tell me about it,” said Jared as she came back. Felitia didn’t reply, just simply glared at him. “So this is your first day at the Academy,” he said wanting to continue the conversation.
    tab “Well spotted,” she jived. He was beginning to see how sarcastic she could be. This was getting harder by the minute.
    tab “Um, yeah,” he said bashfully, scratching the back of his head.

    tab Felitia knew his intentions. She was no fool.
    tab “I know what you’re trying to say,” she said quietly.

    tab Jared’s eyes widened as a wave of dread swept through his body.
    tab “Sorry?” he almost shouted.
    tab I’m such an idiot! Now she’s probably got completely the wrong idea. I bet she sees me as a complete jackass right now. He wanted to kick himself. He cringed as she started to explain the remark she just made.
    tab “You’re trying to ask me if, since we both seem to be utter losers, we could hang out, be sort of friends.”
    tab Jared breathed a small sigh of relief.
    tab Wow, she’s smart as well as pretty, fortunately for me.
    tab “Yeah, how did you know? I mean, not that you’re a loser or anything. But if you don’t want to, um, I don’t mind that much,” he babbled.
    tab I’m making a complete mess of this. I’ve never tried talking to a girl properly before.

    tab Felitia laughed. She could tell this guy liked her. What harm could it do?
    tab “Losers unite?” She held out a clenched fist.

    tab Jared was kind of caught in the moment. He hesitated, then realised what she was doing. He did the same and they knocked fists as a sign of friendship, then they continued working.
    tab He was rather amazed. She was unlike any other girl in the academy. She was stronger with the pitchfork than the rest of the girls that on rare occasions had detentions with him in the stables. Neither did she complain about petty things such as the off putting smell or getting her hands dirty. In some ways he almost admired her. She was smart and confident with a good sense of humour and strong will power. He wouldn’t admit it but he actually thought she was the strongest of the pair in intelligence.

    tab “Looks like we’re just about done here,” Felitia said as she looked around inspecting their work. They had lain out a fresh layer of hay and cleared away the soiled waste, washed the floors and swept the dirty water out of the stables. In two hours they had done pretty well. And they hadn’t even missed dinner yet. She grabbed a wheelbarrow and wheeled it over to the store room. She came out and found Jared stroking one of the horses. Slowly, she walked over and joined him.
    tab “Amazing creatures aren’t they,” she said.
    tab “Yeah,” he replied. He gently ran his hand down the horse's the horse’s nose.
    tab “He got a name?” she asked.
    tab “The Academy doesn’t give horses names, but I like to call him Jashpar.”
    tab “Interesting name,”
    tab “It’s Old Angelic; means ‘warrior’.”
    tab “Angelic, eh? That is interesting. The Angels became extinct even before the Warlocks did.”
    tab “You know about Angels, and Warlocks?” Now that was surprising. Usually, he being one slight exception, information about the Old Ages (before the People’s Reform) was kept concealed through each generation.
    tab “Well you can talk.”
    tab “Yeah, but, how?”
    tab “Mum told me,” she said slightly hesitantly.
    tab “Your Mum…”
    tab “Oh, don’t start!” she interrupted.
    tab “No, I was going to say…”
    tab “Doesn’t matter. Let’s get back or we’ll miss dinner,” she said solemnly.
    tab “Yes, of course,” he replied. It would be some time until he got used to being ordered around by a girl younger than him, even if he did think she was pretty.

    tab “So, when do you turn fifteen?” Felitia asked Jared as they crossed the main lawn, a typical question for new friends to ask.
    tab “Ah, I’m already fifteen,” he answered, feeling stupid.
    tab “What? But then why are you in first year?”
    tab “I got in a fight about three months ago and…got degraded.”
    tab “Whose fault was it?” she asked, not quite believing that someone like him could cause any serious trouble.
    tab “Well I would say it was mostly Ganymede,”
    tab “Oh, him.” She recognised that name. It was the boy that had called her a freak during the first lesson.
    tab “Yeah, he was giving me a rough time. But I suppose a part of it was me losing my temper.”
    tab “Was it the staff who told you that?”
    tab “Yes. But I think it’s true. I should have controlled my anger.”
    tab “I guess,” she said glumly.
    tab What is he trying to do? Make me conform to the ideals of the people who persecute me? Well he’s got completely the wrong idea. I’m not going to give in that easily.
    tab She snapped out of her self-righteous monologue and continued the conversation. She still had many questions she wanted to ask him.
    tab “Was Ganymede punished as well?”
    tab “No, not at all. He lied to the teacher and claimed that it was me who started it all, that he was merely the victim.”
    tab “The little b*****d! Does he have no respect for anyone but himself?” she exclaimed.
    tab “I doubt it,” Jared replied.
    tab “It sounds like it was serious. Was anyone hurt?” she asked. Jared pulled up his right sleeve to reveal a scar running across his forearm. “Ouch.” She bit her lip. “So, Ganymede had a knife.”
    tab “Yeah, most of us boys have one, though if we were ever caught, we’d be toast.” He lifted up the edge of his tunic revealing a medium sized dagger with a wooden handle in a leather scabbard. She felt slightly intimidated.
    tab So much for conforming to the ideals of the persecutors. She noticed that carved into the handle were the letters ‘J, A, E’; she could guess what they represented.
    tab “What does the ‘A’ stand for?” she asked curiously.
    tab “Hm? Oh right. Arlan. My initials; Jared Arlan Elmwood.”
    tab “I kind of figured that,” she almost cut in. “Not the best of ideas,” she remarked.
    tab “Sorry?” he asked, not quite sure what she was on about.
    tab “Having your initials on your knife; not the best of ideas. If you lose it, they’ll know who it belongs to, then you’ll be ‘toast’,” she explained.
    tab “Ah, didn’t think about that. I’ll try not to lose it.” He laughed awkwardly, Felitia rolled her eyes.
    tab “You know what’s weird?”
    tab “What?”
    tab “That scar should’ve healed by now. After three months, surely it should be gone,” she said with ingenuity.
    tab “Yeah, I never really noticed.”
    tab They reached the building and entered through a door in the courtyard. Jared held it open for Felitia. She gave him a quiet ‘hm’ and a small nod to say thanks. They walked up a staircase and down the corridor toward the dormitories but were suddenly confronted by Remsum, whose office was, unfortunately, on the only way there.
    tab “By the gods you two smell!”
    tab Don’t be so surprised. You put us up for this task.
    tab “Sorry, Sir,” they said in unison.
    tab “Anyway, you have finished, yes? Well I’m afraid you can’t go to dinner smelling of dung. Go to your dorms and take a bath.”
    tab “Yes, Sir,” they both said solemnly.
    tab I don’t think he was going to let us go to dinner in the first place.

    tab They entered the common room and headed up a staircase. Felitia turned right and Jared did the opposite. She opened the door to the first year girls’ room.
    tab No one here. Thank goodness! The last thing I need is people bothering me when I’m trying to take a bath. She walked briskly over to the bed next to her trunk full of unpacked items. She opened it up, dug around for her dressing gown, soap, toothbrush and towel and headed toward the en-suite bathroom. She went in, locked the door, ran the taps then undressed. When the bath was half full she climbed in, sinking down into the steaming water. She let out a long sigh; after all that back breaking work, she deserved this. It was bliss, even if she was famished. The water soothed her aching body. She let herself relax and almost forgot about the hardships of the day. Instead, she considered her new companion.
    tab The Elmwood and Rosewood families had been allies since the Reform. Both Jared and Felitia’s grandfathers were companions during the legendary Battle of Ainan Moor and Jared’s family owed the Rosewoods a debt of thanks.
    tab That can’t be the only reason he wishes to become friends with me. She could tell by the way he looked at her and the way he fumbled with his words that he fancied her; who couldn’t tell, it was blindingly obvious. Truth to tell, she thought he looked cute; he was definitely growing on her.
    tab Oh pull yourself together! I only turned fourteen three days ago. I’m not ready for a relationship. It’ll be a while before I’m interested in him. All I need is a friend, an ally, someone to stick with to prove I’m not a loner.
    tab Felitia finished her bath and dried herself off. She checked the time.
    tab Dammit! There’s no time for dinner. Guess I’ll just have to go to bed hungry. She put on her favourite silk pyjamas and started unpacking the rest.
    tab She suddenly stopped, and looked out the open door to the balcony. The curtains swayed in the light breeze and the light from the full moon came pouring into the candlelit room. She was transfixed. She had always had a passion for nature. The hypnotising moon compelled her toward it. She placed the garment she was holding on the chest of drawers and slowly stepped onto the balcony. She sat on the stone banister and reached out her hand as if to touch the moon. The breeze turned into a wind and rushed over her like flowing water. She shivered and rubbed her arms as her pointy ears started to go cold and red. She used to do this with her mother every full moon. Suddenly her eyes filled with tears. She blinked and they came rolling down her came rolling down her cheek.
    tab I miss you Mum. I know it hasn’t been long since I’ve seen you, but it feels like decades. They oppress me because they think that you're mad but that’s not true! If they really understood this wouldn’t be happening.
    tab The truth was there was a reason for her mother, Rhea Rosewood’s, depression. She had been through enough psychological pain to drive anybody into madness. But she endured, unwilling to let go of her sanity. She had seen the only man she ever loved stripped from her arms, tortured brutally, imprisoned and exiled. She couldn’t help crying herself to sleep every night. Sometimes, her only comfort was Felitia, her only child. When she was a child, Felitia once asked her mother why she cried so much. Rhea simply answered,
    tab “Because the world is a cruel place.” Felitia never really understood why she would say such a thing. The world had seemed so amazing to her, so full of adventure and beauty. But now she understood, though not to the full extent as she would in the future.
    tab She wiped her eyes, determined not to let anyone see her in such a state.
    tab “Are you alright?” said a voice from not far off. Felitia panicked slightly and almost fell off the ledge where she was perched. She stood up and turned briskly towards where she had heard the voice come from.
    tab “Oh, it’s you,” she said, relieved, when she saw it was Jared. He was standing ten feet away on the next balcony along. “Yes, I’m fine,” she lied.

    tab Jared had seen her crying, but he decided it best not to ask.
    tab “Are you hungry?” he asked instead.
    tab “Oh, very,” she replied.
    tab Jared unwrapped a napkin to reveal a roll of bread.
    tab “Here,” he said and threw it across the gap separating them. Felitia caught it skilfully.
    tab “Thanks. Where did you get this from?” she asked then took a small bite.
    tab “I just about caught the end of dinner and nabbed it when they were clearing the plates away.”
    tab The bell in the tower clock chimed 8 o’clock.
    tab “People should be coming back pretty soon,” Jared said as he looked out at the forest.
    tab “Crud,” Felitia remarked to herself.
    tab Jared smiled.
    tab “You’ll get used to it. In a few weeks time people won’t bother you so much,” he said confidently.
    tab “I just bloody hope so,” she laughed.
    tab “How bad can it get?” Jared said cheerfully.
    tab “I don’t know,” she started. “I might end up killing someone.” They both laughed for a few seconds then calmed down. Felitia leant on the banister and stared at the moonlit trees distantly.
    tab “No, you’re not a killer.”
    tab Aah! I didn’t mean to say that out loud.
    tab “What do you mean?” Felitia inquired, curious to know why he would make such a statement.
    tab “Well…” he began, then cleared his throat. “…You’re not a bad person. Everyone has a reason for feeling angry; most of the time it’s a good one. But I don’t see you as someone who would go as far as killing someone. It’s hard when there are family problems, I should know. But there are good reasons for those to.”

    tab Felitia thought over every word he said. The fact was it was all true. She looked down at the forest floor.
    tab Is that what he was trying to tell me in the stables when I mentioned Mum? I should really apologise.
    tab She was about to open her mouth to speak but was interrupted by rowdy noises coming from Jared’s dormitory.
    tab “That’ll be the other guys,” Jared said. “I better be going.” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder and started stepping backwards into the room. He reached the doorway and almost tripped up.
    tab “G’night,” he said and raised his hand.
    tab “Night,” Felitia replied and waved her fingers. Jared closed the glass panelled doors and Felitia was left alone on her balcony.
    tab “Mental, that one,” she said to herself, shaking her head.
    tab She headed back indoors and finished unpacking her belongings. When she finished, she hopped on her four post bed and rested her hands behind her head. She closed her eyes briefly, but opened them again when she heard a hoard of giggling from the corridor. The door opened and a group of first year girls came bustling in. They were immediately hushed when they saw her. One of them, whom Felitia suspected to be the ring leader, stepped forward toward her. She had flowing brown hair and freckly cheeks and wore a dumb expression on her face.
    tab “Well, look what the wind blew in girls.”
    tab They snickered.
    tab “It’s Loopy Lady Rosewood’s weakling daughter,” she jeered. Felitia simply stared blankly up at the red, patterned cloth covering the top of the bed frame.
    tab Let’s try ignorance; maybe that will annoy you.
    tab “Oi! I’m talking to you!” the girl shouted.
    tab “Yup, go ahead.” Just play it cool. They’ll get bored eventually.
    tab “Okay, let’s lay down some ground rules. And I’ll talk slowly and use simple words so that you can understand,” she said patronizingly.
    tab Felitia let out a little laugh.
    tab This girl’s so naïve. This should be a breeze.
    tab “What’s so funny?” she said sourly. Felitia looked directly at her, unblinking. The girl started to look slightly freaked out.
    tab “Stop looking at me. You’re making my skin crawl,” she said then shivered.
    tab Felitia let out another little laugh then looked above again.
    tab With pleasure.
    tab “Yeesh,” the girl said and folded her arms. “Anyway, I was saying, let’s lay down some ground rules. My name is Genevieve, but you’re gonna call me Miss Caimerode. I’m the boss around here so, as long as you do exactly what I say and respect me and my girls, I won’t bug you that much. You got it?”
    tab Felitia said nothing.
    tab “I said, you got it, b***h!”
    tab Felitia looked at her, then looked up again. Genevieve paced over to her and slapped Felitia across the face.
    tab “You got it!” she shouted. Felitia got up, confronting Genevieve, glaring at her.
    tab “Yeah, I’ve got it,” she spat.
    tab “Oh, so you think you’re tough.” She shoved Felitia.
    tab “Certainly tougher than you,” Felitia said as she shoved Genevieve back harder. Genevieve fell backwards onto Felitia’s bed. She picked herself up immediately.
    tab “You’ll pay for that, b***h!” Genevieve shouted, enraged. She aimed a slap at Felitia, who blocked it with her forearm, barely flinching. Genevieve suddenly felt quite intimidated.
    tab “Where d’ya learn how to do that?” she stuttered. Felitia inspected her nails seemingly unbothered.
    tab “I don’t know what you mean. I only know self defence and sword play. It’s not like I’m one who’s known to send grown men howling for their mothers or could easily decapitate a soldier from the armed guard back home,” she crudely replied.
    tab Maybe I exaggerated a bit with the decapitating part.
    tab “Now, maybe it’s time I laid down some ground rules. You have no right to order me around. I’ll just keep myself to my self and you won’t bother me. Just remember I’ve got the upper hand when it comes to fighting skills. You play it this way and no one gets seriously hurt. You got it?” she said, imitating the way Genevieve had talked to her.
    tab “b***h,” Genevieve muttered under her breath and walked away back to her clique. Felitia raised one eyebrow, not seeming the slightest bit put off by her comment.
    tab Looks like I’ve established myself a bit; Felitia Rowan Rosewood one, persecutors nil. She climbed back into her bed and after a while, fell asleep.