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Chapter Four: Essays and Secrets
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-Fae Empire: Girls' Training Institution-
Ayslin sighed as she stared at the blank sheet of paper on her desk. Her teacher had gotten frustrated with her vehement attitude against humans and sent her to an empty study room, away from her classmates. Nii Sarin had assigned her an essay to write too, while she "consulted with her superiors".
It was awful, really. Not only was her future being decided right now, but it was happening because she was voicing and defending opinions that she believed to be untrue. Her entire life depended on her ability to maintain an effective facade. No girl her age should have to think in such a sly way, to be so suspicious of everyone and everything around her, and not even be able to show it.
She pushed the thoughts filling her mind to one side. No amount of worrying would influence her fate, and she still had an essay to write. She twirled her pen in her fingers thoughtfully as she considered her topic. A page or more on the Sylph-clan of the Fae, while not impossible, wasn't particularly easy either, especially when her Nii had remembered to specify that her printing be small and neat.
To appear busy, Ayslin dipped her pen in the inkwell and chewed thoughtfully on her lip. Carefully, she titled the blank sheet, adding her name, group number, and her teacher's name. Then, after a few minutes of thought, she began to write.
Sylphs are one of the five Fae clans, and tied to air and wind. They prefer the open fields to habituate, but can be found anywhere. Like all Fae, they can change size at will, but not exceed the height of a tall human. Of the clans, Sylphs have the most pure, raw magic power, although Ondines have the greatest ability to heal.
Sylphs hold power in the Fae ruling hierarchy due to their magic power and multiple noble families. Sylphs have high positions both in the King's Advisors and and in the Enforcers, the elite guards in the Kingdom.
More like elite bullies and assassins, Ayslin thought bitterly. Enforcers were the obedient children of the Fae nobles, on beck and call for missions of all types, from bodyguards for the more powerful noblefae to "dealing with troublemakers", which meant the quieting by any means necessary of discontent or rebellious commonfae. It was a sad system, Ayslin knew, and there was nothing she could do about it. At least, nothing right now. Someday, however, a large number of pompous, corrupt, disgusting, puppeteering fae would find themselves in a very uncomfortable position.
Ayslin smiled coldly to herself, and continued writing. However, the thought of the Enforcers disrupted her concentration from her writing. The Enforcers was the reason for her "unusual and slightly disconcerting behavior", as she had once heard one teacher say to another when speaking about her.
After all, she was not scared of Humans as her classmates were, though not for the reasons her teachers suspected. She believed that the stories her father had told her during her short visits home were true, and the school's "truths" had no effect on her that she didn't initiate consciously.
Unfortunately, she could do nothing about her lot as a member of Fae society, but she could try and avoid being nothing more than a meek, frightened wife of some noble. When girls did not react in fear to the abominations Humans supposedly committed, they were transferred to the boys' classes, and trained to think of humans with such hatred that it could be called an art form.
She would be taught to fight, and think, and plan, and would be given as much respect as was possible for a Fae-woman to earn. Once she graduated from school, she could have her pick of jobs, and if she could act well enough, she might even manage to pass the rigorous entrance requirements of the Enforcers...
And once she her supposed "loyalty" to the Noblefae had been proven strong enough to merit a rank in the Enforcers, there was no telling what she could do. She would only have to wait for the right moment.
Sylphs tend to hold jobs in Fae society as Enforcers, or as messengers, because their lands connect to most other Fae areas, and their wings make it easy to travel between Fae habitats. The wings of Sylphs are transparent, and can disappear or reappear at will. This is a part of Faes' powers of disguise, which allows them to take on the appearance of humans.
Ayslin considered her last sentence for a moment, then carefully erased the word "human" and replaced it with "the lesser race". She was a human-hater, and had to show it, no matter how much it privately disgusted her.
She sighed inwardly. The things she did in order to be able to someday search for, (and hopefully find), truth, justice, and the proper way of things. The Fae world was corrupt, she knew that for a fact, and there seemed to be no way to change it. Yet.
Somewhere, there was a way, and someday, she would find it. But she wondered how long she could pretend without being adversely affected. Hopefully, long enough.
I'll find the truth, Papa, and tell the rest of the world, no matter what happens.
Hopefully.
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In a private room, a scrying mirror on one of the walls showed Ayslin as she wrote at her desk. A man and a woman stood near it, talking together and occasionally glancing at the mirror.
"You are sure about this, Sarin?"
"Yes, Sir," the female said respectfully. "She is not like other girls. She is... difficult. She does not react as her classmates do, and causes disturbances while I teach. One could even call her overzealous."
"Strange, for a female to react so strongly, and against the normal way."
"Rare, Sir, certainly. Speaking from experience, Sir, she should be transferred immediately to the extremist class in the boys' institution. Keeping her here will do no good for anyone, and she could even be a danger if she remains."
"You are her Nii, Sarin, so I suppose your judgment is trustworthy in this matter. If you say she should be transferred, then we will do so as soon as possible. Hopefully she will do better in the different environment."
"If anything will work, Sir, it's this. The chance to work out her anger can only be good for her."
"Yes. Well, Sarin, I'll leave you to get back to your other girls. From what your colleagues tell me, you do good work with them."
"Thank you, Sir. I do my best."
"Indeed." The man nodded, and the woman turned to leave.
"Sarin."
The woman paused at the door. "Yes, Sir?"
"How did you reach your position? Even here, with the girls, there are mostly men teachers."
The woman smiled. "I was unique as well, Sir. However, I was not so… extreme as young Ayslin. For those such as me, there are special classes that other students know nothing about. We are allowed into the circle, Sir, because we have the mindset for it. Ayslin's sort are too headstrong, and while they might make good warriors, they will never be the schemers."
"An interesting choice of words, Sarin. Dismissed."
The woman disappeared into the main halls of the institution, leaving the man alone with his thoughts.
"The schemers... but who is to say that the warriors can never scheme too, Sarin? You never asked where I came from, after all." He smiled to himself. "Warriors can make the best schemers, Sarin, because they're not expected to be."
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AN: I'm sorry! I've neglected you awfully! I really, really, hate writer's block. During this downtime, though, I've managed to plot out more of the story, which is a good thing.
A little more into Ayslin's character, since she has a rather short scene before. And, we wonder, will she make it through ten years of pretending unscathed? I don't even know yet. :P And Nii is the Fae word for teacher or instructor, just to clarify.
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Reviewer thanks:
PyroChic: Bravo, masterful guesswork. I tried to keep the boys' names close to their original ones, but unique too. I couldn't stand having another Zoi-turned-Zach. -.-
Lilian: I still can't believe I have reviews from you! ::huggles happily:: Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Denial: I won't, I promise! No matter how long it takes, I'll definitely see this story to the end. After all, I want to find out what happens.
Elette: Ahhh! Yes'm, whatever you say! ::scurries off to write::
DoOdles: Thank ye!
Kaze: And again, thank ye. I try hard to write well, and balance between dialogue and description.
Dragon Angel3: I'm so glad that I'm making people want more, I'm always afraid that people will lose interest and stop reading.
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Thank you all for your encouragement! See you next time.
Ocianne
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