Thirteen

Leigh tried to keep herself awake for History class by pinching on her arm. But the steady monotone of History Mistress voice together with the after-lunch syndrome was making it difficult for her to do so. It didn't help that she already knew Ayortha's history by heart. She glanced sleepily at the other members of the class and found that almost everyone shared that same feeling.

Finally succumbing to the temptation, she lowered her head to take a nap. Yet before she could reach the deeper shores of sleep, she was jolted half-awake by something her teacher said.

"Now class, can anyone of you share your thoughts or views regarding the current issues in Ayortha?"

Her curiosity caught, she gave the class another look-over to see if anyone would bother to answer the teacher's question. No one appeared to be listening. She herself would have given her opinion but she was too lazy to. Tough luck for History Mistress. Shaking her head, she lay back once more to sleep.

"I have something to say about it."

Leigh was half-annoyed at the prospect that her sleep was once again disturbed. Naturally, since someone decided to answer, she'd have to listen. Her curiosity was stronger than her drowsiness at the moment. She turned to the speaker and was hugely surprised to find it was Jerric.

"So the prince has a mind of his own after all." she murmured sarcastically. A week had already passed since she slapped him and the dull bruise (she must have hit him harder than she thought) on his cheek was near gone. Nothing happened to Alla, thank goodness, but her hatred for him was still there.

"For one, I believe that the people there deserve whatever they're getting." Jerric explained seriously. "I have been to Ayortha and I've found it to be a wasteland, not because of the place itself, but of the people. I don't think that they have the right to complain on how they're being treated since they're not doing anything about it. For instance, the servants in the castle just go on with their submissive ways, glaring and all, but just that. They don't fight back. We've tackled about the ogres' uprising two hundred years ago and look at what happened: they were given the Fens in Kyrria to have a permanent community of their own, and they haven't been unjustly sanctioned ever since. Except if they commit crimes, of course. It's the same with the Ayorthaians. Look, if they hate the queen so much, why don't they overthrow her? She's just one against thousands, after all."

"Very insightful." History Mistress nodded, greatly impressed. "I can't say that I agree with you but you have a point. It has been very evident that you have been learning."

Leigh gritted her teeth, so indignant was she at his statement. Insightful, indeed! It was pure arrogance and plain ignorance. She narrowed her eyes angrily and stood up boldly. "Excuse me, History Mistress, but the problem with Ayortha is not her people but her leader. Saying that the people are not doing anything about how they're being treated is very biased and would only come from someone who seriously doesn't know what he's talking about. They know what—or who—they're up against. They're scared of the queen. That's why they're very careful about how they act. Naturally," she looked purposely at Jerric. "Someone who didn't experience what they've gone through wouldn't understand it and therefore have no right to judge by mere observation alone."

"And you have?" Jerric derided.

"Have what?"

"Experienced it firsthand."

"As a matter of fact…" Leigh broke off. "As a matter of fact, I did."

"So you're Ayorthaian?"

History Mistress, who was beginning to worry about the animosity between the two, chose to intervene. "Leigh, Jerric was only sharing his belief to the class. I'm sure everyone has their own and you have to respect that. I appreciate your views but let's not say something that would turn out to be false and would result to grave consequences." It sounded like a warning.

Leigh heard a few snickers. Pansy and her followers, of course.

He doesn't believe me. Nor does History Mistress and everyone else even if they heard me speak Ayorthaian. How could they? I don't look like one. "I am telling the truth! I am Ayorthaian, although I can't prove it right now. Believe me, I've lived as one of them and I know that they're not useless and apathetic."

The class abruptly ended there as Madame Emma's little bell tinkled—the signal that class was ended. As she passed by Jerric's seat while leaving, he spoke without looking at her. "That's what I meant. You say you're Ayorthaian. You say Ayorthaians are not apathetic. But then how come you're here and not there?"

"Are you implying that I came here to escape Ayortha?" Leigh frowned, stopping.

He shrugged.

She clenched her fist. The words hit home and she couldn't find anything to say back. She was mad. Mad that it was true in some sense, and she was mad that she couldn't even defend herself. "You-you know what?" She wanted to hurt him. "You're the most vile, selfish person on the planet and I'm sure if the good and kind queen ever heard of your views, she would surely be embarrassed to have you as a son!"

She brushed past him and hurried outside to the waiting Alla. "Ooh… I can't stand him. Let's get out of here. I need to cool down." she seethed, grabbing her friend's arm before she could even react.

A few moments later, they were sitting by the ledge overlooking the lake. Leigh was swinging her bare feet over the water while Alla was looking about nervously. "Aren't you afraid we'll get caught?"

"Nope." Leigh stretched her arms. "It feels good to be here. Away from everything. Just you, me, the water, the air." She took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of fresh water and grass. "I feel much better." She turned to Alla. "Don't you?"

Her friend laughed. "I was feeling fine to begin with. But yes, this is very refreshing."

Leigh stared at her reflection in the water in silence. Her reflection rippled as the wind blew on the water's surface. She had changed. The last time she saw her face on a mirror, and really looked at it with interest, not just a passing glance, was when she was still a maid in Ayortha. Her face wasn't as emaciated as it was then; her hair was still long, but more well-kept than wildly flying all over her face. She didn't have to hide her skin coloring anymore, but she still didn't like it since it only added a sickly look to her already frail stature. There was also a bit of color in her cheeks and fire in her eyes. But she knew the latter was the result of the argument she had with Jerric.

Suddenly… Her face wasn't as emaciated

"Soleil…"

Her reflection became distorted and was replaced by an image of a beautiful unearthly woman with shimmery golden hair and eerie light-filled eyes. A pale slender hand beckoned from the waters and the same soft tone called:

"Come…"

Leigh felt herself abandon, drowning in the strange woman's eyes. She found herself falling… falling…

"Leigh!"

Alla's arms grabbed her waist and pulled her back, to keep her from falling from the ledge. She snapped back into reality and realized that she had been leaning dangerously. Panic struck her then and she scampered backwards.

Plop!

"What do you think you were doing?" Alla demanded.

"Did you see that?" Leigh put her hand to her chest in a way to calm her racing heart.

"What?"

"The woman."

"No. I asked you something but you didn't answer and the next thing I knew, you were close to sliding of the ledge. Do you have a death wish or something?" Alla reprimanded.

Leigh shook her head as if the act could erase the image from her head. She peeked again at the lake and found nothing. "You're right. I must be hallucinating…" Her heartbeat was returning to normal. She saw her friend's anxious face and apologized. "Hey Alla, thanks for catching me. Sorry I made you worry."

"Yeah. Something fell, you know." Alla informed her, still pouting, clearly disturbed by what had happened.

"Really?" Leigh smoothed her skirt. "What was it?"

"I don't know. It was too fast, but it was a shiny glittery thing. Was it a piece of jewelry or something?"

Leigh felt a sick sense of dread. She put her hands into her pockets and felt nothing. "Oh no!" she groaned. It was her butterfly pin. The one Orco gave to her for her birthday the year before. Aside from the fact that it must have cost a lot of money, it also held a sentimental value for her. It was the only thing she had that reminded her of the past—and it was gone.

"I… I have to get it." she said feebly, although she knew how futile it sounded. She couldn't swim.

"You can't swim, Leigh." Alla read her thoughts. "I don't know how deep the lake is, even if there seemed to be plants visible beneath the surface, and besides you're not tall enough to climb back up."

"But…"

"Come on, just let it go. When I've earned enough money, I'll buy you a similar one."

"That's not it." It wouldn't be the same. But she finally nodded sadly, reluctantly. She felt uncomfortable with the thought that something dear to her was gone in a few reckless minutes. It was silly to feel that way and she tried to tell herself that it was only a pin.

The little bell sounded again. Leigh trudged back inside, together with a sympathetic Alla. After they said their goodbyes, Leigh hurried to her Dancing Class. She cursed silently when she realized that she was late. This was definitely not her day. Dancing Mistress never like her to begin with and now, she was going to have a field day for having a reason to pick on her.

But instead of sermons, Dancing Mistress was preoccupied discussing the new dance she was going to teach for that day. When Leigh entered, she found that everyone was already in pairs and that left her with, well, no one. Strange. They were supposed to be even in number. She got up the courage to ask Dancing Mistress about it.

Big mistake.

"That is exactly what I was talking about!" she scolded in her high-strung, nasal voice. "I do not tolerate lateness in my class and for punishment, you will have a test on the whole courante sequence before the class is over."

Leigh tried to look unaffected with the punishment, as always. "But that's my point! I don't have a partner."

There could be no more perfect timing than when Jerric chose to come in at that exact moment.

Dancing Mistress raised her eyebrows and said, "Now you do."

Jerric looked as surprised as she was. His hair was all messy, wet and stuck together and his clothes were mismatched and in disarray. Leigh felt insulted. She wanted to protest, but she knew it would be another mark against her.

As Jerric reluctantly went to her side, she hissed at him, "I know you don't care about all this, but do try. I need to make the grade." He said nothing.

The lesson began. Jerric's hands were clammy and cold, which was distracting Leigh from memorizing the steps. She was glowering all the time, but Jerric remained passive. All too soon, they were called in front to demonstrate what they had learned. Leigh prayed that they could pass, but knew deep down that it was near to impossible. She only hoped that she wouldn't make a fool out of herself again.

It started out okay. Jerric wasn't being hard to deal with, although he looked as though he would rather be swimming in a sea of spikes than dance with her. The courante was an upbeat dance and Leigh tried to appear lively, so as not to give Dancing Mistress the idea she got the better of her. Except that she was absolutely livid inside.

"Passion!" Dancing Mistress exerted with a flourish of her hand. "The courante is a dance of passion! More energy! Leigh, raise your arms higher! Jerric, you are a dancer in love not a marionette!"

Leigh's cheeks flamed at this. Her jaw hurt from all that feigned smiling, and ended up with her teeth clenched. She wanted the floor to swallow her up. How much longer was she to endure this? She swished her skirt side to side a little too violently. At least, with the exception of Pansy who was near-green, the rest weren't laughing. That meant that it was going okay, to say the least.

Squish.

What was that?

Squish. Squish.

Leigh involuntarily scowled at the sound. It sounded like Jerric's boots. She has this terrible feeling. He was up to something. Pansy was probably in conspiracy with him to humiliate her for what she did. Too late did she notice the small puddle on the floor when she executed the last skip. She slid and landed in the floor with her bottom.

Dancing Mistress helped her up. "Not quite the ending that I expected. The dance was not that properly executed but it will have to do I suppose." she sighed. "Leigh, Jerric, you both know how I abhor lateness as it would only result to my repeating the lesson all over again. Do avoid committing that same mistake again."

They both nodded in reply.

"And do be careful next time." She addressed the class this time. "Listen class, do not follow the way Leigh kicked her feet on that last step because it would only make you lose your balance."

Leigh turned red and protested. "I didn't! The floor was wet!" She pointed to the floor and realized that her skirt already sucked up the moisture when she fell. She turned to give Jerric a piece of her mind and saw a slightly apologetic look on his face. Which was most probably an act.

After being dismissed, Leigh waited until everyone left but Jerric before exploding on him.

"I suppose you're happy now? I gave you one, and you got back at me with this!" She buckled on a seat nearby. "You know what? I don't know what the heck is wrong with you! Why are you happy in giving people like me a hard time? I am so sick and tired of this. When I came here, I never expected this kind of horrid treatment." Without intending to, she felt a wetness in her cheek. "You are all cruel, cruel, sadistic people. All you think about is yourselves! And you call yourself a prince! A chamber pot cleaner deserves more respect than you!"

Jerric, again, said nothing.

"Why don't you speak? Are you afraid that you can't defend yourself?" she chided. She was angry and hurt and humiliated and she didn't care if she's insulting him. She wished that he would react. Even in anger, for at least she knew he was listening. Suddenly, Jerric walked over to her, dropped something on her desk and said in a hoarse voice, as if he hadn't spoken in years. "I am not selfish." He left her there then, openmouthed.

In her desk lay her sparkling butterfly pin.