"No, no, no, you have to keep your head up as you walk," Lady Katarina scolds Maria for the tenth time in the last five minutes. "A servant of mine must walk with more pride than that. People will think poorly of me if they see you with your head down. Do you want rumours to spread about me mistreating you?"
"No," Maria shakes her head as she returns to her starting position.
"That's no, ma'am," Katarina reminds her. "I may have let it slide in class, but from now on, you must address me properly."
So far Maria has been surprised by her training. She thought at first Katarina would be showing her where to put her clothes once they were washed or how she needs assistance getting ready in the morning, but instead, Maria finds herself learning how to walk like a proper lady. For nearly an hour now, Maria has been pacing back and forth in Katarina's room with the noble girl tearing apart every attempt she makes. First, Maria found herself scolded when she struggled to walk in heels. Then, she nearly tripped, and now Maria finds herself scolded for keeping her head down low.
"Anybody in my service must be looking proud to be so," Katarina continues. "Now once more, go back to the start and begin again."
"Yes, ma'am," Maria replies, probably before going back to the start.
Another hour passes before Katarina is happy that Maria can finally walk. Maria is starting to feel like a little kid again as Katarina spends the rest of the day teaching her how to sit appropriately, address her and always stay a few steps behind her when she walks. The only instructions Katarina does give her on how to take care of her is where to put her dirty clothes and what time to come to her room tomorrow morning. By the time they are finally down, Maria is feeling exhausted and could not wait to leave.
"I suppose that is all we have time for today," Katarina tells Maria as she glances out at the darkness of the night outside her bedroom window. "You are dismissed for no, but don't forget you are to come to my room an hour before class starts tomorrow."
"I won't forget, ma'am," Maria says before collecting her things.
"And one more thing," Katarina stops her before Maria could leave. "I will arrange for a tailor to take your measurements tomorrow after school for your uniform."
Maria sighs in relief as she finally leaves Katarina's room, feeling like a tremendous pressure has been lifted off her chest once the door has been shut. Katarina has a terrifying presence that Maria is glad to be away from, even if it means she must walk through the dark candlelight halls of the noble dorm.
It is eerie how quiet it is. Maria can only hear faint murmurs from behind clothes doors. Still, even those voices could easily pass as whispers of a trapped spirit. Maria hurries through the halls, not wanting to chance running into one of the nobles that spend their days tormenting her. She rushes through the halls, down the grand staircase and puts her hands on the handle of the door. But then Maria finds herself stopped by the clearing of a throat.
"Looks like we have a little thief here, ladies,"
Maria gulps as she turns to find the trio of girls who inflect the worse of the bullying she suffers. Lady Aurore Heard is in the middle of the group. She has long red hair, amber eyes and pale skin that looks like she never set foot in the sun before. Maria had heard she was very sick as a child and saw her always walking around with an umbrella even when there was no cloud in the sky. Even now, Maria notices that Aurore has her umbrella up and resting on her shoulder despite being inside. Lady Emeline Fitget, whose family controls the land where Maria's village is located to her left. Emeline family may be low down in the noble sociality, but even she is accepted in the school, unlike Maria. Emeline hair dark black shoulder-length hair and piercing brown eyes that Maria has come to fear. Emeline has bullied Maria longer than anyone else. The final girl is called Crystal Fallow. Unlike the others, she never actually bullies Maria. She only stands by and watches. Crystal has waist-length blue hair and shiny blue eyes. Maria had heard a rumour that she was even considered to be engaged to prince Gerald Stuart, but Katarina ended up becoming his bride instead.
Now the three girls close in and surround Maria. They glare at her while Maria's eyes widen at the sight of Emeline's fingers. They start glowing blue before water increases them, which quickly freezes and turning into blades of ice that tips her fingers. Aurore raises one of her hands as a fireball forms in her palm. Maria gulps and backs up until her back hits the door. She can feel her heart race. Never have they used magic on her. They usually just berate her until she cries. Maria has heard them insult her in every way possible, from calling her every name under the sun to calling her mother a noble man's whore. The comments about her mother always bring Maria to tears. She could handle the comments about herself but not those made about the woman who raised and cared for her.
"Let me guess, you thought you could sneak in here and take some valuables," Aurore says as she closes in. "To bad for you that we caught you in the act."
"We should teach her a lesson on why it is wrong to be a thief before we turn her in," Emeline suggests as Maria feels the coldness from her ice bladed fingers drawing closer. "No one will care what happens to this commoner. Even others of her kind know she is no good."
"Do you have anything to say for yourself, thief?" Aurore asks, pulling her arm back, looking like she is ready to throw her fireball.
"I'm not a thief," Maria replies, bracing herself for the scorching fire and chilling cuts that are sure to follow.
"Than what is a commoner like you doing in the nobles dorm?" Emeline demands to know, slashing Maria.
Maria cries out as the icy blades cut through the sleeve of her dress and draw blood from her skin underneath. She clutches her arm and is relieved to find she is not bleeding that badly. It is nothing but a light cut, but it still stings enough to make Maria wince. She looks at her attackers, finding them showing her no remorse for pity. Aurore still looks like she is ready to burn her while Emeline smiles, seeing Maria in pain. Crystal is the only one that Maria sees is not intent on causing her more harm. Crystal watches from behind the other two looking like she is watching a theatrical performance rather than an assault.
"Well, commoner," Aurore raises an eyebrow. "We are waiting to hear why you are here."
"She has no excuse," Emeline tells her friend. "She is just trying to get out of trouble since we caught her in the act. She is just like her mother. Leeching of our noble blood to line her own pockets. Well, it didn't work for that whore, and it won't work for you."
"I was…" Maria can feel tears forming at the corner of her eyes.
"You were what?" Emeline asks, getting ready for another slash.
"I was…" Maria stutters, closing her eyes, expecting to be cut again any second now. "Helping Lady Claes…"
All three of them laugh hearing that. The bullies laugh so much that they cannot control their magic anymore. Emeline's ice blades melt into a pool of water beneath her while Aurore's fireball flickers and dies out like the last breaths of life from a dying fireplace. Even Crystal starts laughing at Maria's answer.
"Nice try, commoner," Aurore says after composing herself. She reignites her fireball and moves it close enough to Maria that she can feel the heat. "But your silver tongue won't get you out of this mess."
Maria can feel the heat getting closer. She can feel her skin starting to burn as it moves to only millimetres away from her cheek.
"Maybe we should leave a little mark," Aurore comments. "That way, everyone will be able to tell that a no-good thief is in the presence."
Maria can feel tears leave her eyes and roll down her cheeks. She does not think Aurore is joking and or that the other two will stop her.
"What do you think you are doing?!"
Maria can feel the fireball quickly taken away as a voice ring out. Full of authority, pride, and even sounding a little angry, that one single voice causes all three girls to jump away from the commoner girl. Slowly Maria opens her eyes and sees her savour. Lady Katarina Claes descends the grand staircase and walks towards her, giving the three bullies a look that could kill. She quickly moves to stand between Maria and her bullies protecting her from any more attempts to cause her harm.
"Care to explain why it is that you have miss Campbell cornered and are threatening her with your magic?" Katarina asks her bullies, causing the girls to look at each other as they shake in fear.
"We just… we just caught this thief!" Aurore finally replies, shooting a glare at Maria. "We found this commoner in the nobles dorm. She even tried to sully your name by saying she was here helping you."
"Miss Campbell is telling the truth," Katarina responds, causing the bullies to turn several shades paler. "Miss Fallow, you were in Professor Saunders class this morning, care to repeat the excuse miss Campbell, and I used for being that."
"You said… you said you had a family emergency, and miss Campbell was assisting you…" Crystal hesitantly replies after a moment of silence.
"And as you can see, I still required the aid of miss Campbell which is why she is here in the noble's dorm," Katarina continues. "So now that we have her reason for being her clear, can someone tell me why it is that miss Campbell's dress is torn and she is bleeding? Even if you were trying to capture a thief, this is too much."
"It was an accident," Emeline tries to explain. "I lost control of my magic when I tried to retrain her."
"I find that hard to believe," Emeline's head drops the moment she hears those words. "I remember from our magical training lessons that you have perfect control over your magic, miss Fitget."
"I was tired… and not as focused as I should have been," Emeline stutters out her next excuses.
"I already have a good idea as to why miss Campbell is bleeding, so stop with the excuses," Katarina glares at Emeline. "I know about what the three of you and many others have been doing to miss Campbell when you think no one is watching. I can quickly get the three of you expelled after the things I have witnessed. Unless you want to go home in disgrace, I suggest you leave miss Campbell alone."
"We are sorry!" The trio of bully's yelp before running off with their tails between their legs.
Maria watches them leave, surprised that anyone could send them running away like that. She never would have thought she would see the day when her bullies would run from her with fear in their eyes. Once she is sure they are gone, Katarina turns to Maria. Her eyes fall onto the commoners still bleeding arm and growing stain of blood.
"I will make sure they replace your dress later," Katarina says, much calmer now that the bullies are gone. "For now, please come with me, and I will see to it that our dorms nurse treats your arm."