~*~Chapter Three~*~

~*~Siren~*~

"Healers are a bunch of goody-two-shoes weaklings." Sara smirked.

Starlet glanced around discreetly. Lance was still on the other side of the field, and she didn't want to be running to him for help every ten minutes anyway. Nina was nowhere to be seen--off snuggling her newest boyfriend, no doubt.

And there wasn't a single teacher in sight.

Great.

Starlet turned her gaze back to the other girl. "Healers provide a service. You just sit around spending your daddy's money," she sneered. "And if not for healers, your mother wouldn't even be alive today." She had been in the house the day Sara's mother was brought in, suffering from a wasting disease. She had even been in the room when Delaz healed her.

Sara flinched slightly, then slapped Starlet across the face.

Starlet shifted, bracing herself for a fight. At eighteen, she had finally grown into the early promise of height. She was five feet, nine inches tall, and slender. A wild cascade of dark brown hair made a mass of waves and curls well past her waist. Her eyes were still the same bright green, dominating a pale, triangular face with slashing cheekbones. She had been a student in Delaz's healing house for thirteen years, and had never ceased to be grateful to the older woman for rescuing her from her birth mother. As far as she was concerned, Delaz was her mother.

But she was in school now, far from the comfort of Delaz's house, and Sara was determined to make her life miserable. The other girl was also tall, with streaming pale-blonde hair, and was prone to dress in clothing that very definitely pushed at the edges of the school's decency code. Today it was a red shirt tailored to fit like a second skin, with a neckline that dipped much farther than it should have. Black leather pants that left nothing to the imagination--and there was plenty about her figure to provoke imagination. Three-inch heels brought her to a total height of six foot one. She was staring down at Starlet, a cold smirk twisting her otherwise lovely features.

"Poor little Starlet," she mocked, "the healer's charity student. You don't belong with the rest of us. You never did."

Starlet couldn't very well refute that, since all of it was true. Instead, she tilted up her chin and met Sara's gaze. "At least I don't shame my mother by acting like a slut."

"Your mother is a drunkard!"

"My mother," Starlet said in a low, dangerous voice, "is the Healer Delaz. And she saved your mother's life."

Sara slapped her again. Starlet didn't flinch.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" The deep growl coming from behind her was most welcome. Starlet glanced over her shoulder and saw Lance, glowering at Sara. In her heels, the other girl was of a height with him, but he had more muscle. He moved forward until he was standing next to her and leveled his most intimidating glare at Sara. "I said, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"You ought to tell Delaz to keep her at home," Sara sneered. "We don't want the likes of her in this school."

Lance's right hand clenched into a fist. Starlet grabbed his arm and dug in her heels. He shifted his glare to her. She ignored him and looked at Sara instead. "You can spend more money every day than I'll ever have, Sara. You can call me names, you can strike me, you may do whatever you like. But you'll never be able to do this." Starlet brushed her fingertips over the split lip Sara had given her, healing it instantly. "And we both know, that's all that will ever matter to you."

"You little--" Sara lunged at her.

Lance stepped between them and blocked Sara with his arm. "Leave her alone."

"You won't always be able to hide behind Delaz and Lance," Sara hissed.

"She's never hidden behind anyone. And to the likes of you, rich girl, it's Healer Delaz." He waited till Sara stepped back, then slung a companionable arm around Starlet's shoulders. "C'mon, Star, Delaz wants us back early today."

Starlet obediently turned with him and headed toward the path that led out to the main road. "Bitch. Slut. Little rich idiot," she growled under her breath.

"You're better than her three ways," Lance remarked casually. Starlet glanced up at him, frowning slightly. He grinned. "Not a bitch, not a slut, and not an idiot," he clarified.

"Still...."

"Oh, Star, for the love of...You can't possibly mean to tell me you're actually listening to her?"

"What if she's right? All I have is--"

"All you have is a skill that most would kill for," Lance snapped. "You're just a healer, what good is that? You only possess an indispensable skill. And let's not forget that you're neither ugly nor stupid, so that's yet more that you have. Starlet, I love you but honestly, sometimes you have no more sense than a mouse!"

Stung, she stepped away and shrugged his arm off. "But I'm not that good at what I do," she said desperately. "Nina and Anya, Delaz, and you...you're all so much better than I am."

He stopped and looked at her, frowning. "So that's it," he mumbled. "Goddesses of Magic..."

Starlet turned and started walking. Lance took two long strides and was beside her again, his face drawn into a thoughtful frown. "It's Friday," he said out loud.

"No, really?" Starlet snapped.

"Star, the bitch act doesn't suit you. Cut it out."

She was truly tempted to hit him. Instead, she clenched her hands into fists until her nails cut her palms.

"Would you stop it?" The usual affectionate exasperation was back as he turned her hands palm up in his and inspected the cuts. Gold light crawled across her skin and the small bloody marks disappeared. "I can't always be around to fix you, silly," he added with a sigh.

"Nobody asked you to."

He muttered something she didn't quite catch, raking a hand through his hair. "Okay. How much homework have you got for the weekend?"

"Busywork," she said with an irritable flutter of her hand.

"Good. There's someone I want you to meet."

"Oh....you...Lance!"

He had to laugh at the aggrieved tone of voice and the sheer frustration she packed into his name. "Problems, Starry?"

"Don't call me that," she growled. "And yes, there are problems. Isn't it enough that Delaz is trying set me up with everybody she can find?"

Now he really laughed. "Well, that's not my intention in this case, though if it happens, who am I to argue? Anyway, what I intended was for you to meet my friend Blade."

"Right. And you say you're not setting me up."

"I'm not! Calm down, Starry." He deliberately used the nickname, and grinned when she snarled. "Oh, cut it out. Silly Star." He herded her up the steps to Delaz's house, and completely failed to notice the tall blonde behind them, who was glaring at them with deep-rooted anger.