I do not own Valdemar or most of the characters. They belong to Mercedes Lackey.
This was my first ever attempt at fanfiction, which I wrote several years ago but did not post. Please review. I will try to update regularly because the story is complete.
means thoughts
"" spoken words
:: mind speech
Karolyn walked down the road delivering papers and thinking about her new school. The advertisements said it was for gifted children, by which it meant, or seemed to mean, those with an extra high IQ. Her own was up near 200 but she usually didn't think about that. What she was thinking about was the big grounds behind the school, which was full of horses. They were ordinary enough when she looked at them straight on but when she had been out there earlier that day as one of her classmates was showing her around the school and grounds she had noticed that from the corner of her eye the horses looked white. It was really weird.
She had just moved to town for this school, having gone through several and making a few friends, but she felt different about this place, especially since it was a boarding school. She had taken up this newspaper route to earn pocket money and save up in the bank for something, maybe a horse, she thought. That would be better than walking, although she wasn't sure if she could afford the keep of it.
Karolyn began to sing. She wished she had brought a book, but after all, she had read enough to have plenty of stories in her head anyway. She loved the old legends from when Valdemar was young and there had been many adventures. She wasn't really sure whether she actually believed some of the stories she had read which had involved magic and deities but she couldn't bring herself to completely disbelieve them either.
She finished delivering papers and decided that maybe she could save up for a bicycle. She crossed the busy street at the intersection while the various bicycles, carriages, and rarely solar cars, which had been invented a few years earlier by a graduate of her own school, which was known as the Collegium for some reason. Classes would start tomorrow and she had barely settled into her room. Her classmates had been there for several days. She thought about home and decided she was glad she had her own room since she had had to share with her younger sister most of her life at home.
That evening she headed to the girls' bathroom, which had shower stalls, private bathtubs and a large Jacuzzi, which was tonight crammed with older girls who were no longer so body shy around their own gender. She opted for a quick shower and started back to her room. On her way, she met Jacy, who had shown her around.
"Man, are you lucky!" Jacy said. "How did you manage to get a job so quickly?"
"Well," Karolyn replied, "before I came here, I used to have a paper route. I told that to the lady a the paper office who called my old boss and realized that Elinor (that was my old boss's name) used to be her closest friend and they still send Midwinter cards and stuff. Since Elinor vouched for me, I was hired on the spot and given a map. I survived my first day at work; all I'm worried about now is school tomorrow."
"Don forget the wake-up bell rings at seven-thirty and breakfast is at eight. And of course your assigned chore is dishes. And don't forget to pick up your uniform which should be adjusted by now." Jacy reminded her in almost one breath.
"Thanks." Karolyn said gratefully, "Think you could lead me down there? This a big building and I barely remembered where my room and the bathroom are."
"No problem. Afterward, I'll take you over to the dining hall for supper and introduce you to my friends. I think you're going to like it here. By the way, if I didn't tell you earlier, the reason I know my way around here so well is that my older sister Caitlan goes here so I used come and visit her, and now I'm Chosen… I mean, the school accepted me as well. Come on, let's go get the clothes; I'll let you change into them real quick so you won't feel out of place."
Karolyn started to warm to the other girl but she wondered what her new friend had been about to say. Chosen…? By whom? When they got to the dining hall, she was exuberantly greeted by all of the kids at the table to which Jacy had led her. She began to feel like this was the home she had always wanted without knowing it.