Olivia Silvertongue sucked in her breath. Behind her, even the cool, calm,
Anya looked astonished. The hall was huge. Made of marble, with swords and
plaques hung all over the wall, with a statue made entirely of gold of a
girl with books and a pine marten daemon coiled around her legs. Both
Olivia and her daemon, in the form of the fierce cat, and Anya with her
settled sleek panther daemon, gasped, and Olivia, leaning towards the
statue to read the inscription, it said Boarding School's most famous
scholar and althieometer reader, Lyra Silvertongue- Belequa. The first
otherworldly explorer and Dust studier. Olivia nearly fainted, her eyes
growing wide. "That's my mother." She said shakily. She ran her finger
absentmindedly along Pan's gorgeous plated-gold fur and the porter smiled
at her. "Yes, Olivia, your famous mother was quite an inspiration for the
children here." Olivia had no idea what these people meant. She started to
back away. "My mama en't no otherworld explorer. Sh-she is just a mother
and a Scholar when she got spare time." And with that, Olivia, daughter of
Eve, ran out of the building.
Shaky fingers wrote the letter to her mother. It went something like this:
Dear Mama,
It's Olivia. No, nothing is wrong, except for the fact that you are a liar. I saw the statue of you in the corridor. Lyra Silvertongue. Hmph. Silvertongue, my foot. A fancy word for LIAR. Althieometer reader. OTHERWORLD EXPLORER! Mama, you told me you were a scientist. What the hell is dust? You have a lot to explain, and you better do it fast. (oh, and my roommate is a girl named Anya Ein'Kaa, who knows your name and thinks I am "daughter of eve" and mentions people named iorek byrnstien.) Okay? Write back soon, and tell me what the hell is going on.
Olivia
Olivia walked out of her dorm, feeling somewhat satisfied. It was morning. The whole thing had been smoothed over, and her first class was Speaking. She walked into the class and shakily selected a seat. The teacher, who's name was apparently Mrs. Amakkla, and had rosy cheeks and red hair, and a very strong accent of some kind. She instructed Anya and Olivia to stand up and say something about themselves. Anya, of course, went first.
"Hello, class" Anya owned the room. The whole room was mesmerized by the short, commanding child.
"My name is Anya Ein'Kaa, and I am the daughter of an elfin king and a Witch mother. My father died in battle, and I was raised by Iorek Byrnstien, an armored bear king, the ruler of Svalbard. My mother, the witch Serifina Pekkela, has taken me on all of her adventures, and I can fly with cloud pine." Anya took a breath. The class never took their eyes off her.
Anya finished and bowed, and even the teacher shook herself. The class stared at the mesmerizing little girl. Now it was Olivia's turn.
Olivia sighed and croaked. "Er.I'm Olivia, and I really like to draw, especially cats, and I think this school is really pretty and hope that I have a good year." The class was restless. She noticed one girl passing a note to another red haired, freckled girl. Probably about what a freak she was. She had to do something. The word came to her. "Lie."
So Olivia told a story of her childhood, being raised in Jordan and then having Gobblers abduct her best friend, and of her accidental betrayal to him, and vow to avenge him. She traveled to the outermost regions of the north and see the city in the Lights and cross to other worlds. She had no idea where any of this came from. It seemed like she wasn't saying it, wasn't moving her mouth, and, for a while, she imagined her fierce-eyed mother doing all of the talking, although she had never known her mother as anything but docile and honest. Then she told a story of falling in love with a boy from another world, then of having to leave him. Little did Olivia know that most was true, only of not her own time, but her mother's. She hardly heard the bell ring, as she engaged the class in stories from the land of the dead, and of the mulefa. When the bell did ring, everything seemed to fall back into place, and she was not intrepid Lyra anymore, she was shy, awkward Olivia. As the students walked from the room, Anya caught up to her, poised beautifully. "Olivia." She said, and her tone was unnaturally serious. "That wasn't true of you, was it?" Olivia blanched. "No," Anya answered herself. "But it was true of your mother." Then Anya strode off to her next class.
Shaky fingers wrote the letter to her mother. It went something like this:
Dear Mama,
It's Olivia. No, nothing is wrong, except for the fact that you are a liar. I saw the statue of you in the corridor. Lyra Silvertongue. Hmph. Silvertongue, my foot. A fancy word for LIAR. Althieometer reader. OTHERWORLD EXPLORER! Mama, you told me you were a scientist. What the hell is dust? You have a lot to explain, and you better do it fast. (oh, and my roommate is a girl named Anya Ein'Kaa, who knows your name and thinks I am "daughter of eve" and mentions people named iorek byrnstien.) Okay? Write back soon, and tell me what the hell is going on.
Olivia
Olivia walked out of her dorm, feeling somewhat satisfied. It was morning. The whole thing had been smoothed over, and her first class was Speaking. She walked into the class and shakily selected a seat. The teacher, who's name was apparently Mrs. Amakkla, and had rosy cheeks and red hair, and a very strong accent of some kind. She instructed Anya and Olivia to stand up and say something about themselves. Anya, of course, went first.
"Hello, class" Anya owned the room. The whole room was mesmerized by the short, commanding child.
"My name is Anya Ein'Kaa, and I am the daughter of an elfin king and a Witch mother. My father died in battle, and I was raised by Iorek Byrnstien, an armored bear king, the ruler of Svalbard. My mother, the witch Serifina Pekkela, has taken me on all of her adventures, and I can fly with cloud pine." Anya took a breath. The class never took their eyes off her.
Anya finished and bowed, and even the teacher shook herself. The class stared at the mesmerizing little girl. Now it was Olivia's turn.
Olivia sighed and croaked. "Er.I'm Olivia, and I really like to draw, especially cats, and I think this school is really pretty and hope that I have a good year." The class was restless. She noticed one girl passing a note to another red haired, freckled girl. Probably about what a freak she was. She had to do something. The word came to her. "Lie."
So Olivia told a story of her childhood, being raised in Jordan and then having Gobblers abduct her best friend, and of her accidental betrayal to him, and vow to avenge him. She traveled to the outermost regions of the north and see the city in the Lights and cross to other worlds. She had no idea where any of this came from. It seemed like she wasn't saying it, wasn't moving her mouth, and, for a while, she imagined her fierce-eyed mother doing all of the talking, although she had never known her mother as anything but docile and honest. Then she told a story of falling in love with a boy from another world, then of having to leave him. Little did Olivia know that most was true, only of not her own time, but her mother's. She hardly heard the bell ring, as she engaged the class in stories from the land of the dead, and of the mulefa. When the bell did ring, everything seemed to fall back into place, and she was not intrepid Lyra anymore, she was shy, awkward Olivia. As the students walked from the room, Anya caught up to her, poised beautifully. "Olivia." She said, and her tone was unnaturally serious. "That wasn't true of you, was it?" Olivia blanched. "No," Anya answered herself. "But it was true of your mother." Then Anya strode off to her next class.