The Curious Sapphire

Rose did not get much time to focus on the events at the Ashmolean since she had to finish the last little bits of her enrolment at Oxford as well as packing to move.

Oxford had three terms - the Michaelmas Term from early October to early December, the Hilary Term from mid January to mid March, and the Trinity Term from the end of April to the end of June. The Michaelmas Term was due to start on the 7th of October for the first years, but the date of arrival was the 5th of October for most UK students.

Once she had her student IT access set up on her brand new laptop which was a joint gift from Jack and River, Rose was surprised to see she already had an email from her college, inviting her to a meeting just a day after arriving.

As the date of departure grew closer, Rose checked and double-checked her to-do list. Her accommodation had been sorted out as well, and Rose made a careful budget on River's advice.

On the morning of the 7th, Mickey came over to help carry Rose's luggage and boxes down to the car which he was borrowing from his mate. Rose had also bought a second hand bicycle on Azalea's advice, which Mickey hitched carefully to the back of the car.

The drive felt long, mostly because Rose was nervous and her mother talked the whole way through about being cautious about the posh people and keeping her head down. When they finally reached Hertford College, Rose was the first one out of the car.

There were several people around the college and the main quad, students and families who looked extremely busy. Rose left her mum and Mickey to man the car, and went to the Porter's Lodge after being directed by Riley, one of the members of the Freshers' Committee.

Riley checked the list and informed her that her room was on the second floor of one of the buildings in the New Buildings Quad which also had the college bar in the basement, and a gym as well as laundry on premises. Her bicycle was registered and parked away, and he showed her where the porters kept the repair kit and spare air pump.

He gave Rose the key to her room and between him and Mickey, Rose's things were moved into the room. The room wasn't too big and only had space for a king-size single bed, a desk and chair, some shelves and bookcases, a built-in wardrobe, and a chair by the window.

There were four other bedrooms on the floor, shared bathroom facilities on each end of the floor, and a shared kitchen space on the floor as well.

"It's pretty much similar on all other floors," explained Riley. "Only first years live on the main site for the most part. Second year and beyond usually move to the Folly Bridge accommodation or go to North Oxford instead to rent one of the townhouses."

"But it's still college accommodation, isn't it?" asked Rose.

"It is," nodded Riley. "We're lucky here at Hertford; they offer accommodation for all years of education. Most colleges only offer it for first years and then you have to rent privately which is stupidly expensive." Riley grinned and consulted his clipboard. "All of your neighbours on this floor are first years, so that should be some comfort," he said. "You'll need to complete your registration and get your student card. Registration sessions start on the hour. Did you take a tour when you came for your interview?"

"I did," nodded Rose.

"Good, but there will be a refresher when you do the registration session," he said.

"Thank you," said Rose, and Riley took his leave, waving goodbye to Mickey and her mum.

"Well, then," said Jackie, looking around the room. "Let's start unpacking."

"Mum, it's alright," chuckled Rose. "You two have a long drive back home. I'll be fine. Really," she insisted, when Jackie protested.

"Oh, alright then," conceded Jackie and held out her arms. "Come and give us a hug."

Rose grinned and hugged her mother tightly, and kissed her cheek as she pulled away. "I love you, mum," she said. "I'll see you soon."

"Yeah," said Jackie, looking a bit teary-eyed but pressed a kiss on her forehead. "You call if you need anything, alright?"

"I will," she said, and turned to Mickey. "Thanks for the help, Micks," she said, giving him a hug as well.

"Take care, Rose," he said, hugging her back.

"You too," she grinned. She walked them back to the car and waved goodbye as they drove away. It felt oddly emotional even though she knew rationally that she could hop on a train and be home in a few hours.

Swallowing against the lump in her throat, she texted River to let her know she had arrived safely and headed back to her room. Since it was just after 1 in the afternoon, Rose decided to attend the 2 pm registration session. Unpacking took less time than expected and the bare room looked much nicer once Rose had her own sheets on the bed and her own things around.

She went and explored the shared facilities which were neat and sparkling clean, which was a relief. A few minutes before 2, she went to the Porter's Lodge and was directed to one of the other members, who double-checked her registration, before handing her a thick binder with an envelope on top. She was also assigned a pigeonhole in the Porter's Lodge to receive letters and documents.

The envelope contained her student card, the timetable for the Freshers' Week and details for the matriculation ceremony on the Saturday at the end of the first week of term. The binder had various things like the codes of conduct, campus maps and other miscellaneous guidebooks for reference. A quick tour followed, and Rose took note of the mealtimes for the large dining hall.

It was still only a little after 3, so Rose decided to return to her room, but saw a girl around her age struggling to carry a large box up the stairs.

"Do you need help?" asked Rose.

The girl paused and looked at Rose, her eyes going wide. She was about the same height and age as Rose, and had curly blonde hair tied in a messy bun and bright blue eyes, dressed casually in a pair of jeans and a dark blue jumper. She looked very taken aback when she saw Rose, and didn't say anything.

"Hello?" asked Rose. "Are you alright?"

She blinked and then nodded quickly. "No, yes, I'm fine," she said, quickly, and Rose was not expecting the Northern accent but it suited her somehow.

"What floor are you going to?" asked Rose.

"Second," she said.

"Me too," said Rose, and grabbed the box on one side. "Come on, I'll give you a hand."

She blinked a few more times before nodding again. "Thank you," she said, as they began making their way up the stairs. The box wasn't heavy, just large, but it was easier to carry between the two of them.

"I'm Rose, by the way," she said. "Rose Tyler."

"Miranda," she said. "D-Dawkins."

"Nice to meet you," said Rose, as they climbed past the first floor. "First year?"

"Yeah," she said. "Mathematics. You?"

"First year. Arch and Anth," said Rose. "Maths, really?"

"Yeah," she said. "I love numbers."

"To each their own," chuckled Rose, as they reached the second floor. To Rose's surprise, Miranda walked over to the room right next to Rose's. "Oh, we're neighbours," said Rose.

"Seems so," said Miranda, as they set the box down. Her room was yet to be unpacked and she was glancing around a bit apprehensively. "This is going to take me a long time."

"You need a hand?" asked Rose.

"Really?" asked Miranda.

"Yeah, I'm already unpacked and I've done the registration. I haven't really got anything on until dinner," shrugged Rose.

"Thank you, R-Rose," she said, stumbling just a bit over her name.

Rose just smiled as she and Miranda began unpacking her room. She had a lot of books on mathematics that looked too advanced for Rose to even open. She also had clothes that appeared expensive enough for Rose to know her family was well-off.

Miranda needed to complete her registration, so Rose bid her goodbye and returned to her room. Rose thought she was a bit odd, but fairly nice otherwise. An hour later, she was going through the binder in her room when there was a knock on her door.

"Hi, Rose," said Miranda, when Rose opened the door. "I've finished my registration."

She was glancing around awkwardly and Rose wondered if she was just a bit shy. "That's good," grinned Rose. "I'm just planning for the next few days. Come in."

Miranda perked up when Rose invited her in and she closed the door and took a seat in the chair by the window. "What do you mean, planning?"

"I have a meeting with my college tutor first thing in the morning tomorrow," said Rose. "And then Friday is induction day for the School of Archaeology followed by a reception in the evening. I definitely want to go to the Freshers' Fair as well, so I'm just trying to work out how I do all that."

"I want to go to the Freshers' Fair, too," said Miranda. "We could...go after your meeting in the morning?"

"Sure," grinned Rose, and glanced at her watch. "Almost time for dinner. Wanna go?"

Miranda nodded, and Rose shut her notebook. Rose double checked she had her student card and room key before they went to the dining room.

"We have to use our student card to buy food, don't we?" asked Miranda.

"Yeah, and they send us the invoice at the end of the term," said Rose. The food looked fairly decent, so Rose got the standard dinner that day which was roast chicken, with a side of mashed potatoes, peas, carrots, broccoli, and a slice of banoffee pie for dessert. Miranda chose the vegetarian option of spinach and cheddar quiche, with a side of coleslaw and garden salad, and the banoffee pie for dessert.

"I'm not a vegetarian," explained Miranda, as they took their food out to the dining room and sat at one of the tables. "The quiche just looked really good."

Rose laughed and glanced around to see there were a few people here and there, either sitting alone or with friends. No one really paid them much mind, so Rose and Miranda ate together, conversing easily.

She learned Miranda was from a small village near Manchester (unsurprisingly, given her accent) and had been homeschooled (which explained some of her awkwardness, thought Rose). Rose asked about her family but she just got very quiet, so Rose changed the subject.

At Rose's insistence, they went to the college bar after dinner. It was nothing remarkable but it was decidedly busier than the dining hall and had three separate drinking rooms. There was a group of people throwing darts, a loud group by the pool table and several people drinking at the bar or at one of the tables.

"What are you getting?" Rose asked Miranda, as they were walking up to the bar.

"Uh," Miranda hesitated, and Rose stopped and looked at her.

"Have you had alcohol before?" asked Rose.

Miranda went a little pink and shook her head. "I am of age!" she insisted. "I just...never had the occasion to try it."

Rose chuckled and linked her arm with hers. "Come on, then," she said, pulling her toward the bar. "I'll buy your first one."

The bar was being tended by a young man with dark skin and a sharp jaw. He grinned when he saw them approach. "Evening, ladies," he greeted in a thick Irish accent. "What can I get you?"

"What have you got on tap?" asked Rose.

He glanced at them with a smile. "First years?" he asked.

"That obvious, huh?" laughed Rose.

He shrugged with a bright grin. "I'll make you both a welcome drink then," he said, setting down two coasters and empty glasses. "I'm Des, by the way."

"I'm Rose, this is Miranda," said Rose. "What's the drink?"

"The Pango," he said, as he mixed the drinks. "It's sweet but you'll like it, I promise."

"Thanks," said Rose, and reached into her pockets for cash but Des waved it away.

"It's your first drink at Hertford," he said. "Trust me when I say you'll be needing all the alcohol you can get in the coming weeks."

Rose laughed and glanced at Miranda, who had been watching that entire conversation like a show on telly. "You alright?" Rose asked her, and Miranda nodded quickly.

"Here we are," said Des, and poured a bright pink cocktail into the glasses. "Enjoy, ladies."

"Thanks, have a good one," grinned Rose, as they grabbed their drinks.

"There's an empty table here," said Miranda, and they quickly snagged it. "You're very good at talking to people."

Rose laughed at the blunt way she said it. "Thanks," she said. "Go on then, let's try the drinks," she added, and held up her glass. "Cheers."

Miranda clinked her glass with hers and cautiously sipped the drink through the straw. Her eyes went wide and she blinked at the drink in delight. "It's delicious," she said.

Rose had to agree when she took a sip as well. She could taste cordial and lemonade and there was no hint of alcohol at all, and if Rose hadn't counted exactly the number of shots Des had added to the drink, she would have thought there was no alcohol in it. As such, she knew it would take only a couple of these drinks to get completely blotto.

Miranda was downing hers at an alarming rate, and Rose laughed. "Slow down," she said.

"But it tastes so good!" said Miranda, and Rose could already see the flush on her cheeks.

"That's the point," said Rose "The sugar masks the taste of alcohol."

"Oh," said Miranda. "That makes sense." She did slow down though, which made Rose giggle.

"Did your parents not allow you to drink?" asked Rose, and then winced because it had slipped out without her meaning to.

Miranda, thankfully, was already on her way to being drunk and just smiled at Rose. "I only turned 18 a couple of months ago, so there wasn't an opportunity," she said. "And besides, my parents…" she paused and looked at Rose before fidgeting with a large, blue sapphire ring on her finger. Rose had noticed it before but she hadn't brought it up and knew it was on the wrong hand to be an engagement ring. "They're...gone now."

Rose immediately sobered up. "Miranda...I am so sorry," she said.

Miranda nodded. "Thank you," she said. "Their loss...it's fresh, and I am not used to...strangers." She looked at Rose earnestly. "So I am sorry if I seem odd."

"You're not odd," said Rose, at once. "Well, maybe a little, but I think all the best people are." Miranda smiled and Rose was glad. "I lost my dad when I was a baby, so it's just me and my mum now. I can't imagine what it would be like to lose both your parents."

Miranda nodded. "I wouldn't wish it on anyone," she said, and her smile turned wistful. "They were both...fantastic." She looked at her, and for some reason, Rose felt the odd urge to cry. But the moment passed and Miranda looked down and finished her drink.

Rose blinked and drank her own drink quietly. With a slightly subdued air about them, they left the bar and returned to their floor. Rose remembered to thank Des on their way out, who waved goodbye at them.

"Drink some water before you go to sleep," Rose told Miranda as they reached their rooms.

"I will," smiled Miranda. "Thank you for the drink, Rose. And," she paused and her smile seemed almost familiar in that moment. "I hope we can be friends."

The next morning, Rose woke up around 7 and was showered and dressed an hour later. Her meeting with her college tutor was at 9, so she had time for breakfast at least. Dressed in a pair of fitted dark wash jeans and a maroon v-neck jumper, with Doc Martens, Rose put her laptop and notebook into her satchel and knocked on Miranda's door.

She expected Miranda to have just woken up, but she was showered and dressed as well when she opened the door. Unlike the day before, she was wearing a light green midi dress with a pleated skirt and a blue denim jacket on top.

"Morning, sleep well?" asked Rose.

"I did," smiled Miranda. "You?"

"Yeah," said Rose. "I'm going down for breakfast."

"Alright, let me just grab my shoes," said Miranda.

Rose waited as she put on her trainers, and the two of them went to the dining hall for breakfast after that. The dining hall was still not that full so after they bought their respective breakfast items, they easily snagged a table to themselves. Rose sipped her coffee between bites of her cheese and tomato croissant, hoping the caffeine would wake her.

"Do you have to go soon?" asked Miranda, and Rose checked her phone.

"Yeah, in five minutes," she said. "The office is just past the Bridge of Sighs. What are you doing?"

"My tutor has already sent through some assigned reading," said Miranda. "I was going to explore the library and work on that."

"Alright," said Rose, finishing the last of her coffee. "I'll come find you in the library when I'm done and we'll go to the Freshers' Fair."

"Sounds good," grinned Miranda.

Rose smiled and cleared her tray before going to the tutorial room. She got there a few minutes before nine, but she could already see three other people in the room.

"And blondie over there makes four," said one of the boys, as she walked in. "Nice of you to join us."

Rose narrowed her eyes at him, noting she was the only girl. Unfortunately, the only free seat was the one next to him, so Rose sat down and placed her bag on the floor.

"I'm Leo Kempton," said the boy on Rose's other side with the short black hair.

"Rose Tyler," she said, shaking his hand when he offered it.

The boy next to him introduced himself as Karan Gopal, and Rose smiled politely as she shook his hand as well.

"And you?" she asked, turning to the boy who had spoken when she'd walked in.

He rolled his eyes but held out his hand. "Elliott O'Keefe," he said.

"Pleasure," deadpanned Rose, shaking his hand.

Elliott almost looked like he would smile but instead shrugged sardonically. "I'm sure," he said. He was tall, even when sitting, and had messy auburn hair and a freckled face.

"Do we know if there are any more?" asked Karan.

"Hertford only offers four places for the arch and anth program," said Elliott, in a long-suffering tone.

At least he was a dick to everyone, thought Rose.

The door to the room opened and a man and a woman walked in. The man was of Asian descent and in his late forties, holding a stack of booklets in his arms. The woman with him was petite, with short black hair, olive skin and tortoiseshell glasses. Rose recognised her as one of the people who had sat in on her interview last December.

"Good morning," said the woman, as the man set down the stack of booklets on a nearby desk. "I'm Dr Keira Milton, one of the college tutors for arch and anth at Hertford. This is my colleague, Dr Martin Teo."

"Hi," grinned Martin, with a short wave.

"We prefer to be on a first name basis with all of you," said Keira, looking over at them. "Lecturers like to be addressed formally, but tutors not so much."

"What's the difference?" asked Leo, and Rose could practically hear Elliott's eyes rolling.

"I'll get to that," said Keira. "Why don't we finish introductions first?"

A quick round of introductions followed, before Keira smiled at all of them.

"The Arch and Anth program is a three year course, as you know," she said. "As first years, you will be studying four papers over the three terms through a combination of lectures, tutorials and a bit of lab work." Martin stood up and handed out two booklets to each of them.

"The Yellow Book," continued Martin from where Keira had left off. "Contains the basic information about the course and offers guidance. It has all the deadlines, information on exams, codes of conduct, support systems etc. The Green Book contains the syllabus, course content and other miscellaneous information pertaining to your studies and assigned reading."

"The books are relevant for the entire duration of your degree," said Keira. "They are your guide and your first point of reference if you are ever in doubt. For the first year, you will have about six hours of lectures per week, and three tutorials every fortnight." She glanced at Leo. "The lectures are university-wide, so it will be your class of 22 in attendance."

"The tutorials will be conducted by us," said Martin. "They usually last an hour and we will be guiding your learning as well as assigning further reading, practice exams and moderating discussions."

"Here are your timetables," said Keira, passing them out. "Leo and Karan are with me. Elliott and Rose are with Martin." Rose felt her heart sink. "We like to have the pairs put in place right away because we found it encourages collaboration throughout your course of study."

"And a little bit of competition, which is always good," added Martin, with a grin.

The meeting continued for a little while as Keira and Martin discussed their expectations, and notified them they had to complete a four-week field study component during the summer before their second year.

"I think that's all for today," said Keira, at the end of the two hour meeting. "We'll see you at the induction tomorrow."

Rose closed her notebook and packed away her things. Elliott walked out without another word to anyone, and Rose tried not to roll her eyes at what was essentially her study partner for the next three years. She said goodbye to the rest of the people in the room before taking her leave.

For better or for worse, her time at Oxford was off to an interesting start.

The first month at Oxford flew by before Rose could even notice. She settled into the life of a university student more easily than she expected. Rose never had trouble making friends, so it was no different in a brand new environment. Her and Miranda were well on their way to becoming best friends, and apart from her, Rose had made friends with people on their floor, some of the porters, the housekeeper and scouts who maintained the college buildings, and the library staff.

It only took a few days for Rose to understand why the university did not like the students being employed during term time. While she only had six hours of lectures and one or two hours of tutorials during the entire week, the amount of studying she needed to do was almost like having a full-time job. The assigned reading itself would take up hours and hours of her time, and Rose had become a regular at both the college library or the Bodleian which had quickly become her favourite place at the university.

Martin was demanding with both her and Elliott, and while Elliott's attitude left much to be desired, Rose realised he was quite intelligent and well-read. It made her push herself, a fact Martin was no doubt pleased about. She and Elliott studied together almost every day in the library.

It was one evening that they were finishing up their notes about the upcoming tutorial about Pliocene hominin diversity in the library. The tutorial was in two days' time, but they had attended the lecture that afternoon so they had decided to get their notes done while the information was still fresh.

Rose's phone buzzed with a text message and she glanced at it briefly, without pausing her note-taking.

"By all means," said Elliott, rolling his eyes. "I'm sure you have much more important things to do."

"Shut up," said Rose, without rising to the bait. She'd found that the best way to deal with Elliott was to be just as annoying as him, and while she knew they'd never really be best friends, she actually didn't mind him so much as a study partner. She would never admit it to him, though, not even on the pain of death. Rose finished what she was writing before opening the message from the Secretary of the Archaeological Society which she had joined on Martin's advice, along with the Anthropological Society. "It's from Anthony about the seminar tomorrow," she told Elliott.

"Why is he texting you about that?" asked Elliott, with a frown.

"Because I'm helping him and Jordan set up the room for the seminar," shrugged Rose.

"Of course you are," said Elliott. "Pretty sure this isn't what Martin had in mind when he told us to get involved."

Rose rolled her eyes at him. "Unlike you, I like to do more than the bare minimum," she said. "And," she added, before he could argue. "Martin said the point was also to expand our network."

"In that case, he should have asked us to join Bullingdon," he said, and Rose snorted.

"The dining clubs are something else altogether," said Rose, shaking her head. "More than half of them still don't allow women in."

"They're not thrilled about me either," said Elliott. "Too gay for them."

He said it casually, but there was wariness in his gaze. "That and you weren't spat out by Eton or wherever the posh people go to school with their butlers trailing behind them," said Rose, without missing a beat.

Elliott seemed almost relieved, and Rose was glad. "Either way," said Elliott, clearing his throat and smiling at Rose genuinely for the first time since she'd met him. "As far as reputations go when it comes to the societies at Oxford, you can't do any worse than Bullingdon. Well, as far as the known ones go."

"What do you mean by known ones?" asked Rose.

Elliott raised his eyebrow. "Surely you know about the secret ones," he said.

"Aren't most of the dining clubs secret societies anyway?" asked Rose. "They have their own weird traditions and all, don't they?"

"There's a difference," he said. "Oxford had all these societies that were so secret, nothing about them was known, apart from names. My older sister told me there was one called the Butterflies that was supposedly founded in the late nineteenth century but then it vanished without a trace, with all of its members."

Rose stared at him. "You're saying they all disappeared?" she asked.

He nodded. "The university supposedly covered it up," he said. "Said the members all died on an excursion." Elliott shrugged before turning back to his notes. "Anyway, let's finish up. We'll miss dinner otherwise."

Rose agreed and they returned to their studies, though the mention of the Butterflies stayed on her mind for the rest of the week.

Finally, Miranda suggested they should do some more research into the club.

"The Bod has all the records for clubs and societies in the Special Archives," she told Rose, when Rose brought it up over dinner a few days later. "Just put in the request."

Rose agreed and put in a request for the records. She received a notification that the records were ready a day later, and she and Miranda made their way to the Bod after breakfast on Saturday.

"Hi," said Rose, to the person at the front desk, an elderly woman with neatly curled silver hair, wearing a light mocha-coloured tweed suit whose badge said her name was Adina Teasedale. "I put in a request for some records," she added, handing over her student card.

"Certainly," said Adina and scanned her card. "Oh, yes, you wanted the records for Oxford's clubs and societies. The records are extensive, so let me know if there is anything particular you're looking for."

"Sure," said Rose. "I just want to look at one in particular. An old society, called the Butterflies?"

Adina's eyebrows raised slightly before she nodded. "Alright, find a table. I'll bring it out."

"Thanks," said Rose, and she and Miranda snagged a space to themselves by the window.

Adina came by a few minutes later with two boxes on a trolley. "Here you go," she said. "I've only brought the A-E sections since you're looking for the Butterflies."

"Did you know anything about them?" asked Rose.

"I'm afraid not," said Adina, with a rueful smile. "I'll leave this here. As always, nothing is to be removed from the Bod."

"Of course, thank you," said Miranda.

A search of the records did not turn up anything new. The Butterflies were founded in 1880 and disbanded in 1887. It was significant since it was the only Oxford society at the time to be exclusively female.

"I thought women weren't allowed at Oxford until 1920," frowned Rose.

"No, they have been allowed since the 1870s," said Miranda. "They just weren't allowed to graduate until 1920. They could attend classes, sit exams, but they couldn't get degrees."

"Such rubbish that," said Rose, rolling her eyes.

The only thing of significance they could find was that in 1887, the entire group of 5 members disappeared while on a day trip to Abingdon Abbey. The society was disbanded after that and any attempts to revive it were refused by the university. After another hour of shuffling through the records, Rose and Miranda decided to call it a day.

"Any luck?" asked Adina, when they began packing up.

"Not much," said Miranda. "But I suppose that's the point of a secret society."

"It's a shame, though," added Rose. "Those women must have been incredible, and it's a shame their stories are lost to time."

Adina gave her a curious look and tilted her head in agreement, and they thanked her before leaving. Miranda waved goodbye to Rose as she headed for a study session in the library, while Rose decided to head back to her room to do some laundry. She spent the rest of the morning doing two loads of washing while music played from her laptop. There was a knock on her door while she was folding her clothes and she opened it to find Jake Simmonds, one of the other people on their floor.

"Hey, Jake," said Rose.

"Hiya, Rose," he said, with a bright smile.

Rose liked Jake; he was studying engineering and was a member of the college's boat club. After Miranda, she considered him to be one of her closest friends at Oxford.

"Listen, I was at the Porter's Lodge for...something," he said, and Rose raised her eyebrows.

"Something?" she asked, amused. "You mean you were sneaking in catnip for Simpkin?" Their college had a resident cat since the 70s, and each one of them was named Simpkin. The current Simpkin was Simpkin III and was an adorable black and white cat who enjoyed chasing birds and lazing around the pigeonholes in the Lodge.

"Maybe," laughed Jake. "Anyway, I saw you had an envelope in your pigeonhole so I thought I'd bring it up."

"Thanks, Jake," she said, accepting the A4 brown paper envelope which was surprisingly heavy.

"No problem at all," he said, and left with a cheeky salute.

Rose frowned as she closed the door to her room. The envelope only had her name on the back, which was quite unusual. Even if it were an internal delivery, it would at least have the college's name and her room number on it. Rose opened the envelope and was shocked when she found a small square frame with a pinned red and black butterfly inside it. There was a small note alongside it, with elegant writing that said:

Come find us between the two rivers

At a place where the sun shines the brightest for the maidens

Rose felt her heart thudding as a wide smile formed on her face. Laundry forgotten, she sat at her desk with her laptop. A quick search told her the butterfly was a Red Admiral but she couldn't find anything significant about it.

She looked back at the little puzzle and frowned. There was only one river at Oxford, the Cherwell. She also had no idea about the place where the sun shone the brightest at Oxford, if even there were such a place. There was also the question of who had known Rose was looking into this.

Miranda did, of course, but she had been with Rose all morning. Elliott could have, and now that Rose thought about it, it would be just like him to play a stupid prank on her and gain enjoyment from sending her on a wild goose chase. But then she remembered Elliott had gone home for the weekend, which is why she had the day free as well. She had checked her pigeonhole earlier this morning before going to the Bod so the envelope would have to be left while she had been at the Bod.

The Bod, thought Rose suddenly. Adina had known Rose was looking into the Butterflies. She could have easily slipped into the college and dropped off the envelope, considering the Bod was right opposite Hertford. Rose quickly put the butterfly and the note into her bag and made her way back to the Bod.

There was a different person at the front desk and Rose smiled at the man whose badge said his name was Eoin.

"Hi," said Rose. "Is Adina around? She was helping me earlier this morning."

Eoin's eyes turned wide. "Oh," he said, and then sighed. "Adina was taken to the hospital."

Rose blinked at him in shock. "Is she alright?" she asked.

"Afraid not," he said. "She collapsed about an hour ago. We called an ambulance but she had stopped breathing." He lowered his voice slightly. "She was pronounced at the hospital."

Rose stared at him in disbelief. "I-I'm so sorry," she said.

"Thank you," he said, with a small smile. "She will be missed." He closed his eyes and shook his head before looking at Rose again. "Is there anything I can do to help you?"

"No, that's alright, thanks," said Rose. She waved goodbye at Eoin. "Take care."

Rose walked out of the Bod, her mind racing. It was too much of a coincidence; her asking Adina about the Butterflies, the mysterious envelope with the butterfly and the riddle showing up, and then Adina dying only a few hours later. Rose returned to her room and sat back down at her desk.

"Between two rivers," she searched, on her laptop. The results showed up about a book with that same name, but then she saw the word 'Mesopotamia'. She vaguely remembered something about a place in Oxford with that name, and so she found her copy of the campus map and checked it.

Rose's eyes went wide when she saw the Mesopotamia Walk, a walking path built between two branches of the Cherwell. It was past noon already, but Rose knew she had to look into this properly. Making up her mind, she went downstairs and grabbed her bicycle. The Mesopotamia Walk did not have bicycle access, so Rose went as far as King's Mill, a house at the entrance of the Walk.

There weren't too many people around and practically no one on the path, so Rose found a nearby place to park her bicycle and started walking up the path. She still had no idea what the second part of the puzzle meant, and she consulted the note once again.

The day was overcast so there was no telling where the sun would shine the brightest. At one point, Rose paused and wondered what exactly she was hoping to find. If indeed Adina's death had not been a coincidence, she had been deliberately killed and Rose had been sent an invitation to practically walk into the lair of this secret society. It would be a foolish move for her to follow the clues but now that she had started, Rose knew she couldn't stop.

She heard footsteps coming toward her and she glanced ahead of her, and was surprised when she saw Des. He looked just as surprised to see her and raised his hand in greeting.

"Nice day for a walk, eh?" asked Rose.

"Yeah," he agreed, with a small smile. "A few mates and I were down at Parson's."

"Parson's?" asked Rose.

"Parson's Pleasure, it's just a bit further down," he said, pointing back to where he had come from. "It used to be a sunbathing spot. But now it's just nice to hang out."

"A sunbathing spot?" asked Rose, her eyes going wide as she thought of the puzzle.

"Yeah," he said. "Parson's was famous. It was one of only two nude sunbathing places at Oxford."

"What's the other one?" asked Rose.

"Dame's Delight," he explained. "Parson's was all-male, and Dame's Delight was for the women."

"Does Dame's Delight still exist?" asked Rose, eagerly. Des looked a bit confused and Rose quickly composed herself. "Sorry, I've just been trying to look into a bit of Oxford history."

He nodded. "Well, Dame's Delight is no longer there," he said. "I mean the place still exists but nature's taken over. It's safe enough for a hike, I would imagine."

"Could you point me toward it?" asked Rose.

Des agreed and gave her directions to Dame's Delight, which Rose carefully memorised. Bidding him goodbye, Rose set off toward Dame's Delight. She came upon the concrete bank that was left over from when Dame's Delight was a nude sunbathing spot for women but like Des had said, nature had otherwise taken over. Rose saw a few swans here and there, but the wetland meadow by the river was otherwise empty.

Rose came across a metal bar attached to the piling that could have once belonged to a diving pier and paused, looking out onto the river.

"You found it."

Rose whirled around at the voice behind her and stared at the woman standing there. She looked to be around Rose's age with delicately curled golden hair and the greenest eyes Rose had ever seen on a person. Rose was oddly reminded of Violet when she saw her. The woman was wearing a light mocha coloured pantsuit and before Rose could remember where she had seen it before, the woman smiled and turned into Adina.

"W-who are you?" asked Rose.

The woman turned back into the golden-haired beauty again and smiled at Rose. "I have many names, but the one I am known by is Etain," she said.

Rose noticed her Irish brogue and knew that Adina had not had it that morning. "Etain?" asked Rose, vaguely thinking the name sounded Celtic.

Etain smiled a little. "I would not expect you to know who I am, child," she said. "Few do these days."

Something about the way she spoke reminded Rose of Violet again. "A-are you a fairy?" asked Rose.

Etain's smile grew wider. "You are clever, little flower," she said, and Rose felt the air around them grow warmer. "I am a bit more than just an average fairy, though. I existed at a time when the veil between the worlds of humans and fae was all but non-existent. I am what humans of such a time referred to as a sun goddess."

Rose's mouth dropped open in shock. "Are you of Earth still?" she asked, thinking of the Titans.

Etain nodded. "Yes," she said. "This planet birthed me and my kind." She tilted her head at Rose. "You have encountered my kind before, haven't you child? I smelled it on you when you came to the Bodleian this morning."

Rose thought of Violet and nodded. "It was near Cardiff," she said.

"In Roundstone, no doubt," said Etain. "How is young Violet?"

Rose wondered how old Etain was if she thought Violet was young. "She is well," said Rose.

"That is nice to hear," said Etain. "Perhaps I will visit her when I leave."

"You're leaving?" asked Rose. "Why?"

Etain smiled a little and walked toward Rose. "Shall I tell you my story, little flower?" At Rose's nod, Etain's smile grew wider. "I was born a fae princess. To a loving King and a doting Queen. The fae kingdoms said I was beautiful and I soon caught the eye of another King, who coveted me for himself. He was married, my Midir, but he cast aside his wife, Fuamnach and chose me as his new bride. I was a little princess, too afraid of refusing the match, and so I was traded away to Midir."

Rose could hear the pain in her voice and there were unshed tears in her too-green eyes.

"Fuamnach could not bear the insult so she cast a curse on me," continued Etain. "She turned me into a scarlet fly. But Midir did not care. He still said he loved me and I saw his true devotion to me, then. I came to love him dearly, and Fuamnach was infuriated that her efforts were in vain. So she called upon a storm and blew me away. I was flung far away from Midir but I returned to him after seven long years. When Fuamnach found out, she called upon another storm and set me adrift. But this time, I could not return to Midir."

Etain smiled a little and looked out onto the river briefly. "I was consumed by a human woman and I grew in her womb to be born as a human babe," she said. "As luck would have it, I was reborn as a princess once again, over a thousand years since I had first been born as a fairy. And this time, as if fate were playing a cruel joke on me, another king sought me for himself. Once again, I was traded away to him. But this time, I was not fortunate to have his affections or even his attentions. I was a prize; locked away and admired for my beauty."

"That's terrible," said Rose, her heart clenching.

Etain smiled at her before continuing. "As luck would have it, the one who did love me was the king's brother," said Etain. "But it is not in my nature to betray my vows of marriage and I could not return his affections. He grew ill and as death loomed over him, he made a request of me. He asked for three nights with me. Though I did not wish to betray my marriage, I agreed to his requests if it meant he would live, for I knew my husband to be fond of his brother."

She grew sad once again and glanced away before speaking again. "Midir found me," she said. "He had been searching for over a thousand years and he had finally found me. He took on the appearance of the king's brother and came to me in his place, and on his last night with me, he told me who he was. He asked me to return to his kingdom with him. Begged me," she added. "But I couldn't. I couldn't betray my husband, not even a cold husband like mine."

Etain looked at Rose, and it struck Rose how inhuman fairies could appear sometimes, despite looking outwardly human. There was so much pain in Etain's gaze, Rose felt her own knees tremble with the effort of standing.

"What happened next?" asked Rose, her voice sounding low and hushed.

"Midir did not like my answer and he challenged my husband to a game of fidchell," said Etain. "It's a boardgame of sorts, a bit like chess," she explained, before Rose could ask. "Midir kept betting incredible riches and feats of magic, and kept losing every time. The king grew confident and so when Midir's next bet was a kiss and an embrace from me, the king did not hesitate to accept the bet because he was confident in his victory. It was a victory he did not get, of course."

"He tricked him?" asked Rose.

"Fae kind are known for it, child," said Etain, sardonically. "The king lost, but he refused to lose me to Midir. He told Midir he could only collect on the bet a year later. When Midir went away, the king spent the year building defenses around the kingdom to prevent Midir from being able to return. But humans have always underestimated the strength of my kind and our magic. Midir appeared right in the king's palace and stole me away." Etain pursed her lips. "But the years had not been kind to Midir. He had become twisted, cruel, as if the Midir I knew had died when that storm had blown me away for the second time. The last straw…"

She paused and closed her eyes briefly. "I had been pregnant," she continued. "With the king's child when Midir stole me away. The king had not known, and even I discovered it after Midir had taken me away to his kingdom. The king was looking for me and digging up very sid in the land to find Midir's kingdom. When he did find the right one, he demanded that Midir return me. Midir instead presented fifty women to the king who all looked identical to me and asked him to choose the real Etain. And the king chose." Etain's face grew furious and tears streamed down her cheeks. "The king chose his own child. He took her home, thinking her his wife and bedded her."

Rose felt sick to her stomach but she couldn't even imagine how much pain Etain would have been.

"Midir laughed about it," snarled Etain. "Uncaring that he had stolen my child and-and…" she couldn't even continue and closed her eyes to calm down. "So I left him. I left behind everyone and everything I knew in both the human and fae world and lived in isolation. Changed my appearance so another king couldn't appear to steal me as some sort of a prize. Lived on the fringes of society and over the course of time, fairies became a thing of mythology. Even my name was included in mythology, though my story tends to end after Midir tricked the king."

"How did you come to Oxford?" asked Rose, her mind still whirling.

"I was bored so I thought I would enrol as a student at Oxford. The year was 1880 and Lady Margaret Hall had an all-female student population," said Etain. "Bright, wonderful young women, doing their best to break past the confines of their society to carve out a place for themselves. While I was a sun goddess, I am also the goddess of transformation. I was fascinated, inspired, so I gave them a place to call their own. And a name to call ourselves."

"The Butterflies," realised Rose.

Etain smiled and nodded. "Some versions of my story had Fuamnach turning me into a butterfly instead. I thought a butterfly prettier than a fly," she said, with a small chuckle. Her smile vanished slowly. "Midir has always been on my tail so I never stayed in one place for long. But I was so happy with the Butterflies that I forgot the shadow chasing me and for the first time, I decided to do what I wanted. Make my own choices and my own decisions to do what made me happy. But," she frowned. "He found me and the storm of his fury killed the Butterflies."

"In 1887?" asked Rose, and Etain nodded.

"I was the only one left standing but I escaped. For many years, I stayed away from Oxford and made sure no one could revive the Butterflies," she said.

"But why?" asked Rose. "Why not let the Butterflies continue?"

"My selfishness led to their deaths," snapped Etain. "Bright, beautiful young women with so much more courage than I could ever muster up myself, who were all dead because of me."

"It was Midir's fault they are dead," argued Rose. "You gave them a place to come together when they had nowhere else. And while the world may have changed since then, it hasn't changed enough yet. So I understand that you feel responsible, but it did not give you the right to prevent the Butterflies from continuing." Rose's eyes went wide at her own diatribe and she glanced away. "I'm-"

To her surprise, Etain started laughing, the beautiful tinkling laugh like bells and almost harmonious with the sound of the flowing river behind them.

"I knew I had made the right choice when I saw you, Rose," said Etain, and Rose was surprised that she used her name instead of calling her 'child' or 'little flower'.

"What do you mean?" asked Rose.

Etain smiled. "It is time for me to move on," she said. "It's why Adina Teasedale had to die today. I have found it is the easiest for me to fake my death and I have been at Oxford long enough already. I suppose what I was waiting for was a successor."

"A successor? For the Butterflies?" asked Rose.

Etain smiled and pulled out a folded document from her pantsuit. "Approval from the university to revive the Butterflies," she said, holding it out to Rose.

Rose stared at her and slowly took the document. "You want me to-?"

"Yes," said Etain. "Find like-minded women, Rose. Give them a place to feel safe, to grow and mature until they are ready to emerge from the chrysalis. Revive the legacy I let languish due to my own cowardice and guilt."

"Are you sure?" asked Rose.

"Yes," said Etain. "I have every confidence in you, Rose." She smiled at her again before her expression grew positively mischievous. "I will leave you with one more gift."

Before Rose could ask what it was, Etain walked past her to the metal bar attached to the piling and tapped her fingers against it in a rhythmic pattern of seven. On her third round of repeating the pattern, the bar shifted back toward the river and Rose watched in surprise as a pair of stairs appeared on the riverbank, seemingly leading down into a cavern under the river.

There had not been enough of a disturbance in the ground to indicate there was some sort of a mechanism operating it, but Rose supposed it could have been created by Etain's magic. She had seen Violet steal her right past the curtain without issue, and she would need to one day learn exactly what this 'magic' was supposed to be.

Etain turned to Rose and waved her arm toward the entrance. "The meeting place of the Butterflies," she said.

Rose stared at her and then back at the entrance. "Can I-?"

"Of course," nodded Etain, and Rose stepped toward it.

The cavern went a fair bit down and definitely led to a place under the river from what she could see from the entrance. There was not enough light for Rose to see past the first few steps, though, so she turned back to Etain but saw that she had disappeared.

Chuckling to herself, Rose looked back at the entrance and then tapped her fingers in the same pattern that Etain had. On the third round, the stairs disappeared and the metal bar moved back to where it previously had been. Rose looked at the undisturbed ground and then smiled to herself.

There would be time to discover the secrets of the Butterflies and to do what Etain had asked of her. In the meantime, it was getting dark and Rose had assigned reading for her lecture on Monday. Making up her mind to return soon, Rose started making the trek back to where she had left her bicycle.

All she knew was there was never a dull moment in her life, and she would never have it otherwise.