"I hope that real love and truth are stronger in the end than any evil or misfortune in the world."
Charles Dickens
Humans share 15% of their DNA with Mustard Grass, but Edlynne was sure that wasn't enough for girls to be popping out of the ground like they seemed to be doing.
The field was so picturesque it almost hurt to look at it, the grass so green and the sky so blue and the girls looking around themselves so perfectly that Edlynne wished she could just be swallowed up by the earth and be sent back to where she came from.
Actually, the desire to go home had nothing to do with those around her, but with those who once were.
Nobody ever came back after being taken by the School Master.
Nobody.
However much Edlynne liked to think she'd be the exception, that she'd see her brother grow up and her father would walk her down the aisle, she knew in her heart that she never would. It dragged her down. A weight in the water.
She stood on shaky legs, brushing down the hem of her dress. If she was going to stay here, she was going to damn well try her hardest to be happy, however long it took.
The long grass swayed against her calves, as she followed the other girls towards a large, brightly coloured tower. A rumble of thunder made her turn, and Edlynne gasped as the sight of the dark, gloomy structure behind her surrounded by a moat and covered in clouds.
A few strands of hair blew around her face as she stared, frozen, before a hand rested on her shoulder.
The other girl was quite a bit taller that her, with long red hair and smiling blue eyes, swirling like the ocean. She was the only one of all of the girls to be wearing a skirt that reached her ankles, a soft green colour paired with a purple top.
"Ignore it," she smiled, "It's just the School for Evil."
"The what?" Edlynne asked, confusion marring her features. She'd read all of the fairy tales in the shop several times over, and none of them had ever mentioned a school.
"The School for the villains," the girl cocked her head to the side, barefoot as she started to lead the brunette towards the bright tower. "You know, to teach them how to be evil. And then we're princesses, so we go to the School for Good."
"What?" She sounded like a record on repeat, Edlynne knew, but she couldn't wrap her head around the fact there was a school to be in a fairy tale.
"You're a Reader," the red head gasped. "My name's Molly – I'm from a sea kingdom, slightly to the east of here."
"Edlynne," she murmured, still in a state of befuddlement, "What do you mean by 'Reader'?"
"Oh," Molly waved a hand, "Just what we call those from that non-magical place. Gammon?"
"Gavaldon," the Reader corrected, joining the back of the crowd of princesses congregating outside the tower, in through two large wooden doors and into a hall.
It was more aptly called a ballroom, actually, the white floor shined so much you could see your face in it (unfortunate for the girls wearing a shorter skirt), with glass windows making up the most of one wall. Outside, you could see fields and forests and something that was quite possibly a fairy or four.
Somebody on a raised platform cleared their throat, and the girls settled down to look up at the adults smiling serenely at them.
"Hello and welcome, princesses of the future and of the present, to the School for Good," Edlynne's were wide, taking in the stage and those lined up on it. A piece of paper was pressed into her palm by a passing creature that glowed orange ever so softly.
She frowned at the classes. What use was Beautification? Or Good Deeds? The first was unimportant and the latter totally unnecessary, considering they were already in this school.
Edlynne quite liked the sound of Surviving Fairy Tales though. Hopefully she'd never have cause to use it, but being prepared never hurt anybody, did it?
Looking up, she frowned.
Pink never really was her colour.
Disclaimer see chapter 1. Well then, after finally coming back to , I've restarted this story. Updates will be fortnightly, until mid June when they'll be weekly (I think). Anyway, R&R, have a good day! ~