“We all have our ways of coping with challenging situations. If you need anything my dear…”
“No thank you.” Genevieve shook her head. “I do not want to impose. If you would kindly lend me a quill and those parchments over there, I will enrol her. In the event she decides to stay.”
“As you wish.”
He passed her a quill and the enrolment form.
“I shall see you at dinner my dear.”
“Yes, you shall. Arthur. Why did you free Eden?”
Had she never asked this before? She could not recall.
“Because I recalled meeting the boy. Only once or twice. He needed help. He was beaten and uneducated. I saw myself in him. Your father and his two friends threatened to make Eden kill me if they ever saw me again. I was in no position to give Tarzali the help he needed back then.”
Unlike most humans, Arthur Sheehan did not use Elemental Stones. Only his Magi. Genevieve could not imagine a young Sheehan. Orphaned. Powerless. His hair a colour other than grey. He seemed unstoppable.
“I’m sorry for bothering you.” Genevieve apologized, bowing her head.
105Please respect copyright.PENANAn9vanB5Kbt
Sheehan picked up the parchment and admired Genevieve’s handwriting.
“An Ebony Pawn? Interesting. Did your father not think that a woman could become a Knight?”
“A woman’s role is...” Genevieve recited her father’s mantra. “...To cook, to clean and to heal.”
“That is a shame.” Sheehan sighed, rolling up the parchment to be stored with the other academic records, “Your abilities exceed the requirements of an Ivory Knight. No one else in my care can heal or cook like you, except for one of my co-founders. I wonder how she has been.”
“Thank you, Mr- ahem, Arthur.”
“It is my pleasure, my dear.” Sheehan smiled.
He watched her leave. Genevieve was only eleven, but she was growing into a beautiful woman. He hoped that she could find a husband who would look after her. As for himself, Arthur’s own struggles made him feel decades older than he was. He did everything out of the goodness of his heart. He hoped that one day there would be no Ebony Sigils or Ivory Sigils. Just one united realm. That was wishful thinking. He was only one man and a human at that.105Please respect copyright.PENANAmit1hoocTB
***105Please respect copyright.PENANA7sVdKT3eYF
A purple and black-haired woman, of no more than twenty-four stood beside a grimacing angel.
“You’ll be fine. Walk up to him. Say it.” Florimal encouraged. “The worst he can say is no.”
When Dawn shook her head and muttered in disagreement, Florimal folded her arms and tapped her foot. Dawn sat down at the picnic table, her lunch in a brown paper bag. Their roommates were required to make meals for them. Florimal slid across the chair.
“Do you want to trade? You’re on a diet anyway.”
Dawn wanted to keep a svelte figure for the day that her boyfriend would make love to her.
“I don’t know why you bother. When he agrees to have sex with you, he won’t be looking at a couple of extra grams around your stomach. He’ll be looking into your eyes. He’ll be tousling your hair. Kissing your neck. He’ll be making it as romantic as he can. Sex is like plugging a power cord into a socket. Wait. You don’t know what those are. It’s like…uh…dipping a quill into an ink bottle. That’s not important. You’re overthinking a basic instinct. Don’t act like a virgin.”
Dawn handed her lunch to Florimal before the teasing got any worse.
“Thank you.” Florimal smiled, starting into Dawn’s lunch.
Florimal did not care what fairy the meat came from. She was glad that she did not have to kill it herself. Her roommate was a man of few words and fewer recipes. Stew was the only thing Greenwood could make living in a bark hut, skinning Nightmares in the middle of nowhere.
“Oh god.” Florimal moaned to prove her point, “Your boyfriend could cook cardboard al dente. I saved you some. I don’t want to starve you. You should eat something before-”
“Here he comes. Oh! What should I say?”
“Dawn. Chill. Say hello. Let the rest come naturally.”
“I can’t Flo. It’s too embarrassing!” Dawn fanned her blushing cheeks with her hands.
“If you won’t do it, I will say it on your behalf. You two are a cute couple.”
“Who told you that?”
Florimal shrugged as the two of them stood up.
“Everyone knows it Dawn. Do you think we’re stupid? The pet name gave it away.”
Dawn grew flustered, spreading her wings behind her like a cape, her feathers ruffling themselves.
“Randy is easier to say in a hurry than Tranter or Randolph.”
“Right.” Florimal rolled her dark brown eyes. “You had no problem using Tranter before.”
“Shut up!”
Florimal took a step away from Dawn, unfolding her arms. Dawn grabbed her arm like a vice.
“No. I’ll do it. You stay here.”
“For moral support?”
“No. I need a witness.”
Florimal rolled her eyes again, watching the flustered angel stomp across the pavement towards ‘Randy’. Randolph Tranter was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Halfling that borrowed most of his mother’s genes so he had her skin colour, fluked tail, gills and webbed hands. Men and women fawned over him. Even ‘Miss I won’t fall in love’ it seems. Florimal thought.
As a little girl, Dawn watched two Ebony Pawns impale her parents. Their wings torn off in bloody chunks as she huddled in a cupboard, clutching her infant sister with both arms. One hand over her own mouth and one over Daisy’s so that the intruders did not hear them. A whole race of angels was slaughtered overnight. All except for Dawn and Daisy.
There is a first time for everything. Florimal thought, watching her best friend crumble in front of her man servant. Randolph was more patient than any fairy should be, in Florimal’s opinion.
105Please respect copyright.PENANATJ681i0qgp
Dawn walked back to Florimal, shoulders straight, head down. The angel sniffled, complaining about the particles in the air. Eden Tarzali travelled the halls as particles of pure mana unless he wanted to frighten new students with his enormous serpent or human form. Florimal held out a handkerchief to Dawn. The particles did not affect her. Being human, she could not sense mana like fairies.
“Thank you.”
“It is no problem. What did he say?”
“He said he’d think about it.”
“Are you serious? Where’d he go? I’m gonna make Tranter choke on that silver-tongue of his.”
“Flo. Stop.” Dawn shifted uncomfortably. “We’re going to meet up after class. To talk.”
By then, Dawn hoped that she would not be a stuttering mess after he kissed her on the cheek.
ns 172.69.6.203da2