The rain came down hard upon the spires of Saint Vitus Castle. The darkness of the storm combined with occasional flashes of lightning would briefly illuminate the ancient architecture of the repurposed fortress, while at the same time hiding the brightly colored decorations placed by the current caretakers.
Taking in the view from a fourth-floor window was Vi. Her long brown curls framed an olive face with dark chocolate eyes that were currently glued to the various buildings spread in front of the keep turned school. “They made this place so ugly.” She thought as she recalled what it looked like under direct sunlight. White paint, red and gold accents, little symbols everywhere you looked, it was as if the deacons wanted the buildings to be just as nauseatingly bright and obnoxious as they were.
What was worse was everywhere Vi looked, the symbol, or worse yet, the face of a saint was looking down at her, they were painted everywhere the deacons could reach, it would seem. There was even a painting of Lady Reah in the girl’s bathrooms! “Patron Saint of purity, more like Patron Saint of latrines.” Vi mused, smiling as she continued to stare into the howling storm.
“Victoria!” The shrill voice of Mrs.Ennui broke Vi’s stupor as she suddenly remembered that she was currently in the middle of class. “I’m sorry, am I not entertaining enough to deserve your attention?” The aging woman’s pale face continued to glare at the seated teen. “No miss, I- ““Perhaps writing some lines will help you focus. Report to me after dinner.” Vi quietly groan as the placed her head in her arms to avoid the looks of her classmates she knew were there, then lifted her head, remembering that things would continue to worsen if she did not look forward.
The rest of class was uneventful, and after 20 minutes of agony, Vi was freed by the ringing of the tower bell. A brown blur was soon seen flying down the south stairwell. Four days a week, after classes, Vi would attend sparring practice outside, and it was the highlight of her day. Forgetting her woes, Vi began to put her hair up as she got to the first floor. However, as she turned into the main hallway, she was stopped in her tracks by a large crowd of students standing in front of the large outer doors, which were closed. Vi groaned as her last hope of a good day was now sealed behind several inches of decorated oak and a thin piece of parchment. The crowd seemed to consist of students hoping to get close enough to read the flyer that had been posted on the doors.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Vi was about to find a corner to sulk in when she spotted a familiar golden mop of hair near the back of the crowd. “Jamie!” Vi called out to her friend, who turned to see her, holding his books against his white pressed shirt. Vi ran up to him, her matching white blouse hung loosely untucked over her brown corduroy skirt as it always did, not quite as well kept as Jamie’s orderly uniform. “What’s going on?” Vi asked as Jamie turned his head back to the slowly growing crowd “I don’t know, I was waiting for the crowd to dissipate a bit. Maybe it’s the weather.” Vi crossed her arms, “Your brothers didn’t tell you anything?” Jamie rolled his eyes, “They never tell me anything, you know that.” Victoria sighed, what was the point in having the most powerful family in the province, if you were barely a part of it? “Well, I’m not waiting.” Vi said grabbing Jamie by the arm and ushering him into the crowd. “Why are you taking me?” Jamie voiced his confusion, but didn’t fight the hardheaded girl, as he was curious as to what the flyer said.
Jamie’s question was soon answered when Vi became frustrated with the crowd around her and began to yell. “Make way! Son of the Bishop coming through! Make way for the Prince!” Using Jamie’s status to justify her actions, Vi began to aggressively push her way through the surprised students in front of her. “Vi!” Jamie quietly began to berate the girl “Stop! What are you doing? I’m not-Oh!, Sorry excuse us, sorry.” After a few moments swapping between chastising Vi and apologizing for her, Jamie’s fair face began to redden and he decided he had enough.
“Vi I’m done with this!” Jamie shouted, and leaned back, planning to put all his weight on Vi’s iron grip. Vi, however, had reached her destination and promptly released the boy, who slammed down onto the floor. Jamie popped up, looking quite like a tomato in a blond wig and tried to ignore the giggling of a few students who stopped what they were doing to observe the chaos in front of them. Driven by his wounded ego, Jamie got very close to Vi and began to angrily whisper into her ear. “What was that? I’m not some animal to be led around! And you even used by status, do you want everyone in this school to hate me? I told you I-“ Jamie stopped when Vi whipped her head around to look him in the eyes. “Jamie, what was the Harvest moon again?” Jamie so angry, so confused, and so impressed by the obstinate girl that he just stared back at her, not believing she had actually ignored him so successfully. “Jamie? Look, see what it says?” Following Vi’s gaze, Jamie realized they were steps away from the flyer which was hung high enough to be easily legible from where they stood. He looked back between he flyer and Vi, before electing to just focus on the flyer. He composed himself and read.
Due to the coming Harvest Moon, all sparring has been cancelled until further notice.
Students are to report to their year’s common rooms.
More information will be given there.