His tiredness was already starting to set in, even though Camenian and etiquette lessons, as well as P.E. were still on the programme for him today. He was also beginning to suffer from a slight headache. Well, there was no helping it anyway. Wenzel packed his things and followed the rest of class to the next lesson.

He always did well in Camenian lessons. Many of the words were not that different from Ordanian. Only the way of expressing oneself was different, but even that was more a matter of getting a feel for the language than logic. Others probably didn't agree with him on this. Today they were practising grammar. First, they all repeated the past tenses together, then they had to fill them into the gaps on a worksheet correctly. Disheartened groans could be heard from somewhere. Nobody liked grammar. Even Wenzel wasn't necessarily a fan of it, but he didn't mind doing a few simple gap-filling tasks.

Whilst completing the assignment, Wenzel suddenly felt something smack against the side of his head. He reached over and felt something wet. Giggling could be heard from next to him. He turned his head over to see who had shot spit balls at him and immediately found out who it was: Bert and his stupid seat neighbour! He briefly looked over to Wenzel and laughed again, covering his mouth with his hand so that the teacher didn't hear him right away.

Wenzel ignored him and turned back to his sheet. Less than two minutes later, he got the next paper ball. He tried to speak quietly to Bert to tell him to stop, but the teacher only admonished him to get back to work. This would happen a few more times during the rest of the lesson. Some other pupils saw what was happening and laughed about it, too. But nobody helped Wenzel! That made him really angry, but he swallowed all the anger. Fighting them would only cause him more problems.

Then it was time for the lunch break. Today herring fillet with rice was on the menu. It might have been a normal meal for Wenzel, but it was something reserved for the upper classes. Especially the rice, which had to be imported from Camenia because it didn't grow in these latitudes, was something high-class. As always, Wenzel was eating alone.

As he sat at the table, however, he glanced over at the girl clique from his parallel class. They were sitting somewhere else than usual today. His gaze lingered on Amalie. Normally, Wenzel always tried to avoid eye contact with others, as they would only judge him even more than they already did. This time, however, he couldn't take his eyes off her. Her beautiful face mesmerised him. When she raised her head, apparently chatting with the others, her eyes met his. Shortly afterwards, she lowered it again, but Wenzel kept staring for a moment longer before turning back to his food. What a strange feeling. But Wenzel knew exactly what it was. He was sure, that he had a crush on Amalie.

Be that as it may, the lunch break didn't last long and everyone made their way back to the school building. On the way there, which led through the park, the sun peeked through the clouds again. Wenzel paused for a moment. Holding his hand to his forehead, he looked towards the light and the nature that presented itself in front of him. Time stood still for a moment. Last night's rain had finally washed away the last remnants of snow and the first flowers were beginning to sprout. The first birdsongs of the year could also be heard. In the distance the high wall that enclosed the school grounds could be seen.

Wenzel soon realised that he was standing here all alone. "Damn it!", it slipped out of his mouth. He had to get to class as quickly as possible. He turned out to be only a minute late. But he still got a scolding from the teacher. The rest of the lesson was boring. In "etiquette" their were taught about how to behave in high society. Wenzel didn't listen half the time. It wasn't because he wasn't interested, but because his headache had worsened a lot. And it would get worse and worse as the lesson went on. Wenzel felt nauseous and dizzy. He felt really bad, so bad in fact, that he was relatively indifferent when the lesson ended. He couldn't go on like this.

When the class left the room, he informed the teacher of his condition. The teacher sent him to Mrs Adele. Of course he did. Mrs Adele wasn‘t a nurse, but whenever something like today happened, she would help him. How did she do that? The answer is, she didn't do anything. IT was the answer.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

When Wenzel entered her office, he had to sit down and wait. Mrs Adele, a tall lady with long black hair, small round glasses and a stern look, called for Aurel. Soon afterwards, he came traipsing in at the door with a lax gait.

"Are you trying to cheat your way out of class again, pipsqueak? Huh?"

Wenzel replied quietly: "No, I just can't bear it anymore. I..." - "Stupid excuse, as always!" Aurel fished something out of his pocket and handed it to Mrs Adele. It was the cloth from this morning.

"Young man, that's no acceptable way to behave!" Mrs Adele admonished him. "Besides, how many times have I told you that we lift our feet properly when we walk! - "Sorry," Aurel replied half-heartedly.

She gestured for him to leave. He left the room. "All right!" said the lady. "I'll give you an hour, as usual. Tell me how you're doing afterwards." Wenzel nodded and replied with a short "Yes".

From the cloth, Mrs Adele took out a pendant with a sparkling red stone embedded in it. She took great care not to touch it directly with her fingers, but only through the cloth. Wenzel accepted it …without the cloth. He sat down in an armchair and looked out of the window. Meanwhile, Mrs Adele "supervised" him, doing paperwork on her desk.

Wenzel immediately started to feel better. Much, much better. His headache was swept away in an instant and a deep sense of relaxation set in very quickly. Outside, he could see the branches of the trees, whose very first buds were already visible, swaying in the wind. Further back, he saw the compound’s boundary wall again. How he wished he could fly over it and see the world beyond. Away from this oppressive ..... prison. Yes, the boarding school was like a prison to him. He just wanted to get away, that was his innermost wish. Out through the clouds, to see the fields, forests and cities of the world.

Wenzel saw his brother walking next to him in the corridor. "When we get back to the room, you'll start your homework straight away. Is that clear? No shirking your lessons! Your grades are bad as is!" he said in a stern voice. Then Wenzel heard a soft voice calling his name. "Wenzel!" It grew louder and louder. It was Mrs Adele's voice. Suddenly, Wenzel snapped back into consciousness. He had obviously dozed off. When he opened his eyes, he could see Mrs Adele from above. She had turned her head up towards him. Wenzel was floating on the ceiling! "Damn!" he thought to himself, "Once again I've failed!"

"How many times have I told you that we want to prevent this from happening, Wenzel! If you fall down, there's nothing I could do!", he got scolded by his overseer. Wenzel immediately lowered himself slowly from the ceiling again. He had a good enough feel for it, so that nothing could go wrong with the landing here. But unfortunately, Mrs Adele didn't understand this. He apologised and sat down again. He had no idea how much time had passed, but obviously the hour was not yet up. He had held the stone firmly in his hand the whole time. He opened it and looked at the glimmering red object. On its frame one could make out the letters M.R.

He wouldn't be able to hang on without this stone. But that was only logical. It contained his soul! Wenzel was a sorcerer, a devil, as many would say. That meant he had magical powers that were considered dangerous and 'diabolical'. To prevent him from being burned at the stake, Wenzel‘s soul was separated from his body. The magic he possessed was bound to his soul. Therefore, Wenzel would pose no danger as long as he didn‘t have the pendant, as his soul and ,therefore, his magical powers were separated from him. The only problem was, that his body needed his soul and began to suffer without it. This was the cause of his frequent headaches, nausea, tiredness and insomnia. But it had to be this way, because Wenzel was not like the others. He was cursed, cursed by the magic he possessed! But he couldn't be completely without his soul, so when his condition became overwhelming, he would get his soul back for an hour to recover. The result was what had just happened. Total relaxation.

When the hour had passed, Aurel returned and was handed back the pendant. The two said their farewells and left Mrs Adele's room. Aurel, as the older brother, was essentially Wenzel's guardian and, therefore, also had responsibility for the pendant. That was what their parents had decided.

"When we get back to the room, you'll start your homework straight away. Is that clear?" Aurel ordered him right off the bat. "No shirking your lessons! Your grades are bad as it is!" Wenzel hesitated for a moment. He had foreseen this scene earlier. Deja-vu indeed. He then answered,"But I only missed gym class. It wasn't anything important."-"Shut up! You won't amount to anything anyway! But at least try to make an effort. If your grades are bad, mum will scold me again!"

"Yes, I will," Wenzel simply replied. He hated his brother, but didn’t dare to oppose him.