"It's been 3 months!" Avedara complained. "Three months since I sent in my application! I mean, how long does it take to send a letter to G'ilar City? It's barely even 10 miles away..."
Her mother just shook her head. "It takes time for letters to be sent to their destination. Plus, you were warned that it would take quite a while before it would even get read." Avedara fell onto her bed, arms outstretched. With an exaggerated sigh, she mumbled, "I know. I'm just tired of waiting. Attending the College is a big deal and I really want to know if I made the cut!"
Avedara Orghae, the only daughter to the great Q-class wizard Brunus Orghae, paced back and forth in her bedroom while her mother leaned against her door frame. Her father had graduated from the Mage's College of Zestral, as well as his father and his father before him. Avedara's family had attended the college for centuries, and she was not about to tarnish her family name by being rejected!
Her mother shook her head again. "I know that this is a big deal, but there's no reason to be worked up about this! You already submitted your application and there isn't much that you can do about it at this point. We just have to wait and see." Grunting, the teenager pushed a pillow onto her face. "Plus, with your scores, there is no way that you are not going to attend!"
Avedara sighed and slumped her shoulders. Turning to her mother, she replied, "I realize that Mom, but I really want to go and I'd be the first one in the family that didn't attend." Scoffing, her mother crossed her arms. "And just what do you call me, missy?"
"A housewife."
Her mother rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Keep walking in circles until you burn holes in your soles for all I care. I'm going to go to the market. You coming?" Avedara brushed her silky black hair out of her face. "Why not. Don't wanna have to get new shoes. Just let me change first!"
Sitting up on her bed, she heard her bedroom door close and footsteps receding down the stairs. Swinging open her wardrobe doors like a shop opening for the day, she rummaged through her clothes until she settled upon a lemon yellow shirt with a knee-long blue skirt. She quickly undressed and folded her nightie as she put on her outfit. "There we go," she mumbled under her breath.
Avedara had a nasty habit of mumbling to herself at random times, which often landed her in trouble after heated arguments with her mother. Just the last weekend, she had gotten into an altercation with her mother about arranged marriage. While storming off, she was muttering under her breath, which quickly earned her a swift slap across the cheek for her insolence.
Shaking off the unpleasant memory, Avedara donned a white floral wide-brimmed hat and ran downstairs with a pair of white sandals in hand, slamming the door behind her. After nearly trampling over two maids and a butler, she dashed out of the front door and into the carriage in which her mother was waiting for her.
Straightening her messed up silky black hair, she slipped her sandals onto her feet. "You good to go?" her mother inquired. Smiling, her daughter replied with a nod. "Let's go, Arnwell!" she said loudly. In response, the coachman snapped the reins and urged the trazo to walk. The purple, horned, scaly creature, which looked like a crossbreed between a tiger and dragon, grunted softly and began toward the manor gates. Avedara always preferred coach rides to teleportation as she enjoyed watching the scenery and listening to the pitter-patter of the reptilian talons against cobblestone.
It took an hour to make it to G'ilar City, the capital of Gilaria. The city gates were lined with gold and silver, glittering in the afternoon sun as the carriage passed through. Guards patrolled the cobblestone streets while the inhabitants scuttle around like mice. Avedara looked upon the city folk with disdain and disgust. These pathetic impotent worms, these Touchless pieces of garbage, these disgusting insignificant insects! They are worthless! Hideous! Imbeciles! Why must I share the air I breathe with them? Those that don't have magic aren't fit to live in the same city as the Enchanted Queen!
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
As the carriage passed through the streets, she witnessed a group of wizards in an alleyway about her age casting spells at a Touchless boy. Smirking and chuckling to herself, she imagined being in one of the wizards' shoes in that alley, enjoying the fear in the boy's eyes as she incarcerated him with the stone in the surrounding walls. To taste his terror, to scar his fragile mind, to make him know his place. To make him understand that those without the magic Touch are only meant to be crushed under the boot of their magic-wielding superiors.
They rode a while longer before arriving in the shopping district of the city. Beautiful dresses, enchanted wares, and expensive knick-knacks lined the windows. The carriage came to a stop in front of a charmed jewelry store. Nearly flying out the window, Avedara jumped out of the carriage unceremoniously. Shaking her head, her mother calmly stepped out of the car holding the cabby's hand. "Child, I swear you're going to be the death of me..." Chuckling, her daughter shook her head. "Your heart isn't that frail, Mom. You've lasted this far!" The pair walked into the shop and began to look around. Row upon row of gems and precious metals filled the store, boasting their power through the ethereal glow that shrouded each one of them. After searching for a little while, Avedara stopped upon a pair of bejeweled earrings. The silver earrings had a purple sheen that seemed to surround them, an indicative sign of the mana stored within them.
All beings of the world have mana. It is essential for life to exist and someone's lack of it could endanger their very life. All animals, plants, monsters, people, and sometimes even gemstones contain mana. Through its use, mana stores can increase their maximum amount, allowing magic-users to use more advanced spells with extensive practice. Those with exceptionally high mana stores can perform magic - those with the Touch. People who have a substantially lower amount of mana are called the Touchless - those without the ability to perform magic. Enchanted wears with mana stored in them can be used in emergencies to refill mana stores or can allow Touchless to perform magic using the stored mana as a battery. This pair of silver earrings had about 1000 units of mana stored - roughly 1/2 of Avedara's maximum mana. "Do you find those interesting, ma'am?"
Avedara spun around and came face to face with a tall, well built blond boy around her age. Startled, she blushed and couldn't form any sensible words. "I-I-I-I... u-uh..." The boy laughed a little and stepped back. "That pair in particular is one of my favorites. They look beautiful, have a very strong enchantment, and are relatively cheap for their stats. In any other shop, this pair could go for roughly 3 platinum coins, although we're selling it for only 1 here. She loved the way he looked at her when he said the word "beautiful". Her heart began to flutter as he brushed aside his long, silky hair. "Are you interested in purchasing them, ma'am?"
That last question pulled her out of dreamland and back into reality. She straightened and cleared her throat. In her most posh voice possible, she replied, "I do, in fact, like them, however 1 platinum coin is still very expensive for me at the moment. Thank you very much." Walking down the aisle, she blushed the hardest she ever had in her life. Oh my gosh he's hot! she thought. Her mind raced with the thought of him. He's perfect for me!
She turned left at the end of the aisle and walked towards the cashier, spotting an elderly man sitting in a chair behind the desk. "Excuse me, sir, have you seen my mother?" The old man at the register grunted as he straightened his back. "Nah, sorry missy. Although, have you seen Chris? He's one of my employees around your age. Blond hair, tall?" Her eyes glowed at the discovery of her crush's name. "Sure thing, sir. He's over in that aisle," she responded pointing at the aisle she just came from. The old man grunted again. "That good-for-nothing Touchless. Slacking off again. I'll make him mop the floors for ignoring my orders from this morning!"
Avedara froze. Had she heard him incorrectly? The handsome young man that she had fallen in love with, a Touchless? A piece of garbage that deserved to be trampled? He didn't seem so bad, though. He was kind, cheerful, and made her feel like no one ever had before. Was she wrong? Was she sorely mistaken about the Touchless? Were they not so worthless after all?