A speck of light that may grow if I take this year seriously and do my best to prove my worth.
A New Beginning And Making Friends
"I've never slept so well in my entire life." I put on the new pair of underwear, shocked by how comfy the fine silk was. Not to forget how it was exactly my size.
Whatever magic Xavier possessed to get my exact measurements had me a tad worried, but I'd go with the whole 'it's the thought that counts' excuse and brush it out of my mind.
I was so used to sleeping in the nude that I did just that last night. What a difference a queen-size bed, comfy sheets, and a fluffy blanket could do to your entire body.
I'd never felt this rejuvenated since...well, who knows. I couldn't even recall. That's how good my twelve hours of sleep was. To even sleep so long was a blessing, and I was thankful that no one had woken me up.
It wasn't until I was showering after a good stretch that Camilla entered my room all dressed and ready to go.
"The bedding is definitely nice. I wish it was a king-size bed, though," Camilla admitted, comparing the bed to her bedroom-size mattress in her room at home. I merely smiled back at her, remembering that this must have not been a big difference from her regular lifestyle.
I probably sound like a noob.
Camilla walked over to me as I fixed my bra and reached for my t-shirt.
"Hey. It's good to be excited and embrace all of this. I know you've never experienced this luxury so don't let me rain on the grand parade. I'm happy we get to go through this together," Camilla reasoned with a small smile.
"Ya." I nodded in agreement. "Too bad we're technically at different schools."
"Right," Camilla sighed. "That's the annoying part."
"Could they have made an error?" I suggested as I reached for my black tights.
"Nah." Camilla shook her head. "Fae rarely make mistakes, especially when it comes to admission. When you do your initiation, it may possibly change, but that's only if they believe the other school is now a better option for training you."
I nodded and walked over to the grandstanding mirror to look at my overall appearance.
My purple eyes were shining brightly. It was like I'd recharged the piercing lavender color, and even the silver popped out when it normally looked rather dull.
I'd taken a shower with some exquisite soap that was in the bathroom, and it was already showing the difference in my skin. I didn't see the need to do any makeup, not like I had much experience with it unless Camilla and I had a night out that was makeup worthy.
I did put on a bit of lip-gloss, so my lips wouldn't look so dry.
My blonde hair was down in its curly beauty, and the yellow t-shirt hugged my curves and small waist. Black tights helped so my hips didn't pop out too much, and I was basically ready to go.
My overall appearance was like I'd walked into an actual clothing store and gotten an upgrade. It was the first time I was truly seeing a casual yet stunning image of myself. It was odd to have those two clashing, but the new image of the well-rested me was giving me a ray of hope.
"Your body is at least adjusting well here," Camilla commented.
I looked back to see that she was sitting on one of the fur patterned stools that were in between two floor-to-ceiling shelves.
"What do you mean? Was I supposed to get sick?"
"Kinda." She paused to eye me carefully. "Normally, humans have a strong negative reaction when they come to this world. They feel nauseous, weak. It's like being drained out of all your energy while on the brink of starvation, or something like that. I haven't seen it with my own eyes, but Father and Mother have explained their encounters a few times."
"Oh." I bobbed my head in understanding, which made me realize this would be the best time to confront Camilla about this fae thing.
"So..." I began. "You're a shadow fae?"
Camilla stared at me for a long second before she leaned back and nodded. "Yup."
"So you're not an extravagant, well-off human." It was hard to acknowledge that I'd been lied to, but maybe she was doing it for my protection? Goodwill? I hoped there was a good reason, even if she may not think I deserved to know the truth.
"I was sworn to not say what I was." Camilla crossed her arms over her chest. "If I tried to tell you without you finding out through someone else, I'd deal with painful shocks or get a bad stomach ache."
She shivered at the mention of it. "It's happened a few times. Not something I'd like to deal with."
"What makes it stop?"
"When you move your intention to something else completely. Think of it as a warning. When your mind lingers on revealing what you've sworn to protect, your body reacts negatively until you're forced to push it to the back of your mind once more. The best thing to do is not think of it at all. However, there'd been a few times in our childhood and teen years when I'd wanted to share the truth, and thus, the reason why I'd be sick for a week or be a bitch."
"Unless you're on your period," I reminded.
"Right." She gave me a smirk that held a bit of irritation to it. "Fuck periods."
I grinned, but the thought of being lied to for so long was weighing down my mood.
"Rosadette."
Raising my head to meet her frowning gaze, she whispered, "If I could have told you, I would have. This has nothing to do with trust. You earned that years ago, and I do value you as a dear friend. If I said the truth, I could potentially die from the negative effect of revealing what I swore not to say, or be punished by the council I'm under. It was honestly for your own good, because if I told you too soon, you may have been brought to this world far too early for it to benefit you. I wasn't sure what would happen when you reached eighteen, but I hoped if you were a fae, you'd find your roots and heritage along with adulthood."
She rose up and bowed her head slightly, almost like she was a knight serving royalty.
"I apologize for lying to you. I'll make sure that if I can share something, I'll let you know."
Her genuine apology had me walking over to her and patting her shoulders with a nervous expression.
"Okay, you're forgiven. Don't need to make it seem like you confessed to murdering someone. I wasn't that hurt by it, but thank you for apologizing. I really appreciate it, especially because you’re my best friend."
Camilla's eyes looked into mine.
"I know." She reached out to flick my forehead.
"Ow."
"Loving moment is over. We gotta start preparing you." She rose right up and clapped her hands. "You’ve gotta start studying."
"Studying?" I questioned while rubbing my forehead. "For what exactly?"
"Entrance exam. Think of it like an initiation." Camilla walked out of my closet, and I had to quickly follow her as she made her way towards the stairs.
"Thankfully, we have a large library, but your and my curriculums are different. Light fae have to study things that center on nature, goodwill, and magic that complements you. Studying the basic knowledge of the fae is vital if you want to survive here. Sure, power, magic, all that fancy stuff is important when it comes to defense and proving yourself worthy, but with academies like these, those are all second class. They are not as vital as knowledge."
She twirled around to face me; her red dress that clung to the top half of her body twirled with elegance as the fluffy bottom part lowered upon her pause.
"I'll do what I can to study with you, but it's going to be a good idea to make some friends here. I met the girls downstairs who live on the 3rd floor. Not bad. If you can handle my bitchy time of the month days, you'll survive."
"I love how confident you sound." I felt like I'd need to walk around with a notepad if I was going to remember half of what would be fed to me through this preparation period.
Camilla was beautiful, and a lot of people assumed that due to her genetics, she didn't need to study, let alone hold a book. She was extremely smart and it didn't take her long to read an entire book and have i
t all memorized.
I wasn't bad at studying but hands-on tactics worked far better. If I was going to learn something, saying it out loud repetitively was my best shot at doing well. This school thing was going to test my limits, but I was feeling motivated to prove that I deserved to be here.
Even with my slight lack of confidence.
Camilla was waiting for me to give her a better response than my blunt comment.
"I'll do my best. Fighting!" I raised my clenched fists up in a cheer. I remembered it from one of those foreign drama shows Camilla once let me watch with her and how they cheered themselves and one another on.
"Good." She nodded. "Also, whoever you're partnered with for the exam will have the same mark as you, so if you screw up, so do they."
"No pressure at all," I sarcastically stated, my stomach flipping in nervousness at the new information. "Please don't let me be partnered with Xavier."
"You're probably partnered with Xavier," she said like she already saw the results.
"Say it ain't so."
"The queen mentioned it. Maybe you were in the middle of eye-gazing the property."
"Right..." I trailed off and sighed. "It's all good! I'll show him how smart I am."
"That's the spirit," Camilla encouraged. "But first, breakfast."
"Okay." I beamed and hooked my arm around hers when she turned around. "We'll still remain best friends, right? Even if we're going to different schools?"
My vulnerable, soft voice had Camilla glancing over at me, our faces inches apart.
"You're stuck with me, Rosadette. I'll be your female knight in shining armor. Anyone bothers you, tell me. I'll kick their ass gracefully and prove they shouldn't mess with a future queen."
I laughed at the last part, shaking my head before hugging her arm.
"Future queen my butt. Do you see me and Xavier being anywhere close on the compatibility scale? We're probably on the opposite ends with magnets holding us back."
"True, but you never know. Opposites attract."
"No, they don't."
"You're a light fae and I'm a dark fae, yet we're the best of friends," she reasoned.
"That's because Mother Fate felt pity for my sorry, lonely booty and brought you along to end my misery," I joked.
"Maybe, but it worked out nicely. Plus, didn't a certain prince buy you a whole new wardrobe?"
My cheeks flushed while I immediately thought of an excuse, "H-He said it was fae culture to celebrate birthdays or something like that,"
"True, but he could have bought you one pair of lace underwear and not thirty in every shade of the damn rainbow. Plus, he bought the rest of the clothes in your name, and he got the exact sizing, too.” She unhooked my arm to look me up and down.
"Gotta admit. He did good," she hummed before skipping out of the room.
She's so damn happy! Ugh.
When Camilla was pleased with all the things in her life, she would skip around and be the happiest person ever. She also loved to tease me.
"I still hate him!" I called out.
"Make sure you thank him when you see him! Breakfast is ready." She was already down the first flight of stairs and probably down the hall of the third floor.
"She's lucky she's a keeper," I mumbled with a smile on my face.
"Rosadette," Camilla snarled at me, trying to keep her voice as low as possible. "I swear to the fae gods, if you eat one more plate of pancakes, I'll pump your stomach out!"
"B-But!" I hissed back, blinking my eyes like an innocent puppy. "They're so good."
"When those new clothes can't fit, you're going to be crying real tears. Don't go asking me to get you new ones because I'm on a fae budget over here," she barked back.
I pouted my lips and glanced at the empty plate.
She did have a point. I'd practically inhaled five plates of freshly made pancakes, each plate having five fluffy puffs of sweetness layered in blueberry syrup, fresh strawberries, powdered sugar, and chocolate drizzled on top. The last one had marshmallows and strawberry syrup, which only made me want another round.
I'd been ignoring the others’ wide gazes. Everyone else consumed one plate, while Camilla was working on her third.
It wasn't my fault I had the biggest appetite in the world right now. This type of lavish food was what the rich humans ate when they could go to those special restaurants, the ones that were booked out for months in advance.
So far, there were five light fae living in our "dorm", leaving Camilla as the only shadow fae. They were all super nice, accepting us with wide smiles and all. It looked like they knew one another.
The leader was a blonde, blue-eyed light fae named Ella. From her attire, she looked super-rich, from her tightly bundled curls that seemed absolutely perfect, to the ironed out, wrinkle-free, white dress she wore.
She had one of those vibes that truly shouted out QUEEN up into the mountains, and from how elegantly she was using the proper utensils to eat a simple batch of pancakes, I could tell she must be working to achieve that very rank.
The others were dressed less extravagantly. From Camilla's earlier comment when we'd gone for seconds, they were all apparently from rich families across the fae world.
The whole fae thing was going to be hard to grasp because there were various courts, and that was even before the different kingdoms.
Light and dark were special in themselves, surrounded by the four courts that were based on the seasons. From their legends, only a few individuals could harbor the elements of all four courts and produce both light and dark.
To be able to use light and dark spells at a great caliber was deemed worthy enough for the middle class and under to bow to your feet. If you trained hard enough, you could excel right into the higher class just based on power.
It intrigued me how in some areas, knowledge, or what Camilla would emphasize as wisdom, was far more important, while in other cases, the magic you were able to manifest could make kingdoms lower to your feet.
Their talk was interesting to listen to while I carried on my eating spree, but I was making sure I was full and ready to face whatever came my way here. I wasn't necessarily on my tiptoes, waiting for the action to burst from the shadows, but I was hyping myself up to learn and grow in preparation for school.
I had to be super giddy and excited to excel at things like studying, and that was what my plan was.
"Fine. I'll leave some room for lunch," I concluded.
She looked over to my sad expression and groaned.
"Fine. One more plate." Her permission had me up and literally skipping over to the kitchen island where a tall maid name Amanda was waiting with a fresh batch of pancakes.
"How did you know?" I questioned when I reached her, seeing the marshmallows and strawberry syrup combo.
"It's a part of my quality." She smiled brightly. "It's why I'm the head cooking and cleaning maid here. If you need anything, Rosadette, feel free to ask me. I'm always around if you need a snack or are super hungry. You need to make sure you're well-fed to excel in school."
Her encouragement almost had me teary-eyed. So far, everyone had been so nice to me, even though I was "human scum" to their kind.
"Thank you so much." I smiled and accepted the plate while she took my empty one.
"No worries. Once you're finished, feel free to leave the plate in the sink. Our dish maid will come and take them for detailed cleaning. Have a good rest of the day." She bowed her head at me and walked to the sink.
With all the smiling I was doing this morning, I was surely going to have sore cheeks. Walking back to the table, I noticed the stares from the opposite half where the other girls sat.
Camilla, on the other hand, was finishing the last bits of her pancakes.
"That was delightful," she announced as I sat down. "Got the same marshmallow one?"
"Yes." I nodded. "I couldn't stop thinking about it after I took a bite."
"Fae food is always the best," Camilla said with a sig
h. "Sometimes my mom would get delivery if the rich side of town didn't have a lot of good choices. The richness in flavor is out of this world."
"I can tell," I replied, before digging right into the steaming hot plate.
"Do you eat a lot simply because?" one of the four girls questioned. The bitterness in her voice had me pause to look up and then down to where she sat.
She was a ginger with freckles. Some would think of freckles as faults, but I thought they were beautiful against her slightly tanned skin. They seemed rather accurate though, leaving me to wonder if she'd drawn them on somehow.
I'm sure with magic, she could just snap her fingers and get the appearance she wanted. Her hair was shoulder-length, the ends curled while the top part was straight bangs that covered her forehead.
I think her name was Monica, and she was Ella's best friend.
"Where I come from, we don't get pancakes," I replied casually. "Not even on special holidays like Christmas." I went back to eating, wanting to finish before they got cold.
"How unfortunate," she replied.
"Monica. What's with that tone?" Ella inquired while eyeing her best friend. "Just because you can't eat as many pancakes without gaining ten pounds doesn't mean you should be so bitter about it."
The other two friends giggled, while Monica blushed.
"Whatever. I'm not bitter or anything. Just curious as to why she's eating like a pig."
"Hey." Camilla was the one to speak up, tilting her head to one side questioningly.
That was never a good sign and I quickly laughed, which caught their attention.
"I'm not offended at all. I was honestly famished from the journey here. I better work out hard tomorrow or it'll all go to my hips and thighs."
There was no need for disagreements. I was trying to be on everyone's good side, especially with these entrance exams coming up.
"Yes," Ella happily agreed. "You deserve to make sure you're fed, like everyone else. Don't worry about Monica. I woke her up on the wrong side of the bed."
Fae Rose Academy: Year One (For The Purely Divine Book 1) Page 11