“Mistress Obelia?” Apple queried respectfully.
“Yes, my child?”
“Do you also offer lessons in running a manor? Balancing accounts and such? And how about gardening?”
"Oh indeed, Lady Appolonia," Lady Obelia affirmed. "We make sure our girls are masters of beauty and pragmatism in equal measure. In addition to flower painting, we also instruct our students in flower arrangements, potpourri preparation, and what herbal lore is appropriate for a lady of station. Of course, we leave the actual weeding and mucking about with the plants themselves to our groundsmen," the matron hastily assured.
"But what if we like mucking about on our hands and knees in the dirt?" Jess quipped, not at all gracefully.
“My daughter is quite the gardener,” Agda hastily assured, her reproving glare immediately wilting Jess’s growing desire to butt heads with the matron. “She was trained by the head herbalists at the college she had attended before, where they pay strict attention to the bounties of their garden to better control their potency.”
Lady Obelia gave a slow nod. "I see. Well, in that case, I can perhaps understand your daughter's desire for a more…hands-on approach, especially should that serve as something of a specialty for her. Rest assured, baroness, I shall speak to our head gardener and make sure that appropriate attire is made available for our dear Jessica, should she wish to take a more visceral approach to the construction of her flower arrangements."
“Thank you, Lady Obelia.” Jessica gave a respectful dip of her head, as would any student of Highrock to their professor, pointedly ignoring her sister's sharp elbow and whispered insistence to curtsy.
Obelia gazed coolly back at Jess. “Many ladies come to our academy with rough edges in desperate need of polishing. You will find, Lady Jessica de Calenbry, that even those who come from quite diverse backgrounds are soon able to find their niche at our Academy, just as soon as they learn the deference suitable to their station.” She flashed the barest hint of a smile. “I have no doubt that we shall be able to fit together a curriculum for you that pays service to your strengths, as well as correcting for any gaps to be found in your prior education.”
“Which is just about everything that doesn’t involve swords or plants,” Apple quipped to their mother, earning a glare from Jess and a bemused smile from Agda.
10
“Well now, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Agda inquired brightly of her daughters sometime later when their official tour had ended, with instructions to attend the evening dinner bells, and that a servant would come to assist them at that time.
“No, Mother. I think it will all be quite lovely,” Apple grinned, having already shared some whispered gossip with several of the girls they had passed in hallways, and no doubt already on her way to making new friends and establishing any number of alliances for the year ahead, Jess surmised, suppressing a yawn.
Jess gave a sad shake of her head. "Their garden truly is a sad sight to behold. Their daisies, wildflowers, and the few rose bushes we were shown had been drooping, sorry looking affairs. The tulips look almost beyond any hope of recovery, and I got the distinct impression that they were only showing us the best part. Flower arranging classes indeed. About all those poor things are good for, wilting after three days in a vase at best,” Jess noted. “Thank the angels above they promised to give me free reign to make something of that sad excuse for a garden, or I’d be running for the hills right about now,” Jess yawned, rubbing her eyes, only realizing to her chagrin, as her mother’s gaze bore into her own, that she had spoken a bit more freely than was perhaps prudent.
“Jessica de Calenbry, there will be no cowardly running away from your duties!” Her mother’s words held a measure of steel, and Jess bowed her head amidst her sister’s bemused snickers.
“I’m sorry, Mother, but no matter how well we polish her, Jess is never going to be ready for Court. She is far too honest, and is not very good at hiding her feelings or intentions.”
“Squires of War were forged for the battlefield, not the intrigues of Court, Mother. Those of us who had a knack for that sort of thing were recruited as agents. I'd be of far greater use to the king spending the winter patrolling our borders in the bitter cold, than I would attending bloody classes on needlepoint and etiquette.”
“Even a Squire of War can learn basic courtly etiquette, practice civility, and learn to think before she speaks!” Agda retorted sharply. “Are you truly telling me, Jessica de Calenbry, that you’ve been able to learn swordplay well enough to face down abominations from beyond the pale, but you can’t learn to keep your mouth shut and behave civilly in proper surroundings?”
Jess blinked, gaping at her mother, for once left speechless.
“Precisely the right response. See? She can learn, Mother,” Apple teased. “Besides, her comparison was unfair. I know for a fact that the cold no longer touches her. She'd just spend the season gallivanting about Erovering's primeval forests that no one but Jess would dare enter the heart of, having a grand time of it, I'm sure.”
Jess felt her cheeks flush, feeling not for the first time that her family could read her far too well for comfort.
Though she had done her best to be optimistic, things largely went as Jess had dreaded.
Their mother had spent another day assuring that both her daughters would be settled in, and with a final hug for her youngest and a warning glare for Jess, she reaffirmed her faith in both of them, assuring as well that she would be back to check up on them in just a few weeks' time. Both a promise and a warning, as far as Jess was concerned.
After that, Jess and her sister were largely left to their own devices, a single upper-class chaperon gave the task of assuring that they knew the locations of all their classes and the dining halls, of course. She and Jess had detested each other on sight.
"You may call my Lady Angelica," said the arrogant looking girl wearing far too much eye paint, in Jess's opinion. "And as I am your senior, and thus your better, you are expected to curtsy to me."
Apple had arched one eyebrow. “Certainly you are my senior, Lady Angelica, and as a show of courtesy and appreciation for your help, how could I do other than give you the honor of a formal curtsy?”
Her sister then flowed into a curtsy far lower than protocol demanded, her wry smile all but making a jest of it, though it appeared Angelica was too vain to see that, Jess mused.
"And now it's your turn." Angelica glared at Jess, after giving Apple a disdainful sniff.
Jess cooled her simmering rage at the disrespect the obnoxious girl had shown her sister, knowing it was what Apple would want, dipping her head as she would an equal at Highrock, and far more than the girl deserved, Jess thought.
Angelica's nostrils flared. “I said curtsy, girl! I don't care how ape-like your shoulders or other features are. You will show your superiors the respect they deserve, or you will pay most dearly for the slight!”
Jess's cold gaze froze the student where she stood. “Unless royal blood flows through your veins, there is no way I will abase myself before you, girl. And if you don't like that, then by all means, throw down the gauntlet and declare challenge, and I shall be more than happy to beat my displeasure all about your body!”
Angelica gasped, shaking her head in disbelief. “How dare you say such things to me! Do you know who I am?”
“I know you are a coward, who lacks the grit to back up her bluster.” Jess raised a cool brow as she cracked her knuckles. “Well? I'm waiting. I will even let you choose the weapons. Now challenge me, or run off with you tail between your legs, like the silly little bitch you are.”
Jess locked gazes with the now speechless girl for some moments, almost amused at how Angelica seemed stuck between horror and outrage, having absolutely no idea to respond to Jess's challenge, before Jess grew bored and shut the door to their suite in Angelica's face.
Apple grimaced, giving a slow shake of her head. "Unbelievable, Jess. Must you act like a barbarian? Re
ally? Assuring all hands are turned against us before the semester has even begun?"
Jess sighed. “She bore no love for us, Apple. I could see the bitter resentment simmering just beneath her vapid smile. Probably because our father is a baron, and hers but a lesser lord. And that matters to her. I have no doubt that she would have become increasingly domineering over time, wishing to show all that she was somehow superior to us. Either that, or she would have no doubt been working at cross purposes to us before the semester was out. Far better for us to have that hate out in the open, and for her to know that I won't bend my knee to her bitter spite, and that I am more than happy to meet any challenge she dares to bring against us.”
Apple rolled her eyes. “Yes, I know all that, Jess. But far better for us to play the game of meek, innocuous first-years, putting her at ease while we form our own coterie of girls who appreciate the advantages of befriending ladies of named rank, and put that Angelica in her place, at a time and method of our choosing, not hers, preferably catching her completely unawares!”
Jess gazed calmly at her sister, Apple for some reason blushing and turning away. “I'm not going to curtsy for her or anyone else, Appolonia. To no one not of royal stock will I abase myself. Only for the living embodiment of this nation, which I have devoted countless hours training with all my heart and soul to defend against all invaders. To the king alone will I kneel with head to mat, showing my love and loyalty to the country I would lay down my life to protect."
Apple held her hands up in mock surrender. “I know. I get it. I have seen you fight, Jess. These girls wouldn't last half a minute, fleeing for their lives, before being butchered in the killingfields you have trained to master. They probably haven't even held a practice blade, let alone fenced with live steel, and there is no way you'd curtsy to a single one of them. But please, Jess, at least be respectful, okay? Mother expects you to do your best. You don't have to like it, but you are expected to attend your classes, you are expected to at least be civil to your professors, to all the instructors, really, and if someone drives you to the breaking point, far better you just walk away than risk breaking their neck. Okay, Jess?”
Jess grimaced as her sister's plaintive gaze locked with her own. “All right, Apple. I will try. I'm not making any oaths, mind you, but I will try to be civil and attend these silly classes, all right?”
Apple gave Jess an impulsive hug. “I know you won't let me down, sister mine!”
Jess sighed, not so sure she'd be able to live up to her sister's expectations.
11
The classes in etiquette and needlepoint bored Jess to tears, her sister grimly nudging her awake during the ones they shared. History was at least somewhat interesting, but whenever she began to enjoy herself the slightest bit, such as playing with the instruments in music or joining in their choir, people started flinching and grimacing, and their instructor made it quite clear that Jessica would look absolutely darling sitting attentively as an educated music critic, much more so than as a participant. And just when she had managed to sing louder than everyone else.
Though the food was of exquisite quality, the company was far from it. Most of the girls spent more time in nasty gossip than actually eating. And the table matrons all peering at their charges with hawklike gazes cared not the least for the gossip, no matter how vicious or cutting. They were concerned only that elbows were off the table, and that the proper eating utensils were used at all times, and any tears were wept quietly, soundlessly, so as to be properly fetching. No outright weeping or open sobbing was permitted in any circumstances, no matter how vicious one's tablemates were. Such behaviors were for a lower sort.
Jess, of course, refused to watch any girl be bullied, even to the extent of being teased unmercifully by her tablemates, and in a complete breach of table etiquette Jess had gotten up from her otherwise empty table, strode across the divide between the settings bold as day, removed her dinner glove, unmailed of course, and smacked it across the cheek of the viciously slandering girl who was delighting so much in bringing her seatmate to tears.
Of course Jess had recognized that voice. The same girl who had always had a snide comment to say about Jess's musical talents or lack thereof that would cause the class entire to break out in nervous titters if not outright laughter, one of the few who could always be trusted to find grievous flaws with Jess's attempts at needlework, or taste in fashion when she wasn't implying to their classmates just loud enough to for Jess to hear that Jess was for all intents and purposes an ape some fool had tried to stuff in a dress. All this Jess did her best to ignore, silencing mocking laughter quickly enough with a cold glare, not a single girl having the courage to repeat their insults with Jess gazing straight at them. Like a dark power peering into their souls, one girl had nervously tittered behind her back.
Yet it was when the girl who had been pecking at her all week had actually commented aloud that Jess's fascination with military history wasn't the sign of a scholar at all, but was rather indicative of unhealthy passions far too masculine for proper ladies, and really shouldn't their professor get on to discussing more relevant issues like the favored attire of the ladies of Court, as opposed to the military campaigns that had founded their nation, that had proven the last straw for Jess. Their history professor, of course, had been only too happy to get off a subject she knew almost nothing about, Jess having actually enjoyed taking on the role of instructor for a change, and doing a fair job of it too, she thought.
Jess had been about to give challenge to Angelica right then and there, but one glare from her sister and a curtly whispered, "she changed subjects on you, Jess. She outmaneuvered you. Learn from it, and move on!" And Jess had settled for leaving the class, something in her gaze causing the professor to stumble back, even as Jess had fled the classroom, spending a restless day doing shadow exercises, desperate for a decent bout to vent her spleen. For she was exhausted after having spent a week doing her best to be on good behavior, despite how egregious the offenses of the jackals nipping at her sense of purpose and confidence. And Jess hardly cared what they said in any case, for they were but silly pecking carrion, learning to scavenge for Court scraps in the years to come, utterly beneath a Squire of War in rank, prestige, or importance. And not a one of them had had the courage since that first day to mock her to her face. Only snide comments from behind, and nervous titters pitched almost too soft to hear.
But where Jess drew the line was when those carrion eaters preyed upon a girl far more helpless than herself. And perhaps it was recognizing that same smug, mocking voice that had been pecking at her all week that had caused something inside Jess to snap.
“For acts unbecoming of a noble, I challenge you, Angelica! And if you don’t have the courage to face me in the field of battle, you may pick a champion who does, and I shall thrash him most soundly in your name. Now shut your ugly trap, and quit acting like a beast!” Jess roared, her voice echoing throughout the dining hall as all other conversation ground to a temporary halt.
The perfectly coiffed elfin-featured young woman so smacked raised a trembling hand to her reddened cheek and gazed at Jess in speechless stupefaction, for once unable to say a word, even as the entire student body seemed to be looking on. Jess grinned coldly. “Or you can just sit there and gape like a fish, so long as you keep your spiteful little comments to yourself! I, for one, am sick of hearing them.”
Jess then promptly ignored the sputtering girl glaring daggers at her back, soothing instead the mousy haired young woman crying silently as their table matron had curtly demanded, said matron having cared not a whit to stop the source of the girl’s torment. It was an act of callousness that outraged Jess almost as much as the cruel bullying that had instigated the tears in the first place, and she spared a fierce glare for that particular table matron who had blanched and stumbled back, Jess promptly ignoring her as well, bringing the still quietly sobbing girl to her own table.
“I will see you expelled for this,
you disgusting, friendless troll. There is a reason why no one wants to sit with you!” The sputtering Angelica behind Jess finally managed to spit out.
“Ye gods, I hope so. It would put an end to hearing your snide aspersions through every damn class I attend here,” Jess declared, Angelica visibly blanching for some reason. Jess then promptly ignored the obnoxious girl who was hardly worth her time in any case, even as she gently seated the somewhat calmer girl beside her, completely disregarding the table matron who was glaring at Jess and muttering to her cohort across the aisle. “Hey there, no need for tears. That girl was a mangy cur and is not worth your salt, frankly. My name’s Jess. What’s yours?”
The girl ventured a trembling smile “My name is Juliana. Thank you for your kind intervention. Angelica was being a bit intolerable, I’m afraid.”
Jessica nodded. “She was being a nasty bitch. I have to hear her sly taunts through every class, and frankly, I'm just glad you gave me an excuse to challenge that trollop.”
Juliana let loose a surprised chuckle. “I don’t think the headmistress would approve of such a crude direct term, especially since she coaches us to attack by innuendo, but I don’t disagree with you at all.”
Jess nodded. "Good! Now try this fish soup. Delicious! Twilight would love it."
Juliana gave her a curious look, and Jess decided she would blossom quite prettily once she got over her pimples, and quit hiding behind her mousy brown hair. “Who is Twilight?”
Jess grinned. “Now that’s a very good question! Let me tell you about my familiar.” Happy for once that so few wanted to be associated with her, Jess enjoyed an animated conversation with Juliana, both making themselves comfortable and eating freely of all the tureens, the table completely to themselves. Juliana, of course, was in absolute awe that Jess had a familiar, let alone such a fantastically handsome and clever one as Jess assured her that Twilight was, and Juliana nodded in proper amazement at all the right places in Jess's animated accounts, even laughing a time or two when Jess shared the details of some of their more outrageous escapades.
Faerie's Champion Page 11