A/N: Hi guys! Thanks to all of my reviewers! This chapter gave me hell to
write, so please appréciez!!! (That was the French word for enjoy)
Chapter 7
The chair swiveled around to reveal a very strict and proper looking woman. "Bill, I expect you to show this young man to Sir Hardon for his instructions." she said in a harsh tone. "Now, you three young ladies are going to be enriched in a school program to teach Waiting, and finishing skills. You will start tomorrow morning, 7 am sharp. I will guide you in a castle tour today, and show you your sleeping arrangements, is that clear?"
She seemed to say this all to fast when her eyes flicked to Tilly's hair. "I expect you to change that so you can be more presentable."
They waited in silence for a moment, wandering what to do, as Madam Merfoot sighed. "And when I say something I expect you to reply 'Yes Madam Merfoot'"
"Yes Madam Merfoot" the girls quietly chorused.
"Good, follow me" She walked briskly out the door, leaving Tilly, Erica, and Kara to follow. Before she led them out, Tilly noted that their Trunks and bags were in the corner of her office.
"These are the main staircases; you will not use them unless being presented. Until that time you will use the back stairs for classes." She said gesturing to a large, marble/gold staircase that was led to the main floor.
"Yes madam Merfoot." Said the fairies in unison. What's being presented? And to whom?
"These are the pages and squire's dorms right here, you're not allowed in." She said pointing down a hallway lined with countless mahogany doors. The candles on the walls were extinguished, giving it a creepy air.
Madam Merfoot led the girls through countless corridors, showing them their classrooms for etiquette, sewing, cooking, and many others. She has led them down stairs, and around large courtyards, until she stopped at an important looking door. Its mahogany wood was polished until it shined like a mirror. It seemed to be at least 10 feet wide and 20 feet tall. Madam Merfoot fixed her dress wile looking in the door.
"This is the throne room; you are to never enter without an appointment." She said sternly. Kara ran her fingers over the intricate design. It seemed like it was another language, maybe elves, or humans. They were then led to a very large hallway that was lined with doors, and lit up with torches and candles along the wall. There was a large stain glass piece illuminating what the torches and candles didn't. Each door was labeled with two people's names.
"These are your dorms; at the end of this hall are some girls with only one person in their dorm so you will share a room with them." All hope of sharing a dorm with Erica was lost and a fear of sharing one with a racist stuck up girl was replaced. Tilly wondered how they could fix this, and hoped that it wouldn't be so bad.
"Alright, the girls are now going to lunch so I expect you to join them and be back at my office in an hour." Said Madam Merfoot. She had led them to two double doors that were open, and a wonderful smell was wafting out. Tilly, Erica, and Kara followed the steady stream of boys and girls that were crossing into the brightly lit room.
This lunchroom was obviously better than the one at the Queens Union. It had actual good food, and the tables were wood, not metal. Tilly and Erica picked up their trays and headed over to where the lunch ladies were handing out the food. It seemed as if Kara was too busy to eat as she was talking to some girls at an over-packed lunch table. Tilly and Erica went and sat at an almost empty table; its occupants were eating quietly and talking in hushed voices.
Tilly tried a bite of their lasagna and swallowed slowly. Her mother used to make lasagna that tasted exactly like this. She stuffed the end of a roll into her mouth. Her mom used to make it like this as well. Everything on her tray tasted like her mothers cooking. "This is weird" she said out loud. Erica looked up from her tray.
"What's weird?" she asked.
"Oh, I didn't mean to say that out loud, sorry, I was just thinking to myself" She replied in a hurry, the girls at the end of the table were now looking at her.
"What's weird?" she asked lightly, and then took a good look at Tilly. "I like your hair."
"Um, thanks, and it just that my mother used to make food that tasted like this before she died." Tilly said, blushing.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry." Said the other girl, blushing at her own mistake. "So, what's your name?"
Tilly raised her eyebrows at the question. She thought that everyone knew who she was, it being that way since she could remember. She realized that she was taking to long thinking about this.
"My name is Tilly." she said her shock wearing off; making sure that she didn't say her last name.
"Mines Kathryn, pleased to meet you" said the other fairy smiling and scooting down so they could shake hands.
"Mines Erica" said Erica butting in so they could shake their hands.
"And mines Hailey" She said shaking everyone's hands, including Kathryn's. The two burst out laughing at each other but soon quieted down from the glares from the over packed table.
"So where is your dorm Tilly?" Kathryn asked.
"Um, I haven't figured that out yet, actually." Tilly said thoughtfully.
"Uh Oh, the bells about to ring, we should get going. See you later Tilly, and you too Erica." Said Kathryn checking her watch.
Tilly and Erica emptied their trays in the garbage and walked out of the double doors and looked around wondering were they would find Madam Merfoots office. Kathryn looked over her shoulder and walked back to them.
"I'm sorry, I forgot, Madam Merfoot always leads the new girls around series of hallways to confuse them and your first test is to find your way back. Madam Merfoot does this to see if you had paid attention." seeing the look on Tilly's and Erica's face, she knew very well that they hadn't.
"Alright, so if you take that hallway and go up three flights of stairs, you should see her office to the left at the end of the third hallway." Turning on her heel, her brown red hair flipped behind her as she boldly strutted down the hall.
Tilly and Erica followed Kathryn's instructions, but got confused if Kathryn had said to walk up two or three sets of stairs.
"Well let's try the second and see were it takes us." Said Erica exasperated when Tilly had stopped to think for a few minutes.
"But I swear, she said three" wined Tilly, trudging up the stairs after Erica had.
"But a minute ago you said she had told us two" Reminded Erica over her shoulder.
Tilly grumbled to herself that Erica was right, just as they reached the second floor landing. They walked through the last door on the left side of the third hallway and found that it was a giant gym were many of the new Pages were doing push ups and wrestling.
"Why yes, Erica, I do believe that you were right about the floors!" said Tilly in a sarcastic tone, rolling her eyes.
"Hey, you were certain it was this floor before I was." she retorted, angry at how sarcastic and different Tilly was acting at this school.
"Yes, well, lets just get out of here before Madam Merfoot classifies us as completely useless" declared Tilly, moving to close the gym door.
"O, well who's that Tilly?" asked Erica, eyes locked on a boy who had caught their attention. He seemed to be looking at Tilly with a raised eyebrow in mid push up.
"No one I wish to meet." answered the irritated fairy. She closed the door with a small click, and the two set out for the stairs.
When Madam Merfoot had sent Nathan with Bill to Sir Hardon, immediate regret washed over him. What had possessed him to quit school, something that he had wanted ever since he could remember, for being a knight, which was something only his parents wanted of him? Why had he and Erica chosen to follow Tilly with her struggle? He had only known her for a very short wile, and his parents used to work with hers when they were alive, but was that really why he felt almost drawn to her? Sure, she was very pretty, not beautiful, but pretty. She seemed like a fiery soul, which was utterly relaxing after being only exposed to girls who were obsessed with their looks, and what others did, so they should too. He might as well just tell her that he liked her, but the fact that he didn't know her very well hung in the air. She was a wonderful person that he knew of, but he had acted by his heart instead of his brain, and had convinced Erica to come along too.
Being a knight will definitely teach him a lot of useful things, like how to fight and act more noble and not rashly. But he ached for his school which he had only begun to know, it was where he had felt were he belonged.
It was well known that Squires earned their wings after they were knighted, but he never had that childhood dream of being a knight, he had one of a scholar.
Bill had brought him to his new master's office, and opened the door for him.
"Hello there!" cried a burly tall man who practically galloped to where Nathan was standing, shocked out of his thoughts. His hand was shaken repeatedly, and he found himself sitting down in a chair directly in front of Sir Hardon's desk. "Well, I hear that you've come to take a program in our knighting development. Great! You're a year younger than I would have liked, but I can fit you in altogether."
Nathan remained speechless with an eyebrow raised. "Erm, yes sir, I would be grateful if you could do that for me." He answered in a weak voice.
"Alright, let me show you were you will be staying, and our gym on the third floor, there's also our stables and practice yards to be seen, and our dining hall for pages, there's a smaller one for them, you see." He looked at Nathan with a wide grin, then stood up and took him everywhere that he said he would.
Tilly, Erica, and Kara had been led by Madam Merfoot to were there sewing room was, and they entered looking at the rows of girls quietly hand- stitching in silence. Madam quickly walked over to where there sewing instructor was standing. They whispered quietly to another for a few moments, then their new instructor led them to the middle of the classroom of rows and handed each of them a packet of fabric and many spools of thread, and another packet of needles. Each girl prodded and poked for a few minutes, coxing the thread to go through the needles hole.
Tilly thought she was hopelessly lost but then she was poked sharply in the back. She spun around and the appearance of Kathryn calmed her. "You see Tilly, you have to have practice at this, so try to thread it when you get your free time later. I'll thread this for you once. We're making bags, and on the front has to have our own design." Kathryn whispered quietly to Tilly, threading her needle. Tilly whispered her thanks to Kathryn, and used her scissors to cut out the pattern to her bag and pinned it to her fabric. Erica seemed to get as much done as Tilly did, with the help of a girl Tilly didn't know.
The bell rang and the classroom of girls collected their things quietly and where swept to their next class which seemed to be etiquette. O joy and how fun this is going to be. Tilly thought as their teacher gracefully walked into the room. They were seated down at tables that where layered with glass and utensils and plates, most likely going to learn how to eat. Well this place is flashing the words FINISHING SCHOOL. Thought Tilly, seated between Erica and Kathryn. Erica seemed to be talking a lot to the same girl from sewing class.
"Watch out here Tilly, Madam Flour can smell fear; she gives bad marks for the tiniest mess up, and she is very critical." whispered Kathryn into Tillys ear when Flour started naming different sizes of spoons and forks. The etiquette lesson wasn't all that bad, Kathryn just has a bad grudge on the teacher and vice versa.
The day headed on where Tilly and Erica were being guided by their different new friends to literature, cooking, and then to dinner. All of had been a wonderful experience, but during their literature class, Tilly, Erica and Kara were sent back to Madam Merfoot's office to retrieve their black writing notebooks. Kathryn had loaned Tilly a pen because she hadn't thought to buy one.
After their dinner they had three hours of free time, it was hosted in what they called the wreck room. During this time, Tilly got to know Kathryn a little better, and some of her opinions of the school.
"This school is the worst thing I think I've ever encountered. I for one, am NOT going to be how they want me to be, all lovely, and perfect, and marrying as soon as I'm eighteen. What about you?" she asked Tilly with some determination in her eye.
"Well, I'm going to try as hard as possible to get my good grades, but I hope to have some fun on the way, I want to be different." replied Tilly with a smile.
Kathryn flashed a beautiful, but wicked smile. "Then you've made friends with the right person." She whispered as a teacher walked past them, her arms full of books.
"This school needs someone like you Tilly; someone to be my partner in this stuck up graveyard." Putting out her hand. Tilly shook it with a smile. This was going to be fun.
Kathryn didn't tell much about her life, no matter how much Tilly coaxed her. She has gotten in trouble numerous times, mostly for the joy of it, and no one seemed to understand that part of her. She had always strived to be different, and to have the spotlight, but with a reason. Everyone here was so somber and quiet, someone needed to change that and to turn these girls into normal ones.
After Kathryn had told her about herself, she asked about Tilly, who told her everything about her identity and how she had come to the school, but she was cut off when the free time had rung its bell to signal that everyone should be working by now, and then it was to bed.
"I'll tell you tomorrow during wreck time then so I can finish." whispered Tilly to Kathryn, who smiled.
"Why not tell me tonight? Would you like to be my roommate?" She whispered back.
"Alright!" Tilly said out loud and her voice rung through the tall room as many girls shushed her. "Hey, why aren't you roommates with Hailey? You guys seem good enough friends." She asked Kathryn, remembering to whisper this time.
"That my friend is for tonight to revile" whispered back Kathryn in a mysterious voice as the two giggled softly. Tilly looked over at Erica who had her back turned to Tilly. What had gotten into her? Was she just being overly dramatic about their little argument after lunch? The girl she was hanging out with looked nice enough, but then she saw Tilly staring and glared, flipping her hair to talk to Erica once more.
"That's Elsie." Kathryn whispered, catching her stare. "She's evil enough, Oh no, she hasn't made friends with your friend has she?"
"I'm not quite sure myself, why is that such a bad thing?" She inquired quietly.
"Once again, Tilly, I'll tell you later."
The rest of the wreck time, Tilly worked non-stop trying to catch up with all of the girls in her grade level. This school semester had stated a month before the Queen's Union had. When she had just finished her literature homework, the bell for be had rung, and the students swept out to clamor up the stairs noisily until they reached the third floor and bustled around many strange hallways until they found the hall that was lined with doors and looked very friendly.
Kathryn led her down the hallway and opened a door with the nameplate: Kathryn Worthington/ Tilly Barlance.
"How do they know my name, and were I'm staying?" she asked Kathryn in confusion.
Kathryn turned on her heel giving her a mysterious smile. "Magic, Tilly. Magic..."
There were two beds in the room, both with trunks on the end. Kathryn showed her the bathroom was, and the rest was self explanatory because it was Tilly's trunk on the end of a bed that seemed squished into a nook.
Kara sat on her bed wile Tilly told her the rest about her school, and lastly, about Nathan. Kara seemed interested when Tilly was describing him, and showed her the picture she drew with herself and Nathan.
"This Nathan, Is he anything like you?" Kathryn inquired, propping her chin onto her hand.
"Well, not exactly. We haven't known each other very long, truth be told." After saying this she felt immediate regret about dragging Nathan and Erica into her own troubles.
"Ah, well, let's try to focus on the good instead of the bad. Come over here, I've sneaked this from home in case I wanted to have a celebration. And I think we could both go for a celebration right now" Said Kathryn bringing out a bottle of wine.
Tilly raised her eyebrows and opened her mouth to object but something stopped her. She desperately wanted to be different, does being drunk count as being different? No, being adventurous is different, up for new things. This is what Kathryn was like, she was sure she could change too, for the better.
Tilly stopped herself and then smiled. Things could certainly change for the better for her.
Kathryn passed her the bottle and Tilly took a healthy swing. This stuff isn't so bad. She thought to herself. It tastes like grape juice. Alcoholic grape juice. It tasted sweet and bitter at the same time. Kathryn and Tilly passed the bottle back and forth, speaking about random things. Suddenly Kathryn looked up.
"Oh my god Tilly, I totally forgot to give you a corset." she said standing up and swaying for a moment. She wobbled over to where a wardrobe sat and pulled out a hanger with a rather strange looking garmet.
"C-c-corset?" stuttered Tilly standing up to look at this strange garmet. It was rather small, with laces up the back.
"Turn around Tilly" commanded Kathryn. Tilly obeyed without a care in the world.
Kathryn lifted up her dress and slipped the small material around her stomach that reached below her breasts.
"Alright, hold on, this is going to hurt." Said Kathryn with a small amount of pity in her voice."
The next few moments were ones of pain for Tilly. The confinement of the corset had forced air out of her lungs and she started to feel dizzy. Her lungs were crushed under the fabric, and her bladder and stomach felt like they were going to explode.
When Kathryn finished she let go of Tilly's dress and nervously turned her around to face Tilly.
"Alright, I'm sorry about not telling you earlier what this was, and u have every right to be angry at me." She said wringing her hands.
Tilly still looked a bit shocked, but not angry.
"Bloody hell!" she said finally finding her voice.
Kathryn couldn't help but burst out laughing, but Tilly failed to see what was funny, having not being able to laugh.
Kathryn wiped her face off. "I'm sorry, that was just the funniest expression I've seen so far, when someone first puts on a corset." still laughing, she walked over to a corner of the room were a table magically appeared with a water jug was placed on it. She filled up to cups and handed one to Tilly. Tilly just stared at it for a moment but then downed the whole thing.
"Actually, Kathryn, I have yet to tell you about this. plan that I had." Said Tilly staring at her cup.
"I'm listening" replied Kathryn sitting on her own bed.
"Well, it's actually quite silly. I don't know how to come up about it." She said tracing her fingers over a pattern over her quilt.
"Try starting at the beginning." Suggested Kathryn helpfully.
Tilly smiled and begun "Well, its common knowledge that a knight can earn his wings, but, I want to stick together with Nathan and Erica so I had this immature thought that maybe I could somehow become a knight, and earn my wings that way." She looked up hopefully at a smiling Kathryn.
"Well Tilly, I'd have to agree with you that it is a silly plan," She paused as Tilly flinched. "But we don't have to earn our wings by becoming knights. We could simply please the queen some.. way." She drifted off in thought.
"That seems easier said then done, Kathryn." replied Tilly skeptical.
"Well, maybe instead of pleasing her in someway, we could be.." She seemed to drift off in a pained expression.
"We could be model students." Tilly finished for her. Kathryn nodded, a pained expression still lingering on her face.
"I doubt we'll have to go that far, Kathryn" assured Tilly.
"Well, how's this sound? We could graduate like normal ladies and wait on the queen. The only hard part is gaining her trust. We wouldn't really know what to do." She said thoughtful. "Alright, maybe if we get a ton of detentions so we can eavesdrop on her, so we know whats going on."
"Why would getting detentions allow us to eavesdrop on her?" asked Tilly.
Kathryn smiled again. "Detentions are serving her and the king with their dinner parties."
"Oh, now I see what you're getting at." Said Tilly, smiling herself.
"When we graduate, I'm not sure what happens but I know that a select few of each class are trained even further to be the queens Ladies in Waiting. I have no idea what makes them eligible." said Kathryn.
Tilly started getting drowsy. "Maybe we could just ask a teacher or something." she muttered and laid down on her bed, asleep when she hit the pillow. It had been quite an eventful day.
A/N: o0o, are you happy with me now? It took me a wile to write this, but I'm happy! Are you happy? Ok! Please drop a review when you leave, that would definitely brighten my day! O, by the way, this is going to have a ton of chapters to come, I haven't figured it out yet, so please, and thank you to all of my reviewers, I luv ya!!!!
Chapter 7
The chair swiveled around to reveal a very strict and proper looking woman. "Bill, I expect you to show this young man to Sir Hardon for his instructions." she said in a harsh tone. "Now, you three young ladies are going to be enriched in a school program to teach Waiting, and finishing skills. You will start tomorrow morning, 7 am sharp. I will guide you in a castle tour today, and show you your sleeping arrangements, is that clear?"
She seemed to say this all to fast when her eyes flicked to Tilly's hair. "I expect you to change that so you can be more presentable."
They waited in silence for a moment, wandering what to do, as Madam Merfoot sighed. "And when I say something I expect you to reply 'Yes Madam Merfoot'"
"Yes Madam Merfoot" the girls quietly chorused.
"Good, follow me" She walked briskly out the door, leaving Tilly, Erica, and Kara to follow. Before she led them out, Tilly noted that their Trunks and bags were in the corner of her office.
"These are the main staircases; you will not use them unless being presented. Until that time you will use the back stairs for classes." She said gesturing to a large, marble/gold staircase that was led to the main floor.
"Yes madam Merfoot." Said the fairies in unison. What's being presented? And to whom?
"These are the pages and squire's dorms right here, you're not allowed in." She said pointing down a hallway lined with countless mahogany doors. The candles on the walls were extinguished, giving it a creepy air.
Madam Merfoot led the girls through countless corridors, showing them their classrooms for etiquette, sewing, cooking, and many others. She has led them down stairs, and around large courtyards, until she stopped at an important looking door. Its mahogany wood was polished until it shined like a mirror. It seemed to be at least 10 feet wide and 20 feet tall. Madam Merfoot fixed her dress wile looking in the door.
"This is the throne room; you are to never enter without an appointment." She said sternly. Kara ran her fingers over the intricate design. It seemed like it was another language, maybe elves, or humans. They were then led to a very large hallway that was lined with doors, and lit up with torches and candles along the wall. There was a large stain glass piece illuminating what the torches and candles didn't. Each door was labeled with two people's names.
"These are your dorms; at the end of this hall are some girls with only one person in their dorm so you will share a room with them." All hope of sharing a dorm with Erica was lost and a fear of sharing one with a racist stuck up girl was replaced. Tilly wondered how they could fix this, and hoped that it wouldn't be so bad.
"Alright, the girls are now going to lunch so I expect you to join them and be back at my office in an hour." Said Madam Merfoot. She had led them to two double doors that were open, and a wonderful smell was wafting out. Tilly, Erica, and Kara followed the steady stream of boys and girls that were crossing into the brightly lit room.
This lunchroom was obviously better than the one at the Queens Union. It had actual good food, and the tables were wood, not metal. Tilly and Erica picked up their trays and headed over to where the lunch ladies were handing out the food. It seemed as if Kara was too busy to eat as she was talking to some girls at an over-packed lunch table. Tilly and Erica went and sat at an almost empty table; its occupants were eating quietly and talking in hushed voices.
Tilly tried a bite of their lasagna and swallowed slowly. Her mother used to make lasagna that tasted exactly like this. She stuffed the end of a roll into her mouth. Her mom used to make it like this as well. Everything on her tray tasted like her mothers cooking. "This is weird" she said out loud. Erica looked up from her tray.
"What's weird?" she asked.
"Oh, I didn't mean to say that out loud, sorry, I was just thinking to myself" She replied in a hurry, the girls at the end of the table were now looking at her.
"What's weird?" she asked lightly, and then took a good look at Tilly. "I like your hair."
"Um, thanks, and it just that my mother used to make food that tasted like this before she died." Tilly said, blushing.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry." Said the other girl, blushing at her own mistake. "So, what's your name?"
Tilly raised her eyebrows at the question. She thought that everyone knew who she was, it being that way since she could remember. She realized that she was taking to long thinking about this.
"My name is Tilly." she said her shock wearing off; making sure that she didn't say her last name.
"Mines Kathryn, pleased to meet you" said the other fairy smiling and scooting down so they could shake hands.
"Mines Erica" said Erica butting in so they could shake their hands.
"And mines Hailey" She said shaking everyone's hands, including Kathryn's. The two burst out laughing at each other but soon quieted down from the glares from the over packed table.
"So where is your dorm Tilly?" Kathryn asked.
"Um, I haven't figured that out yet, actually." Tilly said thoughtfully.
"Uh Oh, the bells about to ring, we should get going. See you later Tilly, and you too Erica." Said Kathryn checking her watch.
Tilly and Erica emptied their trays in the garbage and walked out of the double doors and looked around wondering were they would find Madam Merfoots office. Kathryn looked over her shoulder and walked back to them.
"I'm sorry, I forgot, Madam Merfoot always leads the new girls around series of hallways to confuse them and your first test is to find your way back. Madam Merfoot does this to see if you had paid attention." seeing the look on Tilly's and Erica's face, she knew very well that they hadn't.
"Alright, so if you take that hallway and go up three flights of stairs, you should see her office to the left at the end of the third hallway." Turning on her heel, her brown red hair flipped behind her as she boldly strutted down the hall.
Tilly and Erica followed Kathryn's instructions, but got confused if Kathryn had said to walk up two or three sets of stairs.
"Well let's try the second and see were it takes us." Said Erica exasperated when Tilly had stopped to think for a few minutes.
"But I swear, she said three" wined Tilly, trudging up the stairs after Erica had.
"But a minute ago you said she had told us two" Reminded Erica over her shoulder.
Tilly grumbled to herself that Erica was right, just as they reached the second floor landing. They walked through the last door on the left side of the third hallway and found that it was a giant gym were many of the new Pages were doing push ups and wrestling.
"Why yes, Erica, I do believe that you were right about the floors!" said Tilly in a sarcastic tone, rolling her eyes.
"Hey, you were certain it was this floor before I was." she retorted, angry at how sarcastic and different Tilly was acting at this school.
"Yes, well, lets just get out of here before Madam Merfoot classifies us as completely useless" declared Tilly, moving to close the gym door.
"O, well who's that Tilly?" asked Erica, eyes locked on a boy who had caught their attention. He seemed to be looking at Tilly with a raised eyebrow in mid push up.
"No one I wish to meet." answered the irritated fairy. She closed the door with a small click, and the two set out for the stairs.
When Madam Merfoot had sent Nathan with Bill to Sir Hardon, immediate regret washed over him. What had possessed him to quit school, something that he had wanted ever since he could remember, for being a knight, which was something only his parents wanted of him? Why had he and Erica chosen to follow Tilly with her struggle? He had only known her for a very short wile, and his parents used to work with hers when they were alive, but was that really why he felt almost drawn to her? Sure, she was very pretty, not beautiful, but pretty. She seemed like a fiery soul, which was utterly relaxing after being only exposed to girls who were obsessed with their looks, and what others did, so they should too. He might as well just tell her that he liked her, but the fact that he didn't know her very well hung in the air. She was a wonderful person that he knew of, but he had acted by his heart instead of his brain, and had convinced Erica to come along too.
Being a knight will definitely teach him a lot of useful things, like how to fight and act more noble and not rashly. But he ached for his school which he had only begun to know, it was where he had felt were he belonged.
It was well known that Squires earned their wings after they were knighted, but he never had that childhood dream of being a knight, he had one of a scholar.
Bill had brought him to his new master's office, and opened the door for him.
"Hello there!" cried a burly tall man who practically galloped to where Nathan was standing, shocked out of his thoughts. His hand was shaken repeatedly, and he found himself sitting down in a chair directly in front of Sir Hardon's desk. "Well, I hear that you've come to take a program in our knighting development. Great! You're a year younger than I would have liked, but I can fit you in altogether."
Nathan remained speechless with an eyebrow raised. "Erm, yes sir, I would be grateful if you could do that for me." He answered in a weak voice.
"Alright, let me show you were you will be staying, and our gym on the third floor, there's also our stables and practice yards to be seen, and our dining hall for pages, there's a smaller one for them, you see." He looked at Nathan with a wide grin, then stood up and took him everywhere that he said he would.
Tilly, Erica, and Kara had been led by Madam Merfoot to were there sewing room was, and they entered looking at the rows of girls quietly hand- stitching in silence. Madam quickly walked over to where there sewing instructor was standing. They whispered quietly to another for a few moments, then their new instructor led them to the middle of the classroom of rows and handed each of them a packet of fabric and many spools of thread, and another packet of needles. Each girl prodded and poked for a few minutes, coxing the thread to go through the needles hole.
Tilly thought she was hopelessly lost but then she was poked sharply in the back. She spun around and the appearance of Kathryn calmed her. "You see Tilly, you have to have practice at this, so try to thread it when you get your free time later. I'll thread this for you once. We're making bags, and on the front has to have our own design." Kathryn whispered quietly to Tilly, threading her needle. Tilly whispered her thanks to Kathryn, and used her scissors to cut out the pattern to her bag and pinned it to her fabric. Erica seemed to get as much done as Tilly did, with the help of a girl Tilly didn't know.
The bell rang and the classroom of girls collected their things quietly and where swept to their next class which seemed to be etiquette. O joy and how fun this is going to be. Tilly thought as their teacher gracefully walked into the room. They were seated down at tables that where layered with glass and utensils and plates, most likely going to learn how to eat. Well this place is flashing the words FINISHING SCHOOL. Thought Tilly, seated between Erica and Kathryn. Erica seemed to be talking a lot to the same girl from sewing class.
"Watch out here Tilly, Madam Flour can smell fear; she gives bad marks for the tiniest mess up, and she is very critical." whispered Kathryn into Tillys ear when Flour started naming different sizes of spoons and forks. The etiquette lesson wasn't all that bad, Kathryn just has a bad grudge on the teacher and vice versa.
The day headed on where Tilly and Erica were being guided by their different new friends to literature, cooking, and then to dinner. All of had been a wonderful experience, but during their literature class, Tilly, Erica and Kara were sent back to Madam Merfoot's office to retrieve their black writing notebooks. Kathryn had loaned Tilly a pen because she hadn't thought to buy one.
After their dinner they had three hours of free time, it was hosted in what they called the wreck room. During this time, Tilly got to know Kathryn a little better, and some of her opinions of the school.
"This school is the worst thing I think I've ever encountered. I for one, am NOT going to be how they want me to be, all lovely, and perfect, and marrying as soon as I'm eighteen. What about you?" she asked Tilly with some determination in her eye.
"Well, I'm going to try as hard as possible to get my good grades, but I hope to have some fun on the way, I want to be different." replied Tilly with a smile.
Kathryn flashed a beautiful, but wicked smile. "Then you've made friends with the right person." She whispered as a teacher walked past them, her arms full of books.
"This school needs someone like you Tilly; someone to be my partner in this stuck up graveyard." Putting out her hand. Tilly shook it with a smile. This was going to be fun.
Kathryn didn't tell much about her life, no matter how much Tilly coaxed her. She has gotten in trouble numerous times, mostly for the joy of it, and no one seemed to understand that part of her. She had always strived to be different, and to have the spotlight, but with a reason. Everyone here was so somber and quiet, someone needed to change that and to turn these girls into normal ones.
After Kathryn had told her about herself, she asked about Tilly, who told her everything about her identity and how she had come to the school, but she was cut off when the free time had rung its bell to signal that everyone should be working by now, and then it was to bed.
"I'll tell you tomorrow during wreck time then so I can finish." whispered Tilly to Kathryn, who smiled.
"Why not tell me tonight? Would you like to be my roommate?" She whispered back.
"Alright!" Tilly said out loud and her voice rung through the tall room as many girls shushed her. "Hey, why aren't you roommates with Hailey? You guys seem good enough friends." She asked Kathryn, remembering to whisper this time.
"That my friend is for tonight to revile" whispered back Kathryn in a mysterious voice as the two giggled softly. Tilly looked over at Erica who had her back turned to Tilly. What had gotten into her? Was she just being overly dramatic about their little argument after lunch? The girl she was hanging out with looked nice enough, but then she saw Tilly staring and glared, flipping her hair to talk to Erica once more.
"That's Elsie." Kathryn whispered, catching her stare. "She's evil enough, Oh no, she hasn't made friends with your friend has she?"
"I'm not quite sure myself, why is that such a bad thing?" She inquired quietly.
"Once again, Tilly, I'll tell you later."
The rest of the wreck time, Tilly worked non-stop trying to catch up with all of the girls in her grade level. This school semester had stated a month before the Queen's Union had. When she had just finished her literature homework, the bell for be had rung, and the students swept out to clamor up the stairs noisily until they reached the third floor and bustled around many strange hallways until they found the hall that was lined with doors and looked very friendly.
Kathryn led her down the hallway and opened a door with the nameplate: Kathryn Worthington/ Tilly Barlance.
"How do they know my name, and were I'm staying?" she asked Kathryn in confusion.
Kathryn turned on her heel giving her a mysterious smile. "Magic, Tilly. Magic..."
There were two beds in the room, both with trunks on the end. Kathryn showed her the bathroom was, and the rest was self explanatory because it was Tilly's trunk on the end of a bed that seemed squished into a nook.
Kara sat on her bed wile Tilly told her the rest about her school, and lastly, about Nathan. Kara seemed interested when Tilly was describing him, and showed her the picture she drew with herself and Nathan.
"This Nathan, Is he anything like you?" Kathryn inquired, propping her chin onto her hand.
"Well, not exactly. We haven't known each other very long, truth be told." After saying this she felt immediate regret about dragging Nathan and Erica into her own troubles.
"Ah, well, let's try to focus on the good instead of the bad. Come over here, I've sneaked this from home in case I wanted to have a celebration. And I think we could both go for a celebration right now" Said Kathryn bringing out a bottle of wine.
Tilly raised her eyebrows and opened her mouth to object but something stopped her. She desperately wanted to be different, does being drunk count as being different? No, being adventurous is different, up for new things. This is what Kathryn was like, she was sure she could change too, for the better.
Tilly stopped herself and then smiled. Things could certainly change for the better for her.
Kathryn passed her the bottle and Tilly took a healthy swing. This stuff isn't so bad. She thought to herself. It tastes like grape juice. Alcoholic grape juice. It tasted sweet and bitter at the same time. Kathryn and Tilly passed the bottle back and forth, speaking about random things. Suddenly Kathryn looked up.
"Oh my god Tilly, I totally forgot to give you a corset." she said standing up and swaying for a moment. She wobbled over to where a wardrobe sat and pulled out a hanger with a rather strange looking garmet.
"C-c-corset?" stuttered Tilly standing up to look at this strange garmet. It was rather small, with laces up the back.
"Turn around Tilly" commanded Kathryn. Tilly obeyed without a care in the world.
Kathryn lifted up her dress and slipped the small material around her stomach that reached below her breasts.
"Alright, hold on, this is going to hurt." Said Kathryn with a small amount of pity in her voice."
The next few moments were ones of pain for Tilly. The confinement of the corset had forced air out of her lungs and she started to feel dizzy. Her lungs were crushed under the fabric, and her bladder and stomach felt like they were going to explode.
When Kathryn finished she let go of Tilly's dress and nervously turned her around to face Tilly.
"Alright, I'm sorry about not telling you earlier what this was, and u have every right to be angry at me." She said wringing her hands.
Tilly still looked a bit shocked, but not angry.
"Bloody hell!" she said finally finding her voice.
Kathryn couldn't help but burst out laughing, but Tilly failed to see what was funny, having not being able to laugh.
Kathryn wiped her face off. "I'm sorry, that was just the funniest expression I've seen so far, when someone first puts on a corset." still laughing, she walked over to a corner of the room were a table magically appeared with a water jug was placed on it. She filled up to cups and handed one to Tilly. Tilly just stared at it for a moment but then downed the whole thing.
"Actually, Kathryn, I have yet to tell you about this. plan that I had." Said Tilly staring at her cup.
"I'm listening" replied Kathryn sitting on her own bed.
"Well, it's actually quite silly. I don't know how to come up about it." She said tracing her fingers over a pattern over her quilt.
"Try starting at the beginning." Suggested Kathryn helpfully.
Tilly smiled and begun "Well, its common knowledge that a knight can earn his wings, but, I want to stick together with Nathan and Erica so I had this immature thought that maybe I could somehow become a knight, and earn my wings that way." She looked up hopefully at a smiling Kathryn.
"Well Tilly, I'd have to agree with you that it is a silly plan," She paused as Tilly flinched. "But we don't have to earn our wings by becoming knights. We could simply please the queen some.. way." She drifted off in thought.
"That seems easier said then done, Kathryn." replied Tilly skeptical.
"Well, maybe instead of pleasing her in someway, we could be.." She seemed to drift off in a pained expression.
"We could be model students." Tilly finished for her. Kathryn nodded, a pained expression still lingering on her face.
"I doubt we'll have to go that far, Kathryn" assured Tilly.
"Well, how's this sound? We could graduate like normal ladies and wait on the queen. The only hard part is gaining her trust. We wouldn't really know what to do." She said thoughtful. "Alright, maybe if we get a ton of detentions so we can eavesdrop on her, so we know whats going on."
"Why would getting detentions allow us to eavesdrop on her?" asked Tilly.
Kathryn smiled again. "Detentions are serving her and the king with their dinner parties."
"Oh, now I see what you're getting at." Said Tilly, smiling herself.
"When we graduate, I'm not sure what happens but I know that a select few of each class are trained even further to be the queens Ladies in Waiting. I have no idea what makes them eligible." said Kathryn.
Tilly started getting drowsy. "Maybe we could just ask a teacher or something." she muttered and laid down on her bed, asleep when she hit the pillow. It had been quite an eventful day.
A/N: o0o, are you happy with me now? It took me a wile to write this, but I'm happy! Are you happy? Ok! Please drop a review when you leave, that would definitely brighten my day! O, by the way, this is going to have a ton of chapters to come, I haven't figured it out yet, so please, and thank you to all of my reviewers, I luv ya!!!!