Page 75 of A Soul’s Awakening

“Sure thing, Miss.” Eleanor watched the teacher depart, waiting a few minutes before snapping her head to Marina. “I want to find out what’s going on.”

“What are you—”

“C’mon!” Eleanor nodded her head to the school entryway and took off in that direction. She sprung up the steps before turning back and nodding towards the tea set. “Bring that, too!”

The pair made their way swiftly down the hallway that led to Headmistress’ office. Eleanor grinned, excitement skittering up her spine when she noticed the door was open a just a crack. She looked down at Marina, who was crouched beside her, and pressed a finger to her closed lips.

Marina pursed her lips and nodded in understanding, placing a hand over the tea set she carried to stop it from clinking. Eleanor snuck up to the ornate wooden door, catching a brief glimpse of her reflection in the highly polished doorknob before she tried to listen to the muffled voices within, ear as close as she dared.

“…if you value your job…”

Headmistress Fallon? What is she talking about?

“You can’t possibly allow…”

That’s Miss Taylor. What can’t be allowed?

“… we all answer to the Seelie Court.”

What do we answer to the Seelie Court for?

Panic seized Eleanor as light footfalls tapped across the floor, the sound getting closer and closer to the door she stood behind. Her wide-eyed gaze met Marina’s, who bit her lip. Eleanor waved her over, heart hammering, and grabbed her friend’s shaking hand. Together, they dashed down the hall. The sound of a creaking door met their backs as they rounded the corner.

Eleanor let out a long exhale, heart rate slowing, as she watched Marina hand off the tea set to the busy cook. She was hustling to prepare dinner for the staff and students alike. Eleanor liked the food well enough. She found the meals bland but filling, and they certainly did not have anything on her Aunty Rose’s well-spiced, flavourful offerings.

The Tithe lesson, the market closing, and answering to the Seelie Court. The Tithe lesson, the market closing, and answering to the Seelie Court. What does it all mean? Are they related? Eleanor blinked as she tried to link the three.

Eleanor worried her bottom lip before filling Marina in on what she heard through the door, still unsure what it meant. So, she took a leap and spoke her theory aloud. “I think…” she speculated, tapping her finger to her chin, “…it might be because of the Tithe, you know? Why they made them close the market?” Her stomach clenched at the thought, making her feel sick. She swallowed down the taste of bile. It would be awful. Why would they do that?

“Hmmm…” A line appeared between Marina’s eyebrows. “You reckon? I’m not so sure about that, El. It seems a bit of a stretch. Why would they need to close everything for that?”

“I think maybe they made them close because it would mean more people would be inside their houses. It would be easier to collect girls if the streets were clearer and the daughters were at their homes, right?” Eleanor theorised, her mind turning like carriage wheels pulled by the fastest horses.

Marina kicked off her buckled uniform shoes and leant back on her bed. “I don’t know, I think you’ve just got it stuck in your mind. Try not to worry about it so much. After all, we’ve got essays to work on.”

Sometimes, Eleanor wished she could tell her mind to stop obsessing over whatever subject it had decided was its latest interest. The Tithe lesson, the market closing, and answering to the Seelie Court. The Tithe lesson, the market closing, and answering to the Seelie Court. The Tithe lesson, the market closing, and answering to the—

She shook her head from side to side. C’mon, you have an essay bet to win. She glanced over to Marina, whose face was down at her page, focused on her work.

History had come around again. Eleanor leant over a small leather-bound book that she had borrowed from the school library. Its neatly inked pages had begun to fade with age, making the book a little difficult to read. The teenager cast her eye down the magnifying glass she wielded with her left hand. With her right, she began to take notes on the first King of Seelieland.

She squinted through the glass, curiosity peaked. The Last Dragon! There’s a name there. She pressed her fingertip to the page, unable to make out more than one letter, an ‘A’. It might be somewhere else in here. She turned the thin, yellowing page and began to scan the writing. Eleanor’s head quickly snapped up to a cacophony of noises behind the closed classroom door.

She heard the distinct footfalls of several heavy boots on the polished wooden floors of the school hallway. Eleanor looked to Marina, whose concerned face mirrored her own. Miss Taylor, frowning, rose from her desk and walked over to open her classroom door. Instead, the disturbance came surging in to meet them as the door flung open, nearly knocking the teacher from her feet.

Three members of the Portson Guard strode in. The space seemed to stretch to fit them all. They were dressed in official finery. The trio wore blue linen, the provincial colour, under highly polished bronzed armour. While Eleanor had seen all manner of faeries in Portson and plenty of humans throughout her life, she had never seen a pure Fae up close.

She dropped her magnifying glass on the desktop in shock. What is going on? What are they doing here? She sat up straight in her seat as nerves turned her stomach.

Miss Taylor’s words echoed Eleanor’s thoughts. “What are you doing here?” Her voice quivered as she looked up at the Fae. “Who said you could be here?”

Eleanor studied them, her mouth dropping open in shock. They were tall and lean with perfectly symmetrical faces. Each had a pair of arched, pointed ears. That was the end of the trio’s similarities. They all had different eye, hair and skin colours. The Fae with ochre skin, tawny brown eyes, and black coiled hair appeared to be the leader, especially obvious when one of the others deferred to him as Captain.

The captain glanced down at the quivering teacher. She stood ramrod straight, clenching and unclenching her fists. Eleanor watched Miss Taylor lower her eyes, unable to meet his piercing gaze.

“Headmistress Fallon said we could be here,” he replied nonchalantly.

“She what?!” Miss Taylor squeaked.