The Portal

IV 4.1 Water horse

Daria walked with her head down. Her quick steps made almost no sound as she walked down the stone corridor. She had to get to the History lesson classroom, but she wanted to avoid bumping into Adaeze Afia. Since Rariff had chosen her for the third dance at the Ball of Flames, her life had changed. Before, she was just an absolutely dull freshman. Yes, her brother was an important and trusted man in Ür's Army and her mother was the most hated tutor by the ladies. But they were not of the high nobility. Daria was neither beautiful nor exceptional in any way. The most unusual part of her life was that, because of her brother's friendships, she transitioned well into one of the most coveted circles of the nobility. Despite this, being a withered girl of only 15 years, she had never been considered a threat by the other young women who were willing to find a husband within this circle. That, too, had changed since the ball.

When Rariff had chosen her for the third dance, she had felt panicked. She thought for a moment that she would not be able to move. Instinctively, she looked for her mother in the hall and saw that she was equally shocked by the choice. But Daria had known Rariff for many years, and he offered her a friendly smile as he took her hand. She knew the choice wasn't romantic. They were good friends and he saw her only as a child. So, she took a deep breath and tried to ignore the fact that hundreds of people were watching them. As the music began to play, she realized, with relief, that it was the same one she had rehearsed with Hannah Maël in the waltz lesson. She hadn't done badly at the time. The memory filled her with confidence, and she waltzed. She waltzed like a young lady should waltz. She wasn't a dancer, but she was perfectly adequate. Perhaps she'd even done better than Rariff's other chosen girls, since his presence didn't intimidate her.

When the song ended, she returned to Miss Narayama's side, where she had been during the party. It wasn't long before her mother was by her side either. Daria thought she'd get a reprimand for some clumsy move, but she soon realized she was wrong. Véronique was delighted that her daughter was chosen by Rariff and had nothing but praise for her youngest.

The prospect of being in the spotlight didn't please Daria, but the opportunity to make her mother proud made her extremely glad. However, this joy only lasted a few days. It didn't take long for her to realize that she would pay for being chosen to dance. Whenever she passed Adaeze Afia in the hallway, she gave her a contemptuous look. Soon, the looks weren't enough, and Daria began to hear nasty comments about her dresses, her age, her family.

Daria hadn't been scared until the night before. She had older brothers and she knew very well that these games went nowhere. She also knew that Afia was responsible for it, and she thought it was all the silliest joke. Noa didn't want her, he didn't even see her as a woman. To him, she was just a little girl. And despite the fact that he was the Rariff heir, she had no interest in him.

Last night, when Daria entered her chambers, she had noticed that the order of her things had been altered. The books, which she had carefully stacked on the coffee table, were spread out. She opened the only one left on the table and saw that the first page was torn. The page was lying on the ground and a scrawl read: "bitch".

Now she was starting to feel scared. What else could they do? She quickened her pace down the hall and entered into Mr. Theirn's classroom so fast that she almost ran into the teacher.

***

Finally, a lesson in which I can please Mrs. Ainsley!, Hannah thought as she received her schedule for the day in the morning. Since arriving at Shailaja, she had refused to participate in most of the lessons, claiming she didn't know what to do. Ms. Ainsley, responsible for the learning of the young women of Shailaja, was already losing patience. Hannah could clearly hear the disdain in her voice whenever she addressed her.