Nada's Escape: Fighters' lies

3.1 Seven

I'm chucked back in my cell with a collection of sandwich pieces. I carefully peel a piece of sandwich meat from the blanket and munch it moodily. My hand fiddles with the hem of the dress, checking the pockets underneath for tools. Emptied. I sigh. Except for a little slip of paper from the visiting room. I guess I had been smart enough to put it in my pocket before it all went to hell.

There's a soft knock on my door.

"Hey, hey, are you okay?" asks Amy.

"Just fucking Finley." I reply, massaging my wrist where the wardens had grabbed it.

"Is he ever going to leave you alone?" Amy asks, her blonde waves peeking through the window.

"Doubtful," I reply as I stand, peering through the bars as she smushes half a sandwich through.

"Oh you don't have to..." I protest.

"Oh I know," She replies with a wink. "Better half-full than hungry, though."

I grin and take a bite, ravenous already.

"I'll see you later, kay?" Amy says, darting away before the wardens can realise what she's up to. I settle back into my own thoughts again, waiting for my next opportunity.

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Round about the fifth time I contemplate banging my head against the wall, or midafternoon, the wardens finally unlock the door. It's Mildrith again, a glutton for punishment.

"This is the end of the line, alright?"

I purse my lips sourly, but she doesn't expect a response. I heave myself to my feet and walk back into the empty hall. The lunch tables are still out and will be until dinner, after which we'll pack them up against the wall.

"School. Now." Mildrith points to the main doors and I trudge out into the courtyard, then into the school room.

I slip into a chair beside Amy, running my fingers over years worth of teenage engravings. She likes to sit at the front, god knows why.

"Who's this guy again?" I whisper. He's moaning on about the Huntsmen, a subject I've gotten very used to tuning out.

Amy's eyes flick to me, but she keeps her attention on the blackboard. "Oh just some second rate relief teacher from the boys academy. You know, from Norgara. Outside the wall."

I roll my eyes. Ew.

"So," The teacher swivels from the blackboard, all legs and domed, shiny forehead. "Shall we recap for our more truant students?"

I ignore the jibe and tilt my chair against the desk behind.

"Where did the Huntsmen come from?" The teacher asks, at least having the courtesy to spread his piercing gaze across the rest of the Seveners too.

Macie sits up straighter in her front row seat across the aisle. "Well the warrior mage, in his wisdom, granted them superhuman powers in order to fight the fey hordes."

She manages to flick her hair for emphasis, despite the colony of clips restraining her straight black hair.

"Exactly!" The teacher's eyes flash open. Nothing gets a teacher excited like an attentive student. "And the fey are?"

"A heterogeneous collection of supernatural creatures," Amy dashes through the words beside me, "With varying amounts of humanoid and environmental features."

"Good." The teacher points at her, clearly less impressed with this response. "You're lucky I don't give out points for enthusiasm, Amy."

She pokes her tongue out at him and I stifle a giggle.

"And why do we need to fight the fey?" The teacher asks his gaze focused on the back of the room now.

"Because they're monsters." Macie pipes up, disgust wrinkling her nose.

The teacher silently prompts the rest of us.

"Ah... because they kidnap children, put them in cages and then eat them?" One of the fence-sitters says. I always forget who's who in that bunch. A blob of girls taking up the middle of the room.

"Sounds like some other people we know," Shouts one of my fighters from the back. I grin in response.

The teacher silences the rowdiness with a few gestures. "Alright, alright. Yes, hags have been known to kidnap children for eating, but there's far more to it than that."

"It's like... like all the fairytales are real. But only the bad bits." One of the weepers offers, eyes becoming shiny. A chill runs down my spine just hearing her voice, that delicate shaking. I turn back to the front, wishing I had a pen to start carving into the desk some more.

"That's not true." Macie turns around to put her hand on the weeper's. "The good bits still exist, its just a different story from when you were young. The Huntsmen are here to protect you from the monsters."

The teacher walks between the desks, trying to bring attention back to his curriculum.

"Okay, I think we all know plenty of examples of fey monsters. But now, who can remember why the Huntsmen came here, to this continent."

Amy beats Macie to the punch, "A disturbance, a giant storm of magic that would ravage the land every ten years."

"Yes! Exactly. But not everyone came. It was only seven Hunstmen who had the courage to cross the sea and face the unknown threat. Anyone know who they were?"

"Lucy-Anne," Macie pronounces proudly, as if she herself was descended from her. The teacher's head swivels to our side of the room.

"Resco," says one of the fence-sitters behind me.

"Loiza and Ayshford," says the worm on one side of Macie.

"Elvira," whispers the worm on the other side.

"Letitia."

"And...?" The teacher prompts for the last name, turning on a heel to check every face for clues.

"Baden." He concludes, disappointed. "Baden's ancestors were called to the Huntsmen cause by the banks of the Tigris river. Anyone know the other heritages?"